The United States Institute of Peace brought 27 global youth leaders to Dharamsala, India, this fall so they could attend leadership workshops, network together, and receive mentorship from the 14th Dalai Lama.

America Abroad

Outer strife, inner peace: Lessons from the Dalai Lama

Ambassador Wendy Sherman discusses her unlikely career, which began as an advocate for women's issues before going into politics and eventually landing at the State Department as the lead negotiator for the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Stories From The Backchannel: Negotiating with US adversaries Iran and North Korea

Since 1984 there have been five Terminator movies. Another is slated to come out next year. Over that time, what was once pure science fiction has become more and more plausible.

Stories From The Backchannel: How should the world prepare for a future with autonomous weapons?

When Bill Clinton took over as president in 1992, his then-Middle East adviser Martin Indyk told him he had a chance to partner with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to secure peace treaties with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinians.

Stories From The Backchannel: When Middle East peace almost happened

It's been 17 years since 9/11, and 14 years since the 9/11 Commission released its recommendations on how to prevent future attacks. While much of the focus has been on military solutions, the commission also made recommendations on how to use diplomacy and soft power to prevent the growth of extremist ideology abroad. In this episode, we take a look at those recommendations, and how each administration has worked to implement them.

Combating Extremist Ideology Since 9/11

Stories from the Backchannel is a new podcast that examines the stories behind some of America's most important national security moments.

Stories from The Backchannel: Unavoidable Russia

"[Populist leaders who] are willing to vilify other people based on their religion and ethnicity are probably not particularly respectful of democratic institutions."

Backlash: Europe’s far right and muslim migration

In May, Iraqis voted in the first parliamentary elections since ISIS was defeated in their country. The winner? An anti-American Shiite cleric's political bloc.

Iraq's next steps

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used the media to undermine foreign powers. Now, Russia is at it again. And while the goals are the same, the methods have changed.

Sowing Chaos: Russia's Disinformation Wars

"We feel terrible about what is going on in Syria, but we don't want to get really deeply engaged. So we do just enough to make the situation worse without doing enough to make it better.”

Syria and fragile states

While Europe was in the Dark Ages, scientific discovery was blooming in the Islamic world. Now, centuries later, some Muslim countries are making new investments in space exploration.

Islam and the cosmos

Massive document leaks have led to the fall of world leaders and to new anti-corruption laws. But some leaks have put lives in danger. So what's the limit to the public’s right to know?

Document Leaks: The consequences of revealing secrets

North Korean missiles can now reach major US cities. The Trump administration promises to "utterly destroy" the Kim regime if there's a war. So, what will it take to ease tensions between the two nuclear powers? This episode features a live town hall discussion recorded on Dec. 1, 2017 — only three days after the latest North Korean ICBM test.

Brinkmanship: US-North Korea relations

"You could make an argument that trade was the biggest issue that put Donald Trump in the Oval Office. I mean the states that he won the election in were places that lost the highest percentage of jobs to import competition in the last 15 years," said Edward Alden, author of "Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy."

Made in America: Trade policy in the Trump era

Abortion. Right to die. Stem cell research. Modern bioethical issues confront an ancient religion.

Bioethics in Islam

America Abroad is an award-winning documentary radio program distributed by Public Radio International (PRI) and broadcast on public radio stations nationwide. Each month, we take an in-depth look at one critical issue in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy.