The escalating trade dispute between the United States and China has, in the view of my guest today, unofficially crossed the threshold into a full-blown trade war. Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a longtime diplomat and negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

We spoke on Friday, April 18, as both countries were rapidly imposing tariffs and counter-tariffs, measures and countermeasures. In our conversation, Wendy explains which of these actions may prove particularly damaging to both the U.S. and Chinese economies. She also breaks down China’s diplomatic response, including a recent trip by Xi Jinping to three Southeast Asian countries aimed at shoring up regional trade alliances. Finally, Wendy offers insight into how bad this trade war could get—and identifies potential offramps that might help prevent the worst-case scenarios.`

The crisis in Sudan is taking another devastating turn.

Over the past several days, a genocidal paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has attacked a sprawling refugee camp in Darfur. As I write this, nearly 400,000 people have fled the camp and are now traversing the desert in search of safety. Meanwhile, the RSF is mounting an offensive on the last major city in Darfur not under its control.

This escalation comes as the world rather quietly marked the second anniversary of Sudan’s civil war. In April 2022, two rival generals vied for control of the country, plunging it into chaos. Two years on, Sudan has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over 12 million people forcibly displaced from their homes.

One of them is Dalia Abdel Moneim. She fled her home in Khartoum shortly after the war began and is now living in Cairo. She joined me for a conversation about the unfolding catastrophe in Sudan.

"Nobody wins in trade wars," said António Guterres as he left a UN Security Council meeting this week. But it’s clear there’s at least one big loser: American diplomacy. This week, Anjali and Mark break down how the Trump tariffs are rippling through the UN — and how they’re complicating diplomacy on issues that have nothing to do with trade. We also speculate on who Trump might tap as his next envoy now that Elise Stefanik is out. Plus, we dig into the UN’s role in Gaza as both diplomacy and humanitarian aid grind to a halt, and what’s next for the World Food Program after a stunning announcement — and sudden retraction — from a senior DOGE official.

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