Neutrality Studies

Originally published on Mar 9, 2025.

Today I’m talking to Pietro Shakarian and Lasha Kasradze. Both of my colleagues hail from the Southern Caucasus region, Pietro from Armenia and Lasha from Georgia.Both of them are living abroad, Pietro is a historian at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburgh, Russia, and Lasha is an international relations analyst working in the US as a liaison officer for Georgia‘s Sokhumi State University.The three of us discuss the Geostrategic situation for the caucasus on the new multipolarity that now even the USA seems to embrace.

Originally published on Mar 9, 2025.

In a video two weeks ago, Brian Berletic from The New Atlas (‪@TheNewAtlas‬) made a very important argument about what some people hope is the end of US strive for global dominance and the Trump administration's new 'love' for settling into the multipolar world order: • The US-EU "Division of Labor" to Cont...

In this discussion, I'll engage with Brian's arguments and add some considerations about the different levels on which foreign policy and 'grand strategy' are being formulated.

I encourage you to watch Brian's original video first: • The US-EU "Division of Labor" to Cont...

Originally published on Mar 8, 2025.

This was a public talk at Seijo University, in Tokyo, on what "Neutrality Studies" exactly is and why I am connecting this academic project with a social media platform through this YouTube Channel. For anyone who has been wondering about my work, here are some behind the scenes insights.

Originally published on Mar 7, 2025.

Today I would like to share another brilliant talk of Ambassador Chas Freeman with you. This one was recorded as part of a Zoom event on February 20th, 2025 by Mr. Eddie O'Brien of the Thinking Center, an Irish civil society organization. The video is a Q&A type of roundtable with Ambassador Freeman and all of his insights are, as always, very much worth listening to. Among other positions, Ambassador Freeman served as US Assistant Secretary of Defense, as US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and he was Richard Nixon's principal interpreter during his 1972 visit to China, which led to the normalization of US-China relations.

Originally published on Mar 6, 2025.

Why are the European's reacting like self-destructive little children when it comes to war with Russia and in talks about the "threat" emanating from China? Can we explain or even just describe conflicts—especially the conflicts in and about Ukraine—through the lens of International Law? No says my guest today, since IL is not only an inherently imperfect instrument but the conflict parties themselves have no understanding for what their fights are actually about.

Today I’m very happy to talk to Dr. Anthony Carty. Dr. Carty is an Emeritus Professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology and he is currently teaching at the Law Faculty of Peking University, who awarded him as a Distinguished Foreign Lecturer. Anthony was a full professor at several western Universities, including the University of Derby, Westminster and Aberdeen. He is the author of many books on international law, including the magnificent work “The Philosophy of International Law” (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/...)

Originally published on Mar 5, 2025.

How come that, as Jimmy Dore says, "there are homeless people under every bridge in America, and they don't even fix the bridges"? How is it possible that in the nominally richest economy in the world there is so much poverty, drugs, and despair and why did that problem grow over the unipolar moment when the USA was the unquestioned sole superpower on this planet? Well, turns out, hegemony is not good for the hegemon. Clinging to global dominance comes with heavy costs, born by the most vulnerable of society—a process that already the USSR had to go through and now it's the USA that is learning the same lesson.Today I’m talking to Dr. Arthur Khachikian. Arthur holds a PhD in International Relations from Stanford University, where he wrote a dissertation on Great Power Politics and Intervention in the international system. He currently teaches at an Armenian University in Yerevan, the capital city. Today we want to discuss the very large picture of contemporary world politics.

Originally published on Mar 4, 2025.

Today I‘m talking to Ambassador, Dr. Geoff Raby. Dr. Raby is an Australian economist who served as his country‘s Ambassador to China from 2007-2011. He currently runs a Beijing-based business advisory firm and he is a friend of Professor Hugh White, the brilliant Australian geopolitical analyst who was on this channel a few weeks ago. Dr. Raby published last November the book “Great Game on: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy.” Today we want to talk again about Asia Pacific, China, and Australia as part of the puzzle.Book Links:Great Game On: https://www.mup.com.au/books/great-ga...Other Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/...

Originally published on Mar 3, 2025.

While the Europeans are in full denial about losing their top-dog protector, the USA is busy cutting its losses in the Ukraine-proxy war. To discuss the recent blow-up between Zelensky and Trump as well as the greater strategic implications, I'm joined today again by Dr. Glenn Diesen from the University of Southeast Norway.Glenn's Channels:Substack: https://glenndiesen.substack.comYoutube:    / @gdiesen1   Twitter: https://x.com/glenn_diesen?s=21

Originally published on Mar 3, 2025.

Remarks to an international conference on ending the disaster in Ukraine organized by Radio Roma News TV / Amici Network. Full conference video here:    • ENDING THE DISASTER IN UKRAINE: AN IN...   Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.)Remarks delivered on February 22, 2025How wars end matters. The Napoleonic wars ended in the reconciliation of Europe’s great powers, including the defeated French, at the Congress of Vienna. The resulting, inclusive “Concert of Europe” ensured a long, if imperfect, peace that ended only in World War I.That war was fought mainly in Europe. It was followed by the vindictive exclusion of two great European powers from any role in or commitment to sustaining stability in Europe. The excommunication of Germany and Russia laid the basis for World War II, which – for Americans – was both transatlantic and transpacific. That war ended not in a peace but in a cold war – a tense but stable order sustained by mutual deterrence through military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. The failure to include a role for Russia in Europe commensurate with its power has now once again brought war to the continent. The lessons of history are clear. There can be no stable order in Europe that excludes any of its great powers. Those with no peaceful way to ensure respect for their security interests will see no reason not to use force to defend them. And if there is no prospect of a sustainable framework to safeguard their interests, they will prefer outcomes on battlefields to those contrived at the negotiating table.....

Originally published on Mar 1, 2025.

After already publicly negotiating with Macron of France and Starmer of Britain, Trump now faced off with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in an unprecedented manner. This is the new reality of how the US engages with its client states and it creates much needed reality in the relationship with all of Europe.