This week on The Continent: FPRI's Eurasia Program Director Maia Otarashvili joins Aaron to talk through recent parliamentary election results in Georgia and delve into an interesting question: how does a broadly pro-EU, Russia-skeptical country wind up with a euroskeptic, Russia-friendly government? 

This week on Baltic Ways - The US election is approaching quickly with implications for America's allies in the world. Professors Margarita Šešelgyte (Vilnius University), Daunis Auers (University of Latvia), and Andres Kasekamp (University of Toronto) join a roundtable discussion on the impact that a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump presidency could have on the security and future outlook of the Baltic countries and broader European, and how people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are feeling about the state of democracy in the US. This episode was recorded on September 25, 2024.

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Baltic Ways is a podcast brought to you by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of AABS or FPRI.

Located only 30 km from the border with Russia, the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was the object of another Russian offensive earlier this year. Although Ukrainian forces stopped Russia's drive to capture the city, Kharkiv still endures daily attacks from Russian glide bombs, drones and missiles. Although Ukraine has the capability to strike back at the aircraft and airfields supporting these attacks, it lacks permission to use Western weapons to do so. Join Bob Hamilton as he interviews Kharkiv resident and FPRI Senior Fellow Maria Avdeeva about how her city is enduring these daily attacks and how Ukraine would strike back if given permission.

Read Maria's recent analysis on why Ukraine should be allowed to strike back here.

Kyiv-based journalist Fabrice Deprez returns to the brief for another update on the mood in Ukraine, including a report on his recent trip to the front line city of Pokrovsk.

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For more reporting from Ukraine, be sure to check out Fabrice’s Eastern Radar newsletter.

It has been 15 months since the Wagner Group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin led the group's ill-fated march on Moscow and 13 months since Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash almost certainly orchestrated by the Kremlin. Prigozhin is gone but his group lives on. Join host Bob Hamilton as he discusses the group's current operations in Africa and elsewhere with Colin Clarke, Chris Faulkner, and Raphael Parens.

There has been much debate over defense spending, investment, and who is sharing the burden of European defense among NATO allies for years. Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has served as a grim and stark reminder of European defense investment shortcomings and vulnerabilities.It has been a few months since NATO allies met in Washington to commemorate the alliance’s 75th anniversary.  In this episode we are joined by Ambassador Doug Lute, Colonel Jordan Becker, and German defense expert Aylin Matle to examine the contours of the burden-sharing debate within the alliance, what major decisions came out of the Washington summit, and what lies ahead.

The Ties That Bind: NATO at 75 and Beyond is a five part series examining the past, present, and future of NATO.

For access to the full interviews and more, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Related Reading: The Time For Europe to Step Up Is Now - War on the Rock

The 15th Newport Global Summit took place on August 14-15, bringing together dozens of leaders from the business and finance worlds, including Steve Forbes, Mark Bezos, and former World Bank President David Malpass. The brainchild of Newport's Katherine (Kitty) Cushing, the Summit strives for "a convergence of legacy, knowledge, and purpose." This year, for the first time, FPRI's Nick Gvosdev, Maia Otarashvili, and Bob Hamilton took part, leading a conversation on the economic, political, and security impacts of the Middle Corridor, a developing transportation network linking the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific basins, the two main engines of the global economy. This edition of Chain Reaction was recorded in Newport immediately after the Summit concluded.

In the wake of far right gains in recent German state-level elections, German historian and journalist Katja Hoyer joins Aaron to explore the unique regional character of German populism. How has formerly communist Eastern Germany swung to the right? 

Aro Velmet is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern California, where he is a historian of modern Europe, colonialism, science, technology, and medicine with an overarching interest in gender studies. For Baltic Ways, he shares insights into the progression of LGBTQ+ rights in Estonia and the broader region and the path that has led to legislative change over the past decade.   

Mentioned in this episode:

Velmet, A. (2019). Sovereignty after Gender Trouble: Language, Reproduction, and Supranationalism in Estonia, 1980–2017. Journal of the History of Ideas 80(3), 455-478. 

Põldsam, Rebeka, et al. Kalevi Alt Välja: LGBT+ Inimeste Lugusid 19. Ja 20. Sajandi Eestist. Eesti LGBT Ühing : Rahva Raamat, 2023.


Elisarion: Elisàr von Kupffer and Jaanus Samma at the Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn Irina Roldugina, UCIS Postdoctoral Fellow, History, Slavic Languages and Literature

Baltic Ways is a podcast brought to you by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS), produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of AABS or FPRI. 

From Ukraine, to the Middle East, to the Indo-Pacific, American officials claim to see an increasing level of policy coordination among China, Russia, and Iran. In this view, the three authoritarian powers work to support each other and challenge the US. In the worst case, their cooperation could take the form of a combined military challenge to the US in multiple theaters. But what level of coordination actually exists among China, Russia, and Iran, and what are the implications for the US? FPRI Senior Fellow Nick Gvosdev joins Bob Hamilton on Chain Reaction to discuss these questions.

In this episode we go back to the beginning. What is NATO? What challenges has NATO faced in the past? How are these similar or different to today’s issues? Why is NATO important for US national security? Why should Americans care about the security of Europe? Former NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, and Seth Johnston join Rick to explain NATO’s history, its purpose, and its evolution over the past seven decades.

The Ties That Bind: NATO at 75 and Beyond is a five part series examining the past, present, and future of NATO.

For access to the full interviews and more, subscribe to our newsletter.