by The SAIS Review of International Affairs · English · News
The Looking Glass is the premier international relations podcast by The SAIS Review of International Affairs with support from The Foreign Policy Institute. Showcasing fresh, policy-relevant perspectives from professional and student experts, The Looking Glass is dedicated to advancing the debate on
The Pakistan–Afghanistan border clashes in October 2025 were the latest eruption of a deeper historical fault line at the Durand Line. The roots trace to decades of mistrust, migration, and geopolitics. This episode hopes to explore how the Durand line continues to fuel tensions and how ordinary people (especially near the border) bear the brunt of the security crackdowns and deportations, and how external involvement, both past and present, has shaped the relationship of the two neighbors an...
Peru’s 2026 election season is occurring amid a deepening crisis of political legitimacy. Public confidence in Congress has collapsed to some of the lowest levels in the Western Hemisphere, and Peruvians increasingly doubt whether their institutions can deliver stability, security, and responsive governance. Adding to this political unease, Keiko Fujimori, a polarizing figure and leader of the right‑wing Popular Force party, has launched a renewed presidential bid despite multiple corruption ...
2026 is a decisive year for Latin American democracy, as democratic institutions across the region are being tested by public distrust and upcoming elections in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. This year, however, it happens under a very different backdrop: The U.S.’s capture of Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Maduro and Washington’s renewed desire to maintain a regional sphere of influence. These developments raise critical questions about the extent of U.S. influence over Latin America’s democratic ...
Welcome to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. This episode is part of our collaborative series with the Politics of Disaster class at SAIS. We explore how crises unfold at the intersection of conflict, governance, and environmental risk. My name is Andrea Majert Galera, and I am joined by my co-host Marcel Kolb. Today, we turn to the story of the FSO Safer. FSO Safer is a deteriorating oil tanker off Yemen’s coast that, for years, threatened to unleash one of the world’s largest man...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. This is a collaborative mini-series between the Looking Glass and the Politics of Disaster course at SAIS. My name is Nicole Ward and I am joined by my co-host Mira Tarabeine. Today’s episode explores how art, design, and public space shape the way societies rebuild after conflict. To frame our discussion, we focus on Burj El Murr, an unfinished skyscraper in Beirut. Originally envisioned as a symbol of modern architectura...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review's The Looking Glass Podcast. We’re your hosts, Maya Martin and Luc van der Linden. In this podcast, we’re unpacking the protection of cultural heritage in Diyarbakir, Turkey, and its recovery since the 2015 Kurdish insurrection. Diyarbakir is considered the unofficial capital of the Kurdish community in south-eastern Turkey. The historic heart of the city is the old town of Sur. There, one can find the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the imposing Diyar...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review's The Looking Glass Podcast. We are your hosts Duru Dogan and Isabella Manzione. With natural disasters becoming more frequent, resilience and recovery have moved to the center of global conversations on human security. These events have sparked important discussions about community preparedness, government responsibility, and what it truly means to build back better. Today, we’re joined by Dr. Alexander Fekete to explore how the regions affected by t...
Welcome back to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We’re your hosts Aaryaman Shah and Jiwon Lim. On May 15, al-Qaeda affiliated militants claimed to kill 200 soldiers during an attack on an army base in Djibo, a village in northern Burkina Faso. This attack is emblematic of the extent to which violent extremism has found a foothold in the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid land straddling the Sahara and coastal West Africa. There are several reasons for the emergence and sustenance of this ...
Last month, Japan set history by electing their first female prime minister: Takaichi Sanae. In this victory, she must be ready to face old and new issues, ranging from domestic political and social instability to international tariffs. To discuss who Takaichi is, her platforms, and how she will navigate the ever changing international field, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Sheila Smith. Dr. Sheila Smith is the John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on For...
Situated at the intersection of the Arab world, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern Europe, Egypt remains a pivotal actor in the evolving geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa. Under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian state has embarked on a sweeping agenda of transformation—redefining its political economy, reasserting its regional role, and confronting a host of domestic and international pressures. This miniseries aims to move beyond conventional narrativ...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I am your host Davide Donald. On today’s episode we are going to be talking about disaster management in Turkey. Istanbul lies at the heart of the Eurasian and Anatolian tectonic plate fault lines. The prospect of another major earthquake hitting the city of over 16 million people is a question of when, not if. The 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Istanbul a few weeks ago on April 23rd–which luckily resulted in only injur...
Nuclear catastrophes like Chernobyl and Fukushima serve as a stark reminder of the risks that come with harnessing atomic energy — we hear about the evacuations, the health impacts, the geopolitical consequences. But what about the landscapes left behind? What happens to plants, animals, and entire ecosystems when exposed to high levels of radiation over days, months, or even years? To help us unpack these questions, we're joined by Dr. Timothy Mousseau. Dr. Timothy Mousseau is an evolutiona...
Welcome back, everyone, to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We are your hosts, Nassim Ali Ahmad and Rachel Fink. As the world confronts new and novel future crises, among the most concerning will be environmental challenges, driven in many places by the sheer scarcity of water. One answer to that dilemma comes from geoengineering, or the shaping of the environment through technological feats like cloud seeding. To discuss what cloud seeding is, why it has become controversial, and...
Hello and welcome to today’s episode of the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We are your hosts Talita Fernandes and Hantong Wu. Natural disaster relief can pose many challenges, and we have seen that they are only exacerbated by domestic conflict in the area. Since 2021, when the military deposed the democratically elected government, Myanmar has been in a brutal civil war. In the midst of this conflict, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on March 28, ...
The March 2025 oil spill in Ecuador’s Esmeraldas province is one of the country’s worst recent environmental disasters. Over 25,000 barrels of crude oil leaked from the SOTE pipeline, contaminating rivers, farmland, and coastal mangroves. This spill destroyed local biodiversity, poisoned water supplies, and disrupted the lives of more than half a million people, including Indigenous and rural communities, highlighting the urgent need for environmental justice and stronger protections for Ecua...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We are your hosts, Nadia Sleiman and Amber Escudero-Kontostathis. Today, we are diving into the critical topic of disaster capitalism in Lebanon amidst its ongoing financial crisis. As Lebanon grapples with currency collapse, inflation, and government paralysis, important questions arise about how these conditions have been exploited economically and politically. To help us unpack the systemic vulnerabilities, the role of ...
Since 2022, the global media has heavily concentrated on two major conflicts—the Russia-Ukraine War and the conflict in Gaza. While these wars have significant implications, this narrow focus often obscures other conflicts that continue to shape international security, governance, and regional stability. On our Forgotten Wars series, to discuss Burma’s domestic conflict, from the 2021 coup and the failure of the military to consolidate power, the current resistance groups and opposition in 20...
From the heart of the Arab world to the crossroads of Africa and Europe, Egypt stands at the center of some of today’s most complex and consequential shifts. Under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the country has undergone profound transformations—economic, political, and social. In this mini series, we step behind the headlines and take a closer look at Egypt’s evolving role on the global stage. We explore the choices it’s making, the pressures it’s facing, and how thes...
Welcome back to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I’m your host Vinayak Kalra. Sanctions are a misunderstood policy tool, rooted in a complex history, deemed by some as a lever of soft power and by others as a form of deadly warfare. In the 2020s, sanctions regimes continue to be implemented and enforced as a means of exerting influence on other nations, but often yield unexpected impacts upon sanctioned societies. To help us make sense of sanctions and the broader world of economi...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I am your host Jiwon Lim. Since 2022, the global media has heavily concentrated on two major conflicts—the Russia-Ukraine War and the conflict in Gaza. While these wars have significant implications, this narrow focus often obscures other conflicts that continue to shape international security, governance, and regional stability. On our Forgotten Wars series, to spotlight the conflict in Sudan since the 2023 civil war, wha...
Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I’m your host Jiwon Lim. From phishing emails to ransomware, cyberattacks may be a daily part of your and other people’s lives. However, when these attacks target not just your inbox but a whole industry, the conversation gets complicated. To discuss the actors and goals behind cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, their methods, and where we may be headed in the future of cyber attacks and defending against them ...
Welcome back everybody to "The Libya Chronicles" the first series of the Maghreb Voices Mini Series, a special co-production of The North Africa Initiative and the SAIS Review Looking Glass Podcast. This series delves into the rich and tumultuous history of Libya, a land of ancient kingdoms, vast natural resources, and a complex political landscape. To discuss the transformation of Libyan society under Gaddafi and the following social and economic developments domestically and globally, joini...
Facing the intangible nature of AI, its on the ground consequences can seem out of reach at the best of times. To shine light on the environmental aspect of the trade-offs and approaches towards environmental sustainability and AI joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Benjamin Lee. Dr. Benjamin Lee is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a visiting researcher a...
As the breadth and depth of AI applications grow, so do concerns regarding its development and functioning. To discuss the historical cases of compliance failure in the tech industry, how the AI ecosystem can better prepare to comply with the best practices, and the norms and principles to avoid similar risks in the future, joining us today on the podcast is Mariami Tkeshelashvili. Mariami Tkeshelashvili is a Senior Associate for Artificial Intelligence Security Policy at the Institute for S...
AI and semiconductors have been at the forefront of recent domestic and foreign policy conversations, yielding questions around national security and supply chains. To discuss what AI chips are, the national security risks associated with them, and the US position in the global market for AI chips, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Melissa K. Griffith. Dr. Melissa K. Griffith is a Lecturer in Technology and National Security at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International S...
As we face the 2024 presidential elections, the possibilities of influence operations and disinformation in the media and public’s perceptions remain an ever increasing fear. To delve into what influence operations are and its developments since the 2020 elections, what and where our biggest threats lie, and how much impact these operations really have on the elections joining us on the podcast today is Gavin Wilde. Gavin Wilde is a nonresident fellow in the Technology and International Affa...
As new technologies emerge, space operations and infrastructure have become critical to U.S. national security and economy. To understand the ongoing discussion on what the current status is on space technology and infrastructure, developing space policy communities, and the security issues that follow, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Gregory Falco. Dr. Gregory Falco is an Assistant Professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Systems Engineering Prog...
The Sudan Civil war has brought about the current largest famine and displacement crisis in the world, bringing with it questions around aid and international attention. To discuss the status of the conflict, the famine crisis and why it continues, and possible international actions that could be taken, joining us on the podcast today is Dan Sullivan. Dan Sullivan is the director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International. Dan focuses on Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan, and ...
The rise of AI and its use in private and public sectors has highlighted the need for AI regulations and have sparked debates on its contents globally. To understand the ongoing debates around what exactly the technology is, the pros and cons of adopting AI, and the current and future regulatory environment for an ethical AI, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Monica Lopez-Gonzalez. Dr. Lopez is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cognitive Insights for Artificial Intelligence advising on AI risk ...
For our 4th episode, we are joined by Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. Mcgovern Foundation, AI ethicist, and appointee to the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. This week, it’s all about the need to support technology creation that is fair and equitable through public and third-sector efforts. This week we are learning : Importance of curiosity and life-long learning Need for more involvement of the public sector in constructing techno...
About The Looking Glass
The Looking Glass is the premier international relations podcast by The SAIS Review of International Affairs with support from The Foreign Policy Institute. Showcasing fresh, policy-relevant perspectives from professional and student experts, The Looking Glass is dedicated to advancing the debate on
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