Neutrality Studies

Originally published on 9 Nov 2025.

Why did the 1990s dream of a 'Common European Home' fail so spectacularly? How did the promise of cooperative security give way to today's escalating confrontations?To find answers, today I’m talking again to Evarist Bartolo, a former Foreign Minister of Malta. Evarist recently wrote an article about this very “Mirage of the Common Home” and how the United States has always opposed a pan-European security structure. This and the Euro-American relationship is what we want to discuss today.Drawing from his direct experience, Evarist shares stunning accounts from inside EU Council meetings where fighting was favored over talking. We explore the structural dominance of NATO, the dangerous loss of diplomatic memory, and the West's belligerent response to an emerging multipolar world.Links:Minister Bartolo's Homepage: https://evaristbartolo.mtArticle mentioned in the video: https://timesofmalta.com/article/mira...Another article by Bartolo: https://timesofmalta.com/article/losi...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 7 Nov 2025.

I've been hearing whispers about a profound shift in Europe's industrial heartland. Why are Germany's famed 'hidden champions'—the backbone of its peaceful economy—suddenly pivoting to serve the US war machine? The answer is more shocking than I imagined.To understand this transatlantic shift, today I’m talking to Dr. Stephan Ebner. As an international lawyer working in the US, Germany, and Taiwan, he advises clients on precisely these geopolitical questions and sees the contracts being signed firsthand.Our conversation uncovers the astonishing 400% profits driving this re-militarization and a disturbing truth: the US is now using German soil for weapons tests deemed too dangerous for America itself. This isn't just business; it's a fundamental reshaping of Europe's economy for war.Links:

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Originally published on 5 Nov 2025.

Is international law collapsing under the weight of powerful nations that blatantly ignore it? How can we use this crisis as a catalyst to build a system that actually holds everyone, not just the weak, accountable?To explore these critical questions, today I’m talking again to Dr. Alfred de Zayas, a Professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy, who used to work as a senior lawyer in the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and later became the first UN Independent Expert on International Order.Together, we dissect the systemic hypocrisy of the "rules-based order," the rise of the Global South as a new center of power, the potential for BRICS to forge alternative legal tribunals, and the information war we must win to restore faith in global justice.Links:Homepage: https://www.alfreddezayas.com/Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner (Blog): https://dezayasalfred.wordpress.com/X (Twitter): https://x.com/AlfreddezayasCounterPunch: https://www.counterpunch.org/author/a...Alfred's latest article at Covert Action: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2025...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 3 Nov 2025.

What if a major academic program was designed not for open inquiry, but to create "professors of propaganda"? How does the EU's Jean Monnet Programme turn academics into "ambassadors" for its agenda, and how deeply does this corrode independent thought in our universities?To explore these questions, today I’m talking again to Thomas Fazi, an Italian journalist with a fantastic substack and Twitter/X (link below). A few weeks ago, Thomas published an important report entitled: “Professors of Propaganda: How the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme Corrodes Academia,” and this is what we want to discuss today.Our conversation uncovers the program's explicit goals, its place within the EU's wider propaganda matrix, and the chilling effect this "funding with strings attached" has on academic freedom and critical thought.

Links:Report mentioned in video: https://brussels.mcc.hu/uploads/defau...Thomas' Substack: https://www.thomasfazi.com/Thomas' X (Twitter): https://x.com/battleforeurope
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Originally published on 1 Nov 2025.

Is the West truly in retreat, or are we witnessing the birth of a new, more insidious form of total war? Why do Western elites pursue strategies that seem self-destructive for their own nations, and what ideology drives this dangerous path forward?To help me make sense of this, today I’m talking to Nel Bonilla. Publishing under this pen name on Substack, Nel is a young researcher working on her PhD and a prolific analyst online. She is in the process of publishing a 3-part series on the fundaments of the Western Power Projection System, arguing that the West, in fact, is not at all in retreat but currently reconstituting its fighting techniques. Part 1 of her series is called “Weaponizing Time: Elite Anxiety and the Fight for a Closing Window” and a second part to this called “Weaponizing Time: The Global Operating System of Western Power.” This is what we want to discuss today.Together, we delve into the deeply ingrained colonial mindset revealed in official NATO documents and explore the shift towards 'pervasive competition' and multi-domain warfare. We also touch on how global networks are being weaponized and the terrifying radicalization of a post-national elite.Links:Articles mentioned in video:Part 1: https://themindness.substack.com/p/we...Part 2: https://themindness.substack.com/p/we...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 31 Oct 2025.

How does a society go from peaceful neighbors to bitter enemies? What if nationalism wasn't a sleeping giant but a tool deliberately awakened by capitalism? And what happens when global powers actively prevent a country from forming a unified identity?To explore these questions, today I’m talking to Professor Zlatko Hadžidedić, the Director at the Center for Nationalism Studies located in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.We uncover the manufactured nature of ethno-religious identities, the geopolitical games that fragment nations, and a chilling prediction for the future: a global rise of "authoritarian nationalism" designed to serve a new hyper-capitalist order. This is a fundamental rethink of how nations are made and unmade.Links:Center for Nationalism Studies: https://nationalismstudies.org/Nations and Capital (Book): https://www.routledge.com/Nations-and...Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 30 Oct 2025.

What if the decisive factor in the Ukraine war isn't willpower or wonder weapons, but simply money? Are we overlooking a looming economic collapse in Kyiv that could fundamentally alter the conflict's trajectory when the funding finally dries up for good?To explore this critical angle, today I’m talking to Dr. Nicolai Petro, a Professor for Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.We unpack the stark financial realities facing Ukraine and debunk the myths surrounding game-changing weapons. Our discussion navigates the shifting global attention, Europe's political corner, and Russia's surprisingly patient long-term strategy, offering a forecast of the war's next, and perhaps final, phase.Links:Nicolai's Homepage: http://npetro.net/Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies
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Originally published on 29 Oct 2025.

Is Japan's recent defense build-up a shift toward hawkishness, or just an attempt to become a "normal" country? How would Japan, a pacifist nation by constitution, react if its main ally, the US, were to start a war? We dive deep into the unique constraints and surprising flexibility of Japan's military.Today I’m talking to Koji Imaki, a former Pilot and Senior Leader in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force with many flight hours in both the American-made F-35 and the indigenous F-2 fighter jets. Mr. Imaki has worked for decades in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, so today we want to discuss his country’s military position in the emerging multipolarity.Mr. Imaki shares his unique perspective on the operational realities of Japan's constitutional limits, the delicate balance of the US alliance, and the search for new defense partners. We also explore the internal debate over defense spending and the ongoing, complex military relationship—or lack thereof—with neighbors like China and Russia.Links:Imaki's Linkedin:   / koji-imaki-46066a1b0  Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 28 Oct 2025.

This is a Webinar of the Multipolar Peace Network Initiative. Count Michael von der Schulenburg, who worked decades in conflict resolution for the United Nations and is now a European Parliament member for Germany's left-wing party BSW, discusses with Professor Jeffrey Sachs the reasons and extend of EU elite madness and institutional failures. Not only war propaganda is on an all-time high, also the political process is so captured by Russo-phobic pro-war narratives that the ideologists within the bureaucratic structures of the Brussel's behemoth don't even understand the extend and consequences of their irresponsible war policies. Coupled with the inability for long-term planning and disregard of national interest, the fate of the European continent is set for another dark chapter. The worst is yet to come.

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Originally published on 26 Oct 2025.

How do we make sense of a world on the brink of new wars in places like Venezuela and Iran, while simultaneously witnessing the rise of multipolar institutions like BRICS? Is the United States a wounded giant lashing out, or is its military might still the ultimate force shaping our future?To grapple with these questions, I’m talking again to the always brilliant political scientist and author, Dr. Vijay Prashad, the director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research.We explore the true nature of American power—is it a paper tiger incapable of winning wars, or a wounded beast still capable of immense destruction? We dive into the information war, the failure of European intellectuals to grasp reality, and why a holistic view is essential to understanding today's interconnected crises.

Links:Tricontinental: https://thetricontinental.orgNeutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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