Diplomacy and International Politics

The first 100 days are key to understanding where any presidency is going. Now more than a third of the way into that timeframe, how is President Joe Biden doing in the international policy arena? The World’s host Marco Werman speaks with Nicholas Burns, a former US under secretary of state for political affairs and a former ambassador to NATO.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns, former top official and ambassador at the State Department, joins Andrea Mitchell today ahead of President Biden's visit to the State Department where he plans to deliver a speech laying out his immediate foreign policy agenda. Amb. Burns says. "I think President Biden's visit to the State Department today is a powerful signal of his support for the United States building up its capacity in diplomacy which we didn't see under four years of Donald Trump."

The Coronavirus and its variants know no borders. Despite falling numbers in Germany, the virus continues to have a firm grip on Europe. The reason? Vaccine procurement is worse in Europe than anywhere else in the world. Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook discusses the current state of the pandemic in the EU. [partially translated from German; interview in German]

The inauguration of Joe Biden was marked by strict security requirements and COVID-19 protocols, but it still proceeded smoothly. Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook sums up the most important challenges now awaiting the 46th U.S. president.  [translated from German; interview in German]

After Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President, he wants to reverse a number of measures taken by his predecessor Donald Trump. Will Biden manage to bring the country back to normal? Alexander Kähler discusses with Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson (KCRW Berlin), Christoph von Marschall (Der Tagesspiegel), Majid Sattar (FAZ Washington) and Cathryn Clüver-Ashbrook (political scientist Harvard Kennedy School). [translated from German; interview in German]

Storming the Capitol, shaking democracy - how dangerous are the days ahead of the transition of power for the United States? And even if Trump leaves the Oval Office, will he remain an eternal divider? Does the poison of his lies continue to have an effect in America, and does it perhaps continue to serve as a model for populists abroad? [translated from German, interview in German]

Harvard Kennedy School faculty share insights into the evident fragility of American democratic norms and institutions following the attack on the United States Capitol by followers of President Trump. These essays examine the nature and scale of the threat and weigh potential avenues for protecting and nurturing democracy. They were written before the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Trump on Wednesday for the second time.

Harvard Kennedy School political scientist, Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, attaches great importance to the new impeachment process. On Deutschlandfunk she said: “It's about the oldest functioning democracy in the world. It is about the status of the United States' global role model.” Which system will set the credible international frame for the future - authoritarian China or democracies like the USA and Europe? She added: "To protect democracy as such, the President must be stopped." [from German; interview in German]

In eight days, the term of office of President Trump ends in America. Now, the Democrats want to remove him from office. Today the FAZ Podcast for Germany welcomes Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook to discuss the opportunities and risks of impeachment.  [translated from German, interview in German]

After initially praising the U.S. Congress riots, Trump later distanced himself from the mob that stormed the Capitol - too late, many believe. Is it time to apply the 25th Amendment? Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook speaks to ZDF Heute about the chaos at the Capitol. [In German]