The Pivot by Globely News

https://globelynews.com/africa/meet-abiy-ahmed-ethiopia-pentecostal-putin/

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The Abiy Ahmed Paradox: Meet Ethiopia's 'Pentecostal Putin'

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:40:48 GMT

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 regional powers, including including China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.

Gardner is the author of "The Abiy Ahmed Project," newly published by Hurst: https://amzn.to/4cCBRsv (US); https://amzn.to/3xNK1iG (UK).

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The AMLO Legacy and Mexico’s Future Under Claudia Sheinbaum | Juan David Rojas

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 09:00:00 GMT

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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https://globelynews.com/south-asia/india-elections-2024-modi-bjp/

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India's Big Election Surprise

Arif Rafiq — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 03:53:39 GMT

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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South Africa's New Political Moment

Arif Rafiq — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 02:05:25 GMT

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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Why Venezuela’s Maduro Is Saber-Rattling With Guyana

Arif Rafiq — Fri, 31 May 2024 13:01:24 GMT

Venezuela is in the midst of a military buildup along its border with its smaller neighbor Guyana, a tiny South American country home to the world’s fastest-growing economy — driven by oil.

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Claudia Sheinbaum Could Become Mexico's First Jewish and Woman President

Arif Rafiq — Thu, 30 May 2024 17:38:29 GMT

Mexicans head to the polls on Sunday to choose their next president.

If the pre-election surveys are correct, their next president will be Claudia Sheinbaum — who would make history as Mexico’s first woman and first Jewish president.

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South Africa Goes to the Polls: Here's What's at Stake

Arif Rafiq — Wed, 29 May 2024 18:10:57 GMT

Today, South Africa is holding one of its most important elections since the fall of apartheid in 1994. The African National Congress or ANC could fail to secure a majority of votes for the first time since the fall of apartheid. The consequences could be huge for the country’s politics and stability.

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U.S.-China Green Metals Race Heats Up in Central Africa

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 20 May 2024 09:00:00 GMT

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 anchor this competition, the complicated histories of the Lobito Corridor and TAZARA, and how all this fits into or may not fit into the development strategies of regional states Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.

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Hezbollah and Israel: The State of Play

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 06 May 2024 09:01:00 GMT

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 sides of the Blue Line since the October 7 attacks. Hashem and Rafiq also address the Iran factor and its influence over Axis of Resistance partner Hezbollah.

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Gaza: Famine, Genocide, and the Day After

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 09:00:00 GMT

Khalil Sayegh of the Agora Initiative joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss conditions on the ground in Gaza, what kind of political future awaits the Palestinian people, and his views on the response of Christian Zionists in the U.S. to the mass killings of Palestinians.

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Narendra Modi: India's Most Powerful Post-Independence Leader

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The Narendra Modi Legacy

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 09:00:00 GMT

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 as prime minister.

They explore how Modi commandeered India’s Hindu nationalist movement and refashioned it into a Modi-centric populism, backed by a vigilante-driven social surveillance regime and marked by crony capitalism. They assess what an India after Modi might look like and whether democracy and secularism can bounce back once his reign has come to an end.

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Hindutva: A Deep Dive Into India’s Hindu Nationalist Ideology

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https://globelynews.com/africa/ethiopia-somaliland-horn-africa-game-of-ports/

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Ethiopia, Somaliland and the Horn of Africa's Game of Ports

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:00:00 GMT

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, the UAE, and Turkey.

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China's War on the Uyghur Muslims

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 10:00:00 GMT

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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After Joko Widodo: What a Prabowo Presidency Means for Indonesia

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Indonesia 'After' Joko Widodo

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:30:00 GMT

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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Guyana: Can the World’s Newest Petrostate Change Its Destiny?

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Guyana: The World's Newest Petrostate

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 09:45:00 GMT

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 population. In this episode, Mandle and Rafiq these obstacles, including climate change, longstanding ethnic and racial divisions, and threats from neighboring Venezuela.

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The Many Political Lives of Anwar Ibrahim

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The Many Political Lives of Anwar Ibrahim

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 09:30:00 GMT

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 Muslim democrat both at home and on the global stage. Today, his politics, in the view of some, can be described as post-Islamist. Anwar Ibrahim's fascinating political journey is not his story alone: it is that of Malaysia too.

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Iran’s IRGC and the Battle for the Middle East

(Image Credit: Firdaus Latif)

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Iran, the IRGC, and the Battle for the Middle East

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:00:00 GMT

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 these groups as part of its strategy of asymmetric warfare against its adversaries and rivals, including the U.S. and Israel.

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The China Challenge: How to Manage Strategic Rivalry With Beijing

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The China Challenge

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 10:00:00 GMT

Ali Wyne, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the implications of Taiwan's recent elections, how China is responding to the results, the risks of a U.S.-China war over Taiwan, and the broader challenge of managing a rising China.

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American Jews: Beyond the Tropes

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American Jews: Beyond the Tropes

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 09:30:00 GMT

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 public intellectuals. The conversation concludes with Tamkin's thoughts on the crisis of American Zionism.

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Bangladesh Elections: Trouble Lurks Beneath Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Victory’

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The Bangladesh Paradox

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 07:30:00 GMT

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 can be sustained under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime.

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The El-Sisi Guide to Ruling Egypt

Arif Rafiq — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 07:26:37 GMT

Hesham Sallam of Stanford University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Pres. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's 10 years as ruler of Egypt and how this one man has dominated Egypt, its institutions, and its 110 million people for a decade. They dive deep into El-Sisi's motives, how his brand of authoritarianism differs from those of his predecessors, and what the future holds for this new pharaoh and the 110 million people over whom he rules.

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How El-Sisi Rules Egypt

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Venezuela’s Long Crisis

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 07:30:00 GMT

Francisco Rodríguez of the University of Denver joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Venezuela's long political and economic crises, the drivers of its instability, the role played by the U.S., its links to the migrant crisis, and the potential for a way out.

In this episode, we take a deep look at the broader political and economic crisis that Venezuela has been experiencing for more than two decades and is driving the ongoing migrant crisis. We’ll unpack the roots of populist authoritarianism in Venezuela and the impact of the U.S. sanctions regime on the country's politics and society.

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India’s Global Assassination Program

Arif Rafiq — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 07:30:00 GMT

Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss India’s global assassination campaign, its modes, methods, and motivations, and what it means for the future of India’s partnership with the United States and the West.

Previously limited to its neighborhood, India's assassination campaign is now extending to the West. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed it has charged an Indian man of attempting to kill a Sikh American supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement. The development comes just months after the killing in Canada of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani activist. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attributed the murder to "agents of India."

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The Arab Americans of Metro Detroit: Inside a Community That Could Decide the 2024 Presidential Elections

Arif Rafiq — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 05:45:53 GMT

University of Michigan-Dearborn Professor Sally Howell joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the history of the Arab Americans of Detroit and Dearborn and their rise as a force that is not only reshaping the political landscape in Michigan but could also play a decisive role in choosing the next president of the United States.

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Saudi Arabia: The Gaza War and MBS’s Plans to Transform the Region

Arif Rafiq — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 17:31:02 GMT

Rice University scholar Kristian Ulrichsen joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how the October 7 attacks by Hamas have impacted Saudi Arabia's moves toward normalizing ties with Israel, its relations with Iran, and plans by its de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform the country's economy and society through Vision 2030.

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Hamas: Between Politics and War

Arif Rafiq — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 05:45:16 GMT

King's College London Professor Jeroen Gunning joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Hamas's ideology, internal struggles between pragmatists and hardliners, competition with other Palestinian groups, and use of violence against Israel.

The episode concludes with a discussion on how to hold both state and non-state actors accountable for violence against civilians.

Gunning lived in Gaza in the late 1990s and interviewed most of Hamas's leading political leaders as well as many rank-and-file members of the group. His first book, "Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence," is informed by this field research.

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Netanyahu’s Wars

Arif Rafiq — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 06:10:00 GMT

International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the mood on the ground in Israel after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, how it may shape Netanyahu’s decision-making, and what the ongoing crisis means for his legacy.

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The Palestinian Question: Past, Present and Future

Arif Rafiq — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:00:12 GMT

The Middle East Institute's Khaled Elgindy and host Arif Rafiq discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. policy toward Palestine, and the future of the Palestinian national movement.