Peace Matters - A Podcast on Contemporary Geopolitics and International Relations

Poland has become an increasingly important actor within the European Union. After years of democratic backsliding, it`s democracy is consolidating again under Prime Minister Donald Tusk who took office in 2023. In 2025 Poland will face presidential elections and Poland will also be chairing the Council of the European Union. Poland is a stance supporter of Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia in February 2024. It hosts a large number of Ukrainian refugees and is rapidly building up its defense capabilities in order to deter a hostile Russia. What geopolitical role is Poland pursuing in an increasingly multipolar world? How will the election of Donald Trump shape the future of European Security and how does Poland perceive it`s role within the European Union? With Ukraine and Moldova having candidate status for EU accession, what can be expected from Poland in this context? How important is democracy and peace for Poland? Is Poland able to bridge different perceptions of EU countries about the future of the Union? These and other questions are discussed with the political analyst Wojciech Przybylski and the polish academic Maciej Kisilowksi in the 26th episode of the IIP Podcast “Peace Matters” moderated by Stephanie Fenkart.

Moderation:

Stephanie Fenkart, Director of the IIP.

The clear victory of Donald Trump, which had been predicted to be a tight race, caught many in the EU by surprise. The first to congratulate him was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, while on the same day, the German government collapsed.

In this episode, we explore the intricate geopolitical dynamics of the

Recorded on 15 October 2024.

How do the concepts we use to discuss the climate crisis shape our thinking? In this episode, we explore different approaches to framing climate change in policy debates, such as viewing it as a national security issue or a tool for achieving peace. We also examine the EU's record in reducing its CO2 emissions and the upcoming UN climate conference, COP 29. Additionally, we discuss the inequalities in the environmental footprint of different nations: often, those who have contributed most to global warming are suffering the least from its consequences.

Moderation: Marylia Hushcha, researcher and project manager at the IIP.

What is PeaceTech? How can we use AI, virtual reality, open data, and other digital technologies in peacebuilding and mediation work? What can PeaceTech learn from CivicTech? Where is the EU’s place in the geopolitical competition in technological innovation and how can it capitalize on its strengths? We discuss these and other questions with Bernardo Venturi and Nathan Coyle.

Guests:

The horrific terror attack of Hamas on October 7th and the subsequent war of Israel against Gaza put the decades old conflict between Israel and Palestine back on the international stage. There is no doubt that the horrendous attack of Hamas against civilians (including the abduction of more than 250 Israelis) is a war crime and a crime against humanity. However, many – including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - now claim that the way how Israel is waging the war against Gaza might amount to genocide – a term which has been highly politicized. Additionally to the ICJ the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants against the Hamas leadership and against the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Israel. While the huge trauma of the holocaust will always be part of Jewish identity including the state of Israels identity, Palestinians are also traumatized with what they call the Nakba in 1948 and subsequent occupation and discrimination. While the Holocaust and the Nakba are not comparable, it shouldn`t deprive us to understand the sense of victimhood of others.

In this episode, we discuss the EU’s global foreign policy. How has the EU been faring in its attempt to remain (or become?) a global power amid the declining liberal world order? Can the EU diminish its dependency on China’s market and rare materials? How should it position itself towards the United States after the presidential elections in November? Is it capable of avoiding being dragged into the US-China rivalry? How can it become a credible partner in the eyes of the so-called Global South? Does the Franco-German leadership of the European Union still hold? Misha Glenny and Christos Katsioulis elaborate on these and many other pressing issues.

Moderation:

The unprovoked and illegal war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine ended the assumption that a conventional war within Europe is a relict of the past. With the European Security Architecture in crisis, if even still existing, the EU member states understood the importance of their neighboring countries in South Eastern Europe and in Eastern Europe for their own security. With the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, the nearly two decades long period of enlargement-fatigue came to an end. However, six states in the so-called Western Balkans have been in the process for many years and yet Croatia was the last country to become a member of the EU in 2013. Challenges are still manifold when it comes to the rule of law, corruption, nationalism, emigration on the side of the candidate countries. On the other hand, especially in the countries of the Western Balkans the EU has lost its credibility due to not following its own promises after reforms. The way into the EU is still long and technical, but there are many attempts to make the process more feasible and merit-based. However, the EU also needs to address the most crucial questions on how it wants to deal with an enlarged EU. How is this possible when decision-making processes on foreign policy decisions are still based on unanimity? While the decision to grant the countries in the east a European perspective has widely been acknowledged as a geopolitical decision, what does that imply for the values of the EU, codified in Art 2 of the EUV? How credible is this European perspective for the candidate countries who are all on different tracks and made different reforms? What is the cost of non-enlarging the EU? With an expected shift towards right-wing parties in the upcoming EU elections in June, what does that mean for a “New EU”? These and other questions have been addressed in this Podcast with the excellent experts Kristof BENDER and Milena MIHAJLOVIĆ.

Guests:

Kristof Bender (Austria) is the Deputy Chirman at the European Stability Initiative (ESI). He leads various ESI research projects on EU enlargement and on South Eastern Europe. Educated in sociology in Vienna and Paris, he has worked in South East Europe in various capacities since 1997, including managing higher education projects in Bosnia for the World University Service, as Attaché for Humanitarian Affairs in the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, as a researcher for the International Centre for Migration Policy Development and as a consultant for various institutions, including the Austrian Federal Chancellery, DFID and SIDA. Part of the ESI team since early 2000, Kristof has been living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and is currently based in Vienna. He is also a Europe’s Futures fellow at the IWM Vienna (Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen), a board member of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) and an advisory board member of Institute Alternativa (Montenegro).

Milena Mihajlovic is one of the founders and Programme Director at the European Policy Centre (CEP), independent, non-profit think-tank based in Belgrade, Serbia. Milena is a proven expert in the field of public administration reform, in Serbia and in the Western Balkan region. Before co-founding CEP, Lazarevic worked for almost six years as a civil servant in the Serbian administration, first in the EU Integration Office of the Serbian Government (SEIO) and later in the Ministry of Public Administration. She is a Soros scholar and has an MA degree in European studies from the College of Europe and an MA in European Administrative Law from Belgrade University.

Moderation:

Stephanie Fenkart, Director of the IIP

The episode was recorded on 13 May 2024.

In the upcoming European Union parliamentary elections, a shift towards the conservative and right-wing forces is expected. Why are right-wing populist parties so successful these days and what implications does this have for the foreign policy and enlargement-agenda of the European Union? What is Hungary`s role within the European Union and what relevance does Victor Orbán`s anti-western, anti-woke and anti-liberal democracy narratives have for the work of the EU? In times of increasing multipolarity and the understanding that geopolitics are back on the agenda, how can the EU step up its efforts in dealing with multiple crises? How are right-wing parties cooperating on various issues within the EU parliament and what implications does this have for the EU as a peace maker? Are we heading towards an Orbanization of the European Union and what specific role plays Victor Orban in its immediate neighborhood, especially in the Western Balkan countries?

Die EU-Wahlen klopfen an der Tür. Und stehen in dieser Episode von Peace Matters im Mittelpunkt. In einer Zeit, in der Europa mit einem direkten Krieg in seiner Nachbarschaft und zahlreichen anderen Krisen konfrontiert ist, wird die Bedeutung einer feministischen Außenpolitik diskutiert. Lena Schilling, bekannt als Klimaaktivistin und die jüngste Spitzenkandidatin für die Grünen, reflektiert über die Vereinbarkeit von Aktivismus und politischem Engagement und teilt ihre Vision für die Zukunft Europas. Evelyn Regner, Abgeordnete im Europäischen Parlament für die SPÖ, diskutiert konkrete Maßnahmen, um das Wissen über die EU bei jungen Menschen zu verbessern. Die Rolle des Europäischen Parlaments bei der Annäherung der EU an die Bürger wird kritisch hinterfragt, ebenso wie die Bedrohung durch den Aufstieg des Rechtsextremismus. Die Rolle Österreichs in der EU und die Fortschritte sowie Herausforderungen in Bezug auf Geschlechtergleichstellung werden ebenfalls beleuchtet. Inmitten all dieser Themen steht die zentrale Frage: Kann Europa weiterhin als Friedensprojekt bestehen? Diese und andere Fragen diskutiert Dennis Miskic, Project Assistant am IIP gemeinsam mit Evelyn Regner und Lena Schiling.