Departures Podcast featuring Owen Matthews, author of ‘Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin and Russia’s War Against Ukraine’

By Editor | Published: January 20, 2023

As we approach the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a number of journalists and authors have published highly detailed chronicles from the battlefield, stories of resilience and heroism of the Ukrainian resistance, and geopolitical analyses across the spectrum. But few of these books view the war through Russian eyes, understanding the thinking that […]

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Departures Podcast featuring Luke Harding, author of ‘Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival’

By Editor | Published: December 29, 2022

After almost 23 years in power, Russian President Vladimir Putin currently appears more weakened and vulnerable than during any other period of his presidency, thanks in large part to his disastrous decision to invade Ukraine. On this week’s Departures, we bring back the veteran journalist Luke Harding, who for years serving the Guardian’s correspondent in […]

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Departures Podcast featuring Anna Aruntunyan, author of ‘Hybrid Warriors: Proxies, Freelancers and Moscow’s Struggle for Ukraine’

By Editor | Published: December 14, 2022

When we talk about the gig economy, we usually are referring to rideshare drivers, errand runners, and all sorts of service industry freelancers. But we rarely think about the freelancers and non-state actors which take part in wars and armed conflict, doing the sometimes violent fighting and often disruptive hacking, as playing a very important […]

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Departures Podcast featuring Raffaello Pantucci, author of ‘Sinostan: China’s Inadvertent Empire’

By Editor | Published: December 9, 2022

Though we often view China’s increasingly activist foreign policy in its trade wars, territorial disputes, and frequent collisions with Western states, less attention is paid to its gradual and quiet expansion of influence in the ‘Stans of Central Asia. But it is here, among the populations of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan […]

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Join us for a live podcast event featuring David Satter, Nov. 15 in London

By Editor | Published: October 31, 2022

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is pleased to host a special live podcast event featuring veteran Russia correspondent and author David Satter to be held on November 15 at the Lanesborough Hotel in London. David Satter is a leading journalist and commentator on Russia and the former Soviet Union. David has had a distinguished career in […]

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Departures Podcast with Lucan Way, co-author of ‘Revolution and Dictatorship’

By Editor | Published: October 13, 2022

Some autocracies come and go, but others have a seemingly infinite shelf-life, showing a structural resiliency to any efforts at reform or democratic change that is strong, durable, and long lasting. More than 20 years ago, the rock star political scientists Lucan Way and Steven Levitsky wrote a paper examining the characteristics of successful autocratic […]

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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 Adeeb Khalid, author of ‘Central Asia: A New History From The Imperial Conquests To The Present’

By Editor | Published: April 28, 2022

Often dismissed as the edge of the Russian or Chinese empires, Central Asia hosts a complex history that informs on present day atrocities including the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and the Uyghur concentration camps in China. It is through these current events that Central Asia has become one of the most important geopolitical regions in […]

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Departures Podcast with Joby Warrick, author of ‘Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World’

By Editor | Published: April 7, 2022

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, it intervened in Syria in 2015 to shore up the beleaguered regime of their ally, Bashar al-Assad. How did this experience inform upon Vladimir Putin’s catastrophic decision to invade and attempt regime change of the democratically elected government in Kyiv? This week’s episode of Departures features Joby Warrick, a Pulitzer Prize-winning […]

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