On November 24th, at least 27 people, including women and children, died trying to cross the English Channel in a small boat. A Kurdish woman from northern Iraq Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin has become the first victim of this tragedy to be named. “Her story is the same as everyone else – she was looking for a better life," said one of her relatives for the Guardian. Was this tragedy preventable? Why the UK and France blame each other what does is have to do with Brexit? I talked to Andrew Geddes, a Professor of Migration Studies and the Director of the Migration Policy Centre at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Why does he think that too much focus on disrupting smugglers' networks might be counterproductive? Listen to our conversation.

Presidential and legislative elections in Libya should take place on December 24th. While we read headlines about candidates such as Saif Gaddafi, the problems run deeper. At least according to Jalel Harchaoui who is a Senior Fellow at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime where he concentrates his work on North Africa. He emphasizes that the legal framework for the upcoming elections is weak and it may lead to various challenges, including violent clashes, that will undermine the concept of liberal democracy in Libya. We also talked about why people like Saif Gaddafi or Khalifa Haftar are running and why Europe seemingly doesn't care about the suffering of Libyans. Listen to our conversation.

On one hand this is a hybrid attack against the European Union from Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko with Russia's shadow looming over the situation. On the other hand, this is also a humanitarian crisis that shows that the EU asylum system hardly works. Thousands of migrants and refugees are stranded along the EU's borders with Belarus affecting Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Does it have a quick fix? I talked to Artur Gruszczak, Professor and Chair of National Security at the Faculty of International and Political Studies at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. And as he said some of his statements may sound controversial. Listen to our conversation.

Is this a make or break moment? As the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference better known as COP26 just started and will take place in Glasgow till November 12th, the question is if political leaders will use the event to effectively move forward when addressing the climate emergency. "This is a chance for all these countries to show leadership, this is the point where they have to stand up and be counted. I want more out of every country," COP26 President Alok Sharma said for Sky News. And according to political economist Alexander Gard-Murray this is a problem because we cannot be sure if politicians will step up. Gard-Murray is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Climate Solutions Lab and the Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. We debate what to expect from COP26, why he is hopeful but not confident and why he says that climate change delayism is perhaps even worse than climate change denial. And what does he think about Greta Thunberg? Listen to our conversation.

Bond. James Bond, Part 2. Yes, this is the second part of my conversation about James Bond's past, present and future with Martin D. Brown, Associate Professor of International History at Richmond University in London who is also a bondologist. The first part was published on October 19th. Bond was called a blunt instrument by his novelist father Ian Fleming. Would this blunt instrument be helpful in any international crisis? Dr. Brown answers this question and he adds that it is somehow weird that the UK government promotes Bond. Do you wanna know why? And do you wanna know what's perhaps next for the Bond franchise as Daniel Craig's era comes to end with the movie No Time To Die? Listen to our conversation. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Bond. James Bond. If you listen to my podcast The Global Agora regularly, you already know that I discuss a variety of things with various experts. And it's no time to die, it's time to debate the James Bond franchise. I have to admit that I am a big fan of 007 and I am happy to welcome Martin D. Brown, Associate Professor of International History at Richmond University in London. And he is also a bondologist. This is the first part of our conversation. We have discussed Dr. Brown's favourite Bond movie, but also what might be the best Bond movie. I have asked him how he uses 007 in his teaching and he explained if James Bond belongs to the Cold War propaganda. And we have had a debate about the last Bond movie No Time to Die, which is also the last movie of Daniel Craig's era as James Bond. This episode of my podcast also contains a few big spoilers related to No Time to Die. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I strongly recommend skipping our discussion from 14:00 till 21:40. Otherwise listen to our conversation. The second part will be published on October 26th, Tuesday. The second part will be published on October 22nd, Friday. And if you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you. https://ko-fi.com/amatisak

Conservative MP Sir David Amess was murdered on October 15th. I tried to look at this case with the assistance of Shaun McDaid. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Criminology, Politics and Sociology at the University of Huddersfield. Dr. McDaid's research primarily relates to political violence and its prevention and post-conflict transitions. We  talked more broadly about the threats and violence against politicians and also about the terrorisms and extremism in the postmodern world. Listen to our conversation.

,,The United States is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilising, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability,” US state department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. What is behind the record number of Chinese military planes entering Taiwan's air defense identification zone? China watcher, editor of the China Story blog and co-author of the column China Neican 内参 column Adam Ni identifies three reasons. How much is he worried about a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait? What kind of dynamics does he see in the Taipei-Beijing-Washington triangle? And where is Europe in all of this? Listen to our conversation.

Is Brexit going badly? According to a recent YouGov poll, 53 percent of Britons think so. But does it mean that they want to rejoin the EU? I talked to Martin Farr, a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History at Newcastle University. We also discussed how to put the current fuel crisis in the UK into a historical perspective and what's next for the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer. And why does Dr. Farr think that Starmer and Tory PM Boris Johnson are basically in the wrong jobs? Listen to our conversation.

A new poll conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) shows that EU citizens view Germany as a trustworthy, pro-European power and Angela Merkel’s approach of searching for compromises between competing interests is a major source of Berlin’s positive image. But, of course, there is a but. Merkel is leaving politics. What is the most positive and the most negative aspect of her political legacy? Will her legacy last beyond the parliamentary election that takes place on September 26th? And could French President Emmanuel Macron be jealous of Merkel? I talked to Jana Puglierin, a Senior Policy Fellow at ECFR and the head of ECFR’s office in Berlin. Listen to our conversation.