Friday Focus: Trump takes aim at the CDC and Putin is undeterred
Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. Rudyard and Janice start the show with Trump's firing of CDC director Susan Monarez over disputes about vaccine policy, and the attempted dismissal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in his bid to take control of the central bank and lower interest rates. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin brazenly launched a major ballistic and drone attack in Kyiv killing almost two dozen people, only ten days after his summit in Anchorage with the US President. Is it time to call Trump's attempt at a deal a foreign policy failure? In the remaining moments of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to events in the Middle East where Israeli troops are entering Gaza City as the first phase of a planned occupation. Why are both sides so unwilling to accept a ceasefire deal? And why is Trump so focused on ending the war in Ukraine while ignoring the destruction in Gaza? To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue. More information at www.munkdebates.com.
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Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: the US slides towards dictatorship and Carney clings to Canada's peacemaking past
In the past week alone there has been an FBI raid on John Bolton's home and a threat to investigate former New Jersey governor Chris Christie due to his criticism of Trump. Every day there are new indicators to suggest the US is rapidly descending into dictatorship, with the President using the power of his office for his own ends. How can Americans stop this momentum? Andrew and Rudyard then turn to Canada's ongoing trade war with the US. Mark Carney's repeated attempts at being a reasonable interlocutor engaging in good faith negotiations is met with provocation from the US President. Andrew suggests the PM try to manage chaos and stall for time instead of trying to reach a deal. This is a problem that shouldn't be solved; it should be managed. In the final moments of the show Andrew and Rudyard talk about Carney's visit to Ukraine and his offer to send Canadian troops as part of a future security guarantee. Is it time for Canada to accept its defense limitations and its inability to act as the peacemaker it has always aspired to be? Or should we welcome this offer as an opportunity to fulfill our long neglected NATO obligations?
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Friday Focus: Trump is a foreign policy wrecking ball, and Carney goes from elbows up to elbows down
Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. Rudyard and Janice open today's Friday Focus with the fallout from last week's Trump-Putin meeting and Monday's Zelensky visit to Washington. Putin is walking back from almost every concession he offered last week, essentially demanding that Ukraine be demilitarized without a pathway to NATO membership. This is a non-starter for Ukraine. How did we go from the bromance of Alaska back to the stalemate of February 2022 in the span of a week? It is becoming increasingly obvious that President Trump is not able or willing to do the serious work required to get a deal in place. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to trade with the US. Why is Canada being singled out for particularly rough treatment? Carney is trying to reset negotiations by removing retaliatory tariffs because he knows that if CUSMA collapses, Canada will pay a heavy price. The PM pushed an elbows up narrative in order to win the election. He positioned himself as the defender of Canada against Trump's America. Is he able to back away from this narrative and do a deal that might make him look weak but protect Canada's economic interests? To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue. More information at www.munkdebates.com.
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Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: a phony peace deal for Ukraine could put all of Europe at risk
Rudyard and Andrew unpack the latest meeting between Trump, Zelensky and European leaders that seems to have yielded no real progress in resolving the war in Ukraine. Trump indicated a willingness to offer security guarantees, but if Ukraine isn't admitted into NATO, will an Article 5 type protection promise carry any weight? What did Trump promise Putin on Friday that scared European leaders to drop everything and fly in for this emergency meeting? And why can't everyone see that Trump - on every major point - is on the side of Russia? A phony peace agreement could put all of Europe at risk and influence China's calculation vis-a-vis Taiwan. And finally, why are world leaders - including Canada's Mark Carney - so willing to engage in false flattery of Trump at great cost to their own credibility?
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Friday Focus: China's tax on Canadian canola and TIFF abandons the principles of free speech
Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates. Rudyard and Janice open today's show reacting to China's 75% tariff on Canada's canola seed, a retaliation against our government's decision to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles. Is the Trump administration ultimately to blame for the retaliatory tariff climate we now find ourselves in? And as the weakest G7 country, why are we fighting two superpowers at the same time? Is it time to reset our relationship with China? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to the controversy from TIFF this week following the removal of a documentary about October 7th from the festival's lineup, which was ultimately reversed after a public outcry. Rudyard and Janice agree that the reasons cited by TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey for this decision lacked both merit and conviction. This was a blatant display of a Canadian institution embracing the abandonment of the best principles of free speech, and it is a sobering reminder that we must include diverse voices in our cultural spaces. Furthermore, TIFF is a publicly funded institution, and as stakeholders we should demand that its leadership be held accountable for this unfortunate episode. To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue. More information at www.munkdebates.com.
The Munk Debates podcast is an extension of the main stage events - in subject, speaker selection, tone and format. It will introduce the iconic brand - and its engaging debates about significant issues of our time. Audiences will hear strong and passionate arguments from both sides of an issue so they will have enough information to make up their own minds about where they stand.
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