Why It Matters

Updated: 14 Nov 2024 • 99 episodes
www.cfr.org/podcast-series/why-it-matters

Each episode of Why It Matters breaks down an issue that is shaping our world’s future. Join host Gabrielle Sierra as she speaks with the leaders and thinkers who are facing these questions head on. Fueled by the minds at the Council on Foreign Relations, Why It Matters brings some of the world’s most compelling stories home to you.

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Tumultuous events have rocked the last four years: the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe’s largest land war in eighty years, and an escalating Middle Eastern conflict between Israel and Iran-backed forces. On top of that, the United States faces an intensifying geopolitical struggle with China and Russia. Now, U.S. President J

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13 Nov 2024 • EN

The New Tech World Order

For most of our history, the realm of international relations was dominated by nation-states. They waged wars and signed treaties through the framework of governance. But today, more so than ever before, tech titans are acting as unilateral decision-makers, upsetting the balance and structure of global power around the

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With the rise of social media, influencers around the world have increasingly taken on the role of newscaster without a traditional media organization behind them. Some say it has democratized journalism, but with the rise of misinformation, influencers who capture massive audiences online also run the risk of spreadin

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The United States national debt is rising to levels not seen since World War II. Many economists say Washington is on an unsustainable track, but no one knows when it will pass the point of crisis. What is at risk if U.S. debt continues to grow?   Featured Guests: Maya MacGuineas (President of the Committee for a Respo

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The world is watching the U.S. presidential contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris with intense interest. Few countries are tracking the race more closely than Germany, Europe's biggest economy and a founding member of the NATO alliance. Its experiences provide insights into how

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West Africa is losing many of its best and brightest. Across the region, doctors, lawyers, and engineers are leaving, depriving some of the world’s youngest countries of the minds they need to develop sustainably. At the same time, coups have rocked the nearby Sahel, threatening to create a corrosive cycle of instabili

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