Episode 222: Rethinking Foreign Aid: Policy, Advocacy and Impact with Michael Sheldrick

This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen is joined by Michael Sheldrick to unpack the far-reaching consequences of global aid cuts and the future of international development. Together, they explore the real-world impact of the proposed USAID reductions, including disruptions to programs like PEPFAR, and the ripple effects on health systems, livelihoods, and vulnerable…

Michael Sheldrick

Michael Sheldrick

Michael Sheldrick is a policy entrepreneur, author and a driving force behind the efforts of Global Citizen to end extreme poverty and build climate resilience. As a Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer, he has mobilized over $43 billion in support for healthcare, education and climate from governments, businesses, and foundations. Michael is…

The International Risk Podcast- Global aid

When the Money Stops: Rethinking Development in a Shifting Global Landscape

Author: Camila Mateos Betancourt Foreign aid, long considered a cornerstone of international development and diplomacy, is now undergoing a seismic transformation. In recent months, the global aid landscape has been dramatically reshaped by sweeping budget cuts, the closure of USAID, and a reallocation of funds toward defense spending in major donor countries like the United…

Joshua Z. Walker

Joshua Z. Walker

Joshua Z. Walker is the Director of Programs of the Congo Research Group at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC). He has been working in and researching the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2004. Before joining CIC, he was a research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research in Johannesburg, South Africa. He…

Bram Verelst

Bram Verelst

Bram Verelst works at the Institute for Security Studies as Senior Researcher on Conflict Prevention, Management and Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes Region. Before joining the ISS, Bram worked as a research fellow at the Department of Conflict and Development Studies, Ghent University, Belgium and as a political analyst for the Belgian Ministry of Defence,…

Episode 211: Conflict in the DRC: M23 and Regional Instability with Bram Verelst

!!! Please note that this episode was recorded before M23 captured Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern DRC. This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen sits down with Bram Verelst to examine the escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the resurgence of the M23 rebellion. As the group captures key…