Full Text of Letter to Ottawa Police in Volgemut Case

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: October 5, 2021

The following is the full text of the letter sent by Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP to Chief Peter Sloly of the Ottawa Police (see press release here). URGENT Chief Peter Sloly Ottawa Police Services 474 Elgin Street Ottawa, Ontario slolyp@ottawapolice.ca September 28, 2021 RE: Aleksandra Nicole Volgemut, DOB: October 28 2018 Dear […]

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Departures Podcast with Serhii Plokhy

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: September 9, 2021

Looking back almost 60 years ago when the United States and the Soviet Union came within an inch of destroying the world via all-out nuclear war, we continue to gain new insights into the dramatic events, the changing of thinking and decision-making that went on in both ExComm and the Presidium. This week we’re proud […]

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Special Departures Podcast Episode on Afghanistan featuring Alexander Cooley

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: August 27, 2021

The rapid collapse of Kabul in the final weeks of the US withdrawal has forced a reckoning of not only Washington’s failure in the region but broader questions about US foreign policy and what the Biden administration wants (or is actually able) to achieve. This week Departures with Robert Amsterdam is pleased to welcome a […]

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Departures Podcast with Anne Meng, author of ‘Constraining Dictatorship: From Personalized Rule to Institutionalized Regimes’

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: July 16, 2021

When we think about dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, we tend to think of extremes. Places like North Korea, with brutal, absolutist rulers vanquishing their opponents with prejudice and limitless power. But that’s really not the reality for most autocratic countries, in fact, there are usually a series of executive constraints, rules, procedures, and structures even […]

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Livre Blanc: Minuit moins une – la crise du Cameroun

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 7, 2021

Aujourd’hui Amsterdam & Partners LLP est fier de lancer la version française de son nouveau livre blanc « Minuit moins une : la crise du Cameroun », qui traite de la montée tragique et incontrôlée d’un régime autoritaire sous la dictature de Paul Biya, marquée par l’exploitation de la crise anglophone comme un prétexte aux violations des droits […]

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Departures Podcast with Ethan Zuckerman

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: March 5, 2021

At some point, people stopped believing that electing the right leaders and passing the right laws was the most effective way to achieve social change. Since at least the 1970s, people have been rapidly losing faith in government, democracy, big banks, big corporations, organized religion, and other institutions which were thought to help give order […]

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Coup Plotters Are Not Victims. A Letter to US Senate on Turkey.

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: February 18, 2021

Today the following letter was delivered to the offices of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as well as the other co-signers of their February 9, 2021 letter to President Joe Biden on the subject of relations with the Republic of Turkey. Letter to US Senators on the Republic of Turkey | February […]

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Departures Podcast with Elizabeth Thompson

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: December 15, 2020

Following the World War I breakup of the Ottoman Empire, Prince Faisal came into Damascus to declare his determination to build a constitutional democracy which would serve as the primary building block of a new sovereign state with guaranteed rights for a pluralistic population. Secular modernizers and Islamic reformers created groundbreaking new alliances which could […]

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Departures Podcast with Heidi Tworek

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: November 13, 2020

Having gone through the tumultuous experience of this past election in the United States, with provocative propaganda, disinformation, fake news, and pervasive and extreme distrust, many feel like we’re experiencing an unprecedented moment. But arguably, we’ve been here before. This week we are joined by Prof. Heidi Tworek, author of “News from Germany: The Competition […]

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Departures Podcast with Tobias Harris

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: November 4, 2020

Up until his recent resignation due to health concerns, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cast a long shadow as one of the most remarkable global statesman, shaping the country’s alliances and leadership position in an extremely difficult and threatening region of the world. Journalist and author Tobias Harris, author of “The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and […]

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