Geopolitics & Empire

Dr. Oswaldo Zavala discusses his book "The Cartels Don't Exist" in which he examines the questionable narrative that the Mexican drug cartels are in control of the government. In fact, he points to evidence that it is the U.S. and Mexican security state apparatus managing the drug cartels. He deconstructs how the state's false narrative of being the victim of the cartels then is reproduced by mass media, ambitious but naive journalists, film (e.g. Netflix's Narcos, Sicario, Infierno), popular literature, telenovelas and soap operas.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://twitter.com/Oswaldo__Zavala

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Latin-American,-Iberian,-and-Latino-Cultures/Profiles/Oswaldo-Zavala

https://www.proceso.com.mx/585253/el-fascismo-inimaginable-la-casa-blanca-en-las-series-de-television-en-la-era-de-trump

Book

https://www.amazon.com/Los-c%C3%A1rteles-existen-Narcotr%C3%A1fico-cultura-ebook/dp/B079LFYPYL/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=oswaldo+zavala&link_code=qs&qid=1558631354&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

About the Guest

Oswaldo Zavala (Ciudad Juárez, 1975) is Professor of contemporary Latin American literature and culture with a joint appointment at the College of Staten Island and at The Graduate Center, both institutions part of the City University of New York (CUNY). His work explores post-national imaginaries, representations of violence at the US-Mexico border, and the exhaustion of discourses on modernity in the Latin American narrative of the last two decades.

He is the author of "Los cárteles no existen. Narcotráfico y cultura en México" (Malpaso 2018), "Volver a la modernidad. Genealogías de la literatura mexicana de fin de siglo" (Albatros 2017) and "La modernidad insufrible. Roberto Bolaño en los límites de la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea" (NCSRLL 2015). He also co-edited: with Magdalena Perkowska (Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY), "Tiranas ficciones: política y poética de la obra de Horacio Castellanos Moya" (Pittsburgh: IILI, Antonio Cornejo Polar Series, 2018); with Viviane Mahieux (University of California at Irvine) "Tierras de nadie. El norte en la narrativa mexicana contemporánea" (México: Tierra Adentro, 2012) and with José Ramón Ruisánchez (University of Houston) "Materias dispuestas: Juan Villoro ante la crítica" (Barcelona: Candaya, 2011).

His article "Imagining the US-Mexico Drug War: The Critical Limits of Narconarratives," obtained the 2015 award for Best Essay in the Humanities granted by the Mexico Section of the Latin American Studies Association. He received an honorable mention in Mexico's 2017 National Journalism Award for his essay "Nada que ver en la frontera del narco. Los imagentextos de Julián Cardona."

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK0it5GZcaM

Dr. Oswaldo Zavala discusses his book "The Cartels Don't Exist" in which he examines the questionable narrative that the Mexican drug cartels are in control of the government. In fact, he points to evidence that it is the U.S. and Mexican security state apparatus managing the drug cartels. He deconstructs how the state's false narrative of being the victim of the cartels then is reproduced by mass media, ambitious but naive journalists, film (e.g. Netflix's Narcos, Sicario, Infierno), popular literature, telenovelas and soap operas.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://twitter.com/Oswaldo__Zavala

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral-Programs/Latin-American,-Iberian,-and-Latino-Cultures/Profiles/Oswaldo-Zavala

https://www.proceso.com.mx/585253/el-fascismo-inimaginable-la-casa-blanca-en-las-series-de-television-en-la-era-de-trump

Book

https://www.amazon.com/Los-c%C3%A1rteles-existen-Narcotr%C3%A1fico-cultura-ebook/dp/B079LFYPYL/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=oswaldo+zavala&link_code=qs&qid=1558631354&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

About the Guest

Oswaldo Zavala (Ciudad Juárez, 1975) is Professor of contemporary Latin American literature and culture with a joint appointment at the College of Staten Island and at The Graduate Center, both institutions part of the City University of New York (CUNY). His work explores post-national imaginaries, representations of violence at the US-Mexico border, and the exhaustion of discourses on modernity in the Latin American narrative of the last two decades.

He is the author of "Los cárteles no existen. Narcotráfico y cultura en México" (Malpaso 2018), "Volver a la modernidad. Genealogías de la literatura mexicana de fin de siglo" (Albatros 2017) and "La modernidad insufrible. Roberto Bolaño en los límites de la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea" (NCSRLL 2015). He also co-edited: with Magdalena Perkowska (Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY), "Tiranas ficciones: política y poética de la obra de Horacio Castellanos Moya" (Pittsburgh: IILI, Antonio Cornejo Polar Series, 2018); with Viviane Mahieux (University of California at Irvine) "Tierras de nadie. El norte en la narrativa mexicana contemporánea" (México: Tierra Adentro, 2012) and with José Ramón Ruisánchez (University of Houston) "Materias dispuestas: Juan Villoro ante la crítica" (Barcelona: Candaya, 2011).

His article "Imagining the US-Mexico Drug War: The Critical Limits of Narconarratives," obtained the 2015 award for Best Essay in the Humanities granted by the Mexico Section of the Latin American Studies Association. He received an honorable mention in Mexico's 2017 National Journalism Award for his essay "Nada que ver en la frontera del narco. Los imagentextos de Julián Cardona."

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Andreas Bummel discusses the historical idea of world government and how existential civilizational threats such as climate change, thermonuclear war, and systemic global financial collapse necessitate the creation of a world parliament. We discuss numerous aspects of the movement, the role of regional unions, a global currency, and criticisms which include the threat of the world state becoming a tyrannical global leviathan. He discusses the change in global consciousness needed and the movement to create a UN Parliamentary Assembly. Finally, he describes how a democratized China could become a leader in global governance.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://en.unpacampaign.org

https://www.twitter.com/unpacampaign

https://www.democracywithoutborders.org

https://twitter.com/democracywb

https://www.andreasbummel.de

https://twitter.com/andreasbummel

Book

A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century https://www.amazon.com/World-Parliament-Governance-Democracy-Century-ebook/dp/B07BN5N2FD/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=andreas+bummel&link_code=qs&qid=1558382328&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

About the Guest

Andreas Bummel is known for his advocacy of a world parliament. He is co-founder and director of Democracy Without Borders and coordinator of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. He frequently writes and speaks about global democracy. His book “A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century” which was published in 2018 (with Jo Leinen) provides a comprehensive overview. Andreas Bummel is a member of the Congress of the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy in New York.

UN Parliamentary Assembly Campaign

The Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly is a global network that advocates democratic representation of the world’s citizens at the UN and the institutions of global governance. Supporters of the campaign include current and former parliamentarians and officials, representatives of civil society organizations, researchers, and dedicated citizens.

The campaign’s mandate is based on the international appeal for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly at the UN that was published in 2007 and on subsequent declarations. Five international meetings on a UNPA have taken place so far. The campaign’s international action and strategy is coordinated by a secretariat that is hosted by Democracy Without Borders. The secretariat works closely with the campaign’s steering committee, the co-chairs of the campaign’s advisory group, and partner organizations such as the World Federalist Movement based in New York and The Hague. The overall goal of the campaign is to mobilize government support for the establishment of a UNPA. While the campaign approaches governments, it simultaneously seeks to establish parliamentary support.

Democracy Without Borders

Democracy Without Borders supports global democracy and a holistic approach to democracy promotion that spans from the local to the global levels and at the same time embraces the dimensions of representation, participation, deliberation and co-decision. Democracy Without Borders strives for a democratic world order in which citizens participate beyond national boundaries in shaping policy that serves their joint long-term interests. Such an order needs to be based on an equal world citizenship of all citizens as well as on the principles of federalism, subsidiarity, the separation of powers, the rule of law, fundamental human rights, and the protection of minorities.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Ji...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1g5uxnJpe8

Andreas Bummel discusses the historical idea of world government and how existential civilizational threats such as climate change, thermonuclear war, and systemic global financial collapse necessitate the creation of a world parliament. We discuss numerous aspects of the movement, the role of regional unions, a global currency, and criticisms which include the threat of the world state becoming a tyrannical global leviathan. He discusses the change in global consciousness needed and the movement to create a UN Parliamentary Assembly. Finally, he describes how a democratized China could become a leader in global governance.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://en.unpacampaign.org

https://www.twitter.com/unpacampaign

https://www.democracywithoutborders.org

https://twitter.com/democracywb

https://www.andreasbummel.de

https://twitter.com/andreasbummel

Book

A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century https://www.amazon.com/World-Parliament-Governance-Democracy-Century-ebook/dp/B07BN5N2FD/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=andreas+bummel&link_code=qs&qid=1558382328&s=gateway&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

About the Guest

Andreas Bummel is known for his advocacy of a world parliament.

He is co-founder and director of Democracy Without Borders and coordinator of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

He frequently writes and speaks about global democracy.

His book “A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century” which was published in 2018 (with Jo Leinen) provides a comprehensive overview.

Andreas Bummel is a member of the Congress of the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy in New York.

UN Parliamentary Assembly Campaign

The Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly is a global network that advocates democratic representation of the world’s citizens at the UN and the institutions of global governance. Supporters of the campaign include current and former parliamentarians and officials, representatives of civil society organizations, researchers, and dedicated citizens.

The campaign’s mandate is based on the international appeal for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly at the UN that was published in 2007 and on subsequent declarations. Five international meetings on a UNPA have taken place so far.

The campaign’s international action and strategy is coordinated by a secretariat that is hosted by Democracy Without Borders. The secretariat works closely with the campaign’s steering committee, the co-chairs of the campaign’s advisory group, and partner organizations such as the World Federalist Movement based in New York and The Hague.

The overall goal of the campaign is to mobilize government support for the establishment of a UNPA. While the campaign approaches governments, it simultaneously seeks to establish parliamentary support.

Democracy Without Borders

Democracy Without Borders supports global democracy and a holistic approach to democracy promotion that spans from the local to the global levels and at the same time embraces the dimensions of representation, participation, deliberation and co-decision.

Democracy Without Borders strives for a democratic world order in which citizens participate beyond national boundaries in shaping policy that serves their joint long-term interests. Such an order needs to be based on an equal world citizenship of all citizens as well as on the principles of federalism, subsidiarity, the separation of powers, the rule of law, fundamental human rights, and the protection of minorities.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Librarium Associates founder and BFI Capital Group Advisory Board Member Mr. Sune Hojgaard Sorensen joins us to discuss current geopolitical-macro trends and his quarterly publication "Around the World in 8 Pages." We also discuss the unique frameworks and methods he uses in successfully analyzing geopolitical and macroeconomic trends.

*Download the latest edition of "Around the World in 8 Pages" HERE: https://guadalajarageopolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AroundTheWorldIn8Pages-Q1-2019-LV.pdf

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://www.librariuminsights.com

https://www.twitter.com/LibrariumViews

https://www.bficapital.com/leadership

About the Guest

Mr. Sune Hojgaard Sorensen founded Librarium Associates as a vehicle from which to explore the world, drawing on; his varied experiences around the globe, his intellectual curiosity, a driven pursuit of variant perceptions from a wide array of sources, a deep bench of diverse contacts across continents and industries and over fifteen years of experience in the investment industry in a multitude of roles and across asset classes, in order to consistently be able to provide unique insights that frame path probabilities, developments and future trends into clear and defined ideas that in turn enable sophisticated investors to make superior decisions.

Mr. Hojgaard Sorensen is an Advisory Board Member of our partners at BFI Capital Group (www.bficapital.com). Where he works with this distinguished group of individuals on matters pertaining to identifying global risks and opportunities and distilling investable insights for the development of long term investment strategies for a select group of global accredited investors.

Mr. Hojgaard Sorensen is a partner and an advisor to the Orbis28 Family Office Solutions platform (www.orbis28.com/family-office/). Where he - together with a group of top tier experts on matters pertaining to global investing, wealth management and estate & financial planning - provides insights, research and advice to global entrepreneurs & other HNWIs & UHNWIs.     

You can learn more by accessing our ‘SOLUTIONS’ section of the site or by contacting us with any questions you may have or to schedule a conversation: [email protected]

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Geopolitics & Empire · Sune Hojgaard Sorensen: Geopolitical-Macro Trends & Analysis in 2019 #110

Librarium Associates founder and BFI Capital Group Advisory Board Member Mr. Sune Hojgaard Sorensen joins us to discuss current geopolitical-macro trends and his quarterly publication "Around the World in 8 Pages." We also discuss the unique frameworks and methods he uses in successfully analyzing geopolitical and macroeconomic trends.

*Download the latest edition of "Around the World in 8 Pages" HERE: https://geopoliticsandempire.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AroundTheWorldIn8Pages-Q1-2019-LV.pdf

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Websites

https://www.librariuminsights.com

https://www.twitter.com/LibrariumViews

https://www.bficapital.com/leadership

About the Guest

Mr. Sune Hojgaard Sorensen founded Librarium Associates as a vehicle from which to explore the world, drawing on; his varied experiences around the globe, his intellectual curiosity, a driven pursuit of variant perceptions from a wide array of sources, a deep bench of diverse contacts across continents and industries and over fifteen years of experience in the investment industry in a multitude of roles and across asset classes, in order to consistently be able to provide unique insights that frame path probabilities, developments and future trends into clear and defined ideas that in turn enable sophisticated investors to make superior decisions.

Mr. Hojgaard Sorensen is an Advisory Board Member of our partners at BFI Capital Group (www.bficapital.com). Where he works with this distinguished group of individuals on matters pertaining to identifying global risks and opportunities and distilling investable insights for the development of long term investment strategies for a select group of global accredited investors.

Mr. Hojgaard Sorensen is a partner and an advisor to the Orbis28 Family Office Solutions platform (www.orbis28.com/family-office/). Where he - together with a group of top tier experts on matters pertaining to global investing, wealth management and estate & financial planning - provides insights, research and advice to global entrepreneurs & other HNWIs & UHNWIs.     

You can learn more by accessing our ‘SOLUTIONS’ section of the site or by contacting us with any questions you may have or to schedule a conversation.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Dr. Julian Dierkes joins us to discuss Mongolian President Battulga's new amendments to the judiciary which seem to signal a slight move toward authoritarianism. We also talk about the economy and geopolitical positioning of Mongolia between Russia, China, and North Korea.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Show Notes

The Likelihood of Political Renewal http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2019/party-reform-birth

Genghis Khan's Biggest Fan Is Testing Mongolia's Democracy https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-16/genghis-khan-s-biggest-fan-is-testing-mongolia-s-democracy

Mongolia’s President Is Slicing Away Its Hard-Won Democracy https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/29/mongolias-president-is-slicing-away-its-hard-won-democracy

Mongolian foreign affairs delegation in Pyongyang for talks https://www.nknews.org/2019/04/mongolian-foreign-affairs-delegation-in-pyongyang-for-talks-kcna

Websites

https://twitter.com/jdierkes

http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia

Publications

https://brill.com/view/title/21276

About the Guest

Julian Dierkes is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Institute of Asian Research (IAR) and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA). He co-ordinates the IAR’s Program on Inner Asia and is a frequent visitor to Mongolia.

Dr. Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton). In addition to contemporary Mongolia, his research interests focus on supplementary education, especially in Japan (see e.g. Jukupedia – Shadowing Education). He has also developed an interest in Digital Diplomacy.

In UBC’s Master of Arts Asia Pacific Policy Studies (MAAPPS) program and now the Master in Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA), Dr. Dierkes has co-supervised graduate projects on mining regulation in Mongolia with colleagues in mining engineering. In 2017 he taught a seminar on Mongolian politics at Humboldt University in Berlin.

He has served as an election observer in the 2008 parliamentary,  2009 presidential, 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential, and 2017 presidential elections in Mongolia. He has written about Mongolia for Asia Pacific Memo, East Asia Forum, the FT’s beyond BRICS, The Diplomat and elsewhere, and also consults on political risk in Mongolia.

He tweets at twitter.com/jdierkes, including frequent tweets on Mongolia. Dierkes is easily mistaken for a socialist, but at least he’s an expert!

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Geopolitics & Empire · Julian Dierkes: Geopolitics of Mongolia & Move Toward Authoritarian Rule? #109

Dr. Julian Dierkes joins us to discuss Mongolian President Battulga's new amendments to the judiciary which seem to signal a slight move toward authoritarianism. We also talk about the economy and geopolitical positioning of Mongolia between Russia, China, and North Korea.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Show Notes

The Likelihood of Political Renewal http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2019/party-reform-birth

Genghis Khan's Biggest Fan Is Testing Mongolia's Democracy https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-16/genghis-khan-s-biggest-fan-is-testing-mongolia-s-democracy

Mongolia’s President Is Slicing Away Its Hard-Won Democracy https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/29/mongolias-president-is-slicing-away-its-hard-won-democracy

Mongolian foreign affairs delegation in Pyongyang for talks https://www.nknews.org/2019/04/mongolian-foreign-affairs-delegation-in-pyongyang-for-talks-kcna

Websites

https://twitter.com/jdierkes

http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia

Publications

https://brill.com/view/title/21276

About the Guest

Julian Dierkes is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Institute of Asian Research (IAR) and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA). He co-ordinates the IAR’s Program on Inner Asia and is a frequent visitor to Mongolia.

Dr. Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton). In addition to contemporary Mongolia, his research interests focus on supplementary education, especially in Japan (see e.g. Jukupedia – Shadowing Education). He has also developed an interest in Digital Diplomacy.

In UBC’s Master of Arts Asia Pacific Policy Studies (MAAPPS) program and now the Master in Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA), Dr. Dierkes has co-supervised graduate projects on mining regulation in Mongolia with colleagues in mining engineering. In 2017 he taught a seminar on Mongolian politics at Humboldt University in Berlin.

He has served as an election observer in the 2008 parliamentary,  2009 presidential, 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential, and 2017 presidential elections in Mongolia. He has written about Mongolia for Asia Pacific Memo, East Asia Forum, the FT’s beyond BRICS, The Diplomat and elsewhere, and also consults on political risk in Mongolia.

He tweets at twitter.com/jdierkes, including frequent tweets on Mongolia.

Dierkes is easily mistaken for a socialist, but at least he’s an expert!

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Author and journalist Joanna Lillis discusses her book "Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan". We talk about the history of Kazakhstan before, during, and after former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. We look at the Russian influence, ethnic dynamics, the effects of Soviet nuclear testing, the economic situation, political corruption and scandals, and Kazakhstan in the New Great Game between Russia, China, and the United States. Finally, we look into the future of post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan, including who might be the next president.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Website

https://twitter.com/joannalillis

Book

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-Inside-Secret-Kazakhstan/dp/1784538612

About Joanna Lillis

Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist reporting on Central Asia whose work has featured in the Guardian, The Economist and the Independent newspapers, the Eurasianet website and Foreign Policy and POLITICO magazines. Prior to settling in Kazakhstan in 2005, she lived in Russia and Uzbekistan between 1995 and 2005, and worked for BBC Monitoring, the BBC World Service's global media tracking service. While completing a BA in Modern Languages at the University of Leeds, she studied Russian in the Soviet republics of Belorussia and Ukraine before the collapse of the USSR, and has an MA in Interpreting and Translation from the University of Bradford.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjjp7GUfkho

Author and journalist Joanna Lillis discusses her book "Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan". We talk about the history of Kazakhstan before, during, and after former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. We look at the Russian influence, ethnic dynamics, the effects of Soviet nuclear testing, the economic situation, political corruption and scandals, and Kazakhstan in the New Great Game between Russia, China, and the United States. Finally, we look into the future of post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan, including who might be the next president.

*Support/Donate to Geopolitics & Empire:

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/empiregeopolitics

PayPal https://www.paypal.me/geopolitics

Bitcoin http://geopoliticsandempire.com/bitcoin-donate

Website

https://twitter.com/joannalillis

Book

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-Inside-Secret-Kazakhstan/dp/1784538612

About Joanna Lillis

Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist reporting on Central Asia whose work has featured in the Guardian, The Economist and the Independent newspapers, the Eurasianet website and Foreign Policy and POLITICO magazines. Prior to settling in Kazakhstan in 2005, she lived in Russia and Uzbekistan between 1995 and 2005, and worked for BBC Monitoring, the BBC World Service's global media tracking service. While completing a BA in Modern Languages at the University of Leeds, she studied Russian in the Soviet republics of Belorussia and Ukraine before the collapse of the USSR, and has an MA in Interpreting and Translation from the University of Bradford.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)