Fp's The Editor's Roundtable (the E.r.)

Leaders from nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at this year’s annual U.N. climate summit, known as COP28. But the agreement is nonbinding, and questions on how to finance such a transition remain unanswered. This week’s guest, however, might have those answers—and it all comes down to public-private partnerships, the reform of multilateral lenders, and better political will.  Rajiv Shah served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development under President Barack Obama. He is now president of the Rockefeller Foundation and the author of Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens. Suggested reading: Rajiv Shah: Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens Christina Lu: Good COP or Bad COP? Lili Pike: The Climate Envoys Who Could Shayak Sengupta and Abhinav Jindal: Are Global Climate Partnerships Fit for Purpose? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 16,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. As Israel resumes ground operations in Gaza, is there an end in sight? Rashid Khalidi is the author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance and a professor at Columbia University. He describes why he thinks decades of failures of diplomacy have led to this moment and why the Biden administration’s Middle East policy gets an “F” in his report card.  Suggested reading: FP Contributors: How Will This War End? How Can the Next One Be Prevented? Tareq Baconi: What Was Hamas Thinking? Steven A. Cook: Israel May End Up Reoccupying Gaza Steven Simon and Aaron David Miller: Grading Biden on the Israel-Hamas War Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 28th edition of the international climate summit known as the Conference of the Parties—or COP—convened in Dubai this week, just as scientists announced that 2023 was likely to be the hottest year in human history. Host Ravi Agrawal spoke to Vijay Vaitheeswaran, the Global energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist, about what to expect. Suggested reading: Rajiv J. Shah: At COP28, the World Needs to Prioritize Financial Reform Catherine Osborn: Will COP28 Jump-Start Latin America’s Green Energy Ambitions? Shayak Sengupta: India Isn’t Interested in the West’s Climate Money Vijay Vaitheeswarran: The Dark Side of Climate Finance Brought to you by: betterhelp.com/fplive greenchef.com/fplive250 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the most effective way to give to people in dire need? Rory Stewart, a former U.K. cabinet official and the head of the charity GiveDirectly, discusses the power of unconditional cash transfers and how that could revolutionize attempts to combat poverty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the United States for the first time in six years this week, announcing with U.S. President Joe Biden a range of new collaborations between the world’s two biggest economies. Host Ravi Agrawal convenes a panel to analyze takeaways from this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco and is joined by FP’s James Palmer, the Spectator’s Cindy Yu, and former Obama administration advisor Evan Medeiros. Suggested reading: Robbie Gramer: Biden and Xi Try the Personal Touch James Palmer: Can Xi and Biden Repair U.S.-China Ties? Agathe Demarais: Don’t Expect Much From Biden and Xi Christina Lu: Beijing Tightens Its Grip on the Critical Minerals Sector Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The State Department has a new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, and it’s run by Nathaniel Fick, a former cybersecurity executive and marine. Ambassador Fick joined the Biden administration to make sure that every department’s digital policy is connected up together. And his job is to make sure the White House can combat threats emerging from cyberspace and AI in the best possible way. Fick joins Ravi Agrawal to share his vision for this new department. Suggested reading: Ravi Agrawal: Why America Has a New Tech Ambassador Rishi Iyengar: Biden Turns a Few More Screws on China’s Chip Industry Rishi Iyengar: Inside the White House-Backed Effort to Hack AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does the Israel-Hamas war mean for the region and the world? That’s what’s on the minds of policymakers as the conflict enters a new phase with the start of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza. Experts Kim Ghattas and Steven A. Cook share their analysis with host Ravi Agrawal. Ghattas is a journalist based in Beirut and the author of Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East. Cook is a regular FP columnist and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Suggested reading: Kim Ghattas: Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East Steven A. Cook: Saudi Arabia is Mysteriously Absent in the Israel-Hamas War Steven A. Cook: Why the U.S. Tolerates Qatar’s Hamas Ties Oliver Stuenkel: Why the Global South is Accusing America of Hypocrisy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza, compounding the humanitarian crisis there and causing record civilian losses. This comes amid growing concerns from experts of a larger regional conflict. How should the United States and the global community respond to prevent further escalation in the region and minimize harm to the Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians? Former Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak joins host Ravi Agrawal on this week’s episode of Foreign Policy Live. Suggested reading: Daniel Byman: The Israel-Hamas War Has Entered a ‘New Phase.’ Here’s What to Expect. Tal Alroy: ‘We Will Never Forgive Netanyahu for What He Did to Us’ Stephen M. Walt: Universities Shouldn’t Ever Take Sides in a War Franz-Stefan Gady: Israel’s Military Tech Fetish Is a Failed Strategy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How is Russian President Vladimir Putin assessing the unfolding conflict in the Middle East? And how will that impact Western support for Ukraine?  Fiona Hill is just the person to ask. She’s advised both Democratic and Republican administrations on Russia policy and is currently a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Suggested reading: Fiona Hill: There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century Amy Mackinnon: What Putin Stands to Gain From Israel-Hamas War Ian S. Lustick: Vengeance Is Not a Policy Kenneth M. Pollack: The 1973 War Analogy Is Deeper Than You Think Howard W. French: Biden’s Unquestioning Support for Israel Could Be a Costly Error Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renewed conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine have left policymakers scrambling. Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus joins FP Live to discuss America’s role and what he expects to happen next.  In a 37-year career in the military, Petraeus led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming CIA director from 2011 to 2012. He is also a co-author of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare From 1945 to Ukraine. Suggested reading: David Petraeus: Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare From 1945 to Ukraine David Petraeus and Frederick W. Kagan: Ukraine’s counteroffensive might yet surprise critics Robbie Gramer: How Congressional Chaos Hampers U.S. Aid to Israel, Ukraine Ian S. Lustick: Vengeance Is Not a Policy For other podcasts, check out: https://www.goalhangerpodcasts.com/disorder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel has demanded that 1.1 million Gazans relocate from the north into the south, as a siege of the strip intensifies. What is Washington’s role? Democratic Rep. Andy Kim joined Ravi Agrawal amid a continued failure to elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives.  Part of this conversation, focused on China, will also be featured in Foreign Policy’s podcast Global Reboot, in partnership with the Doha Forum. Suggested reading: Daniel Byman: Hamas’s Strategy of Failure Howard W. French: The Peril in Declaring ‘I Stand with Israel’ Alexandra Sharp: Blinken Visits Israel to Pledge U.S. Military Aid For other podcasts, check out: https://www.goalhangerpodcasts.com/disorder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An extra episode this week: Aaron David Miller joins Ravi Agrawal to share his insights as Israel orders a complete siege of Gaza and declares war on Hamas. The declaration comes after a deadly Hamas attack last weekend that killed hundreds of Israelis.  Miller has advised six Republican and Democratic secretaries of state on Middle East policy. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Suggested reading: FP Contributors: Israel-Hamas War Steven A. Cook: The Hamas Attack Has Changed Everything Daniel Byman: Will Hezbollah Join the War Against Israel? Michael Hirsh: Netanyahu’s Road to War Elisabeth Braw: How the Israel-Hamas War Could Spike Oil Prices Yousef Munayyer: Laying Siege to Gaza Is No Solution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s second-largest economy is slowing down. But are concerns overblown? What’s at risk for the global economy? How should policymakers react? The Wall Street Journal’s chief China correspondent, Lingling Wei; economist Adam Posen; and FP’s James Palmer join Ravi Agrawal to decipher the economic data and news from China.  Suggested reading: James Palmer: As China’s Property Sector Crumbles, Who Takes the Fall? Zongyuan Zoe Liu: Xi’s Policies Have Shortened the Fuse on China’s Economic Time Bomb Hal Brands: The Dangers of China’s Decline Tony Chan, Ben Harburg, and Kishore Mahbubani: America Can’t Stop China’s Rise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS EPISODE: The Global Dispatches podcast—“How Interpol Works, with Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political polarization and disinformation may seem to be on the rise in the United States, but these tactics are not new. As historian Heather Cox Richardson notes, political candidates in early U.S. history would game elections by saying that their opponent was dead. Are there reasons to be hopeful about democracy? Boston College Professor Heather Cox Richardson joins Ravi Agrawal to discuss her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Suggested reading: Heather Cox Richardson: How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality Heather Cox Richardson: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America Hélène Landemore: More Power to More People FP Contributors: 10 Ideas to Fix Democracy Brought to you by: betterhelp.com/FPLive greenchef.com/60FPLive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samantha Power is a powerful voice in the Biden administration. She not only is the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the country’s primary arm for international aid, but also sits on U.S. President Joe Biden’s National Security Council. How does Power think through which countries need U.S. aid the most, and how do decisions get made? Power joins Ravi Agrawal to discuss how this week’s United Nations General Assembly might move the needle on key initiatives. Suggested reading: Gordon Brown: A New Multilateralism Stefan Theil: The Alliances That Matter Now Darren Walker: Can the G-20 Be a Champion for the Global South? Brought to you by: betterhelp.com/FPLive greenchef.com/60FPLive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United Nations today is often criticized for being ineffective, even paralyzed, a far cry from what Winston Churchill once referred to as the “only hope of the world.” Is that true? Can it still serve as an effective tool for solving today’s global challenges? Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She joins Ravi Agrawal ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week to discuss the Biden administration's priorities.  Suggested reading: Amy Mackinnon, Robbie Gramer, and Avian Muñoz: What to Expect When You’re Expecting the U.N. General Assembly Mark Malloch-Brown: The United Nations is Convening—and Sputtering Gordon Brown: A New Multilateralism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taiwan has long lived under the shadow of China’s desire to take over its territory. And as China’s economy and military have grown, so too has the threat of a potential invasion. What is Taipei’s strategy for defense and security, and how is it marshaling support from other countries? Ravi Agrawal is joined by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Suggested reading: Hal Brands: Deterrence in Taiwan Is Failing Joseph Wu: Why Taiwan Has a Lock on the World’s Chip Market Raymond Kuo: ‘Strategic Ambiguity’ Has the U.S. and Taiwan Trapped Gabriel Scheinmann: 4 Ways U.S. Support for Ukraine Helps Defend Taiwan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People often describe the United Nations as paralyzed. If that’s the case, where do countries turn to if they want to advance global issues that require cooperation? Is it the G-20? The G-7? Smaller groups? Foreign Policy’s Fall 2023 print issue, “The Alliances That Matter Now,” explores the state of global policymaking. Princeton University’s G. John Ikenberry joins host Ravi Agrawal to discuss his essay on the G-7 and its role in the new world order. Suggested reading: G. John Ikenberry: The G-7 Becomes a Power Player Michael Kugelman: Will India’s G-20 Summit Succeed? James Palmer: Xi Jinping Will Be a G-20 No-Show Michael J. Green: Never Say Never to an Asian NATO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS EPISODE: The Irregular Warfare podcast—“Deterrence through Asymmetry: Preparing for Conflict in the Taiwan Strait.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices