Mat Youkee speaks about the role of the US and China in shaping Panama’s current security situation. He is a freelance journalist and independent consultant based in Panama.
In this session, Mat Youkee discusses how Panama’s security situation has been affected by recent statements by US President Donald Trump. He looks at what is currently shaping Panama’s strategic decision making in the international arena, including US and Chinese political and business interests. He also considers what is next for the nation in light of these competing geopolitical interests.
Interviewers: Sarah Toubman & Dr. Rabiah Ryklief - Central & South America Desk
In this session, Dr. Teodorescu delves into the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, exploring approaches to advancing women’s rights in international conflict and the critical role of women’s integration in achieving sustainable solutions. She highlights the importance of holding countries accountable through international frameworks like the WPS agenda and shares insights on how empowering women is essential for building long-term peace and security.
Dr. Teodorescu is a distinguished expert in European policies, migration, and gender issues. She serves as the Head of European and International Affairs at Istituto Luigi Sturzo in Rome and is the President of the Italian chapter of Women in International Security. She also leads the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, focusing on women's roles in peace and security.
Interviewers:Â Hanorah Hardy and Sofia Sutera - Human Rights Team
Elina Beketova discusses if Washington D.C. should support Zelensky's 'Victory Plan,’ where Trump may support the plan, and what can be expected from Biden in these last few weeks of his administration.
Ms. Beketova is a democracy fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington D.C., where she researches temporarily Russian occupied territories in Ukraine. She also has extensive experience as a journalist where she reported in Crimea, Kharkiv, and Kyiv, which included prominent international high profile interviews.Â
Dr. Ofer Idels discusses the role history has played throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the dangers and opportunities in molding narratives, and his new book, Zionism: Emotions, Language, and Experience.
Ofer Idels is a Minerva Postdoctoral Fellow in the History Department at Munich University. His book, Zionism: Emotions, Language, and Experience, was recently published by Cambridge University Press (free download here: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009442947)Â
In this session, Dr. Baldaro discusses the root causes of jihadism in the Sahel, focusing on how civil wars, local grievances, poor governance, and corruption have been inadequately addressed by the European Union’s counter-terrorism strategy in the region, which was heavily securitised. He then expands on Russia’s current counter-insurgency strategy—an even more hardline and militarised approach—that not only fails to address local grievances but also contributes to increased chaos and violence.
Dr. Baldaro concludes by expressing scepticism about the possibility of a future return of European aid, noting that the military juntas governing the various Sahelian states have adopted a strictly repressive approach to tackling the issue. However, he highlights some exceptions, such as Italy’s presence in Niger and the growing involvement of new actors like Turkey, Iran, and the Gulf monarchies.Â
Dr. Edoardo Baldaro is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Palermo. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Scuola Normale Superiore, Institute of Human and Social Sciences. He is a leading expert on the Sahel region and themes such as state fragility, jihadism and regional conflict management.Â
Interviewers: Axelle Bougouma, Angelo Saad Hintermayer and Camilla Cormegna - Africa Team
In this episode, Marco Volpe talks about China's current and future role in the Arctic region, China's polar strategy including Antarctica, and academic bridge building between the Arctic and the Third Pole. Marco Volpe is a visiting researcher at the Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi.
In this session, Mr. Volpe lays out the scientific, economic, and geopolitical spheres of China's engagement in the Arctic region. He highlights China's long-term planning capabilities and looks at China's overall polar strategy, including Antarctica, through the lens of investments in polar climate science. Mr. Volpe also discusses the efforts of building bridges between Arctic and Third Pole (Himalaya) research, focusing on indigenous peoples and indigenous knowledge.Â
Interviewers: Irene Senfter and Max Giordano - Arctic Team
In this episode, our experts from the Asia & China desk, organize an incredibly insightful webinar, featuring Hyun-seung Lee, a former DPRK businessman and chair of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League branch in Dalian, China. Mr. Lee currently serves as a director for One Korea Network and a fellow of North Korean studies at the Global Peace Foundation. He has also completed an internship with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.Â
Forced to defect in late 2014 due to a series of purges by Kim Jong Un, Lee offers an insider's perspective on North Korean society, the relationship between North Korea and China, and the impact of US policy on the regime.
Interviewers: Sandra Watson Parcels, Suha Choi, Ho Ting (Bosco) Hung, Skylor Pok Yuen Ko, Carlotta Rinaudo - Asia & China Team
Dr. Jozef Hrabina talks about Russia's strategic culture and the effect of the war with Ukraine on regional hierarchy in post-Soviet space. Dr. Hrabina is geopolitical risk advisor, scholar, and founder of GeopoLytics.Â
In this session, Dr. Hrabina explains the background of Russia's strategic culture helping to understand how it was formed during different historical periods. Together we discussed the effect of the Ukrainian war on post-Soviet Eurasia regional hierarchy and European security architecture. We also could not miss the actual topic of the shifting dynamics in frozen conflicts where Russia used to act as a mediator, as well as we explored key interplay between strategic biases with the West in context of nuclear rhetoric and recent remarks to Russia's nuclear doctrine.
Interviewers: Alexandra Tsarvulanova, Denise Gianotti, Will Kingston-Cox
In this series, Anastasiia and ITSS Verona discuss how different ideas, worldviews, and positions of the multistakeholder debate clashed and shaped the UN’s first convention on cybercrime – and how the outcome of this debate will shape the future of the Internet and its users.
Anastasiia Kazakova talks about the UN Convention Against Cybercrime: Actors, Developments, Implications. Anastasiia Kazakova is a Cyber Diplomacy Knowledge Fellow at Diplo Foundation.
Interviewers: Oleg Abdurashitov (Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Space Team) & Mattia Ostini (Human Rights Team)
In this episode, Prof. Rodrigo Duton discusses the importance of the crime-terror nexus in Brazilian security. Prof. Rodrigo Duton is an Adjunct Faculty member at the George C. Marshall Center, originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Interviewers: Sarah Toubman, Dr. Rabiah Ryklief, & Giovanni Giacalone by the Central & South America Team.
Disclaimer:Â Rodrigo Duton is participating in this podcast solely in his academic capacity. He is not speaking on behalf of any Brazilian law enforcement agency or the government of Brazil. The views and opinions expressed are his own.Â
