Top 5 Episodes: Undercurrents
Ben Horton
Undercurrents is a fortnightly podcast from Chatham House which looks beyond the headlines to explore the issues shaping societies across the world. The podcast regularly features contributors to International Affairs, and in this post we’ve collected together five of our favourite episodes.
Read on to discover the research behind the interviews, and don’t forget to subscribe to Undercurrents on your favourite podcast app for future episodes!
1) Paul Brannagan on Qatar’s soft power and the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Alongside the Olympics, the football World Cup is possibly the most-watched international event. Hosting the World Cup can be a powerful statement of a nation’s intent to gain a global profile, but there are often unintended consequences. In this episode we spoke to Paul Brannagan from Manchester Metropolitan University about Qatar’s soft power experiment in hosting the 2022 World Cup.
The interview was based on Paul’s co-authored article in International Affairs titled ‘The soft power–soft disempowerment nexus: the case of Qatar’, which was published in September 2018.
Read the article online here.
2) Robin Niblett on the future of think tanks
Today, western think-tanks, in particular, face a number of challenges to their relevance and credibility. It remains to be seen whether they can rediscover a sense of purpose that is fit for the twenty-first century, at a time when the pillars of the western-led international order that mobilized their counterparts early in the twentieth century are eroding. In this episode we spoke to Chatham House Director Robin Niblett on how think-tanks can adapt to the new political reality.
The interview was based on Robin’s article in International Affairs titled ‘Rediscovering a sense of purpose: the challenge for western think tanks’, which was published in November 2018.
Read the article online here.
3) Margaret MacMillan on the legacy of the 1919 Paris peace conference
2019 marks the centenary of the Paris peace conference, the negotiations at the end of the First World War which would fundamentally shape the course of international relations for decades to come. In this episode we spoke to Margaret MacMillan about the ongoing legacy of the conference, and the contrasting dynamics of world politics today.
The interview was based on a special issue of International Affairs titled ‘World politics 100 years after the Paris peace conference’, which was published in January 2019.
Read the introduction online here.
4) Rajesh Basrur on the crisis in Kashmir
In February 2019 relations between India and Pakistan reached crisis levels over military clashes in Kashmir. In this episode we spoke to Rajesh Basrur about the origins and political significance of the crisis, as well as recent developments in India’s broader foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The interview drew upon Rajesh’s article in International Affairs titled ‘Modi’s foreign policy fundamentals: a trajectory unchanged’, which was published in January 2017.
Read article online here.
5) Erika Weinthal on attacks against infrastructure in Gaza
In many Middle Eastern wars, targeting civilian infrastructure has become all too common. Both state and non-state actors in wars since 2011 in Libya, Syria and Yemen have targeted water, sanitation, and energy facilities to displace urban populations, punish civilians, and render local attempts to provide public services untenable. To find out more we spoke to Erika Weinthal, whose new database traces attacks on civilian infrastructure, about the effects of similar attacks in the West Bank and Gaza.
The interview was based on Erika’s co-authored article in International Affairs titled ‘Targeting infrastructure and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza’, which was published in March 2019.
Read the article online here.
