Afleveringen
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Who's going to win the US elections, and what will the impact be on Ukraine? Could we be moving towards peace in 2025? And ultimately why do we in the West need to even care about supporting Ukraine?
To answer these questions, I did something a little bit different in this episode and had my old co-worker and friend Martin Belchev, Practice Leader at FrontierView, interview me on the the outlook for the US elections, what the policy towards Ukraine would be from either a Harris or Trump presidency, and why the West needs to wake up to understand the threat to the Western world and our way of life by Putin's war in Ukraine.
Martin is a seasoned analyst with more than a decade of professional and academic expertise in macroeconomic, political, industry, and policy research focused on European nations. He has extensive experience in dissecting industry trends, macroeconomic indicators, currency movements, and associated risks and communicating this analysis to C-suite executives at top Western corporations. Martin is originally from Bulgaria and now resides in London.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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For those of you who support Ukraine on social media – and LinkedIn specifically – many of you may have wondered: Who is Marijn Markus?
Marijn is one of the most consistent and outspoken supporters of Ukraine for years now – but he’s not Ukrainian, isn’t from the military, doesn’t work directly for a government, and has no formal academic background in Eastern Europe or international relations…
So how has he become one of the most ardent and listened to voices about the war on social media?
Listen in to find out!
And hear more about Marijn’s devotion to fighting Kremlin disinformation, where he thinks the war is going, and what has to happen for Ukraine to win this war.
I also want to personally thank Marijn for his tireless work in supporting Ukraine and helping keep up awareness in the Western world. That’s the goal of my podcast and I’m grateful for Marijn’s work towards this mission as well.
Follow Marijn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijnmarkus/! He does multiple posts on a daily basis filled with timely info, insightful analysis, a historical understanding of the conflict, and cool graphics!
Marijn combines technical expertise with a delivery of analysis, visuals and coaching, thanks to his experience and background in social science. As open source and sensor enthusiast, Marijn leverages his affection for open data and internet culture to deliver unique insights and solutions.
At Capgemini NL, Marijn has been leading the AI efforts for over 7 years. Additionally, Marijn is a frequent speaker at events on AI and data science. Most of all, Marijn seeks to improve people's lives using data.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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How and when will the war in Ukraine end? Can history teach us any lessons where this war is going?
This is Part 2 of my interview with Professor Harper is an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War, having written 4 books related to the Cold War and teaches a course at SAIS titled American Foreign Policy Since World War II. Originally from the US, he lives and teaches in Bologna, Italy.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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How and when will the war in Ukraine end? Can history teach us any lessons where this war is going?
The clear answer to all of this is that we indeed can find useful analogies in the Cold War to understand where this current war is going and predict its future. US foreign policy towards Moscow during the Cold War proves to be highly instructive to understand how current US foreign policy will develop.
To dive into this and understand the future of this war by looking at the past, I had the pleasure of speaking with my former professor from Johns Hopkins SAIS, John Harper, an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War. We discuss the development of the US policy of containment of Soviet Union after World War II, comparing that political era to today, and finally predicting where US policy is going in the future. Professor Harper gives his thoughts of what US policy would look like under Trump or under Harris and what it will mean for support for Ukraine, Ukraine in NATO, and how the war ends.
Professor Harper is an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War, having written 4 books related to the Cold War and teaches a course at SAIS titled American Foreign Policy Since World War II. Originally from the US, he lives and teaches in Bologna, Italy.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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In this episode, I had the pleasure to speak with Jane Alieva, arguably one of the busiest women in Ukraine who has devoted her life to helping the tens of thousands of children traumatized by Russia. Jane runs and/or is a part of 3 different charity groups currently, all committed to helping kidnapped children and other victims of Russia's war.
Listen in to hear what is unfortunately a highly underreported story regarding the untold tens of thousands of children Russia has kidnapped and who remain apart from their families. And hear the inspiring work Jane and her organizations are doing to help these kids and fight back against Russia in the courts.
As mentioned in the podcast, please check out the website of the Mama Jane Charity Foundation here - https://mamajane.com.ua/
And read Jane's article on the kidnappings here - https://mamajane.com.ua/blog/kidnapping-not-deportation
And you can help the children directly by going here - https://mamajane.com.ua/blog/100-words-of-support
#100wordsofsupport #comebackhome
Jane Alieva, Founder and CEO of the Mama Jane Charity Foundation, which is engaged in psychological rehabilitation for Ukrainian children traumatized by the war and humanitarian aid. Jane is also CEO and head of events at Mama Matrix Group, which offers strategic communications, media and event management, consultancy services, and legal support to its members. She also is a Director at Payback4Ukraine, which is an international legal network, which has launched a case against the Wagner Group in UK and child abduction cases in European civil courts seeking reparations for Ukrainian victims of war.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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Today I spoke with Roman Sulzhyk, a real Ukrainian patriot who has embraced his life's mission and decided to come back home to Ukraine to help rebuild his country. Roman has been a part of Ukraine's independence movement from the first Orange Revolution in 2004, to the Maidan in 2014, to the war today. He has a fascinating perspective, having seen this whole independence drive of the past 20 years.
Roman worked hard and was able to get out of Ukraine in the 1990s and create a successful career abroad. After years of working in finance the US and UK, Roman lived in Moscow until the Maidan in 2014 and then had to abruptly leave under difficult circumstances, to say the least. Among numerous other interesting stories - including being labeled an "enemy of the state" by Putin and meeting John McCain on the Maidan - Roman has devoted his efforts to helping the Ukrainian war effort by funding various groups from evacuation buses to the manufacture of drones and electronic warfare systems.
Roman Sulzhyk, a former JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank executive, and also a former member of PrivatBank’s Independent Supervisory Board. Sulzhyk is currently a partner at the Ukraine Breakthrough Fund, and invested in ResistUA and other military technology ventures in Ukraine.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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What's it like to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war held in Russian captivity? How do you survive the torture and beatings?
This is Part 2 of my interview with Bogdan Zarytsky, a Ukrainian soldier who was taken as a POW into Russian captivity.
In this episode, Bogdan tells us about the end of his time at the camp in Olenivka, transfer to a detention center where conditions were dramatically worse, and then finally his liberation. Hear more about how POWs are treated by the Russians, about Bogdan's life since his release, and what freedom means to Bogdan now after such a horrifying experience.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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What's it like to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war held in Russian captivity? How do you survive the torture and beatings?
This the story of Bogdan Zarytsky, a soldier of the Azov Battalion.
In this first part of our interview, we discuss Bogdan's life as a soldier before the full-scale invasion in February 2022, then fighting in Mariupol and the Azovstal complex upon Russia's full-scale invasion, and finally his captivity in Russia's POW camp in Olenivka. Hear how Bogdan survived it all: the deaths of his fellow soldiers, the beatings, the starvation, the extreme weight loss, the lack of energy, the lack of hope. Even amid all this suffering, there were moments of inspiration and love. Listen to this podcast to find out.
Note that this is Bogdan's first time discussing his experience in English. These are terribly difficult topics to discuss for him, much less not in his native language. This episode is a tribute to Bogdan's courage.
Bogdan Zarytsky, Soldier of Azov Battalion. Born in Sumy, Ukraine, Bogdan joined the military in 2015 and later the Azov Battalion. After fighting in Mariupol at the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Bogdan then fought in Azovstal and was taken into Russian captivity for several months. He was then released in a prisoner exchange in late 2022 and has since been living in Kyiv with his wife and their child.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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What would inspire a young Ukrainian man to leave his civilian life, voluntarily sign up for the military, and start training in order to be sent to the front? What do his friends and family think about his choice? How would you feel just days away from joining the Ukrainian military amid this extremely bloody war with Russia?
To understand what it's like, hear the story of Andriy Nedilko, a 28-year old normal guy living in Kyiv who felt compelled to leave his civilian life, leave his girlfriend and family and friends, sign up for the military, and serve his country. I had the pleasure of speaking with him just days before his deployment to understand what he's thinking and feeling.
Born and raised in Chernihiv, Ukraine, near the border with Russia. Andriy moved to Kyiv and upon the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, started an NGO which provide supplies to the frontline. Most recently, Andriy has decided to leave his job and join the military. He will be deployed in late August.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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You think your job is hard? Imagine being the HR director of one of the most important companies in a country that has been at war for more than 2 years, is managing a labor market struggling from an outflow of refugees and loss of men to mobilization, and all while trying to recover after a 30% drop in GDP. Your company's task includes the transmission of electricity from generation to distribution networks, as well as the operational and technological control of the Ukrainian Power System, which has been a daily target of Russia for the past 2.5 years.
I had the pleasure to host Lyudmila Yeropkina, the HR Director of Ukrenergo, who spoke in depth about the dire energy situation in the country, the impact of mobilization on the labor market, and how businesses are managing such an extreme situation. Have a listen to understand what its like to live and work amid daily power cuts and how companies are managing the situation.
Lyudmila is responsible for the formation and implementation of Ukrenergo’s HR strategy and personnel management. She has extensive experience in both international and domestic Ukrainian corporations. Prior to joining Ukrenergo in mid-2023, Lyudmila worked at DTEK, Mondelez, and Jacobs Douwe Egberts. She lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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In this episode, my guest Kateryna Odarchenko, government relations specialist and head of political consultancy SIC Group, discussed some of the top investment challenges in Ukraine, including the need for strong government relations teams, the importance of transparency, the recent passage of the Lobbying Law in Ukraine, the evolving Ukrainian business culture, and much more.
Kateryna has nine years of experience in democracy building and democracy campaign management. She is the author of 500+ publications about transparent public administration, campaign management, good governance, and civil society development. She is also the author of the "Election Game" handbook for politicians in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for democracy institution building and control of elections. Kateryna initiated several bills in Ukraine about democratic elections, women's rights, and stronger institutions. Kateryna also initiated projects with the European Parliament for the implementation of EU laws in the Ukrainian legislature. Originally from Ukraine, Kateryna lives with her family in the Washington DC metro area.
Please have a look at Kateryna's bio: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/kateryna-odarchenko
And her company: www.sic-group.com.ua as well as her non-profit “Institute for Democracy and Development “PolitA”: www.polita.org.uaTo learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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This is the second part of the episode of what is it like to be the wife of a Ukrainian soldier captured by the Russians and beaten and tortured as a prisoner of war?
This is the story of Natalia Zarytska, the founder of "Women of Steel", an NGO dedicated to saving the soldiers who fought in Mariupol and at Azovstal in 2022. Despite being told her husband was dead multiple times, scared for her own life and the life of her child, and even harassed and threatened by Russians, Natalia never gave up hope on her husband and successfully fought for his release from Russian captivity. But that's not the whole story. Getting married online, attending demonstrations amid Russian air raids, bringing the story of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the world's attention, helping her husband reintegrate back to civilian life - listen to this inspiring story of love, strength, bravery, and hope.
Natalia Zarytska, Founder and Head of NGO "Women of Steel", wife of Ukrainian soldier Bogdan Zarytskyi, who was captured by the Russians. Natalia lives with her husband and son in Kyiv, her hometown, where she has worked in the agricultural sector.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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What is it like to be the wife of a Ukrainian soldier captured by the Russians and beaten and tortured as a prisoner of war?
This is the story of Natalia Zarytska, the founder of "Women of Steel", an NGO dedicated to saving the soldiers who fought in Mariupol and at Azovstal in 2022. Despite being told her husband was dead multiple times, scared for her own life and the life of her child, and even harassed and threatened by Russians, Natalia never gave up hope on her husband and successfully fought for his release from Russian captivity. But that's not the whole story. Getting married online, attending demonstrations amid Russian air raids, bringing the story of Ukrainian prisoners of war to the world's attention, helping her husband reintegrate back to civilian life - listen to this inspiring story of love, strength, bravery, and hope.
Natalia Zarytska, Founder and Head of NGO "Women of Steel", wife of Ukrainian soldier Bogdan Zarytskyi, who was captured by the Russians. Natalia lives with her husband and son in Kyiv, her hometown, where she has worked in the agricultural sector.To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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In this episode, Pavlo Narozhnyi - Founder of Reactive Post, an NGO that provides support to soldiers on the front lines - shared stories from the frontlines in the war, while also describing where the war is today and his vision of how the war develops in the coming year(s). Filled with anecdotes from soldiers' experiences, plus the broader picture of both Ukraine and Russia's capabilities and vulnerabilities on land, in the sea, and in the air, Pavlo brings greater clarity to the war in his engaging, serious, but light-hearted fashion.
Pavlo founded his non-government organization (NGO) Reactive Post in 2014 at the outbreak of Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine. Reactive Post provides support to long-range artillery units along the front lines fighting Russia, and provides insights and advice to political and military leaders in Kyiv. Pavlo is often interviewed in Western media, including by the Wall Street Journal, and on a nearly daily basis by Ukrainian media. He is originally from Sumy, near the border with Russia, but resides in Kyiv, Ukraine.
For more information visit Pavlo's Website:
https://reactivepost.org/enTo learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
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In this introductory episode of the podcast, I introduce myself - my personal, academic, and professional background - what the podcast will be about, and why I have moved to Ukraine to start a business.
In short, I have been passionate about this region my entire life and have studied and worked on it my entire academic and professional career. For this reason, I have moved to Ukraine to make whatever small contribution I can make to help the country recover.
In this podcast series, I will do my best to communicate life here in Ukraine, including all aspects from the macro to the micro level. Its necessary firstly to communicate the historical moment the world is going through, which is being decided here in Ukraine currently, while also relaying personal stories of incredible resilience of the Ukrainian people at the micro level. This helps give Western audiences a taste of what its like to live in wartime Ukraine while appreciating the importance of this historical moment.
Mark is a former Managing Director of Europe at FrontierView, where he specialized in Central & Eastern European Markets. His work has been published with Harvard Business Review, and interviewed on tv/in print by the BBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, and Intellinews.
Earlier, Mark taught courses on counterterrorism to CIA/FBI agents at the US Army Combating Terrorism Center, and also taught a course on Investing in Emerging Markets at the London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF).
Mark holds an MA in Eastern European & Eurasian Studies from John Hopkins SAIS, and a BA in History and Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He is proficient in Russian.
To learn more, visit:
https://ubn.network/
Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:
https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/
