Hostage Diplomacy and the Case of Brittney Griner

Brittney Griner is an American basketball superstar. On February 17th, she was arrested in an airport outside of Moscow allegedly for possession of cannabis oil. She has been held in a Russian jail ever since and her trial is scheduled to begin on July 1.  Brittney Griner's case is a text book example of what my guest today calls "Hostage Diplomacy." Dani Gilbert is an Assistant Professor of Military and Strategic studies at the US Air Force Academy.  She is a leading researcher and expert on the causes and consequences of hostage taking in international security. We kick off discussing the circumstances of Brittney Griner's arrest and detention in Russia and then have a conversation about how the US government approaches situations in which an American abroad is wrongfully detained. This leads us to a broader discussion about trends in hostage diplomacy around the world.