The Pivot by Globely News

The Economist correspondent Tom Gardner discusses with host Arif Rafiq the enigma that is Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who would preside over a civil war roughly a year after being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

The conversation is wide-ranging and covers Abiy's childhood, the role of religion in his life, his rise through the Ethiopian system, his transition from revered to reviled, and his relationship with great and regio...

Juan David Rojas (@rojasrjuand) of Compact magazine and host Arif Rafiq discuss the historic victory of Claudia Sheinbaum in this month’s Mexican general elections. They take a deep dive into the record of her mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, and explore his heterodox, anti-neoliberal politics. They also assess what the future holds for Morena and Mexico under the leadership of Claudia Sheinbaum.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is returning to power for a third consecutive term, but with a slimmed-down mandate delivered by an electorate weighed down by economic precarity. India's surprising election results will have a profound effect on how Prime Minister Narendra Modi rules and who succeeds him.

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It’s a new era in South Africa. In last week's general elections, the African National Congress (ANC), which led the country’s freedom struggle, failed to win a National Assembly majority for the first time since the fall of apartheid in 1994. The party will now have to form a coalition government. Its choices may have profound effects not just on the ANC and South Africa, but beyond the country's borders as well.

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Cobus van Staden of the China in Africa podcast and host Arif Rafiq discuss two competing corridors that are at the heart of the great power race for green metals in the Central African Copper Belt: the Western-backed Lobito Corridor from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia and the China-constructed and potentially soon-to-be revamped Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA).

They unpack the great power dynamics that anch...

Guest Ali Hashem (@alihashem_tv) of Al Jazeera English and host Arif Rafiq (@arifcrafiq) discuss the prospects for a full-blown conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. The episode looks at the history of conflict between the two belligerents, including the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, assesses how both parties have adapted and evolved since then in anticipation of another war, and explains what’s driving the escalating strikes on both...

India’s general elections begin this month and are likely to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party back to power for a third consecutive term.

King’s College London Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot and host Arif Rafiq discuss the fundamental features of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist project developed in the “laboratory” of the Gujarat state and applied nationally over his first two terms ...

University of Maryland Professor Michael Woldemariam joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the recent maritime access agreement between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland. They address landlocked Ethiopia’s problem of geography, its regional aspirations, the challenges of federalism and fragmentation in Somalia and Ethiopia, and the contestation between great and regional powers, including the U.S. and China, Saudi Arabia, ...

Uyghur activist Nury Turkel (@nuryturkel) speaks with host Arif Rafiq on China’s persecution of the Uyghur Muslims; the systems of coercion, surveillance, and collective punishment directed at the Uyghurs; and how you, the listener, may be unknowingly consuming products made in part through forced Uyghur labor.

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Jacqui Baker (@indobaker) of Murdoch University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Prabowo Subianto’s victory in Indonesia’s presidential elections, the legacy and political future of the popular outgoing president Joko Widodo, and the durability of the economic and political status quo in this rising Southeast Asian power.

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After Joko Widodo: What a Prabowo Presidency Means for Indonesia

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Jay Mandle, a professor emeritus of economics at Colgate University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss whether Guyana, now the world's newest petrostate and fastest-growing economy, can leverage its newfound oil wealth to change its destiny and avoid the "resource curse."

By 2035, Guyana could become the world's fourth-largest producer of oil. But it faces a host of challenges in exploiting these resources for the benefit of its pop...

Meredith Weiss, a professor of political science at the University at Albany, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the many political transformations of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over his political career. A prominent Islamist student activist, Anwar was cultivated by longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as his heir apparent, only to be victimized and imprisoned by him later. As a dissident, Anwar became an outspoken M...

Afshon Ostovar, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) transformed from being a ragtag militia to a preeminent outside force in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East. They explore the IRGC’s network of partners, including the so-called Axis of Resistance, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in how IRGC leverages thes...

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The China Challenge: How to Manage Strategic Rivalry With Beijing

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Journalist Emily Tamkin, author of "Bad Jews," joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the evolving and often contentious debate over what it means to be an American Jew and how today's conversations about Jews, whiteness, and wealth fit into the broader historical, American Jewish experience. They also discuss the parallels between neoconservatism in the 60s and 70s and today's counter-progressivism — or anti-wokeism — among Jewish publi...

Bangladesh has seen rapid economic growth and development gains amid poor governance, rampant corruption, and growing repression. On Sunday, Bangladeshi voters went to the polls to take part in elections that were neither free nor fair.

Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how deep and durable Bangladesh's socio-economic gains are and whether they ca...