Fred Wellman served in the Army for 22 years as an aviator and public affairs officer and he left the Armed Forces as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, and completed tours during Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. So, in his own words, he invaded Iraq twice. He also was a spokesman for General David Petraeus, and General Martin Dempsey. I have asked Fred for an interview as March 20 marked the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war. Fred is working on a book about his service in Iraq, and the impact of the war on him and the others in his life. He said to me that he could call his memoir: They all died. But he can also sleep at night at ease. We discussed his service, the damage the war caused, if somebody, e. g. ex-President George Bush, should be tried for the invasion, and many other topics. Listen to our conversation. And check also my previous episode about the Iraq war as I talked to Robert E. Kelley⁠ who had been an International Atomic Energy Agency (⁠IAEA⁠) inspector in Iraq in 1992–93 and he was there also in the final months before the 2003 invasion. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. ⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/amatisak⁠ ⁠

Some people claim that the American invasion of Iraq 20 years ago started what could be called the post-truth world. Robert E. Kelley had been an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector in Iraq in 1992–93 and he was there also in the final months before the 2003 invasion. We talked about his experience, his work, and how his team had to deal with leaks to the press from the CIA that ended up being great big lies. Kelley is a Distinguished Associate Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Listen to our conversation and stay tuned as the next episode of my podcast will be also related to the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war as I talked to Fred Wellman who did tours in Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom and was also a spokesman for General David Petraeus and General Martin Dempsey in Iraq. And if enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. ⁠https://ko-fi.com/amatisak⁠ 

Did the probability of Russia attacking Norway decrease? Karsten Friis, a Senior Research Fellow from The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, thinks it does, but there are also a few buts. So we have discussed what is the biggest concern of Norway regarding Russia, also taking into account that Finland and Sweden are, hopefully, on their way to NATO. He explained how Norway is helping Ukraine and if Oslo could and should do more. We also talked about the militarization of the Arctic, and about NATO Secretary General and former Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg. And does Karsten like the famous TV series Occupied about the Russian occupation of Norway that was supported by the European Union? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak 

In December, The Society for the German Language named Zeitenwende the word of the year for 2022. But one year after the Russian large-scale invasion of Ukraine started, does the Zeitenwende also have a real political meaning? What is the role of Chancellor Olaf Scholz in this epochal tectonic shift as he described it by himself?  talked to Alexander Clarkson who is a Lecturer in German, European, and International Studies at King's College London. We also discussed if the EU unity towards Russia can last, Hungary, and the upcoming election in Slovakia that might lead to the government with pro-Putin forces. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

It's one year from the beginning of the Russian large-scale invasion of Ukraine. "Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he can bully Ukrainians. But he only makes us angrier." This is what Iuliia Mendel said to me in our podcast debate. She is the former press secretary of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from June 2019 until July 2021, author of the book The Fight of Our Lives, and opinion contributor for The Washington Post. And she also has a clear message for Moscow. Russia has to withdraw, beg for forgiveness and pay for the crimes. Perhaps then it can survive. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Could Russia try to stage a coup in Moldova? How probable is it? Is Moldova's government ready for such a scenario? And what about the problem of Transnistria? About the current developments in Moldova, I talked to Denis Cenusa. He is an associate expert at The Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) in Vilnius. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

We are all following Rob Lee on Twitter, aren't we? I'm not sure when he sleeps but his feed is all the time full of interesting information, analysis, and videos related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With all of this, I'm really happy that Rob joined my podcast. No introduction is needed, but he is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program, and a Ph.D. student researching Russian defense policy at King’s College London’s War Studies Department. And, of course, he is also a former Marine infantry officer. We talked about the trends that shaped the war, about possible offensive of the both sides, and also about the peace prospects. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Finland and Sweden are still out of NATO despite the agreement from the Alliance summit in June in Madrid. Is Turkey playing a divide-and-conquer game as it seems Ankara is all the time moving the goalposts? Is Russian happy about it? And what about Hungary? I talked to Toni Alaranta, Senior Research Fellow in the European Union Research Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). His areas of expertise include Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies, in particular Turkey’s relations with the EU, the US and Russia. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

How is the Russian invasion against Ukraine shaping Japan's security views? What are Tokyo's main concerns? China, North Korea, Russia? I talked to John Nilsson-Wright, University Associate Professor in Modern Japanese Politics and International Relations at Cambridge University and Korea Foundation Korea Fellow and Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia with the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House. And as the government of PM Fumio Kishida boosts the defense investments, we have also discussed the attitudes of Japanese citizens towards a more complex and hostile regional and global security environment. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez is an analyst of defense, trade and geopolitical issues in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Western Hemisphere and the President of Second Floor Strategies, a consulting firm in Washington, DC. As his expertise stretched from the post-Soviet space to Latin America, I picked Alex's brain and we talked about how the mentioned regions reacted to the Russian war against  Ukraine. The focus of our conversion has been Kazakhstan, but we also talked about Moldova and Latin America and the Caribbean. Listen to our conversion. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak