Podcasts
Episode List
Episode 12: Peace and Neo-Imperialism: The Washington Accords, Gaza, and Ukraine
This episode moves past the headlines to ask what shifting conceptions and the goals of peace mean for the rules based order and the historical legacies that have informed this current moment.
Episode 11: Exploring the Mentorship Program
This week, Declan reviews this year’s mentorship program, speaking to those who made it possible: Dr. Jeff Sahadeo, Dr. Jeff Francois-Ratelle, and Marika Barbieri-Antonoglou. As one of the core pillars of the network, the mentorship program has connected experts with future difference makers.
Episode 10: Radicalization and Russian Propaganda in Latvia
As part of our mentorship program, Declan sat down with Eva Gaigalniece, a PhD candidate at the University of Latvia, researcher of radicalization, and journalist. They examined how the war in Ukraine has provoked rising radicalization in Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority population. Building on her policy memo, Eva outlines how radicalization happens and what the Latvian government is doing to combat this worrying trend.
Episode 9: Russian Disinformation in the 2024 European Parliament Elections with Marika Barbieri-Antonoglou
As part of our mentorship program, Declan sat down with Marika Barbieri-Antonoglou, an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa. They discussed the policy memo, published earlier this month, where Marika explored how Russian “doppleganger” campaigns contributed to influencing voter preferences by amplifying anti-EU and anti-Ukrainian support narratives in the lead-up to the 2024 European Parliamentary Elections.
Episode 8: Humour as a Weapon of War: Russia, Ukraine, and Comedy in Global Politics with Dr. Stanislav Budnitsky
In January, Declan sat down with Dr. Stanislav Budnitsky, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Colgate University, to discuss how Russia is harnessing humour as a weapon of war. It breaks down the insidious ways that Russian propaganda campaigns harness humour, pranks, and the internet to aid their war in Ukraine.
Episode 7: Between the EU and Russia: Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus in the era of Unpredictability with Dr. Ryhor Nizhnikau
Declan is joined by Dr. Ryhor Nizhnikau, a Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, to dissect how Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus have responded to changing EU and Russian policy in the face of unpredictability. This conversation foregrounds the recent histories of these three nations and how that has informed the present moment.
Episode 6: EU Accession policy, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, with Dr. Frank Schimmelfennig
On this episode of the EETN Podcast, Gabriella Pickton discussed the future of Moldovan, Ukrainian and Georgian accession in the face of the war in Ukraine with Dr. Frank Schimmelfennig, a Professor of European Politics and member of the Center for Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich. Recorded in January, this episode looks holistically at the appetite from EU accession in these turbulent times.
Episode 5: Ukraine and Russia in a Changing World with Dr. Maria Popova
On this episode of the EETN Podcast, Valeriia Gusieva sits down with Dr. Maria Popova, an Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University, to examine the fallout of Russo-American talks. The conversation foregrounds the sidelining of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and how the security community can react to the shifting geopolitical landscape.
Episode 4: De Facto States with Dr. Magdalena Dembinska
Declan is joined by Dr. Magdalena Dembinska, a political scientist at the University of Montreal, to explore the enigma that is de facto states. This conversation centres on the questions posed by Transnistria, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia in Moldova and Georgia as the two countries draw closer to the EU. This conversation follows Dr. Dembinska’s presentation at the Center for European Studies in November 2024.
Episode 3: The EU, Accession, and Reboardering in a Post-Invasion World with Dr. Tom Casier
On this episode, Declan sits down with Dr. Tom Casier, the Chair of Global Politics of Europe at the University of Groningen, to discuss the perceived openness to new EU accession talks. In an illuminating conversation, Dr. Casier explains how the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has prompted a new round of accession talks and what that might mean for the EU as a security power. The two explore how a process of reordering has changed our view of Europe and how it questions the foundational ideas of the EU.
Episode 2: Aftermath of the Georgian Parliamentary Election
This episode of the EETN takes a deep dive into the recent Georgian Parliamentary elections and the fallout of the latest victory for Georgian Dream. Declan sits down with Dr. Anna Rekhviashvili, a PhD from York University who focuses on Anti-Gender and Anti-Feminist studies in Georgia and the Caucasus, to shed light on the rising right-wing populism and anti-gender movement in the country. They talk about the long history of gender politics and the role that the West has to play in the upcoming months and years.
For more information on the Georgian Elections, watch the event recording from the Elections in Georgia panel, read the Power and Protest policy brief by Jeff Sahadeo, David Sichinava, and Baia Kotrikadze, and read the Between Europe and Russia event report by E.J. Bennett and M. Monette.
Episode 1: Introduction
On the first episode of the Eastern Transatlantic Network Podcast get to know the faces behind the newest research department at the Institute of European Russian and Eurasian Studies. Declan sits down with Dr. Crina Viju-Miljusevic, Dr. Paul Goode, and Dr. Jeff Sahadeo as they outline what you can expect from the EETN. Over this brief introduction, they discuss the EETN’s research goals, mentorship program, and upcoming events as this research arm gets off the ground.