New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast

Hossein Mousavian discusses Iran's new president and explores potential new directions for the country's future.

During the summer, Iranians elected a new president: Masoud Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, who is considered to be a political reformer. His victory surprised at least many foreign observers who are skeptical about all things Iranian, not the least that anyone could win an election against so-called hardliners. But Pezeshkian did exactly that.

Did he win in spite of or with the support of Iran’s Supreme Leader and of the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards? Can he cope with the profound challenges fa...

Dr. Christian Ntizimira delves into the social, psychological, cultural, and spiritual aspects shaping the final days of someone who is dying.

The Greek philosopher, Epicurus, wrote “The art of living well and dying well are one.” However, most of us spend our lives desperately trying to avoid even thinking about dying, never mind preparing for it.

An exception is Dr. Christian Ntizimira, a Rwandan surgeon, who founded the African Center for Research on End-of-Life Care. He has thought long and hard about the social, psychological, cultural, and spiritual factors, as well as the physiological ones, that shape the...

Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, explains how his team uses online open-source investigation to distinguish fact from fiction.

We live in a world where facts are everywhere, recorded and shared ubiquitously. That ought to make this an era where arguments, journalism, and politics are routinely rooted in fact; unfortunately, it is more a world where too many people insist not only their own opinions, but on their own “facts.”

The problem is technology running amok, a bit like the broom in Goethe’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice (or the perhaps more familiar versions starring Mickey Mouse or Nicolas Cage). W...

Liora Hardar and Naty Barak talk about the human impact and implications of all the fighting and destruction of the past 10 months.

Israel is at war, and not just with Hamas, Iran, the Houthis, and their fellow travelers. Israeli’s most dangerous war may be with itself.

That was certainly true before October 7th, and it’s still true. Back then the streets were full of protesters opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu, his government, and their policies; the country seemed split down the middle. That split has not disappeared: today more than three quarters of Israelis reportedly worry abou...

Allison Minor, a Middle East expert, explores how these tensions might escalate into a regional conflict and whether a broader war can be avoided.

The Middle East is a war zone with Gaza as ground zero. But barely a day goes by when there isn't also fighting in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Israel, the Red Sea, or elsewhere. The danger is that one of these battles could suddenly ignite a bigger conflict with global consequences.

Perhaps surprisingly, Yemen may be a prime candidate for that honor. For years the Iranian-backed Shia Houthis have been fighting, more...

Philip Zelikow explores potential global conflicts and the shifting dynamics between China, Russia, the U.S., and their allies.

War in Ukraine. Fighting in Gaza, and across the Middle East. Risky air naval incidents in the South China Sea. Worries about a potential Taiwan conflict. All of it wrapped in visibly growing tensions between China and Russia on the one hand, and the United States and its allies on the other.

So much for the end of history and a lasting peace dividend. Once more, rival geopolitical blocks are maneuvering for advantage, competing directly and through proxies...

Europe funds North African countries to dump refugees in the Sahara, raising serious human rights concerns.

It’s not exactly headline news that many countries are inventing all sorts of novel ways to seal their borders from migrants and refugees or, when those efforts fail, to force the uninvited and unwanted to leave. It is news, however, when Europe funds, supports, and encourages governments of countries like Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania literally to dump refugees in the Sahara as either punishment or powerful disincentive for trying to escape to Europe.

Of course, on paper the lucrative deals th...

Chris Dalby explains what the Mexican cartels want and how they are getting it.

Politics in Mexico has long been a blood sport: not only “winner takes all,” but also incredibly violent. Last month’s national elections—when the country's first female president won with a record number of votes and by a record margin of victory—demonstrated both trends. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party (founded and still controlled by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador) won huge national and state legislative victories. But the electoral campaign was punctuated by more than 100 political assassinations, as well as widespread...

Alice Barbe, a French political and social activist, shares her concerns and expectations for the second round and beyond.

Much to everyone’s surprise, France’s President Macron recently decided that—like much of the rest of the world—his country ought to have national elections this year. The outcome of the first of two rounds was devastating for his political project to govern from the center: Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally party won a bit more than 33% of the vote. A coalition of leftist parties, the New Popular Front, won 28%. And Macron's Centers party again came in third...

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet. Tero Mustonen, recently back from the Arctic, offers a firsthand debrief.

That the Arctic is warming is not exactly breaking news on a planet where almost everywhere is warming. But it is critical news that the Arctic is warming almost four times faster than the rest of the globe since the polar regions are essentially the planet’s air conditioners. Last year's Arctic Report Card documented that 2023 was the Arctic's hottest summer in centuries, with all the attendant consequences: massive wildfires, late June Greenland ice sh...