Afleveringen
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Stefan Meister, head of the Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations. What opportunities should the West be seizing to displace Russian influence in the Black Sea region, South Caucuses and beyond? What should the EU be prioritizing for its Black Sea strategy?
Dalibor and Iulia discuss the outcomes of the Georgian and Bulgarian elections, as well as the North Korean troops stationed in Russia in their news segment. What does the election outcomes in Georgia and Bulgaria signal about the state of Western influence in the region? As Russia increases cooperation with North Korea and other partners, what can the West do to counter it?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia’s recommend article here. Read the joint statement of EU ministers on the elections in Georgia here.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Oleksandr Kraiev, the director of the North America program at Ukrainian Prism to discuss the Ukrainian view on US elections. Will a Harris presidency bring more of the same in terms of US strategy towards Ukraine? How are Ukrainians framing the outcomes of the US elections?
Dalibor and Iulia discuss the BRICS summit in Russia and elections in Georgia and Moldova in their news segment. How is Russian influence impacting the democratic futures or Georgia and Moldova in their recent elections? Why has the West failed to deter allied countries from joining in on the BRICS conference?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Dalibor’s recommend article here.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Lesia Orobets, Founder of the "Safe Sky for Ukraine" Initiative and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament to discuss her initiative. How are Russian bombardments impacting Ukraine? What support does Ukraine need to make it through the winter?
Dalibor and Iulia discuss the security outlook for Eastern Europe in their news segment. Has the Kursk offensive failed to achieve its objective? Why are some European nations dragging their feet on revamping their defense industrial bases?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia’s recommend article here. Register for Dalibor's upcoming event here.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Edward Lucas, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and longtime journalist covering Eastern and Central Europe to discuss greyzone warfare with Russia. Why do democracies struggle to respond to greyzone aggression? How can we improve our deterrence against Russian cyber attacks?
Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Western deterrence one year out from the October 7th attacks on Israel and Slovakia's turn toward Russia in their news segment. How can the West stand by allies to deter threats from increasingly aligned aggressors? What does Slovakia's Robert Fico's comments on Ukraine mean for its future in NATO and the EU?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia's recommend pieces, Giorgia Meloni's speech and Joschka Fischer's article.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institutes to discuss strategy in regards to the war in Ukraine. Was the Kursk offensive a risk worth taking and how has it benefitted the Ukrainians strategically? What did Zelenskyy's visit to the US yield in terms of results for Ukraine?
Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump and pro-Russia politics in Austria and Hungary in their news segment. How has Trump politicized support for Ukraine? What does the success of Austria's far-right party, FPO, mean for Central European politics?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Dalibor's piece on Trump's NATO strategy here.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Joseph Nye, professor emeritus at Harvard's Kennedy School and pioneer of the theory of soft power to discuss the role of soft power in the context of the war in Ukraine. How should we determine who is winning and who is losing between Russia and Ukraine? Is Russia overperforming in terms of soft power?
Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know about Zelenskyy's US visit and recent elections in Europe in their news section. What aspects of the Ukrainian peace plan are the most essential for its success? What do election results in Germany and Austria mean for support for Ukraine?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Iulia’s recommended article by Ben Taub here.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, and chair of the Committee of Ukraine's integration into the European Union. Can the war against Ukraine be viewed as the beginning of a wider conflict? Where does the disconnect between Ukraine and the US on the stakes of the conflict lie and how can it be bridged?
Dalibor and Iulia break down Chinese military support for Russia and Biden's meeting with Starmer in their news section. How should the West respond against China's support of Russia's war efforts? Is it too little to late on expanding Ukraine's ability to strike within Russia?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Dalibor’s recommended article by Tom Fairless and Bertrand Benoit here. Read Dalibor's article on Germany here.
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On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Michael Sawkiw, the director of the Ukrainian National Information Service to discuss his work advocating for Ukraine on the Hill. What are the challenges in translating money from the supplemental aid package into tangible support for Ukraine on the ground? What does the path for future aid to Ukraine look like in the US?
Dalibor and Iulia break down Russian election interference and incursions into Romanian airspace in their news of the day segment. Are Russian influence operations in the 2024 election more sophisticated this time around? How should NATO think about responding to Russian drones entering Romanian airspace?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Iulia’s recommended article by Philip Zelikow here.
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Back from summer break, Dalibor and Iulia relaunch The Eastern Front with exciting new changes. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Ambassador Matt Field, the British ambassador to the Czech Republic to provide his insights on European support for Ukraine. How has Britain succeeded in keeping aid for Ukraine a bipartisan priority? How is the UK leading in Europe in a post-Brexit context?
Dalibor and Iulia break down German elections and Georgian politics in their news of the day segment. What does the success of far right and far left parties in the German states of Thüringen and Saxony mean for the country and the region more broadly? How is Russian influence impacting Georgians as the foreign agent law takes effect?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Dalibor's recommended article by Stephen Biddle here.
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New changes are coming to the Eastern Front podcast, and we will be relaunching a new and improved version of the podcast at the beginning of September. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia say goodbye to our dear host Giselle Donnelly and detail the changes that are to come for the podcast. Additionally, the hosts delve into the implications that the election may have on foreign policy. What are Kamala Harris's stances on issues important to the Eastern flank? What can we expect from a peace deal for Ukraine negotiated by a potential future Trump administration? What could the future of the NATO alliance look like under the leadership of the current candidates?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here.
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Though Ukraine's 'irreversible path' towards NATO membership was announced at the NATO 75 conference, a lack of more concrete actions left supporters of Ukraine feeling disappointed. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian member of parliament and leader of the Holos party to discuss the Ukrainian reaction to the NATO summit. What message was Russia sending with its bombing of the children's hospital? Is NATO going far enough in its support for Ukraine? How can Ukraine's security be guaranteed in the face of potential peace negotiations?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read the host’s newly released NATO report here.
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Bulgaria is an important member of NATO's eastern flank, with a multinational battle group stationed there and a role in securing the Black Sea. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Todor Tagarev, the former minister of defense of Bulgaria to discuss his insights ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. Is NATO focused enough on its Eastern flank? What role does Bulgaria play in NATO's security? What positive developments can we expect from the NATO at 75 conference?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read the host's newly released NATO report here.
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Facing coordinated aggression from Russia, China, and Iran, NATO must update its strategy to counter the threats facing the alliance and its allies. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia detail the plan for NATO's strategy moving forward that they outlined in their new report NATO Beyond 75: The Task That Remains Before US. How does NATO benefit US national interests? What would good strategic policy in NATO look like? Why should the US care about European security in the face of threats coming from China and Iran?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read the report here.
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Ahead of the NATO summit, Ukraine's potential future membership in NATO and its implications for regional security is being hotly debated. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia report their insights from Dalibor's recent travels to Chisinau, Moldova and Odessa, Ukraine. How are demographic declines impacting these cities? What are the roadblocks to NATO and EU membership in countries like Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine? What alternatives exist for security guarantees to defend against Russian aggression in the region?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read more about the wine-making cultures of Georgia and Moldova as discussed in the episode here and here.
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Since the ruling Georgian Dream party passed a controversial 'foreign agents' law in the face of mass public protests, fears about Russian influence and the future of Georgian democracy have been heightened. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Shota Gvineria, a lecturer at the Baltic Defence College and senior fellow at the Economic Policy Research Center, to discuss the current situation in Georgia. What are the prospects for a pro-Western democratic shift to occur in Georgia's upcoming election? What role should the US and the EU play in defending Georgian democracy? What can be done to contain Russian influences in Georgia and prevent the country from becoming the next Belarus?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here.
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Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has attempted to balance its relationship with Russia and its commitments to NATO. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Ozgur Ünlühisarcikli, regional director of the German Marshall Fund in Turkey, to give his insights on Turkish politics and strategy. How has Turkey approached its relationship with Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine? What is Turkey's view on further NATO expansions, particularly to Ukraine or Georgia? What does Turkish strategy in the Black Sea look like?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here.
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Disclaimer: This episode was recorded before the Biden administration announced it would allow Ukraine to carry out limited strikes inside of Russia using US-made weapons.
In many ways, Ukraine is fighting with one hand tied behind its back as its access to weapons systems has been limited. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine and its possible path to victory. What weapons systems could Ukraine benefit from that the US has not yet provided? What obstacles stand in the way of Ukrainian victory? How are Ukrainians viewing the issue of conscription?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Phillips' podcast Ukraine Russia War Talk here.
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There's been a concerning rise in populism in Central and Eastern European countries, as has been the case in Hungary and Slovakia under the respective presidencies of Victor Orbán and Robert Fico. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss her new book, When Left Moves Right: The Decline of the Left and the Rise of the Populist Right in Postcommunist Europe. Why are Eastern and Central European countries seeing a resurgence of populism? How concerning is democratic backsliding and is the phenomenon limited to Europe? How is Putin using Soviet narratives to advance his agenda in Russia?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Purchase a copy of Maria's book here.
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As Europe has been slow to respond to the Russian threat, the Baltic states have been ringing the alarm bells. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Kristjan Prikk, Estonian Ambassador to the United States, to discuss the Baltic perspective ahead of the July NATO summit. What issues are Estonians hoping to see on the summit's agenda? What has been Estonia's experience as a frontline NATO state? How has the security environment in the Baltic and Nordic states changed since Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here.
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On May 15th, Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico was shot five times in an attempted assassination and, as of this recording, remains in critical condition. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia draw on Dalibor's local expertise to unpack the breaking news and its developments. What is Fico's political background and why is he such a polarizing figure? What implications does the assassination attempt have for the state of liberal democracy and political polarization in Slovakia? What impact will this have on the upcoming European Union elections?
Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Dalibor’s analysis of Robert Fico's attempted assassination here.
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