Abdullah Abdullah
Discussing Afghan elections, global recession, political satires, and Obama’s approval rating.
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| Afghan incumbent Karzai leads the actual counting results, but a run-off is likely [GALLO/GETTY] |
In this first episode of Frost over the World after the summer break, Sir David Frost talks to Abdullah Abdullah, the former Afghan foreign minister, about Afghanistan’s elections and the country’s future, to Christine Lagarde about the global recession, to Armando Iannucci about his film and conflicts in the Middle East, and to Boutros Boutros-Ghali about the changing role of the UN.
Finally, Richard Wolffe, a Washington insider and author, and Colleen Graffy, the former state department official, discuss Barack Obama’s challenges as US president, the US health care reform, and his declining approval rating.
This episode of Frost over the World aired from Friday, September 4, 2009.
| Abdullah Abdullah |
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Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s former foreign minister, is the main challenger to Hamid Karzai, the country’s current president, in the ongoing Afghan elections. He joins Sir David from Kabul to explain why he is running in this elections and what his hopes are for the future of Afghanistan. |
| Christine Lagarde |
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This week the G20 finance ministers will meet in London before a summit of world leaders later this month in Pittsburgh. Sir David talks to Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, about her expectations for the meeting, and the latest news from France and the recession. |
| Armando Iannucci |
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Armando Iannucci, the British writer, is known for his sharp, political satires. His latest offering is the comedy In The Loop which has just opened in the US to rave reviews. The film traces the political scheming, back-biting and backroom manoeuvrings in Washington and London in the build up to an unnamed war in the Middle East. Iannucci joins Sir David to talk about his film and his new book The Audacity of Hype. |
| Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Richard Wolffe, Colleen Graffy |
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Boutros Boutros-Ghali was UN secretary general from 1992 to 1997, a period that saw genocide in Rwanda, civil war in Angola, the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia – and all of this amidst increasingly stormy relations between the US and the UN. Today he directs Egypt’s National Council of Human Rights. He joins Sir David from Paris. Sir David is also joined by Richard Wolffe, a Washington insider and author, and Colleen Graffy, the former state department official. They discuss Barack Obama’s first term as US president, the US health care reform and other challenges, and whether Obama’s honeymoon is finally over. |