Departures Podcast with Robert D. Kaplan

By Editor | Published: February 24, 2021

It may be hard for many of our listeners to believe, but once upon a time US foreign policy could offer glimmers of astonishing humanitarianism, which was the case over the epic career of Robert (Bob) Gersony. While other literary references have framed the actors leading US foreign interventions as “quiet” or “ugly,” Gersony’s life […]

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Departures Podcast with Christopher Capozzola

By Editor | Published: February 15, 2021

Since the United States touched base in the Philippines in 1898, the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. has endured with war and military service forging a continuing but contentious relationship between the two countries. But has it been a productive relationship for both members? While Filipinos have served in the American military since […]

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Departures Podcast with James Ryan and Susan Grant

By Editor | Published: February 5, 2021

It is easy to get very comfortable with our surface-level understanding of sweeping historical events. Most of the time it is generally consistent with the facts, except when it isn’t. When it comes to how we regard the notorious regime of Josef Stalin and this particular period of Russian history, there are more than a […]

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Departures Podcast with David Omand

By Editor | Published: January 29, 2021

Data is dumb, correlation is not causation. Explanation is everything. Spymaster David Omand on how to think critically.

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Departures Podcast with Zephyr Teachout

By Editor | Published: January 7, 2021

After the siege of the Capitol, we talk about some other pressing threats against American democracy.

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Departures Podcast with Rana Mitter

By Editor | Published: December 28, 2020

For much of China’s history, the Communist Party leadership sought to portray the country’s experience in World War II as that of a victim of Japan. But now, as China grows much more powerful and influential, the historical memory is also adapting to tell a different story. This week we are joined by Rana Mitter, […]

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Departures Podcast with Stephen Wertheim

By Editor | Published: December 23, 2020

The United States is a country that spent most of its history avoiding interventions, avoiding entanglement in great power politics, content to be isolated looking after their own affairs. Then suddenly, in just the past 75 years, it has become the world’s preeminent armed power in a position of global leadership. How did such a […]

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Departures Podcast with Onur Öymen

By Editor | Published: December 18, 2020

Over the past several years, Turkey’s relations with both the European Union and the United States have come under strain by factors both internal and external. The complexities of these relationships, in addition to the management of tensions with Russia and the Middle East on numerous fronts are not often clearly understood, even by well […]

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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 Paul Jankowski

By Editor | Published: December 7, 2020

A favorite historical hypothetical question we often hear tossed around is what should the world have done differently to halt the rise of Nazi Germany and prevent World War II from taking place. But the truth is, the number of signals and signs of this approaching threat were numerous and often rather clear, and so […]

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