Dr. Marlene Laruelle, Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at George Washington University, discusses the ideology of Putin's regime, why Putin maintains domestic support despite the on-going costs of Russia's war in Ukraine, and Russia's relationship to far-right political elements in Europe and the United States.  More about Marlene's work: marlene-laruelle.com Marlene Laruelle: Is Russia Fascist? Unravelling Propaganda East and West Marlene Laruelle and...

Carl "Grinch" Larson, a former US soldier who served in Iraq, and then spent 6 months in 2022 fighting in the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, discusses fighting as a foreign national in Ukraine; differences between fighting in Ukraine and fighting for the US army in Iraq; challenges and lack of equipment for Ukrainian troops; and the work of the Ukraine Defense Support group in providing equipment - primarily to the International Legion and to the Ukrainian Territorial...

Maksym Yali, Head of a Center for New World Order and Professor of International Relations at the National Aviation University in Kyiv, discusses the mood in Kyiv and possible gaind for Ukraine's counteroffensive before winter.  Maksym Yali on X (twitter): @maksymyali  Jessica Genauer on X (twitter): @jessicagenauer More about the host: Jessica Genauer 

Miriam Hess, Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, discusses Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's place in the domestic Russian political landscape and relationship to Putin, Chechens fighting on both sides in the war in Ukraine, and the possible future of the Republic of Chechnya if Putin were to no longer be in power. More about Miriam's work: Miriam Hess Miriam Hess on: background to the relationship between Chechnya and Russia for The Hundred  Miriam Hess on Ramzan...

Mark McNamee, Europe Director at Frontier View, discusses the economic opportunities and challenges in Ukraine, the mood in Kyiv, the on-going counteroffensive, and political and economic pressures in Russia.  Mark McNamee in Frontier View Insights on Implications of Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, August 2023  Mark McNamee in Frontier View Insights on How Prigozhin's mutiny reveals Putin's weakness, June 2023  Mark McNamee in Frontier View Insights on How the war has damaged Russian...

Catrina Doxsee, associate director and associate fellow for the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), discusses the Wagner mutiny, Wagner's relationship to the Russian state, the relationship between Yevgeny Prigozhin and Putin, and the future of Wagner activities in Africa and elsewhere.  More about Catrina Doxsee's work: CatrinaDoxsee.com Previous episode with Catrina on background and activities of the Wagner group: Episode 124....

James Acuna, founder of Frontier Vectors security and business consultancy and former CIA officer, discusses the use of intelligence drones in Ukraine, the way in which open source intelligence has impacted the war, and the information domain.    More on James Acuna: Founder of Frontier Vectors security and business consultancy based in Tallinn, Estonia. Prior to this James worked for over 27 years in both defense and security in the United States including 20 years with the Directorate of...

Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria, PhD candidate at the T.C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, discusses the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia, atroctiy crimes, allegations of genocide and the implications of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for President Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.  Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria on Are Russian transfers of Ukrainian children to re-education and adoption facilities a form of genocide? Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria on...

Edward Price, former British Trade Official, Principal for Geopolitical Forecasting at Ergo Intelligence and non-resident Senior Fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, discusses Ukraine's financial strategy, on-going risks and global economic implications of the war in Ukraine.  More about Edward Price  Edward Price on The Man Financing Ukraine's Fight for Freedom  Edward Price on Global Implications of the war in Ukraine Edward Price on twitter: @ed_s_price Jessica...

Alexander Titov, Lecturer in Modern European History at Queen's University Belfast, discusses imperialism in the Northeast Asian region, Russian imperialism, common mechanisms of appropriation of former imperial territories, and possible echoes of patterns of imperial territorial conquest in Russia's current full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Alexander Titov on Ukraine: Putin isn't mad - he's following a long-established great power playbook for conquest Alexander Titov on National...

Maksym Yali, Head of a Center for New World Order and Professor of International Relations at the National Aviation University in Kyiv, comments on when we are likely to see the Ukrainian counteroffensive commence, what's at stake and where it might take place.   Maksym Yali on twitter: @maksymyali  Jessica Genauer on twitter: @jessicagenauer More about the host: Jessica Genauer 

Daria Isachenko, Associate at the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), discusses Turkey's relations with Russia in light of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Turkey-Russia relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, war in Ukraine, Presidential elections in Turkey this year, and how relations might change this year.   More about Daria Isachenko's work Daria Isachenko on Turkey's Stakes in the Russia-NATO...

Oleksa Drachewych, Assistant Professor in History at Western University, discusses the echoes of history in Russia's invasion of Ukraine: implications of the Bolshevik revolution and its aftermath, the use of narrative and symbols from World War II, and the brutal echoes of history in the way in which Russia has been carrying out the current invasion of Ukraine.  The current Russian regime "by conflating the Soviet experience [in World War II] to being Russian - they are essentially removing...

Jenny Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University discusses the intersection of gender, heroism, security and war - in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine: types of heroism, different trajectories of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Russian military, and how the war might play out this year.  Jenny Mathers on Ukraine war: attitudes to women in the military are changing as thousands serve on front lines Jenny Mathers on Women and the War in Ukraine Jenny...

Luca Anceschi, Professor of Central and East European Studies at Glasgow University, discusses the way in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has impacted the Central Asian region: recalibration of relations with Moscow, how the region will navigate relations with both China and Moscow, and how the invasion is being viewed from the region.  Luca Anceschi on Russia - Central Asian Relations in the Aftermath of the Invasion of Ukraine Luca Anceschi on Analysing Kazakhstan's Foreign Policy:...

Pavel Slunkin, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, discusses Belarus' position vis-a-vis Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including what Pavel learnt from being present at the Minsk negotiations summit in February 2015, how Lukashenka's relationship with Putin has changed from Russia's territorial incursions into Ukraine in 2014 to Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, how the invasion is viewed from Belarus, and whether Lukashenka would commit Belarus to participate...

Ben Herscovitch, Research Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, on China's position vis-a-vis Russia and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, how this position might evolve in 2023, and how lessons China is learning from Russia's invasion of Ukraine are likely to shape its approach towards Taiwan in coming years.  Ben Herscovitch's substack: Beijing to Canberra and back  Ben Herscovitch on twitter: @B_Herscovitch Jessica Genauer on twitter: @jessicagenauer More about the host:...

Catrina Doxsee, Associate Director and Associate Fellow for the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), outlines the relationship between Wagner and the Russian state, why PMCs are not likely to be legalized in Russia, founding and evolution of Wagner, changes in Prigozhin's behavior, and global security implications of Wagner actiivty beyond Russia.  'The fact that PMCs are not legal in Russia... gives Putin a tremendous amount of leverage...

Kanykei Tursunbaeva, journalist, translator and Research Associate at the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Mark Neville, award-winning photo journalist working in Ukraine since 2015, discuss operating under conditions of war, taking photos in conflict zones, being a 'war artist' and the project Stop Tanks with Books.  More about the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU) Special issue of American Behavioral Scientist with EUASU scholars: Special Issue: War in...

Niklas Masuhr, Senior Researcher and Military Analyst at the Center for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich University, discusses activities of the Wagner group; comparison of Russian and Chinese PMC activity; the role of the Wagner group in Ukraine and implications for the Russian domestic context.  Charlotte Hirsbrunner and Niklas Masuhr on: Russia's Footprint in Africa Allard Duursma and Niklas Masuhr on: Russia’s return to Africa in a historical and global context: Anti-imperialism,...

Bastian Brinkmann, journalist and Deputy Head of the Economics Department of the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) discusses drivers in the Germany domestic political context behind Germany's pattern of deliberation and hesitation in making each new decision regarding supplying weapons to Ukraine, German constituency in favor of supplying all necessary weapons to Ukraine, legacy of Angela Merkel's 16-year tenure as Chancellor, and economic lessons for Germany from Russia's invasion of...

Lucan Way, Profesor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, discusses his recent book (with Steven Levitsky) Revolution and Dictatorship: The violent origins of durable authoritarianism - implications of violent social revolution for the character of the Soviet Union, legacies for Putin's regime, the distinct trajectories of Russia and Ukraine & Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way: Revolution and Dictatorship: The violent origins of durable...

Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow at the Chatham House Russia and Eurasia program as well as Director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre discusses his latest book Russia's War on Everybody: And What it Means for You, how the Russian regime wages aggressive campaigns, cyber interference, disinformation, and the war in Ukraine.    "It’s that grey area between the state and commercial businesses and organised crime and the intelligence agencies, all of which work very closely together in...

Maksym Yali, Head of the Center for New World Order and Professor of International Relations at the National Aviation University in Kyiv, forecasts how Russia's war in Ukraine will evolve in 2023 including conflict escalation, Ukrainian military successes and expected timeline of events given up-coming Presidential elections in Russia, Ukraine and the United States in 2024.  Maksym Yali on twitter: @maksymyali  Support Maksym's work Jessica Genauer on twitter: @jessicagenauer More about the...