The Outlook

Madeine Shaw, Victor Lago. Sophia Sahni, Arian Chimenson, and Pranav Akella sit down for a conversation with Evgenia Kara-Murza, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Tikhon Dzyadko.

Bios: 

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian politician, author, and historian who was imprisoned from 2022 to 2024 for speaking out against the war in Ukraine. He’s a recipient of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for commentary and a longtime advocate for democracy in Russia. ...

Alex Rockmore, Vidhi Piparia,  and Himmat Grewal sit down for a conversation with Justice Tsogt Tsend. Justice Tsend studied law at the National University of Mongolia. Receiving a degree from Willamette University College of Law. He was awarded his degree in administrative law from the Graduate School of Law, Nagoya University in 2017. And in 2023, Justice Tsend was awarded an L.L.M after completing the Master of Judicial Studies ...

Walker Wilson and Parnav Akella sit down for a conversation with Margot Wallström. Today we're excited and honored to be joined by Margot Wallström. Margot Wallström served as the European Commissioner for the environment, European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy, as well as the Vice President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2010. She was also appointed as the first special represent...

Julia Stewed, Prescott Herzog, and Nelson Zhang sit down for a conversation with Dr. Babu Rahman. Dr. Rahman has been a British diplomat since 1998. He is a Research Analyst in the Diplomatic Service, specializing in the UN, with a particular focus on conflict and human rights. As a Research Analyst, he provides objective research, analysis, and advice to support policymaking. He has also performed a number of front-line diplomatic...

 Vidhi Piparia,  Madeleine Shaw, and Adam Saltzman sit down for a conversation with Dahlia Scheindlin. Dahlia Scheindlin is a fellow at Century International, based in Tel Aviv. She is a public opinion expert and an international political and strategic consultant,  as well as a scholar, writer, and columnist aT Haaretz English; she holds a PhD from Tel Aviv University and she is the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Isr...

Madeleine Shaw, Victor Lago, Amen Salha, Pranav Akella, Josephine Kramer, Taanvi Gowdar, and Daniel Park sit down with retired Ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles. Ambassador Barks-Ruggles served for 32 years in senior leadership and diplomatic positions; most recently leading the successful U.S. effort to rejoin UNESCO, setting up the U.S. Mission from scratch and re-establishing U.S. leadership in the U.N.'s lead institution on A...

Victor Lago, Madeleine Shaw, and Pranav Kela sit down to talk with Captain Omer Rafiq. Captain Omer Rafiq is a Captain in the United States Marine
Corps Reserves, currently serving at Special Operations Central Command in Tampa, FL. He enlisted in the reserve component of the Marine Corps in August 2010. Following initial training, he deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Commission...

Elizabeth Shackelford is the Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs for the Spring 2024 term. She served as a career diplomat in the U.S. State Department, with postings in Warsaw, Poland, South Sudan, Somalia, and Washington, D.C. Her outstanding work in South Sudan during the civil war earned her the prestigious Barbara Watson Award for Consular Excellence. She gained international recognition for her principl...

Josh Paul resigned from the State Department in October 2023 due to his disagreement with the Biden Administration's decision to rush lethal military assistance to Israel in the context of its war on Gaza. He had  spent over 11 years working as a Director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. He previously worked on security sector reform in both Iraq and the West Bank, with additional roles in the Office of the Secreta...

Vivian Salama covers national security for the Wall Street Journal, based in Washington. She has covered U.S. foreign policy and national security issues for nearly two decades, reporting from more than 80 countries. Before moving to Washington, she served as Baghdad bureau chief for the Associated Press, during which time she covered the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as Iran's growing influence across the reg...

Dr. Rose M. Mutiso is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Mawazo Institute, which supports the next generation of female scholars and thought leaders in East Africa, and promotes public engagement with research. She is also the Research Director of the Energy for Growth Hub, a global network connecting research and policymakers to build high-energy systems to power for industry, commerce, and job creation in developing countries. Rose ha...

Interview with Micheal Kofman.  Michael Kofman is the director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA and an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He specializes in the Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities and strategy. His work is interdisciplinary, integrating defense strategy, military analysis and history. He is also a contributing editor at War on the Rocks, which regularly publishes his artic...

World Outlook discusses journalism, Putin’s biography, domestic political implications for Putin due to the successful Ukranian resistance, the theory of Eurasianism in Russian political discourse, the ideological dispositions of Putin, Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the ability of international pressure and sanctions in bringing to an end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Philip Short, and the positioning of India and ...

World Outlook senior editor Sri Sathvik Rayala '24 and associate editors Madeleine Shaw '25, Quinn Hall '26, and Anika Mukker '26 discuss propaganda tools of illiberal governments, democratic movements, challenges proponents of liberal democracy face, motivations that drive proponents of democracy to challenge the status quo, the utility of social media for democratic activists in the Global South, the war again...

World Outlook senior editor Sri Sathvik Rayala '24 and associate editors Madeleine Shaw '25 and Quinn Hall '26 discuss the relations between Russia, India, and China following the invasion of Ukraine, the threat of nuclear proliferation in Eastern Europe, the stability of the European Union, the possibility of off ramps for de-escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian War, the women-led protests in Iran, and the tensions in ...

World Outlook senior editor Sri Sathvik Rayala '24 and associate editors Madeleine Shaw '25 and Adam Tobeck '25 discuss civil conflict in Mali, the 2015 peace accord in Mali, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, population growth, climate change, inequality, migration, the various initiatives performed by the foreign service for Americans and the international community, and more with Ambassador Bisa William—a career dip...