Battleground Shifts: Ukraine’s Next Moves & Russia’s Endgame (with Fred Kagan)
On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Fred Kagan, senior fellow and director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine. How worried should we be about Russian advances on the battlefield? How likely is Putin to consider negotiations and what factors are at play in getting him to agree to a ceasefire?In their news segment, Dalibor and Iulia discuss the mood on the ground in Ukraine and Romanian elections. From his visit to Ukraine, Dalibor assesses how the country is thinking about safe negotiations. How should Romania respond to Russian interference in the election?Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Read Iulia's piece with the Middle East Institute here, and find Dalibor's recommended article here.
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35:02
Trump and the Transatlantic Relationship (with Dan Hamilton)
On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Dan Hamilton, a senior fellow at John Hopkins University's SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution to discuss the future of the Transatlantic relationship under a Trump presidency. How will the US Senate constrain or support Trump's foreign policy? Is Europe prepared for the changes that a Trump administration will bring? In their news segment, Dalibor and Iulia discuss Trump's cabinet picks and the upcoming Romanian election? How will Trump's cabinet picks shape the future of US foreign policy? Will Romania elect a far-right president in their upcoming elections? Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Listen to Iulia's recommended podcast episode here.
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36:01
The Eastern Front and the Great War: Drawing Historical Parallels (with Nick Lloyd)
On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia welcome Nick Lloyd, a historian and professor of modern warfare at King's College London to discuss historical parallels to our current moment. What parallels can be drawn from Russia's experience in World War I to now? How can the lessons of implementation of new technologies in WWI be compared to the roll out of drones and surveillance technology currently in the war in Ukraine?In their news segment, Dalibor and Iulia discuss the implications of the Georgian election results and analyze what a Trump victory means for the Eastern Front. How much did election fraud contribute to the Georgian Dream's victory? How should European leaders respond to a future Trump presidency?Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front‘s bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on X here. Find Nick Lloyd's new book The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War here.
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38:09
Combating Russian Influence in the Black Sea and Beyond (with Stefan Meister)
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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35:57
Election Season: An Eastern European Outlook (with Oleksandr Kraiev)
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.
Ensuring the balance of power in Europe has, since the inception of our republic, been a core security interest for the US. Today, and for the entire post-Cold War period, the challenges to the European peace have emerged along the line running roughly from the Baltic to the Black Sea. This is what we call the Eastern Front. Our goal in this podcast is to better inform the American people about what’s going on there.
Join us, Iulia Joja and Dalibor Rohac every week on in our discussions on what’s next for “The Eastern Front.”
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