Departures Podcast with Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, authors of ‘Hitler’s American Gamble’
During one specific week in December in 1941, a series of events and calculations led to Adolf Hitler’s disastrous decision to declare war on the United States, putting the conflict on the eventual path toward the outcome we now regard with familiarity. The sequence of events leading from the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan […]
Departures Podcast with Jon Grinspan, author of ‘The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915’
“100 billion people have lived on planet earth since our species evolved, and for all our archives, all our libraries, and all our museums, we have only the tiniest little sliver of any record of who these people were and what their lives were like,” says Jon Grinspan in his conversation with Robert Amsterdam. “So […]
Departures Podcast with Mark Galeotti, author of ‘The Weaponisation of Everything’
As tensions continue to rage between Russia and the West over its build-up on the Ukrainian border, Departures turns to expert Mark Galeotti for his analysis on the situation and a discussion of his brand new book, “The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War.” Galeotti, who has spent years […]
Departures Podcast with Margarita Balmaceda
Throughout the most recent intensifying conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine, there is a common assumption that the Russian leadership is wielding its “energy weapon” to break apart European unity and advance its interests. While that may be partly true, it would be a huge mistake to assume that such a vast industrial […]
Departures Podcast with Hakan Bulgurlu, author of ‘A Mountain to Climb’
Several years ago, Hakan Bulgurlu was at the top of his game. He was serving as CEO of Arçelik, a multi-billion dollar corporation. He and his family, including three young children, were enjoying a great life with frequent international travel. But he was also deeply troubled by the raw data he was seeing professionally documenting […]
Departures Podcast with Seth Jones, author of ‘Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran and the Rise of Irregular Warfare’
Forget tanks, missiles, and soldiers. The forms of warfare predominantly being used against the United States today are much more often unconventional and irregular, such as large-scale offensive cyber actions, disinformation campaigns, spying, economic subversion, and smaller armed conflicts via proxies. This is a deeply worrying trend, argues Seth Jones, author of the terrific book […]
Departures Podcast with Ilya Ponomarev
The saber-rattling from Moscow over Ukraine has grown deafening in recent weeks. Hours before we recorded this episode, Vladimir Putin appeared on television threatening “retaliatory military-technical” measures while amassing some 175,000 troops on the border of Ukraine, asserting that Russia “has every right” to invade and start a war. Evelyn Farkas, a former Obama administration […]
Departures Podcast with Joanna Chiu, author of ‘China Unbound: A New World Disorder’
In early December, the administration of US President Joe Biden convened a mostly virtual democracy summit, in which some of the world’s largest economies were invited to participate and provide a clear framing of the agenda – and a clear poke in the eye of China and Russia. In response, Chinese state media trolled Biden […]
Departures Podcast with Daniel Deudney, author of ‘Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, & the Ends of Humanity’
Faced with challenging and intractable problems from climate change to civil conflicts to terrorism, it is tempting for many of us to look to the heavens, with billionaires pouring their resources into space exploration, expansion, and even dreams of colonization. But this is a major mistake, argues Professor Daniel Deudney of Johns Hopkins University in […]
Departures Podcast with Rebecca Tapscott, author of ‘Arbitrary States: Social Control and Modern Authoritarianism in Museveni’s Uganda’
Yoweri Museveni’s 35 years of iron-gripped ruthless authoritarianism in Uganda did not take place in a vacuum. It has instead been a years-long process of converting the country’s institutions into instruments of arbitrary power, which has been fueled by a series of targeted moves to destabilize the social coordination that would be needed to hold […]
Russia News Blast
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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – February 24, 2022
Today in Russia: Invasion. Will the world respond?
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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – February 23, 2022
Today in Russia/CIS: Ukraine calls up reservists; Levada Center Director Volkov on public opinion in Russia; Erdogan says Turkey won’t accept Russian moves in Ukraine; EU and US latest sanctions; Russia-Ukraine crisis as viewed Uzbekistan; Israel walks a tightrope on its Ukraine position
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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – February 22, 2022
but which borders?;’ History professor (and President) Putin delivers fiery speech; Lavrov re-writes the rules of international sovereignty; UK and EU roll out initial sanctions, and Washington plans big moves; Nord Stream 2 finally meets its end after a slow, painful death; Zelensky’s speech; White House: On second thought, that’s an invasion; How will China respond?; Russia to evacuate all diplomatic staff from Ukraine
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