The Global Agora

The Russians themselves must conclude that the war against Ukraine was a mistake, a disaster. That's why they have to lose otherwise there will be another war. This is how Anne Applebaum sees the invasion. She is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Anne's latest book is The Twilight of Democracy. But in fact, she doesn't need much of an introduction and I'm glad that we were able to arrange this conversation. We also discussed what would happen if Russian President Vladimir Putin would disappear and what to do about Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

What kind of weapons does Ukraine need to keep the momentum on the battlefield? What is the prospect of some negotiations with Russia? Will and should Ukraine continue to strike targets inside Russia? About this and much more, I talked to Toms Rostoks, an Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Latvia and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Security and Strategic Research at the National Defence Academy. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

The current protests in China against the zero covid policy will be squashed. This is what I think, but more importantly, this is also what Lawrence C. Reardon thinks. Because he definitely knows China. Chris, as I know him, is a Professor of Political Science at New Hampshire University and a research associate at Harvard University's Fairbank Center. But while he suggests that demonstrations will be suppressed, it doesn't mean that the Chinese communist regime is totally safe. Why? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Does the football World Cup in Qatar deserve so much criticism? Is it somewhat illegitimate? And what about the beer for fans? I talked to Arash Azizi, a scholar and the PhD candidate in history at New York University (NYU). He researches the history of socialist and Islamist movements in Iran and the Arab world.  But we didn't discuss just Qatar and football. We also debated how he sees the future of the revolutionary movement in Iran.  Arash is the author of the book - The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US and Iran’s Global Ambitions. Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Jennifer Mercieca was right. She is Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Texas A&M University and an author of the book Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump. We recorded this podcast one day before Donald Trump's presidential announcement and Jennifer was pretty sure, as you can listen, how this ends up. We discussed what's next for Trump, and for Ron DeSantis or Joe Biden. And also what's next for American democracy. The midterm elections showed it might be less fragile than we thought. But... Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Julian Ringhof is a policy fellow with the European Power program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. His research focuses on the implications of digital and emerging technologies for international affairs. He just published an article titled The age of ego-politics: Elon Musk and the power of the tech giants. With that in mind, I thought that it would be interesting to interview Julian and I think that our conversation doesn't disappoint. We talked about Elon Musk and Ukraine and Starlink. About Elon Musk and Twitter. And also about Elon Musk and his visions. Should we be afraid of the intentions of the richest person in the world? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Professor Seth Cotlar is a historian at Willamette University in Oregon so as we talked about American politics, his answer contains many historical references. It only helps to better understand what's going on in the US. The midterm elections take place on November 8 and President Joe Biden said that democracy will be on the ballot. Is this a bit of a political exaggeration or is it really happening? And can American democracy properly function when millions believe in an alternate reality? Yes, we have been talking about the Republican Party and its voters. Listen to our conversation also featuring Seth's cat Odie. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Imagine that you are in a wargame simulation and you play Russia. This is what happened to Alexander Bollfrass. He is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - ETH Zurich. I talked to him after he participated in such a wargame. What were its main conclusions? Did the players blow off the world with nuclear weapons? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

As Russia is conducting essentially terrorist attacks targeting Ukrainian cities with drones, I spoke to Mauro Gilli. He is a Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security at the Center for Security Studies of ETH-Zurich. We talked about drones and other military systems and about how both sides used them on the battlefield. Do you want to know what is the biggest surprise for my podcast guest when he looks at war? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Is Xi Jinping fully in control? ,,99,5 percent," said Kerry Brown to me when I asked him if we can be 100 percent sure that Xi gets a third term as general secretary at China's Communist Party Congress that starts on October 16th. He is a Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King's College, London. So what does Xi's reign mean? Could the Chinese leader be a bigger problem than Russian President Vladimir Putin? And what about Taiwan? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak