Neutrality Studies

Originally published on 4 Apr 2025.

Today I’m talking to the Author, Activist, and Film Maker, Saúl Alvídrez. Born and raised in Mexico, Saúl went on a journey through South America at the age of 24, during which he was not only thinking a lot about the world, but also met two fascinating characters: Noam Chomsky and José Mujica. One being the great US intellectual, the other a former President of Uruguay, from whom he learned so much about the politics necessary to survive the 21st century.Saul's Book: In Spanish: "Chomsky & Mujica: Sobreviviendo al siglo XXI" https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Chomsky-M...In English: “Chomsky & Mujica: Surviving the Twenty First Century” https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...In German: "Chomsky & Mujica: Überleben im 21. Jahrhundert" https://www.amazon.de/Chomsky-Mujica-...

Originally published on 2 Apr 2025.

First it was Romania but now France, too, has banned the most prominent opposition leader from running for public office. In Turkey Erdogan just arrested his main rival, and Germany is talking about banning the largest opposition party. And those are just the most prominent cases. My guest today, Artur Ciechanowicz, shines a light on Poland in which Donald Tusk—a darling of the EU establishment—has been using various methods to get around the rule of law and crack down on his opposition, too.Artur Ciechanowicz is a journalist, international affairs expert and a former reporter for the Polish newswire PAP in Berlin and Brussels. He also writes for “The European Conservative” and the Brussels-based MCC ThinkTank. He recently wrote an insightful report with the title “Donald Tusk’s anti-democracy handbook: How to capture a state, dismantle the rule of law and not get persecuted by the European Commission.”Links:Artur’s Report: https://brussels.mcc.hu/uploads/defau...MCC Brussels:https://brussels.mcc.hu/Artur on the European Conservative: https://europeanconservative.com/arti...

Original published on 1 Apr 2025.

The New York Times article that just came out over the weekend is the second one in a year that admits the deep and scrupulous ways in which the USA has been directly fighting this war against Russia. Not through a semi-independent proxy, but by way of directly organising and coordinating attacks with the Ukrainians little more than front-line executioners of Washington's "Kill Chain"—as they them selves apparently called it. And the worst things of all: The Americans even blame Ukraine for not sacrificing enough men and resisting sending more young men to die at the front lines. Absolute depravity.

Originally published on 31 Mar 2025.

Beyond the fact that Russia has categorically ruled out any NATO membership or similar military security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war, we should also be aware of how one-dimensional the West's conception of "security guarantees" is, and how the entire thinking about 'guaranteeing' the security of a state through external means is a misguided approach to international stability.CORRECTIONS: I made two mistakes when recording this video. NATO has of course, 32 members as of 2025 (not 27, that's the number of EU members), and I meant to say that the Ukraine war is the only war currently in Europe, not world wide. Ma apologies for the errors.The best ways to support us:Donations on Patreon: patreon.com/NeutralityStudies.A subscription on Substack: pascallottaz.substack.com. Follow us also in Audio Podcast Form:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast...Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vvTf44...

Originally published on 29 Mar 2025.

NATO's worst enemy is NATO itself. The impunity with which this rogue war machine is breaking not only International Law but also its very own charter is breath-taking. It is hard to believe but as so often, the most outrageous and extensive crimes are hidden in plain sight. NATO parades its founding charter on its homepage, where article 6 clearly states the area covered by the treat. (https://www.nato.int/cps/ua/natohq/of...) Yet, on the same homepage, the organisation also proudly presents all corners of the world in which it is (or was) active—way beyond what the charter provides for. (https://www.nato.int/cps/ra/natohq/to...)

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Donations on Patreon: patreon.com/NeutralityStudies.

A subscription on Substack: pascallottaz.substack.com.

Follow us also in Audio Podcast Form:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast...

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vvTf44...

Originally published on 27 Mar 2025.

Today I’m talking again to Dr. Yu Bin, a great expert on Russia and China.

Dr. Yu Bin earned his PhD from Stanford University, he is a senior fellow at the Russian Studies Center of the East China Normal University in Shanghai, and the author of six books and more than 150 chapters. Most impressively, Dr. Yu Bin has been writing in-depth quarterly updates on Chinese-Russian relations for the past 25 Years! They are all available for free online at the links below.

Dr. Yu Bin’s analysis on Russan-Chinese Relations: https://cc.pacforum.org/relations/chi...

Dr. Yu Bin’s most recent analysis on the peace negotiations: https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/articles...

Originally published on 25 Mar 2025.

The best ways to support us:Donations on Patreon: patreon.com/NeutralityStudies.A subscription on Substack: pascallottaz.substack.com.The dissolution of the Soviet Union was without doubt one of the most consequential events of the 20th century. While over-all the process took place peacefully, there were areas and moments of bloodshed before and after the fateful days of 1991. Today I'm talking to someone who not only lived through those days but was close to the political process in one of the former Soviet republics. Dr. Mamradze is a physicist who became a politician after his country’s independence but had observed events closely all through the 1980s. He later served as chief of staff to the ex-president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze and as a Member of the Georgian Parliament.

Originally published on 23 Mar 2025.

The UK is clinging on by its teeth to the mantra that it will “support Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Since Trump’s public announcement that Ukraine would never become a member of NATO, and the alliance‘s Secretary General‘s admission to the same effect, it should be clear that “as long as it takes” is now well over. But, as so often, the Europeans are the last to get the message. The UK, France and some lone outposts of Empire are still serving the “boots ok the ground” rhetoric, when it has become utterly clear that this war is lost. To discuss the UK's policy towards Ukraine, I’ve got Lord Robert Skidelsky with me today. Lord Kidelsky is an Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at Warwick University, the author of a three-volume biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes, and since 1991 he has been serving as a member of the House of Lords, that is the upper chamber of the British Parliament.Lord Skidelsky‘s Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...My own take at the FOLLY the Europeans are going through: https://open.substack.com/pub/pascall...

Originally published on 19 Mar 2025.

On March 18, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a second phone conversation in which they discussed the US ceasefire proposal. Although European leaders tried to make it look as if this was a "take it or leave it" moment for Russia, we now understand that the USA was very realistic about this initial offer. It was nothing but a process starter and now the two teams in Washington and Moscow are working toward a realistic process that will end not only the war in Ukraine but lead to a normalisation of US-Russian relations. A surprising aspect of the readout is that the Middle East takes up more space than I had expected and that the Americans are apparently seeking Russia's help in their approach toward Iran. However, looking at the wording of the two documents, it seems that both sides are clear about the need to compartmentalise the negotiations and not connect different theatres but break the issues apart as to come to an understanding on the various bilateral issues separately. Good diplomacy finally taking place again.

Originally published on 21 Mar 2025.

The best ways to support us:Donations on Patreon: patreon.com/NeutralityStudies.A subscription on Substack: pascallottaz.substack.com. Today I’m talking to John Menadue, one of Australia’s most prolific publishers and public figures. Born in 1935, John worked in Australian media, served as head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1974 to 1976 and was Australia’s Ambassador to Japan fon 1977-1980. He was appointed Head of the Department of Trade in December 1983. And after returning to the private sector, he became the CEO of Qantas Airline from 1986-1989.After several more positions in and out of Government, John founded influential public policy journal Pearls and Irritations at http://johnmenadue.com/ in January 2013 on which he and his colleagues have been reporting very critically on current affairs.