Biden's Infrastructure Plan To Be Unveiled Today: It Won't Fix the Migrant Crisis, Though

Fault Lines

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan discussed Germany's COVID confusion, the fallout from the Suez blockage, what a work-from-home world would look like, Myanmar's ethnic divisions, mask mandate reversals, the new WHO report, and Ethiopia's ongoing civil conflict.
Guests:
Peter Oliver – EU Correspondent for RT | Germany's COVID Scrambling & AstraZeneca Restrictions
Mark Frost – Economist and Entrepreneur | What The Ever Given Means for World Trade, and What Will Working from Home Do To Our Cities?
K.J. Noh – Writer and Teacher | Myanmar's Ethnic Divisions and Its Significance for China's Belt and Road Project
Dr. Mikhail Kogan – Medical Director & Associate Professor of Medicine | Mask Mandate Rollbacks & The WHO's New Report
Teodrose Fikre – Writer and Editor | The Ethiopian Government and Eritrea's Involvement in Tigray
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn joined yesterday to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to those over the age of 60, the latest in a string of reversals in the country on COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns. We spoke with Peter Oliver about what this means for the German public's trust in their government, and what they'd want instead of this ongoing confusion.
We were joined by Mark Frost to talk about what the Ever Given's blockage of the Suez Canal means for global trade and whether we'll see major changes in trade and industrial policy in response to this crisis and the pandemic over the least year. We also spoke about what working from home could do to cities, and how a shift to homebound work could affect the economy and daily life more broadly and in unprecedented ways.
After Myanmar had its deadliest day yet in its ongoing political and civil crisis, with 114 protestors killed and air strikes against an ethnically-held region along the Thai border, we were joined by K.J. Noh to talk about how the U.S. and China could choose to get involved as Myanmar stands as a pivotal trade route for China's ongoing Belt and Road Initiative.
We spoke with Dr. Mikhail Kogan about various states' moves to reverse mask mandates, what the vaccines mean for many seeking a return to relative normalcy, and what he thinks about the just-released WHO report on the origins of the coronavirus.
Ethiopia's president Abiy Ahmed recently confirmed the involvement of Eritrea's armed forces in Tigray, a northern Ethiopian region central to the ongoing violent civil conflict in the country, and home to the Tigrayan people and the TPLF, which until recently ruled Ethiopia for decades. We spoke with Teddy Fikre about what a push for Tigrayan independence would mean for the Ethiopian public. We also dipped our toes briefly into the topic of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a controversial infrastructure project that could seriously affect Sudan and Egypt but is being taken up as a cause for celebration and pride by Ethiopia's government and public.