Earlier this year, What Came After traveled to Brussels for a sobering conversation with Rihards Kols, Latvia’s Member of the European Parliament. Recorded inside one of the European Parliament’s media studios, this interview confronts a chilling possibility: that the world may be repeating the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

Kols offers an unflinching look at how his own country has confronted Russian aggression, and how the invasion of Ukraine by a nuclear-armed autocracy has emboldened others—China, North Korea, and Iran among them. He draws a direct line from Russia’s war in Ukraine to Iran’s support of Hamas’s attack on Israel—both sovereign nations under siege.

As the world grapples with rising authoritarianism, Kols warns of the West’s dangerous complacency. He challenges the belief that dialogue alone can deter autocratic threats and criticizes the hesitation of democratic nations to provide meaningful support to those on the front lines—especially Ukraine and, more recently, Israel.

Recorded in January 2025, several months before the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war, this conversation now resonates with eerie urgency. Kols’s words offer one glimpse of hope: history will warn us, rather than repeating itself, if we are willing to listen. 

Host and Creator: Manya Marcus

Managing Producer: Maya Zanger-Nadis

Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick

Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar

Outro Music: "All We See" by Nuriel

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