Neutrality Studies

Originally published on 31 Jul 2025.

Today I’m talking to the Australian author and historian, Michael Pembroke.Michael is based in Sydney, has written several books and for various outlets, including Time Magazine, Al Jazeera, the South China Morning Post. He was also a Supreme Court Judge (2010–20) for Australia’s state of New South Wales.His most recent work came out this July and carries the title, “Silk, Silver, Opium: The Trade With China that Changed the World”Links:Silk, Silver, Opium: The Trade With China that Changed the World: https://www.amazon.com/Silk-Silver-Op...

Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitysNeutrality Studies Goods Shop: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourth...

Originally published on 29 Jul 2025.

Today I’m talking to Dr. Benjamin Abelow, the author of the book „Ho the West Brought War to Ukraine“ which I have reviewed on this channel before. Dr. Abelow graduated from the Yale School of Medicine, where he also served as Lecturer in Medicine.Links:Free PDFs in English, German, and French:https://benjaminabelow.com/download/Translation versions available at AMAZON (English also available in all countries):United States:https://www.amazon.com/How-West-Broug...United Kingdom:https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-West-Bro...German:https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Benjamin-A...

Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 4 Oct 2025.

I’ve always felt uneasy calling the period after the Soviet Union’s collapse the “Post–Cold War.” To me, it was a temporary label—anything “post” must eventually become “pre” to something else. History never really stops. Even when 9/11 and the “War on Terror” seemed to change everything, I sensed that the world’s basic structure hadn’t shifted. Despite the chaos and destruction in West Asia and North Africa, global politics still revolved around a single dominant power.

Looking back now, it feels clear that the Post–Cold War era truly ended with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Scholars and policymakers increasingly describe the new reality as multipolar—a world with several centers of cultural, technological, and military power no longer bound to Western leadership.

I find it useful to think of the years between 1991 and 2022 as the “Unipolar Moment.” Realist thinkers like John Mearsheimer had long warned that unipolar systems never last—power always attracts counterbalances. And they were right.

Still, I see this reinterpretation with some optimism. Maybe what comes next won’t be a new world war or another cold war. Perhaps, if we’re fortunate, we’ll enter a “New Concert System,” a more cooperative balance among great powers.

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Originally published on 28 Jul 2025

Today I’m talking to Stanislav Krapivnik, a former US Army officer, supply chain executive and military-political expert.Links:Stanislav Krapivnik's YouTube Channel: ‪@MrSlavikman‬ Stanislav Krapivnik's Telegram: https://t.me/stastydaiobratnoNeutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 27 Jul 2025.

Dr. Warwick Powell is an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology and a Senior Fellow at the Taihe Institute.Links:

Warwick Powell's Substack: https://warwickpowell.substack.com/Neutrality Studies Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies

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Originally published on 26 Jul 2025.

The military tensions at the Thai-Cambodian border have exploded this week into all-out artillery warfare. Military personnel and civilians have died and the political fallout in Thailand has cost the prime minister her job. What is going on? To discuss this, I'm joined today by Dr. Digby J. Wren.

Based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Dr. Wren has been connected to the region for decades. He runs a geopolitical risk advisory firm and is a former External Relations Advisor to the President of the Royal Academy of Cambodia. He is also the publisher of the very successful Substack Analysis, “the long Mekong”.Dr. Wren's Susbtack: https://longmekong.substack.comOur Shop: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourth...

Originally published on 25 Jul 2025.

Today I’m talking again to Pietro Shakarian and Lasha Kasradze. Pietro is an Armenian historian at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, and Lasha is a Georgian international relations analyst working in the US as a liaison officer for the Sokhumi State University.Today we want to discuss the many developments in the Caucasus region, from Armenia’s crack down on opposition forces, to renewed EU pressure on Georgia, and Azerbeijan’s antagonist policies toward Russia—a lot is happening right now.

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Originally published on 23 Jul 2025.

Today I’m talking to Dr. Ivana Nikolic Hughes, the Director of Frontiers of Science and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University. Dr. Hughes is also the President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and has been working with her students for many years on issues of nonproliferation and disarmament.Links:Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: www.WagingPeace.OrgFind more info at ICAN: https://www.icanw.org/Neutrality Studies Goods Shop: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourth...

Originally published on 22 Jul 2025.

Today I'm talking again to Romans Sklenniks, a former Latvian journalist in Riga, who pointed out to me that there is another very scary ongoing case of a EU citizen, a Latvian citizen, Tatiana Andriets, who is being prosecuted for basically having a connection to Russia. This kind of occurrences is now happening more and more inside the European Union, and we want to discuss this today.

Links:Tatiana’s Case: https://baltija.eu/2025/05/08/v-latvi...https://www.sool.lv/tatyana-andriets-...

Roman’s YT:    / @romanssklenniks  Roman's Telegram: https://web.telegram.org/k/#@perspekt...

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Originally published on 20 Sept 2025.

While European leaders claim their support for Ukraine is a rational defense of democracy, their policies appear increasingly self-destructive. Is this a coherent strategy, or the result of a sophisticated propaganda campaign targeting their own citizens? And is the human mind becoming NATO’s next official battlefield?To discuss all this, today I’m talking again to Dr. Jonas Tögel, a German propaganda researcher working for the institute for psychology at the University of Regensburg. He is the author of the German-langauge books "War Games: How NATO and the Pentagon Simulate the Destruction of Europe” and “Cognitive Warfare: The Latest Manipulation Techniques as a NATO Weapon Category”.We explore NATO's official doctrine of "cognitive warfare" and its aim to make every citizen "resilient" to unapproved narratives. We break down the specific propaganda techniques used in mainstream German media, the dangerous irrationality driving European foreign policy, and why simply trying to understand an adversary is now treated as a thought crime. Finally, Jonas provides practical tools for citizens to identify and resist these pervasive manipulation campaigns.Links Jonas:Website: https://www.jonastoegel.de/Channel: ‪@DrJonasToegel‬X (Twitter): https://x.com/JonasToegelNeutrality Studies:Neutrality Studies substack: https://pascallottaz.substack.com Goods Store: https://neutralitystudies-shop.fourth...