Diplomates – A Geopolitical Chinwag

Misha Zelinsky caught up with Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

Before becoming the Ambassador, Vasyl was an accomplished and high profile business and civil society leader in Ukraine. A graduate of London School of Economics, he is a communications expert and a recognised global leader. 

In this episode we talk about the latest in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, what more the world can do to help, what Ukrainians want for their own future, Russia's and Putin's war crimes, what the world got wrong about Putin prior to the invasion, and why what happens in Ukraine matters everywhere. 

A big thank you to the Ambassador who took this call while on the road in between meetings. As a result, at times the audio quality may not be to our usual standard. We apologise and trust you will forgive us as this is a very important conversation. 

Also, be sure to listen to one of the best BBQ question answers we've ever had!

Please continue to support Ukraine however you can. It is so vital!

Please share, rate and review the episode widely, it really helps draw attention to the Ukrainian fight for survival. It's so important we spread the word of what is happening in Ukraine right now. 

Slava Ukraini!

You can follow Misha and the Diplomates show on social media here:
@mishazelinsky  
@diplomates.show

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Lots going on in the world this week!

Boris Johnson’s no confidence vote.

Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and Western response.

Biden going to Saudi Arabia and energy politics

US Domestic politics of Jan 6 investigations, gun control and abortion rights.

And more!

Be sure to follow Hagar and the Oh My World! show on social media and YouTube @ohmyworldshow and @hagarchemali

You can follow Diplomates and Misha at @mishazelinsky @diplomates.show

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Kos Samaras is one of Australia’s top pollsters and political analysts.

He is a director at RedBridge Group Australia. For years, Kos was the Deputy Campaign Director for the Australian Labor Party in Victoria.

A veteran of numerous campaigns, Kos caught up with Misha Zelinsky to unpack everything that happened in the 2022 election, how Anthony Albanese won, why voters are leaving major parties, the collapse of the Liberal Party in the inner cities of Australia and what is likely to happen next.

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G'day Diplomates fans — apologies for the break in regular episodes. We've got some exciting guests coming up, so please stay tuned!

This week, Hagar Chemali returns for our Chinwag editions of the show!

Misha and Hagar talk:

• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• The politics of sanctions 
• Macron’s re-election bid and what this means for global democracy
• What’s happened to Carrie Lamb in Hong Kong
• Imran Khan losing his job and blaming the CIA
• And more!

Be sure to follow Hagar and the Oh My World! show on social media and YouTube @ohmyworldshow and @hagarchemali

You can follow Diplomates and Misha at @mishazelinsky @diplomates.show

For those following Misha's work covering the Ukraine war, please continue to support efforts to help Ukrainian refugees via the Fund of the Free and Caring: 

https://fest.foundation

Together we've raised $US60,000. Please keep giving -- you are saving lives!

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Recorded from the ground in Kyiv, Ukraine:

Pavlo Khazan, a Reserve Major in Ukraine’s armed forces and a signals officer of Jewish Ukrainian descent, is defiant in the face of unbelievable odds. 

A prominent leader of the Maiden movement and a veteran of the Donbas wars, Misha Zelinsky meets him at a friend’s place only hours before he boards a train to travel 500 kilometres east to his hometown of Dnipro – directly into the Russian storm.

An environmental engineer with a PhD in statistics, the once leading European eco-warrior has made the shift to battled hardened defender of his nation over the last decade. With the stakes so high, he appeals to the world for help in what he calls “critical moment for global democracy

Rate and review!

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Amb. Bi-khim Hsiao is Taiwan’s diplomatic representative to the United States.

Bi-khim is a decorated Taiwanese politician, having served twice in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (Taiwan’s lower house) as an elective representative of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). She is a passionate advocate for a peaceful and open Indo-Pacific as well as a defender of democracy at home and abroad.

I caught up with Bi-Khim for a chinwag about the history of Taiwan and its relationship with the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan’s flourishing and highly performing democracy, the relentless grey zone and political warfare efforts that the Taiwanese people are enduring from the CCP, the threat of CCP military invasion, why we must not allow Taiwan to be erased from global discussions, the importance of human rights globally, how the world can maintain peace and avoid war, and most critically what the Taiwanese people want for themselves and from the world. 

Be sure to follow Bi-khim Hsiao on Twitter! @bikhim

Please rate and review the show, it really helps!

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Merry Christmas Diplomates fans!  It’s the Christmas Chinwag special with Hagar Chemali.

Thanks for all your feedback so far on this new format. We love that you love it! Or that you at least love Hagar. Please rate and review the show. 

We’ve got a HUGE interview set for January, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

In this episode we talk:

• Democracy summit - big deal or big bust?
• Russia troops along Ukraine border, Putin demands of NATO
• U.S and other nations boycott of the Beijing Olympics and U.S. house voting to ban imports from Xinjiang
• Russia and China video tele-conference – what’s going on here?
• Facebook sued over the Rohingya Genocide
• UK politics. Boris on the nose, holiday parties, and special elections. 
• Covid vaccine diplomacy and Squid Game politics

Be sure to follow Hagar and the Oh My World! show on social media and YouTube @ohmyworldshow and @hagarchemali

You can follow Diplomates and Misha at @mishazelinsky @diplomates.show

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

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Brilliant news Diplomates fans, we've got more great foreign policy content for you as promised!

Welcome to the Chinwag Episodes!

We are pleased to announce Hagar Chemali as our second Chinwagger!

Hagar will join Misha for a monthly chinwag. The Chinwag episodes will be shorter and more focused on what's happening around the world of foreign policy. Be sure to send your questions in if you've got something on your mind.

Misha will continue to do deep-dive episodes with leading experts from around the world as per your regular programming. 

Who is Hagar? Firstly, she's awesome (but here's her bio anyway).

Hagar Hajjar Chemali is a political satirist, foreign policy expert, and host and creator of the weekly world news show Oh My World! on YouTube. She is also a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics center, and is featured regularly as a national security analyst on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, and Cheddar.

Hagar’s professional background and foreign policy expertise have been shaped by senior public affairs and policy-making positions she held over the course of 12 years in the U.S. Government. From 2015-2016, she was Director of Communications and Spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under President Obama, and from 2014-2015, she was Spokesperson for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. From 2010-2012, Hagar was Director for Syria and Lebanon at the White House, National Security Council, where she advised on and coordinated the implementation of U.S. policy toward Syria and Lebanon. Hagar also worked at the Treasury Department as a Senior Policy Advisor on Asia and Middle East Policy Advisor in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.

Hagar has a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she concentrated on International Security Policy and the Middle East. She also graduated from Columbia University’s Barnard College where she majored in Political Science. She speaks English, French, Arabic, and Italian. 

If you want to follow Hagar (you should!) check out her content here:

Oh My World! on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ohmyworldwithhagarchemali

Instagram: @hagarchemali & @omwshow

Twitter: @hagarchemali & @ohmyworldshow

More about Hagar: https://hagarchemali.com/

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Dr. Claire Wardle is a leading expert on social media, user generated content, and verification. Her research sits at the intersection of technology, communications theory, and mass and social media. Dr. Wardle is the co-founder and leader of First Draft the world’s foremost nonprofit focused on research and practice to address misinformation and disinformation. First Draft is housed at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

Misha Zelinsky caught up with Claire for a chinwag about the scourge of misinformation, why truth and fact matter in democracies, how we can inoculate people against falsehoods, how journalism can be reinvigorated at the local and national levels, regulating big tech and dealing with autocrats.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Keep an eye out for a regular new format of Diplomate episodes. These episodes will be co-hosted where we will discuss events of the day/week/month and how they’re playing out around the world. Don't worry, we will still have our usual Diplomates interview episodes, but these are additional for our fans!

Show Notes:

Follow Claire: @cward1e

Follow First Draft: @firstdraftnews

Follow Misha: @mishazelinsky @diplomates.show

Follow Diplomates: @diplomates.show

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