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Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs

New Frontiers Podcast

New Frontiers 350

New Frontiers is the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs’ podcast series. Hosted by Mark Williams, RCGA director and Russell J. Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics, it offers a deeper view into global areas through one-on-one discussions with Middlebury College faculty and others.

New Frontiers topics—from big tech, environmental conservation, global security, and political economy, to culture, literature, religion, and changing work patterns—have global or international dimensions.

Subscribe to New Frontiers through most podcast apps including Amazon Music and Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.

  • Ships and clouds. Image of East India Trading Company

    Season 3 Ep. 2 - The East India Company: Commerce, Conquest, and Colonialism

    Established in 1600 to secure trade relations between India, East and Southeast Asia, and Britain, the East India Company did this and much, much more. For nearly 300 years it ran a global trading network that operated for profit, politics, and eventually empire. In the process it not only became the world’s first multinational corporation, but — thanks to its own army, navy, currency, and legal system—came to rule territories far more extensive than its home base of the British Isles.

  • Cheese board with images of different countries.

    Season 3 Ep. 1 - Election 2024 and US Foreign Policy

    Although foreign policy doesn’t usually play much of a role in US presidential elections, the consequences of those contests can have profound effects on American foreign policy, and by extension, on US interests, allies, and other countries around the world. In this episode, Ambassador Michael McKinley joins Mark Williams to discuss the foreign policy implications of the 2024 US presidential election.

  • Image of 2nd Amendment

    Season 2 Ep. 6 - U.S. Militias: Guarding Tradition or Courting Chaos

    In this episode of “New Frontiers,” sociologist Amy Cooter explores the rise, goals, and philosophies of American militia groups. She explains why their actions could mar the 2024 elections and highlights how a more thorough, accurate teaching of American history could address misconceptions and reduce societal tensions that fuel some of these groups’ strongest grievances.

  • India building Taj Mahal at sunset

    Season 2 Ep. 5 - India Today: One Question, Three Perspectives

    In this episode of “New Frontiers” three experts—an art historian, economist, and diplomat/political scientist—explore what’s going on in India today. Join host Mark Williams and co-host Arjun Kumar ’25.5 for three fascinating discussions about the world’s largest democracy, and find out why what’s happening on the political/diplomatic, cultural, and development fronts matters to India, Indians, and the world beyond.

  • Policeman in France

    Season 2 Ep. 4 - Race, Empire, and Policing in Paris

    In June 2023, French police killed 17-year-old Nahal Marzouk during a traffic stop outside of Paris. The killing led to days of street protests, widespread condemnation of racialized police practices, and over 1,300 arrests. This was particularly significant in a country like France, where discussions about race are often avoided or rejected. To gain a deeper understanding of French police practices, Mark Williams sits down with historian Amit Prakash, whose new book—Empire of the Seine—explores how France’s colonial history helped shaped how French law enforcement policed North Africans living in Paris from 1925 to 1975. 

  • Capitol with protests

    Season 2 Ep. 3 - After the Insurrection: Assessing American Democracy

    After losing the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump summoned supporters to Washington where—after listening to him speak of a “stolen election” at the Ellipse—they launched a violent attack on the US capital to stop the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. What does the January 6 insurrection tell us about the state of American democracy?

    In this episode, political scientist Bert Johnson reflects on the state of American democracy, the dangers it faces, and some of the ways Americans might preserve their democratic political system. 

     

  • Holding Hands

    Season 2 Ep. 2 - INTL' NGOs: What You Need to Know

    What do Amnesty International, Care International, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, or World Vision all have in common? They all are international nongovernmental organizations which operate around the world — independently of governments — which in broad terms, aim to provide services or influence governments with respect to specific goals. But what do we really know about such organizations or their operations, credibility, efficacy, and constraints? In this episode political scientist Sarah Stroup examines INGOs and explains what we need to know to understand their operations and limitations.
     

  • Israeli Flags

    Season 2 Ep. 1 - Israel in Crisis

    Political geographer Tamar Mayer explains why government plans to overhaul Israel’s judiciary have sparked massive resistance by Israeli citizens and pose an existential threat to Israeli democracy itself.

  • Gavel on grass

    Season 1 Ep. 8 - Why We Need Environmental Justice

    What is meant by such terms as environmental injustice or environmental racism? What is the environmental justice movement and how is it manifest—in the United States and beyond? In this episode of New Frontiers, political scientist Kemi Fuentes-George discusses these topics and what achieving environmental justice for marginalized populations might actually entail.

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