Departures Podcast with Jean-Pierre Cabestan

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: June 15, 2020

Earlier this month marked the 31st anniversary of Tiannanmen Square, while during this same period, the same Chinese Communist Party solidified its grip on Hong Kong with the passage of a new national security law that would subject Hong Kongers to extradition and Chinese legal jurisdiction. These events are just examples of the extreme lengths […]

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Departures Podcast with Peter Pomerantsev

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: June 12, 2020

I will be honest – I was personally very excited to have Peter Pomerantsev come on to the podcast for today’s episode. Not just because he’s extraordinarily well versed in modern day Russian politics and brings a distinctive, sharp critical voice to the almost unfathomable levels of crookery and corruption that characterizes that country’s government, […]

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Tundu Lissu Launches Campaign for President of Tanzania

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: June 9, 2020

This week the former opposition lawmaker Tundu Lissu, who survived a violent assassination attempt just three years ago, has announced his bid to campaign for the presidency of the Republic of Tanzania. Mr. Lissu, who is a client of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, will contest against the incumbent Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) President John Magufuli, […]

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Departures Podcast with Stephen Kinzer

By Robert Amsterdam | Published:

In the aftermath of World War II, instead of prosecuting certain German and Japanese officials for various war crimes, the Central Intelligence Agency decided it would be more useful to recruit some of them into their own ranks, thus opening one of the most bizarre chapters in Cold War history under the agency’s director Allen […]

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Departures Podcast with Robert Patterson

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: June 5, 2020

Our podcast is often focused on international affairs, often involving countries where our law firm is active. But given the dramatic developments taking place in the United States in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, we are confronted with the fact that many of the same authoritarian abuses, the same […]

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America is at a crossroads. We must all commit to direct individual action.

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: June 2, 2020

In light of the horrific murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, and the continuing protests demanding justice and a deep rethink of American policing and race relations in this country, I shared my thoughts about what each and every one of must do to. The following is an adapted transcript of my comments […]

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Departures Podcast with Barry Gewen

By Robert Amsterdam | Published:

There are few other living historical figures more divisive that Henry Kissinger, and few others who attract such impassioned debate. Was he an ambitious figure, monstrously bereft of conscience, or a master strategist who accepted the world as it is and deftly manufactured outcomes that benefitted his country? We’re so pleased to have the opportunity […]

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Departures Podcast with Jeffrey Smith

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 26, 2020

There are a lot of pundits out there declaring democracy promotion to be dead on arrival in the Trump era. But there’s still an important community of activists fighting for the cause against the odds and even winning. “Democracy matters and democratic leadership matters, even in the face of a fast-moving crisis like the coronavirus,” […]

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Departures Podcast with Stephen Krasner

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 22, 2020

If engineering democracy abroad is next to impossible, and autocrats will not accept reforms that could cause them to lose power, how can the US engage with illiberal regimes without enabling them? This question is at the center of Dr. Stephen Krasner’s most recent book, How to Make Love to a Despot: An Alternative Foreign […]

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Departures Podcast with Kim Dotcom

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 20, 2020

In just a few short months, the global coronavirus crisis has already shown its power to reshape the world, as many professionals shift to working from home (some permanently), and as we watch how technology plays a larger and larger role in our day to day lives. One party that benefits greatly from this trend? […]

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