Departures Podcast featuring Ilya Ponomarev: Ukraine at a Critical Juncture

By Editor | Published: September 24, 2022

Regular listeners of the podcast need no introduction for Ilya Ponomarev, a former opposition member of the Russian Duma who was the only legislator to vote against the annexation of Crimea. Currently based in Kyiv, Ponomarev joins Amsterdam today to share his perspectives on the recent developments in the war, and why he believes that […]

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Departures Podcast with Joseph Torigian, author of ‘Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion’

By Editor | Published: September 19, 2022

To rise to power within the rigidly authoritarian party bureaucracies of the Soviet Union and China is a feat accomplished only with great strategic acumen, backhanded political maneuvering, and, sometimes, with a certain level of violence. On this week’s episode of Departures with Robert Amsterdam we are very pleased to feature Joseph Torigian, an assistant […]

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Departures Podcast with David Ucko, author of ‘The Insurgent’s Dilemma’

By Editor | Published: September 11, 2022

In the past, when insurgencies challenged the power of the state, they did so from a position of occupying physical territory. But in today’s wildly unregulated post-truth environment and hyperconnected society, the space that they occupy is virtual – and most democracies are not well prepared to deal with these often violent threats to the […]

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Departures Podcast with Victor Shih, author of ‘Coalitions of the Weak’

By Editor | Published: August 30, 2022

As China approaches the 20th Party Congress to be held at the end of the year, President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping is aggressively promoting his government’s superhuman achievements and infallible contributions to the glory of the state, making his case for an inevitable third term, and perhaps, leadership for life. But the problem […]

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Departures Podcast with Moisés Naím, author of ‘The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century’

By Editor | Published: August 19, 2022

Today there are currently fewer global citizens living in open and free democratic systems than in 1989, a sobering fact underlining the rapid global expansion of authoritarian regimes around tthe world. According to Moisés Naím, the world has made itself safer for tyrannical leaders to install themselves, often using the “three Ps” of populism, polarisation […]

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Job Sikhala’s Open Letter from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison

By Robert Amsterdam | Published:

This week we have distributed the following open letter from our client, Zimbabwean political prisoner and Member of Parliament Job Sikhala, who has been unlawfully imprisoned on politically motivated charges without trial since June 14, 2022. Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison Harare, Zimbabwe 03 August 2022 INTRODUCTION I write to you all, your Excellencies, Heads of […]

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