Departures Podcast featuring Vali Nasr, Co-author of “How Sanctions Work”

The imposition of economic sanctions has become Washington’s preferred method of expressing disapproval over the conduct of other states. But how effective are sanctions in changing behavior or achieving desired outcomes? This week on Departures with Robert Amsterdam, we are pleased to feature the brilliant former diplomat Vali Nasr, the Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle […]

Departures Podcast featuring Frank Furedi, author of “The War against the Past”

There’s an old Soviet joke that goes something like “the future is certain; it’s the past that is unpredictable” which continues to have an eerie resonance today, as revisionism seems to be on a constant assault against past events which are challenging or complex for some people to accept based on modern social mores and […]

How Spain’s “Becklam Law” Has Turned into an Exploitative Tax Trap

Robert Amsterdam has published an opinion article in Spears examining the deceptive tax practices by the Spanish revenue authority which attracts foreign earners to relocate and then assaults them with waves of unfair audits and massive erroneous tax claims. Below an excerpt: Read the full article on Spears here.

Departures Podcast featuring Bronwen Everill, author of “Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance and African Economics”

Throughtout the post-colonial period in Africa, there has been no shortage of economists, non-governmental organizations, diplomats, and aid organizations flying in from the United States and Western Europe with an astonishing array of prescriptions and reform plans to dramatically transform the economies and governance structures of these young nations. With few exceptions, these interventions failed […]

Departures Podcast featuring Oriana Skylar Mastro, author of “Upstart: How China Became a Great Power”

A popular meme in Kenya goes something like this: everytime China visits, we get a hospital. When the US visits, we get a lecture.  That’s of course not an accurate picture of the competition between the West and China in the global South, but it does highlight a certain disconnect that can be perceived widely […]

Departures Podcast featuring William Egginton, author of “The Rigors of Angels”

What does it mean to perceive reality? How do art, science, and philosophy converge in shaping our understanding of the world? In this episode of Departures with Robert Amsterdam, we sit down with William Egginton, acclaimed author and professor, to dive into his latest book, “The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate […]