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TwentyTwenty

TwentyTwenty

By Foreign Brief

A short series about how the events of 2020 have accelerated global trends and made the world’s challenges, like authoritarianism, soft power, data privacy and the future of work, more visible.

Produced in partnership with The Fletcher Forum.
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Tomorrow's Debt Crisis, Today

TwentyTwentyOct 27, 2020

00:00
33:37
End of the Oil Age: Power Politics

End of the Oil Age: Power Politics

In this episode of TwentyTwenty, we interview Robbie Diamond, founder and CEO of Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), about the way in which energy has historically dominated geopolitics and how the battle for resources as we move into the world of renewables will reshape the political playing field. How will oil giants fare in the renewable energy transition? Will China's dominance of rare earth minerals make it the new OPEC? Can we learn from our time in the oil age, or are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Executive Producer & Presenter:  Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy.

Associate Producer: Max Klaver

Studio Assistant  Rachel Carp

Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apr 27, 202126:24
The End of the Oil Age: Tipping Points

The End of the Oil Age: Tipping Points

In this episode of TwentyTwenty, we interview Rachel Kyte, former World Bank president and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, about the need to use the COVID19 crisis as an opportunity to build back better and invest in renewable energy, and what new opportunities are out there for renewable energy - from hydrogen fuel to "backpack-sized nuclear power". Joining us is Susan Shannon, Vice President of Government Relations, Policy & International Organisations at Shell, to explore how the private sector is transitioning to renewables and how exactly that pivot works. 


Executive Producer & Presenter:  Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy. 

Associate Producer: Max Klaver 

Studio Assistant  Rachel Carp



Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Mar 08, 202138:55
Automation Acceleration

Automation Acceleration

This episode of TwentyTwenty explores the prospects of an increasingly automated world that has grown even more so in the wake of COVID-19 induced supply chain breakdowns. Now more than ever before, we must ask ourselves "what is the value of work?".

This week's interviewees:

Dr. Astrid Krenz, Digital Futures at Work Research Centre at the University of Sussex.

Maya Markovich, Chief Growth Officer for Nextlaw Labs, the legal technology catalyst for global law firm Dentons

Dec 14, 202035:16
Hard Truths; Soft Power

Hard Truths; Soft Power

This episode of TwentyTwenty explores the role of American soft power in its international relations: how human rights have historically shaped decision making; the impact of race relations; and the increasing concerns around militarisation in the USA. 

This week's interviewees: 

Monica Toft: Professor of international politics and director of the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and  a research associate at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She is a supernumerary fellow at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, a Global Scholar of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Minorities at Risk Advisory Board and the Political Instability Task Force. Prior to this, she spent four years in the United States Army as a Russian linguist.

Inderjeet Parmar: Past president, chair and vice chair of the British International Studies Association; currently Visiting Professor at LSE (2019-2022) and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford. He is co-editor of a book series, Routledge Studies in US Foreign Policy and served as Principal Investigator and co-ordinator of the AHRC Research Network on the Presidency of Barack Obama. He is currently working with colleagues to establish the Trump Project.

This episode was presented and edited by Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy. The lead researcher was Alex Brotman. The Executive Producer for TwentyTwenty is Elizabeth Dykstra, with the Associate Producer  Max Klaver and Studio Assistant  Rachel Carp.




Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nov 15, 202037:56
Tomorrow's Debt Crisis, Today

Tomorrow's Debt Crisis, Today

In this episode, TwentyTwenty discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic might potentially play the match to a global sovereign debt tinderbox, particularly throughout emerging market economies, with Argentina explored as a case study. 

This week's interviewees: 

Lee Buchheit: the world's premier veteran of sovereign debt restructuring, having represented nearly 25 bankrupt countries in negotiations, including Greece's 2012 restructuring, the largest such debt workaround in history. 

Dr. Miguel Kiguel: former Undersecretary of Finance and Chief Advisor to the Argentine Economy Minister, Deputy General Manager for Economics and Finance at the Central Bank of Argentina, and current Director at EconViews.

This episode was presented and edited by Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy with lead researchers for this episode, Max Klaver, Jonathan Regnier and Bryan Campbell Romero. The Executive Producer is Elizabeth Dykstra and Associate Producers, Jonathan Regnier Max Klaver, with Rachel Carp as Assistant Editor. 

Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Oct 27, 202033:37
Chaining the Digital Titans

Chaining the Digital Titans

Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy interviews Josephine Wolff and Peter Chase to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed a shift toward virtual life, what the implications of such a change are for data collection, how we might wrest back control of our personal information, and what the future of technological sovereignty might look like.

This episode was presented and edited by Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy with lead researchers for this episode, Manisha Vepa and Sulagna Basu. The Executive Producer is Elizabeth Dykstra and Associate Producer, Max Klaver, with Rachel Carp as Assistant Editor. Many thanks to this week's interviewees, Josephine Wolff and Peter Chase.

Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Oct 13, 202032:51
Tightening the Belt

Tightening the Belt

Elizabeth Dykstra interviews Jonathan Hillman and Alessandro Arduino to discuss how the economic impacts of coronavirus will impact the Belt and Road Project, China’s cornerstone foreign policy, and the wider implications of this on Chinese global power and regional security.

This was presented and edited by Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy with lead researchers for this episode, Kevin Schwartz and Bilal Rahmani. The Executive Producer is Elizabeth Dykstra and Associate Producer, Max Klaver, with Rachel Carp as Assistant Editor. Many thanks to this week's interviewees, Jonathan Hillman and Alessandra Arduino.




Opening music is Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sep 16, 202027:31
Cracking Down in Lockdown

Cracking Down in Lockdown

The first episode interviews Nic Cheeseman and Aniko Szucs to explore how national leaders have leveraged lockdowns to consolidate their power: what tools they use, what defences citizens have and how this has played out in Hungary.


TwentyTwenty was produced and presented by Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy. The Associate Producer was Max Klaver, and lead researchers were Vivek Ganesh and Nick Giurleo. The Editors were Elizabeth Dykstra-McCarthy with Jessie Newman. Many thanks to this week’s interviewees, Dr Aniko Szucs and Dr Nic Cheeseman.


Opening music: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sep 01, 202031:23