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Explore the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States.
Marco Werman
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Full episode - August 23, 2019
20 years of Putin
This month marks 20 years since Vladimir Putin first became prime minister of Russia. Now serving his fourth term as Russia's president, Putin has increased and consolidated his power over the past two decades. We look back at the events that have shaped his leadership and the course of his nation. Also, we reflect on the past 20 years of diplomacy between the US and Russia; and when Vladimir Putin finishes his fourth term as Russia's President, what will he do next? (U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint press conference after their 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland. Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The long wait
The US and the Taliban are reportedly inching closer to a breakthrough in peace talks. But the Afghan government has been notably missing from these negotiations. Afghanistan's first female ambassador to the US, Roya Rahmani, says that the Afghan government's position regarding the talks is that 'peace is the highest desire.' Also, we'll take you Tijuana, Mexico, just south of the US border, where migrants from all over the world are waiting for a chance to enter the US; and long lost relatives reunite and share their family history after being seperated by a legacy of slavery. (Afghan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World)
Scoring points
The US-China trade war has been going on for almost two years now. Both countries have imposed hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other, and that number has only been growing. Right now, we may be entering a new, potentially dangerous, phase of the dispute: currency warfare. Also, we'll take a look at real life consequences that the US-China trade war is already having, both for small businesses and for Chinese-Americans who are now experiencing unwanted scrutiny; and we'll also explore China's so called social credit system, and why it's been mostly misunderstood in the West. (An aerial view of a port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province. Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Means of destruction
In 1987, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. It led to the elimination of more than 2,500 nuclear missile. But as of this week, the INF treaty is no more after the Trump administration announced its withdrawal. Former Secretary of State George Schulz thinks today's politicians underestimate the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Also, roughly a year after the US announced that it's creating a military space force, now France is following suit. It's a 21st century military version of the space race; how hypersonic missiles could transform the future of war and diplomacy; and the widespread use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war has consequences beyond Vietnam's borders. (U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signing the INF Treaty in the East Room at the White House in 1987. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
Full episode - July 26, 2019
Breaking with tradition
Next month, roughly two million Muslims will travel to the holy city of Mecca for one of the most important religious rituals in Islam. As long as they are in good health and can afford it, every Muslim must complete the Hajj at least once in their lifetime. But the Hajj can only be done in Saudi Arabia, which is making some people feel conflicted about making the journey. Also, Dutton Books is trying to reinvent books for the smartphone generation with something called the 'Dwarsligger'; Disney is remaking a live action version of the hit film 'Mulan,' this time though, they're paying attention to their Chinese audience; Some women in Argentina are challenging gender roles on the dance floor, taking the macho out of tango; and in their new album, three Israeli sisters pay tribute to a family member going three generations back, from Yemen. (Every year, millions of Muslims from around the world descend upon Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the hajj. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World)
There are upwards of 10 million unauthorized immigrants living in the US. Many of those immigrants are children or have children studying in schools throughout the country. For them,fear of deportation and family separation is a constant reality. Students at El Colegio High School in the Midwestern city of Minneapolis know that feeling, so the school has prepared its students and staff for when the immigration agents come knocking. Also, find out how Trump's hard-line immigration policies build on the history of former US presidents; we meet the teachers of University Open Air where classes are all taught by immigrants; author Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani talks about the legacy of Nigerian slavery and how it affects people's lives today; and the story of a Uighur family whose members fled China and now own a restaurant in Boston. (An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen in Washington, DC. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
President Trump has backed away from his efforts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 US census. But immigrants still fear being asked that question. Also, there's an outbreak of measles in two ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City. A nurse there is trying to convince those in the community to get vaccinated; former US Defence Secretary Ash Carter offers his views on current tensions with; and a Venezuelan family divided by distance and politics, a daughter laments.
State of anxiety
In recent months, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Trump Administration officials have been trying to convince Congress that Iran has ties with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Some say that the Administration is trying to establish this connection because of a law that the US Congress passed three days after the 9/11 attacks. That law gave then President George W. Bush the authority to go to war with al-Qaeda and any related organisation without Congressional approval. Also, we meet Iranian-Americans who are feeling particularly anxious as tension between the US and Iran escalates; and we find out what possessions people in Tehran are looking to sell, to find out how sanctions are affecting ordinary Iranians. (President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing fresh sanctions on Iran in the Oval Office of the White House. Next to Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Credit: Oliver Contreras/Getty Images)
Full episode - June 28, 2019
Refugee story
When Wajed al-Khalifa and her family arrived in the US as refugees in 2015, everything about the United States seemed foreign. They were now far away from their home in Syria and it was time to acclimate to a new life. It wasn't long though before they started hitting milestones: Khalifa and her husband got driving licences, their four children excelled in school, quickly overcoming barriers such as English-language instruction and a new education system. Over the past 4 years reporter Monica Campbell has been checking in with the family and their story is still unfolding. Also, US congresswoman Ilhan Omar tells us about her experience as a refugee from Somalia, and how this informs what she thinks about the US migration crisis. (Gasem Al Hamad and his children in their new home in Turlock, California. He and his wife fled Syria with their kids after several family members were tortured or killed as the civil war rages on. Al Hamad is now a halal butcher at a nearby slaughterhouse. Credit: Monica Campbell/The World)
Waste land
The coastal lowlands along Malaysia's side of the Strait of Malacca are a mostly lush place, studded with fat palms and forest canopies dripping with vines. But over the past year and a half, black pillars of smoke have appeared above the treetops. We investigate how plastic waste American municipalities send for recycling, is piling up in illegal dumps thousands of miles away. Also, tiny plastic pellets, called 'nurdles' are the product of plastics producers, but why are these pellets appearing on the US Gulf Coast?; Americans have few options when it comes to recycled tissue products and that's having a devastating impact on Canada's northern forests; Meal kits are becoming very popular in the US, but are they helping us to reduce waste? (Plastic waste at an abandoned factory in Jenjarom, a district of Kuala Langat, outside Kuala Lumpur. From grubby packaging engulfing small Southeast Asian communities to waste piling up in plants from the US to Australia, China's ban on accepting the world's used plastic has plunged global recycling into turmoil. Credit: Mohd Rasfan/Getty Images)