In this season of ISD’s podcast, Diplomatic Immunity, we reflect on the first year of the Biden administration’s foreign policy and diplomacy with diplomatic practitioners from the ISD and School of Foreign Service community. We also take a look at the road ahead as the administration tackles myriad challenges in the year ahead.
Over the first three seasons of this podcast, we’ve covered many topics in diplomacy: from the pandemic and global health, to disinformation, to geopolitical competition between the United States and China. But there are a few regions and themes we haven’t got to yet, and they include some of the most important challenges facing diplomats and U.S. foreign policy. The sheer volume of foreign policy issues on the table reflects the disordered nature of the world today, and the difficulty the current administration under President Biden has in prioritizing and balancing multiple issues at once.
So this spring we wanted to look at some of those regions we haven’t covered so far on the podcast, as well as some of the global issues that command attention in the halls of Washington every day: How is the administration fairing in its policy toward Latin America? What direction is its Africa policy headed? Where does America stand in the fight against corruption and democratic erosion? And where is U.S. trade policy in all this?
Across several short episodes, we look back on the first year of Biden’s term, and look forward to the next.
This series is hosted by ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland and produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Audio editing by Aaron Jones. Production assistance by Kit Evans and Eleanor Shiori Hughes.
Check out the latest episode:
Episode 1: Latin America with Ambassador Lino Gutierrez
Forthcoming episodes:
February 23 – Episode 2: Europe with Ambassador John Heffern
March 2 – Episode 3: Africa with Ambassador Eunice Reddick
March 9 – Episode 4: Afghanistan with Ambassador Roya Rahmani
March 23 – Episode 5: Corruption with Jodi Vittori
March 30 – Episode 6: Development with Joel Hellman
April 6 – Episode 7: Part 1 – Trade, Technology, and China with Wendy Cutler, Carolyn Brehm, and Francine Lamoriello
April 13 – Episode 8: Part 2 – Trade, Technology, and China
Listen to past episodes wherever you get your podcasts:
Featured image: President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, in New York. (White House/Flickr)