Episode Details

Humanitarian crises don't exist in a vacuum—they are shaped by geopolitical actions like blockades, sanctions, and armed conflicts between countries. In this episode: Stanford University scholar Ruth Gibson details how geopolitical decisions impact civilians on the ground and how this framing applies to current situations in Iran, Cuba, and Ukraine.

Ruth Gibson, PhD, is a scholar at Stanford University where she holds appointments in at the Center for Innovation and Global Health and the Center for International Security and Cooperation.

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

• U.S. to Blockade Ships Entering or Exiting Iranian Ports—U.S. Central Command

• Block Food and Medicine?—Geopolitics and Humanity Dispatch

• Cuban doctors endure burnout, blackouts as once-vaunted healthcare declines—Reuters

• Willing Accomplices: Gazprom & Rosneft's Role in the Transport and Indoctr