Transgender journalist Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a U.S. citizen, joins host Alex Tiersky to describe her journey, first to Ukraine as a war correspondent, then her decision to enlist in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a combat medic on the front lines, as well as becoming a high-value target for Russian propaganda, and the importance of pursuing the truth against a regime that thrives on lies.

The OSCE has been central to diplomatic efforts around Russia’s war against Ukraine.  In this episode, Ambassador Michael Carpenter, U.S. Permanent Representative to the OSCE, discusses the ultimately unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to forestall Russia’s full-scale invasion; the role of the OSCE in ensuring accountability for war crimes and atrocities; and the need to ensure Ukraine’s victory and Russia’s defeat.    

Since February 2022, thousands of non-Ukrainians have signed up to help defend Ukraine from Russian aggression. In this episode, two former members of the U.S. military—former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant James Vasquez and retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Rip Rawlings—discuss their own efforts, one fighting on the ground, and the other mobilizing and coordinating support to the Ukrainian armed forces through his foundation.

The physical battle of tanks and bombs or territory gained and lost is only one terrible part of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine. The unprovoked war is also taking place in the media, on computer keyboards, and in the hearts and mind of people in Ukraine, in Russia, and worldwide. Just as Ukraine has won important battlefield successes in the face of what appeared to be an overwhelming Russian force, Ukraine has also waged a highly sophisticated public...

When UNSCR 1325 was adopted in 2000, it marked the first time that the UN Security Council acknowledged the vital role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts. Two decades later, meaningful progress has been made in advancing the full involvement of women in peace and security-related efforts, but substantial challenges remain. In this episode, COL Katherine Lee and LT COL Diana Morais describe why integrating the perspective of women is essential to sustainable peace and...

The Chinese Communist Party poses major challenges to the transatlantic community’s ideals of governance and human rights. In this episode, Didi Kirsten Tatlow, contributing author of the Atlantic Council report “The China Plan,” discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of its citizens, illustrates how that repression extends to the international system, and offers recommendations on how the transatlantic community, including OSCE participating States, can best unify to respond.

From September 10 – 16, ZAPAD 2021—a major Russian military exercise that includes thousands of troops—will take place in and around Belarus. The exercise follows months of reports that the Russian military has been involved in actions that potentially could spark a major and violent confrontation between Russia and other countries. In this episode, Lt. General Ben Hodges (Ret.) analyzes these developments and discusses the guardrails that might prevent Russian aggression.

The United States supports the work of the OSCE through not only funding—generally contributing 11-14% of the OSCE’s operating costs—but also through the deployment of staff who do the day-to-day work of making the principles on which the OSCE is based into a reality on the ground. In this episode, Kavya Rajan, from the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and Kelsey Harris-Smith, from the OSCE Mission to Moldova, describe how their work contributes to a sustainable, enduring, democratic peace in the...

The Moscow Helsinki Group was launched on May 12, 1976, a day that Helsinki Commission Chair Sen. Ben Cardin has called, “One of the major events in the struggle for human rights around the globe.” Its mission: to monitor the Soviet government’s implementation of the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Accords. Dmitri Makarov, co-chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group, and historian Sarah B. Snyder discuss the impact of the Helsinki monitors and the important work the group continues to do...

The Tokyo Olympics will be the first international athletic event since the passage of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA). The legislation, named for Russian doping whistleblower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, established criminal penalties on those involved in doping fraud conspiracies affecting major international competition. In his first public interview since RADA became law, Dr. Rodchenkov joins Helsinki Commission policy advisor Paul Massaro to discusses the game-changing impact of the...

As an OSCE participating State, Belarus commits to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. Following the apparent violation of these rights during and after recent elections in Belarus, other OSCE states invoked the Moscow Mechanism to establish a short-term fact-finding mission to report on these concerns. In this episode, Professor Wolfgang Benedek, who investigated the violations, discusses his findings that human rights abuses in Belarus are "massive and systematic, and proven...

Election observation is a core element of the OSCE’s efforts to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Ahead of the 2020 U.S. election, veteran election observer Orest Deychakiwsky, former director of the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and current OSCE PA member Michael Link, and Deputy Secretary of the State of Connecticut Scott Bates share insights on the origin and value of OSCE election observation and the election observation process in the...

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, Kathryne Bomberger, director general of the International Commission on Missing Persons, discusses how ICMP has helped families of the Srebrenica victims find closure and pursue justice.

Reports from nearly every corner of the OSCE region suggest that minority groups and vulnerable populations have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Karen Taylor, chair of the European Network Against Racism; and Lamberto Zannier, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, discuss the pandemic’s impact on minority groups and vulnerable populations, and the role of governments in addressing that impact.

Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe. The victims of genocide during World War II, Roma have continued to suffer disproportionately in part due to endemic racism and discrimination. Ahead of International Roma Day on April 8, Margareta Matache, Director of the Roma Program at Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, joins Helsinki Commission Counsel for International Law Erika Schlager to discuss the state of Roma rights in Europe and the United States.

Through participation in parliamentary assemblies, national legislators can wield global influence on issues ranging from counterterrorism to climate change. Roberto Montella, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Ruxandra Popa, Secretary General of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, peel back the curtain on activities of their institutions and underscore the value of parliamentary diplomacy in promoting security, prosperity, and human rights worldwide.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains one of the world’s most intractable and long-standing territorial and ethnic disputes. Its fragile no-peace, no-war situation poses a serious threat to stability in the South Caucasus region and beyond. The conflict features at its core a fundamental tension between two key tenets of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act: territorial integrity and the right to self-determination.

In Turkmenistan, detainees serving long-term prison sentences often literally “disappear” into the notorious Ovadan Depe prison outside of Ashgabat. Kate Watters of the Prove They Are Alive! Campaign joins Helsinki Commission Senior Policy Advisor Janice Helwig to discuss the tragedy of those who have been disappeared, as well as the current situation in Turkmenistan.

Well-orchestrated disinformation campaigns by state and non-state actors aim to deceive the public and undermine democracy. President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Jamie Fly, Helsinki Commission Senior State Department Advisor Mark Toner, and RFE/RL Journalist Tatiana Vaksberg discuss tools that democracies can use to battle the threat of disinformation by Russia and other malign actors in today’s contested information space.

How can the United States and Europe achieve a long-term vision of stable, and sustainable, and inclusive democracies? Samira Rafaela, the first woman of Afro-Caribbean descent to win a seat in the European Parliament, European activist Alfiaz Vaiya, and Helsinki Commission Chief of Staff Alex T. Johnson discuss their experiences on the front lines of the fight for greater diversity and inclusion in Europe, and in the transatlantic policymaking space more broadly.

Arms control experts Alexandra Bell, Senior Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and Anthony Wier, Legislative Secretary for Nuclear Disarmament and Pentagon Spending at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, discuss the Treaty on Open Skies. The agreement fosters inter-military transparency and cooperation among 34 different countries by allowing participants to overfly each other’s territory to record and share imagery of military and other...

Alexander Hug, former principal deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, describes the toll taken on civilians in Eastern Ukraine’s war zone, the dangers faced by the unarmed civilian mission, and the urgent need to generate the political will to end the unnecessary conflict.

Twenty years after U.S. citizens Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi were brutally murdered in Serbia in the aftermath of the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, their brother Ilir documents his family’s fight for justice in the face of inaction by Serbian authorities. Ilir is joined by family lawyer Praveen Madhiraju and Helsinki Commission senior policy advisor Robert Hand.