A conversation with the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Pretoria, Andreas Peschke, on the pivotal themes of German foreign policy in transition ..read more

I spoke to Milton Nyamadzawo, Director for Southern Africa at the Institute for Economics and Peace on their programme of work and flagship reports such as the Positive Peace report & The Global Peace Index. We discussed how the IEP is advancing a  paradigm shift in the way the world thinks about peace by embracing concepts such as systems thinking in their data analysis and research. We also spoke about impact of the positive peace framework on policymaking and praxis ..read more

As scholars and practitioners continue to study major case studies such as Pearl Harbor, the Tet offensive, the Yom Kippur War, Argentina’s seizure of the Falklands/Malvinas, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and 9/11 as notable intelligence failures, it is important to have a big picture perspective of intelligence as an important tool of foreign policy and national security. This episode focuses on the interface between intelligence and foreign policy and the implications for policy making ..read more

15 years after the institutionalization of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) at 2005 World Summit, it is an apt moment to take stock of R2P’s development from its endorsement at the World Summit to its status as present in a global context marked by a mix of political and normative currents and developments. The principle of R2P stipulates that the international community has a responsibility to protect people from crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. It’s endorsement was a watershed moment for the collective will to address mass atrocities and to operationaliz ..read more

Every 25th of May we  mark Africa Day to commemorate the founding of the Organisation for African Unity, which later became the African Union as the continental organisation moved to put the scourge of colonialism behind and embrace a vision of vision of a united and strong Africa, socio-economic development and the promotion of peace, security and stability. 21 years since the establishment of the AU (following the adoption of the Constitutive Act in Lome, Togo), pressing issues and questions remain about the effectiveness of the AU in fulfilling its mandate for Africans ..read more

 Lauren Johnston provides us with much-needed context and nuance to understand the diplomatic tussle between China and Australia, broader geopolitical  implications for the Asia-Pacific and the markings of an arguably Sinocentric world order ..read more

We host Prof Mary Kaldor and Prof Saskia Sassen to talk about the Urbanisation of Warfare, and the complexity and unpredictability of urban armed conflict as an emerging policy and research agenda. See also their 2020  book Cities at War Global Insecurity and Urban Resistance ..read more

We are joined by Prof Faizel Ismail, Director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance University of Cape Town, to talk about WTO reform in view of the crisis of multilateralism, and his latest book WTO reform and the crisis of multilateralism: A Developing Country Perspective   ..read more

We engage Edwin Ikhouria, Executive Director of the ONE Campaign,on the latest report by the UNCTAD on IFFs from Africa and the impact on African development and, more importantly, what this means for Africa’s agency in global affairs.   ..read more

Sami Hamdi, Editor-in-Chief of the International Interest, helps us make sense of Turkey’s tilt towards Africa against the backdrop of the geopolitical chess game in the Eastern Mediterranean and Ankara's pursuit of strategic autonomy ..read more