The Eastern Front

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Dan Hamilton, a senior fellow at John Hopkins University's SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution to discuss the future of the Transatlantic relationship under a Trump presidency. How will the US Senate constrain or support Trump's foreign policy? Is Europe prepared for the changes that a Trump administration will bring?

In their news segment, Dalibor and Iulia discuss Trump's cabinet picks and the upcoming Romanian election? How will Trump's cabinet picks shape the future of US foreign policy? Will Romania elect a far-right president in their upcoming elections?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Listen to Iulia's recommended podcast episode here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Nick Lloyd, a historian and professor of modern warfare at King's College London to discuss historical parallels to our current moment. What parallels can be drawn from Russia's experience in World War I to now? How can the lessons of implementation of new technologies in WWI be compared to the roll out of drones and surveillance technology currently in the war in Ukraine?

In their news segment, Dalibor and Iulia discuss the implications of the Georgian election results and analyze what a Trump victory means for the Eastern Front. How much did election fraud contribute to the Georgian Dream's victory? How should European leaders respond to a future Trump presidency?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Nick Lloyd's new book The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Stefan Meister, head of the Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations. What opportunities should the West be seizing to displace Russian influence in the Black Sea region, South Caucuses and beyond? What should the EU be prioritizing for its Black Sea strategy?

Dalibor and Iulia discuss the outcomes of the Georgian and Bulgarian elections, as well as the North Korean troops stationed in Russia in their news segment. What does the election outcomes in Georgia and Bulgaria signal about the state of Western influence in the region? As Russia increases cooperation with North Korea and other partners, what can the West do to counter it?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia’s recommend article here. Read the joint statement of EU ministers on the elections in Georgia here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Oleksandr Kraiev, the director of the North America program at Ukrainian Prism to discuss the Ukrainian view on US elections. Will a Harris presidency bring more of the same in terms of US strategy towards Ukraine? How are Ukrainians framing the outcomes of the US elections?

Dalibor and Iulia discuss the BRICS summit in Russia and elections in Georgia and Moldova in their news segment. How is Russian influence impacting the democratic futures or Georgia and Moldova in their recent elections? Why has the West failed to deter allied countries from joining in on the BRICS conference?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Dalibor’s recommend article here. 

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Lesia Orobets, Founder of the "Safe Sky for Ukraine" Initiative and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament to discuss her initiative. How are Russian bombardments impacting Ukraine? What support does Ukraine need to make it through the winter?

Dalibor and Iulia discuss the security outlook for Eastern Europe in their news segment. Has the Kursk offensive failed to achieve its objective? Why are some European nations dragging their feet on revamping their defense industrial bases?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia’s recommend article here. Register for Dalibor's upcoming event here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Edward Lucas, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and longtime journalist covering Eastern and Central Europe to discuss greyzone warfare with Russia. Why do democracies struggle to respond to greyzone aggression? How can we improve our deterrence against Russian cyber attacks?

Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Western deterrence one year out from the October 7th attacks on Israel and Slovakia's turn toward Russia in their news segment. How can the West stand by allies to deter threats from increasingly aligned aggressors? What does Slovakia's Robert Fico's comments on Ukraine mean for its future in NATO and the EU?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia's recommend pieces, Giorgia Meloni's speech and Joschka Fischer's article.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institutes to discuss strategy in regards to the war in Ukraine. Was the Kursk offensive a risk worth taking and how has it benefitted the Ukrainians strategically? What did Zelenskyy's visit to the US yield in terms of results for Ukraine?

Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump and pro-Russia politics in Austria and Hungary in their news segment. How has Trump politicized support for Ukraine? What does the success of Austria's far-right party, FPO, mean for Central European politics?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Dalibor's piece on Trump's NATO strategy here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Joseph Nye, professor emeritus at Harvard's Kennedy School and pioneer of the theory of soft power to discuss the role of soft power in the context of the war in Ukraine. How should we determine who is winning and who is losing between Russia and Ukraine? Is Russia overperforming in terms of soft power?

Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Zelenskyy's US visit and recent elections in Europe in their news section. What aspects of the Ukrainian peace plan are the most essential for its success? What do election results in Germany and Austria mean for support for Ukraine?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Iulia’s recommended article by Ben Taub here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, and chair of the Committee of Ukraine's integration into the European Union. Can the war against Ukraine be viewed as the beginning of a wider conflict? Where does the disconnect between Ukraine and the US on the stakes of the conflict lie and how can it be bridged?

Dalibor and Iulia break down Chinese military support for Russia and Biden's meeting with Starmer in their news section. How should the West respond against China's support of Russia's war efforts? Is it too little to late on expanding Ukraine's ability to strike within Russia?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Dalibor’s recommended article by Tom Fairless and Bertrand Benoit here. Read Dalibor's article on Germany here.

On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Michael Sawkiw, the director of the Ukrainian National Information Service to discuss his work advocating for Ukraine on the Hill. What are the challenges in translating money from the supplemental aid package into tangible support for Ukraine on the ground? What does the path for future aid to Ukraine look like in the US?

Dalibor and Iulia break down Russian election interference and incursions into Romanian airspace in their news of the day segment. Are Russian influence operations in the 2024 election more sophisticated this time around? How should NATO think about responding to Russian drones entering Romanian airspace?

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Iulia’s recommended article by Philip Zelikow here.