Sustainability Matters

The infamous 2011 uprisings in Arab countries put their diplomats under scrutiny: they faced unprecedented political situations that could not be resolved through regular policies. This caused a dramatic shift in how diplomats perceived and responded to political crises, majorly affecting their decision-making abilities. 

Judit Kuschnitzki, a PhD student at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK, talks about how, when in crises, diplomats should make use of discretion, the power of free decision within certain legal bounds, in her study titled “Navigating Discretion: A Diplomatic Practice in Moments of Socio-political Rupture”, published in Brill’s The Hague Journal of Diplomacy. She explains how the notion of discretion is under-used in diplomacy research but is crucial when it comes to making situational judgement calls.

Guest: Judit Kuschnitzki
Host: Emily Tamkin

Revisionism, a form of literary criticism, is an integral part of scholarly research, and revisionists often find themselves challenging the orthodox views held by scholars before their time. In Arabo-Islamic writing, modern scholars often tend to neglect traditional scholarly commentary, such as from the Mamlūk and Ottoman periods—two critical periods in the history of Arabic literature. 

Dr Adam Talib, from Durham University, UK, explores these issues in his study titled “Al-Ṣafadī, His Critics, and the Drag of Philological Time”, published in Brill’s Phenomenogical Encounters. He focuses on the work and commentary of Al-Ṣafadī, a Turkic author, to show how modern scholarly agendas may have influenced the chronological plane of Arabic literature. 

Guest: Dr Adam Talib
Host: Emily Tamkin 

Despite the post-Holocaust UN convention to ensure the protection of minority communities globally, the International community has failed to notice the signs of the Rohingya genocide, but what stopped them from taking subsequent action so long after the atrocity? Who really were responsible? And what impact do the continuing campaigns by the displaced Rohingya and international civil society have?

Dr. Simon Adams, Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, explores these and other questions in his recent paper “The Responsibility to Protect and the Fate of the Rohingya”, published in Brill’s Global Responsibility to Protect.

Guest: Dr. Simon Adams
Host: Emily Tamkin 

Governing the world—A critical look at the current state of global governance

We live in a time of profound global crises. So, who exactly is responsible for identifying global solutions? Since there is no common world government, global issues are usually addressed by certain international institutions or organizations that develop laws, frameworks, and policies—a phenomenon called “global governance.” However, does this type of regulation actually work? 

Prof Stephen Gill, FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto, discusses the current state of global governance and its role in resolving global issues, as documented in a new study in the journal Global Governance, published by Brill. Listen to this podcast now!

Guest: Prof Stephen Gill
Host: Emily Tamkin 

The person in the photograph of a thirteen-year-old Vincent Van Gogh

What did the influential Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh actually look like? Popular culture and media have propagated the belief that there have been only two photographs of Vincent Van Gogh himself. If his written exchanges are to be believed, Vincent despised self-portrait photography. However, a recent breakthrough study in the Brill journal Oud Holland suggests that there are not just two photographs of Vincent Van Gogh. There is just one.

So, what about the second photograph?

Teio Meedendorp, Researcher at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, discusses the breakthrough discovery he made with his co-author Yves Vasseur, General Commissioner of Mons 2015 European Capital of Culture. Listen to this podcast now!

Guest: Teio Meedendorp
Host: Emily Tamkin 

Girls Are Also People of the Holy Qur’an

Jun Akiba, Associate Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, discusses Muslim girls’ education in Ottoman Istanbul during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Through the extensive use of archival and narrative sources, Akiba demonstrates, in his article published in the Brill journal Hawwa, that girls in pre-Tanzimat Istanbul enjoyed ample opportunities for elementary education. Listen to this podcast now!

Guest: Jun Akiba
Host: Emily Tamkin 

Brexit: is Britain left out in the cold?

The new political sciences journal Diplomatica, published by Brill, explores the theme of diplomacy in international relations with special focus on Brexit and its implications for Britain, through some insightful articles.

Dr Giles Scott-Smith, professor of New Diplomatic History at Leiden University and editor of Diplomatica, discusses these articles and the overall implications of Brexit for Britain. Listen to Part 2 of this podcast now!

Guest: Dr Giles Scott-Smith
Host: Emily Tamkin 

Brexit: is Britain left out in the cold?

The new political sciences journal Diplomatica, published by Brill, explores the theme of diplomacy in international relations with special focus on Brexit and its implications for Britain, through some insightful articles.

Dr Giles Scott-Smith, professor of New Diplomatic History at Leiden University and editor of Diplomatica, discusses these articles and the overall implications of Brexit for Britain. Listen to Part 1 of this podcast now!

Guest: Dr Giles Scott-Smith
Host: Emily Tamkin