Threatscape - Mapping global risks in a changing world

As we watch the coronavirus spread across the entire planet, what impact will it have on human rights, democracy and geopolitics? Already we are seeing various actors use technology and disinformation techniques in their quest to create a global narrative and avoid blame.

Jakub Kalenský is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in the Czech Republic. Mr. Kalenský helps raise awareness about pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns. In this episode of “The Coronavirus Diaries”, Jakub Kalenský speaks about Russian disinformation and propaganda campaigns about the coronavirus aimed at Europe and the United States.

As we watch the coronavirus spread across the entire planet, what impact will it have on human rights, democracy and geopolitics? Already we are seeing various actors use technology and disinformation techniques in their quest to create a global narrative and avoid blame.

Marcus Kolga outlines how Russia, China and Iran are launching disinformation campaigns to blame the US for the coronavirus, weaken citizens trust in democratic institutions, and pass on fraudulent information that will weaken public health and human rights.

Mr. Kolga is a journalist, digital communication strategist and leading Canadian expert on Russian and Central and Eastern European issues. He is a Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute in Canada.

As we watch the coronavirus spread across the entire planet, what impact will it have on human rights, democracy and geopolitics? Already we are seeing different actors use technology and disinformation techniques in their quest to create a global narrative and avoid blame.  MIGS will interview numerous experts to help analyze and understand what is taking place. These experts are associated with Freedom House, the New York Times, The Atlantic Council, Coda Story and others. 

The first interview is with Shaparak Shajarizadeh, a women’s rights activist from Iran. She was recently awarded the 2020 Geneva Summit International Women’s Rights Award.

Rick Barton is the Co-Director of the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative (SINSI).  He taught at the Woodrow Wilson School from 2001-5, including as the Frederick Schultz Professor from 2001-2, and returned in 2015 to lead Junior Task Forces that cover the prevention of conflict, post war reconstruction, stabilization and peace building. Barton was the first Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations  (2011-14), U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York (2009-11), Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2002-9), Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees at UNHCR (1999-2001), founding Director of USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (1994-9) and a business and political leader in Maine earlier in his career.In this podcast, Barton talks about his career, the current state of U.S. foreign policy and his book Peace Works - America's Unifying Role in a Turbulent World

Bessma Momani is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo. She is also Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. In this interview, Bessma speaks about freedom of the press, the Middle East and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Welsh is the incoming Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University. From 2013-2016, she served as the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Responsibility to Protect. She spoke to MIGS about the current state of mass atrocity prevention, conflict and much more.

Jeremy Kinsman is Canadian former career diplomat. He was the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and the Canadian Ambassador to the European Union. He also served as a Canadian Ambassador for 15 years, in Moscow and in Rome. In this podcast, he talks to MIGS about his career, Russia and China.

Adama Dieng is the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and former board member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and a former registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He spoke to MIGS about the current challenges to genocide and mass atrocity prevention.

As part of its #RightsCity initiative, the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies is launching a new podcast featuring thought leaders from Canada and abroad. The aim is to gain insights into pressing human rights issues and to re-energize the international human rights community during a time of great upheaval.

Roméo Dallaire is a celebrated advocate for human rights, especially in regards to child soldiers, veterans, and the prevention of mass atrocities, General Dallaire is also a respected government and UN advisor and former Canadian Senator. He is the founder of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, a global partnership with the mission to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and the Distinguished Senior Fellow at MIGS.

Most notably, General Dallaire was appointed Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide