Friday Focus: Munk Debate on the Two-State Solution and China's chokehold on the U.S.
To find out how to purchase tickets to the Munk Debate on the Two-State Solution (or to access the livestream) go to www.munkdebates.com Rudyard and Janice preview our upcoming 2025 autumn mainstage Munk Debate on the Two-State Solution taking place on December 3rd in Toronto. What can we expect from the team of Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, who believe Israel's future depends on pursuing two states for two peoples? Can the team of Ayelet Shaked and Micheal Oren make a compelling case that it is in Israel's best interest not to pursue this path? Rudyard explains how and why we landed on this debate and these speakers. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to Chinese-American relations following Trump's trade meeting this week with Xi Jinping. The US backed down on a range of tariff threats and most importantly on high tech exports to China. Why did Trump agree to this? There is a codependency between these two superpowers that will only break when either China is able to manufacture advanced AI chips or the US breaks China's monopoly on critical rare earth minerals. Does Trump have the patience and resolve to stay the course? And how should Canada pursue its own trade relationship with China in order to protect our interests and specifically the struggling auto sector? 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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Trump's trade tantrum and will Mark Carney's first federal budget meet the moment?
To listen to the full episode 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. Rudyard and Andrew try to make sense of the Canada-US trade chaos of the past 72 hours. Andrew offers two interpretations: either Trump was looking for a reason to walk away from the table as a negotiating ploy, or he is a genuinely needy child who cannot tolerate criticism. Canada is not the unreasonable party here. Is there a point to negotiating at all if we can't have confidence that the agreement will be respected? Trump is ratcheting up turmoil on a weekly basis to the point where the public is being numbed into submission. What will happen if the U.S. Supreme Court strips Trump of his trade powers? Rudyard and Andrew then turn to the upcoming Canadian federal budget. What are Mark Carney's priorities? As the leader of a minority government will he attempt the bold action required to address our productivity and trade crisis? And if he fails, are we headed for a spring election?
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Friday Focus: Trump cancels trade talks with Canada and targets Russia with sanctions
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 the big news stories coming out of Gaza this week: the public executions Hamas is conducting in the Gaza strip in order to terrorize and intimidate civilians, and the Israeli government's growing concern that Hamas is breaking the ceasefire deal by not returning all of the dead hostages as agreed upon. How will rival Gaza clans thwart Hamas's attempt to cling to power? Could Gaza be on the verge of a civil war? How fast can you get a rudimentary police force to make Hamas pull back? And perhaps most importantly, who would want to go in there? Janice is optimistic that this time, at least, the Arab world is taking ownership over this problem in a way they never have before. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to an important phone call that took place this week between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin just ahead of Zelensky's visit today to Washington, where the Ukrainian President intends to make the case for long-range Tomahawk missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia. The transfer of these weapons, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week, could lead to nuclear war. Meanwhile, Europeans have never been more scared, interpreting Russia's drone excursions into NATO territory as preparation for a larger war with the continent. Are weak European governments using the bogeyman of Russia to rally their public to distract from domestic problems and rising populism? Everybody is rolling the dice here, and when you do that there is always a chance that someone will miscalculate, and everyone will pay the heavy price. 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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Putin's hold over Trump and Pierre Poilievre makes a stunning accusation
To listen to the full episode 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. Rudyard and Andrew begin with the war in Ukraine and Trump denying Zelensky's request for Tomahawk long range missiles. Russia has suffered mass casualties - more than 400,000 dead and many more wounded - and shows no signs of weakening Ukraine's resolve, and yet all it takes is one phone call from Putin for Trump to reverse track and breathe new life into Russia's war effort. Trump's fickle support begs an important question: What can we do to strengthen ties with allies and even adversaries to protect ourselves from instability south of the border? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Andrew turn to a bombshell accusation from Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre that the RCMP covered up crimes committed by Justin Trudeau. This is an irresponsible accusation that suggests Poilievre is not leadership material. And while his behaviour plays well to the party's base, it spooks moderate Conservatives. How can any leader straddle this cultural divide?
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Friday Focus: Hamas's public executions and Zelensky presses Trump for Tomahawk missiles
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 the big news stories coming out of Gaza this week: the public executions Hamas is conducting in the Gaza strip in order to terrorize and intimidate civilians, and the Israeli government's growing concern that Hamas is breaking the ceasefire deal by not returning all of the dead hostages as agreed upon. How will rival Gaza clans thwart Hamas's attempt to cling to power? Could Gaza be on the verge of a civil war? How fast can you get a rudimentary police force to make Hamas pull back? And perhaps most importantly, who would want to go in there? Janice is optimistic that this time, at least, the Arab world is taking ownership over this problem in a way they never have before. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to an important phone call that took place this week between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin just ahead of Zelensky's visit today to Washington, where the Ukrainian President intends to make the case for long-range Tomahawk missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia. The transfer of these weapons, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week, could lead to nuclear war. Meanwhile, Europeans have never been more scared, interpreting Russia's drone excursions into NATO territory as preparation for a larger war with the continent. Are weak European governments using the bogeyman of Russia to rally their public to distract from domestic problems and rising populism? Everybody is rolling the dice here, and when you do that there is always a chance that someone will miscalculate, and everyone will pay the heavy price. 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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