July 10 - The Growing Spy Scandal Roiling U.S. / German Relations; An Activist Scholar who Assists Salvadorans Fleeing Gang Violence; Political Grandstanding in the Face of a Humanitarian Crisis

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the growing spy scandal which is irritating U.S./German relations, prompting the Germans to kick out the CIA’s top spy in Germany in response to a refusal by Washington to cooperate with German inquiries into U.S. intelligence activities. Andrei Markovits, a professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies at the University of Michigan, who studies German politics, anti-Americanism, social democracy, social movements and the European Left and the European Right, joins us to discuss why the Germans are so riled up over the CIA recruiting two of their spies and how the scandal is impacting dealings with Russia and Ukraine where the two allies already do not see eye to eye.

Part 2

Then we go to El Salvador and speak with Elizabeth Kennedy, an activist scholar who works as a Fulbright Fellow with returned child and youth migrants from the United States in El Salvador where she currently assists Salvadorans fleeing from gang violence. We discuss El Salvador’s gang problem which has its roots in Southern California where the two main gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18 were formed, and refute the myths that coyotes and imaginary billboards are encouraging the children of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to migrate to the U.S.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Tom Wong, a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego who is the creator of the 2013 Center for Investigative Reporting Blog on how members of Congress view immigration reform. He joins us to discuss political grandstanding in the face of a humanitarian crisis and his article at the Center for American Progress, “Statistical Analysis Shows that Violence, Not Deferred Action, Is Behind the Surge of Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border”.