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Oleksandra Matviichuk is one of the leading lawyers and human rights advocates pushing for accountability for grave crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In 2007, Oleksandra founded the Center for Civil Liberties, which she still leads. In 2022, it became the first Ukrainian organization to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The center was awarded the prize that year alongside human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, and the Russian human rights organization Memorial. The Center for Civil Liberties aims to advance human rights and democracy in Ukraine and the broader Europe-Eurasia region. It defends individual rights, develops legislative changes, conducts public oversight over law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, and offers educational activities for young people.How does the Center for Civil Liberties promote accountability? And what does Oleksandra see as the key issues and trends to watch as this full-scale war nears its third-year mark in February?Just Security's Washington Senior Editor, Viola Gienger, recently sat down with Oleksandra to discuss her work. Here is their conversation.Show Notes: Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) Viola Gienger (@ViolaGienger)Paras Shah (@pshah518) Oleksandra's March 2023 Just Security article (with Natalia Arno and Jasmine D. Cameron) “Russia's Forcible Transfers of Ukrainian Civilians: How Civil Society Aids Accountability and Justice” (also available in Ukrainian)Oona A. Hathaway's Just Security article (with Madeline Babin and Isabel Gensler) “New Report Documents Russia's Systematic Program of Coerced Adoption and Fostering of Ukraine's Children”Just Security's Russia-Ukraine War coverageJust Security's International Criminal Court coverageJust Security's International Law coverageNobel Peace Prize 2022 announcement and Oleksandra's websiteMusic: “Broken” by David Bullard from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/david-bullard/broken (License code: OSC7K3LCPSGXISVI)
As we see around the world today, living in exile is an ongoing and painful part of the human condition. Many of us have parents or grandparents who emigrated to America from Europe/Eurasia before or during World War II. Recently at our synagogue, Ukrainian immigrants have shared their experiences of leaving their homeland. They are people facing a traumatic experience. An experience with which our ancient writers were well aware.The text of this podcast is available on our blog.If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.
Dr Jessica McCarty is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the Geospatial Analysis Center at Miami University in the United States. She has more than 15 years' experience in remote sensing and geospatial science to quantify wildland and human-caused fires, fire emissions, agriculture and food security, and land-cover/land-use change. She is a NASA-funded investigator and author or co-author of more than 35 peer-reviewed journal articles, 4 data citations, and 1 NASA Technology Transfer. She is a member of the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Science Team and an Arctic Council Working Group, and has worked closely with many U.S. federal and state agencies as well as the United Nations. She is originally from the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and is a mom. She prefers dogs to cats and coffee to tea. In our conversation, we talk about the multidisciplinary nature of geography, fire, agriculture, and the two-body problem. Show Notes: https://steampoweredshow.com/shows/jessica-mccarty [00:01:02] Jessica's journey to public policy. [00:01:30] Being willing to say yes to some seemingly odd requests. [00:02:14] Mapping human-caused fire across the lower 48 states of the US. [00:03:09] Being asked to do similar for Europe / Eurasia and IIASA. [00:04:26] The importance of international conferences and being exposed to the policy side of the work. [00:05:13] Understanding diplomacy and cross-cultural communication in a global space. [00:07:24] Fire and agriculture are male dominated areas. [00:10:16] Be willing to say 'yes', but recognise when you're not the right fit for the opportunity. Pay it forward. [00:12:28] Get to know who your civil servants are because science is closely tied to the factors that make up our society. [00:14:00] Scientists and policy-makers work together to find solutions. [00:16:52] Sometimes the reality is hard to hear. But it's necessary. [00:17:19] The private sector is becoming more directly interested in building resilience into their business model. [00:18:29] Academia and research is not the only path, use your expertise to create that bridge to industry as well. [00:20:23] If you're here, and you want to be here, this is where you belong. [00:21:35] What drew Jessica to fire and agriculture. [00:21:52] Jessica's upbringing around farms, national forests, and living off the land. [00:22:33] Living with the reality of wildfires and prescribed burning. [00:23:01] Learning and loving about satellites and GIS. [00:23:49] Realising she could combine technology and the knowledge she was raised with. [00:24:58] Geography is about the land as well as the people. [00:27:10] Researching fire regimes in the arctic and boreal regions. What is burning and why? [00:28:44] Prescribed burning and investigating (over) managing the land. [00:30:16] Understanding the transition between the boreal and the artic and the impact of fire in these areas. [00:30:41] Quantifying the benefits and impact of prescribed fire and cultural burning. [00:31:48] Short‑lived climate forcers (SLCFs) and the albedo effect. [00:33:18] Trying to ensure that all participants are compensated for their contributions. You pay your experts. [00:34:44] Working with the commercial satellite data to understand how much human-caused burning is happening in Northern America. [00:35:50] Working with a NASA-led team on how near-term climate futures impacts food security and food systems. Multi-factor including social systems and infrastructure. [00:37:12] Building up global scientists. We don't want to do 'parachute science' and leave anyone behind. [00:39:22] The land is also the relationship that people have with it. [00:39:53] The mission is to understand the universe, and the earth is part of it. [00:40:18] The transition to making knowledge and technology accessible to encourage collaboration and innovation. [00:41:23] Open data can lead to more applications and use cases. [00:42:40] NASA transitioning to open-source science. [00:43:20] How fire in the southern hemisphere is connected to the northern hemisphere. [00:46:20] Satellite imagery and visualisation exposing the connections between these global systems. [00:47:51] We're all connected. [00:51:27] Geography trains you very quickly to see the connections. [00:53:00] Do you know the difference between moose and elk? [00:54:45] Geography is the study of home. It's home economics on a global scale. [00:56:31] Deep time / Deep ecology. There is permafrost older than our species. Getting some perspective. [00:58:12] A point of reflection. Humans don't do well with uncertainty. We are in a moment of pause. But it's a time of opportunity. [01:01:40] The opportunities to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion by using technology to make science and knowledge more accessible. [01:02:47] Michele's not-COVID project. [01:04:43] Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work? [01:07:50] Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you? [01:11:19] Children and developing a sense of justice or injustice. [01:16:14] Bonus Question 3: What advice would you give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore? [01:16:18] You don't have to pursue graduate studies immediately. You can take your time. [01:18:22] Make sure you get out what you put in in terms of your work and respect. You need to be able to thrive. [01:20:26] The two-body problem and balancing careers, relationships, and identity. [01:29:04] The freedom to have the choice to live our lives the way we feel works for us. [01:35:04] Find out more about Jessica and their work. Connect with STEAM Powered: Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Patreon
Bruno Maçães is a Portuguese politician and author. He is the former Secretary of State for European Affairs in Portugal, and the author of numerous books, including The Dawn of Eurasia; History Has Begun: The Birth of a New America; and Geopolitics for the End Time: From the Pandemic to the Climate Crisis. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld, spoke to Bruno Maçães in Lviv, during the Lviv Book Forum, about Europe, Eurasia, power, China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The conversation took place two days before Russia's round of massive missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in October. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the oldest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld.
Our #intled #livechat comes to you from the #EdUSAForum for Europe/Eurasia in Belgrade, Serbia! We chat on the value of #EducationUSA, the tools and resources of this global network, and opportunities to connect with students through EdUSA. #MidweekRoundup
A new initiative from the Justice and State Departments looks to support women in leadership roles in counterterrorism. The Engaging Multinational Police Women on Equality and Rights or EMPoWER project, recently conducted its first ever symposium last month in Croatia. To learn more about the program, and some of the advantages of having more women to fight terrorism, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to Laurie Freeman, Deputy Director for the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, and Heather Rauch is the Acting Assistant Director for Europe/Eurasia, with the Justice Department's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.
Liana Semchuk, Lead Analyst for Europe & Eurasia, and James Barth, Analyst for North America, join Director for Sibylline EMEA Jonathan Dunbar, to discuss tensions between the US and Russia increasing since Joe Biden became president of the United States. The risk of US sanctions against Russia expanding remains elevated in the months ahead as bipartisan pressure on Biden to take a tougher stance on Russia mounts. However, Washington may be forced to make compromises on its Russia stance concerning key infrastructural projects such as Nord Stream 2 as the Biden administration seeks to mend ties with Europe, particularly Germany. Further strains to the US / EU-Russia relationship will also come from Covid-19 vaccine disinformation allegations, cyber threats, and Washington's promotion of democracy in Eastern Europe.
Συζητώντας τους κορυφαίους κινδύνους για το 2020 με τον Mujtaba Rahman, Διευθύνοντα Σύμβουλο για την Ευρώπη, Eurasia Group (στα Αγγλικά)
The eastern European nation (and former Soviet republic) of Ukraine has been thrust into the news this week with the revelations about the phone call this past summer between President Trump and Ukraine's newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What do we know about this young new leader of Ukraine or, for that matter, any of the other figures who are mentioned in the Whistleblower complaint made public yesterday, or referenced by Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy in their infamous phone call on July 25th? Tom's first guest today knows Ukraine well. Eric Hontz is a senior program officer for Europe ---- Eurasia at the Center for International Private Enterprise, a Washington-based research and consulting firm that promotes ethical business and democratic governance practices around the world. He was in Ukraine just last week. He joins Tom today on the line from Washington DC.
Following the first day of the NATO Summit, we explore the major themes of the event and the strategic implications for the operational environment in Europe, as well as upcoming protests against President Trump’s visits in Europe. Key points include: Immediate concerns Strategic themes of the NATO Summit The Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki Implications for business operations in Europe We hope you enjoy the podcast and welcome questions and feedback. Please get in touch at info@sibylline.co.uk
CIPE Regional Director for Europe, Eurasia, and South Asia Marc Schleifer works on democracy projects in vastly different parts of the globe. On today’s episode he discusses the trends that are affecting the health and development of democracy in his areas of focus, including the attitudes and outlooks of the citizens in each region. Schleifer describes his early interest in social issues and how his fascination with Russia led to eight years living in the country, working in law and international development (and his brief stint as a rock musician). His recollections from this time, including the exciting and chaotic mood in pre-Putin Russia, contrast sharply with his assessment of Russia both today and in the near future. He also talks about the rise in populist sentiment in many parts of the world and challenges us to avoid knee-jerk reactions and look at the political and economic developments behind it.
Reach Beyond Podcast: Stories of hope, inspiration and transformation from around the world
(June 1, 2015) - A recent poll showed that the Christian population in the U.S. has dropped to 70% and the evangelical population is down to 25%. While these numbers can appear startling, they are enormous compared to some countries where the Christian population is .4%, .3% and in certain countries, 0%! In this episode, step into Central Asia with Reach Beyond regional director David Uhles, as Wayne Pederson and Jon Fugler discuss with him how restricted it is for believers in that part of the world. Your eyes will be opened as you hear how creative ministry takes place in response to political and religious hardship. David also shares about internship opportunities in that region. David has spent more than 25 years out of his 40 years of full time ministry living and traveling into Europe and the Former Soviet Union. For the past five years, he has been regional director for Reach Beyond in the Europe/Eurasia region serving in this role on loan from the Navigators. LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Reach Beyond Internship Opportunities Ministry Stories from Europe/Eurasia Nepal Earthquake Update – Hope for Harmi Gospel Central Donate to Reach the Unreached with the Gospel
Podcasts from the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies
A public lecture by Shelley Salamensky, UCLA Theater. Cosponsored by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies
A man gifted in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ, Dr. Ronald A. Cline challenges and edifies the body of Christ. His background as a pastor, educator, counselor, missionary and author gives him credibility and rapport with the many groups and individuals he and his wife, Barbara, minister to around the world each year. Ron is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (APU) in California. He attended Fuller and Talbot seminaries and studied counseling and guidance at Pasadena Graduate School, all in California. In 1982 he received his doctoral degree from Azusa. He is an ordained minister and a licensed marriage, family and child counselor. From 1981 to 2001 he served as the president of HCJB Global which has ministries in North America and five regions: Latin America, Europe/Eurasia, North Africa/Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia Pacific.
A man gifted in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ, Dr. Ronald A. Cline challenges and edifies the body of Christ. His background as a pastor, educator, counselor, missionary and author gives him credibility and rapport with the many groups and individuals he and his wife, Barbara, minister to around the world each year. Ron is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (APU) in California. He attended Fuller and Talbot seminaries and studied counseling and guidance at Pasadena Graduate School, all in California. In 1982 he received his doctoral degree from Azusa. He is an ordained minister and a licensed marriage, family and child counselor. From 1981 to 2001 he served as the president of HCJB Global which has ministries in North America and five regions: Latin America, Europe/Eurasia, North Africa/Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia Pacific.