President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to return to normalcy. At the start of his campaign, he proposed that the US return to the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement which President Donald Trump withdrew the US from in 2018. What complications will the US face in returning to the agreement? Doug Becker speaks with four experts about a possible return to the agreement under Biden.
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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, national governments have shown distinctly different approaches with different levels of success. But it appears that nations lead by women have a better record than their male counterparts. Doug Becker speaks with four experts about the popular media narrative that countries led by women are performing better with COVID.
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On September 27th, 2020, fighting along the so-called line of control between Azerbaijan and the region of Nagorno-Karabakh broke out. Azerbaijani forces advanced throughout the month and Armenian resistance struggled to hold territory. On November 10, the two sides agreed to a peace agreement that has been brokered by Russia. Doug Becker speaks with Richard Giragosian and Robert English about the peace agreement and why both sides signed it.
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Was the 2020 US election conducted properly? Will mail-in ballots be counted and will that count be allowed to stand? Will the US Supreme Court decide the final outcome? And what, in any case, will become of American democracy? In this urgent and timely event, University of Auckland lecturers use the lenses of law, political science, and psychology to explain this contested election and discuss the implications of the final outcome.
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Last week’s US presidential election once again revealed fractures in the democratic principles of the Electoral College. President-elect Joe Biden has consistently led in the counting of the popular vote in this election and has over five million more votes than President Donald Trump. However, the Electoral College renders the popular vote moot. Instead, winning state elections is the key to winning the White House. Doug Becker speaks with Jeremi Suri and Sanford Levinson about the Electoral College and whether it needs to be reformed.
The US, when it holds an election ends up attracting more interest around the world than most, if not any other country. It might be because of American power; it might be because of the US’s democratic principles, or it might be because of media sources and the ability to follow it. Doug Becker explores the views of the American election from all over the world, featuring guests from Greece, Britain, Brazil and Canada.
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The 2020 American election campaign has seen a distinct lack of foreign policy discussion. However, despite who wins the Presidency, foreign policy will remain a key issue area for the US moving forward. What are the key foreign policy issues on the ballot in the 2020 US Presidential Elections? How different are the visions of Biden and Trump when it comes to the role of America in the world? Doug Becker speaks with Mark Boyer and Peter F. Trumbore.
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On September 27, fighting along the so-called line of control between Azerbaijan and the region of Nagorno-Karabakh erupted. This area of Azerbaijan is majority Armenian and has been de facto-controlled by the local Armenian population since the end of the war between the two populations in 1994. Armenian’s in the region have declared independence but only Armenia recognises this declaration. This new round of fighting appears to be a continuation of the conflict between this breakaway region and Azerbaijan. Doug Becker speaks with Steve Swerdlow, Anna Ohanyan, and Hurst Hannum about the origins of the conflict, the current outbreak, and potential pathways to peace.
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The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Republican promise to replace her with Amy Coney Barrett has profound implications for American politics and policy. How will the decision shape public policy, the checks and balances of the constitution and the 2020 election? Doug Becker speaks with John Vile and Mark Peterson.
The search for minerals is leading some corporations to begin mining the ocean floor but scientists warn that this could devastate fragile ecosystems that will have repercussions that we still don’t understand. What is going on in the deep sea? What precautions should be taken to prevent devastating fragile ecosystems? Maria Armoudian speaks with Craig Smith and Verena Tunnicliffe.