Perspectives

In this episode, we will discuss the geopolitical dynamics of climate change. The looming impacts of global warming will undoubtedly transform the way we live our lives and will unjustly affect some more than others. It will also result in a shift in global geopolitics and already has countless implications on today's dynamics. To discuss the impact of climate change on global geopolitics, we will speak with Brigitte High, a Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security at the Council on Strategic Risks.

In this episode - in french -  we discuss the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, its geopolitical context, and ramifications with guest Slimane Zeghidour.Slimane Zeghidour is a journalist, researcher, and author. He is currently editor-in-chief at TV5Monde and researcher at the  French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs.

In this episode, we discuss the current conflicts in Ethiopia with Professor Kjetil Tronvoll, Director of Oslo Analytica, and Professor and Research Director of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Oslo New University collegeThe Ethiopian central government has been at war with Tigrayan forces since November 2020. Tigray is a region in the North of Ethiopia whose main group, Tigrayans, make up 6.1% of Ethiopia's population. This war has not only destabilized Ethiopia, it has also created a humanitarian crisis.Note: The views expressed by the guest experts do not necessarily reflect my personal views - the intent of Geopolitical Perspectives is to provide listeners with an informed perspective on a conflict/issue and to be presented with different points of view. 

In this episode, we discuss the European Union with Guest Jana Puglierin, Head of the Berlin Bureau and Senior Policy Fellow at the European council on foreign relations.The European Union, or EU, is a political and economic Union between 27 countries; it was officially established in 1993 with the Maastricht agreements, but alliances between European countries to create a free market and maintain European peace had already been in place since 1957. In the last decade and a half, the EU has been subject to an economic, humanitarian, and populist polycrisis that has raised questions as to how the EU will face its future crises.

In this episode, we will explore Cross-Strait relations (relations between Taiwan and Mainland China) with Guest Bonnie Glaser, host of the "China Global" podcast and director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. 

In this second episode, we tackle the emerging phenomenon of vaccine diplomacy, which, although not new in principle, has gotten renewed attention with the development and production of vaccines to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic. To discuss Vaccine diplomacy with us is Guest David Ellwood, Professor and expert in soft power at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. 

Welcome to the first episode of Perspectives! A podcast where we explore geopolitical perspectives on today's challenges. In this first episode, we will be talking with Professor Jacob Mundy, an expert on the Western Sahara conflict, co-author of “Western Sahara: War, nationalism and conflict irresolution”. This conflict, although major in the lives of thousands, is often overlooked on the international scene, which is why it's such a pertinent issue for Perspectives' first episode. Western Sahara is a territory wedged between Morocco, Mauritania, and the Atlantic Ocean and has historically been inhabited by a nomadic people, the Sahrawi. In 1884, Spain colonized the area, and it remained under Spanish rule until 1975. When this imperial power left the territory, it came under Mauritanian and Moroccan control. A war then erupted between these two countries and the Polisario Front, the armed movement for Sahrawi independence. Mauritania eventually gave up on its territorial claims, leaving Morroco and the Polisario Front as the two belligerents. In 1991, a Ceasefire was brokered, which recently came to an end due to a skirmish between Polisario and Moroccan forces. Last year, the Trump administration made the decision to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, a decision that no other country had made. Today, Morocco controls about 80 percent of the territory, and the Polisario Front controls the remaining 20 percent.