Podcasts
Podcasts
Central and Eastern Europe after the Polish Elections: In Conversation with Daniel Hegedüs
Despite the Polish opposition election victory in the 15 October elections on 27 November President Duda swore in the Law and Justice Party ahead of a confidence vote that the incumbents seem set inevitably to lose. In this latest Rule of Law podcast, Oliver Garner and Daniel Hegedüs discuss the implications of the election for Central and Eastern Europe. Daniel is a German Marshall Fund fellow with expertise in populism and democratic backsliding and the foreign affairs of the Visegrad countries.
4.12.2023
Podcasts
Slovakia’s Path, the Visegrad Group Today, and the Implications for Europe – Miroslav Wlachovský on Current Changes
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Miroslav Wlachovský – Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia in the recent caretaker cabinet headed by Ľudovít Ódor – discusses Slovakia’s role in the EU and his priorities while in office; analyses the recent Slovak elections and the potential consequences its outcome will have in terms of the country’s foreign policy; and reflects on the relationship between Slovakia and Hungary as well as the future of the Visegrad Four. Miroslav Wlachovský is a Slovak diplomat who acted as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia between May and October 2023. Prior to his ministerial appointment, Wlachovský served as Slovak ambassador to the United Kingdom (2011 to 2015) and to Denmark (2018 to 2022). In collaboration with Lucie Hunter
20.11.2023
Podcasts
The Future in the European Union — In Conversation with Massimo Fichera
In this conversation with RevDem editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Massimo Fichera talks about the need to include the future when designing EU constitutional architecture, criticises the economic components’ dominance over the European integration process, and explains his idea of communal constitutionalism as a remedy to presentism of constitutional theories.
15.11.2023
Podcasts
From Pink Tide to a Far-Right-Wave: Latin America’s Authoritarian Encore?
In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Lorena Drakula, Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser sheds light on the historical context, ideological characteristics, and the consequential impact of the recent far-right success in Latin America, encompassing prominent figures from José Antonio Kast and Jair Bolsonaro to Nayib Bukele and Javier Milei.
14.11.2023
Podcasts
Peter Beinart on Resistance and De-Escalation
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Peter Beinart discusses various aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli question.
10.11.2023
Podcasts
Equality. Darrin M. McMahon on an Elusive and Resilient Idea
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Darrin M. McMahon – author of the new book Equality: The History of an Elusive Idea – discusses his approach to the intellectual history of equality on the longue durée and explains why we shouldn’t think of this history as a triumphant march of progress; highlights the tensions between difference and sameness and explores the changing relationship between liberty and equality; and reflects on the globalization of our concern with equality – and our human ambivalence towards this resilient idea.
7.11.2023
Podcasts
Peoples of Europe — National Leaders and Public Opinion in The Post-Maastricht Era: In Conversation With Dermot Hodson
Why was the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty a significant moment for the EU? Who are the right-wing populists in the EU and how has their modus operandi changed throughout the decades? Why did the national leaders engage in the EU politics? In this conversation with RevDem editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Dermot Hodson talks about his most recent book Circle of Stars. A History of the EU and the People Who Made It published by Yale University Press. Dermot Hodson — Professor of Political Economy and Digital Technologies at Loughborough University London and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe. He has published widely on EU governance and integration and previously worked as an economist at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Circle of Stars: A History of the EU and the People Who Made It was published by Yale University Press on 10 October 2023. Kasia Krzyżanowska: As Perry Anderson has famously put it, most of the [...]
16.10.2023
Podcasts
Maximilian Hess on the Economic War between Russia and the West
How Has Russia’s Attempt to Destroy the International Economic Order Backfired? In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Maximilian Hess – author of the new book Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict between Russia and the West – shows how an economic war between Russia and the West has broken out in the 2010s; discusses why Russia’s large-scale invasion and brutal attempt to wreck Ukraine in 2022 has caused such disruption on the global scale; reflects on key features of the relationship between Russia and China today; and considers the future place of Russia in the international economic order. Maximilian Hess is the founder of the political risk consultancy Enmetena Advisory, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and associate fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and at the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs. His research focuses on the relationship between trade, debt, international relations, and foreign policy as [...]
9.10.2023
Podcasts
Disabusing Constitutional Identity? In Conversation with Julian Scholtes
The monograph The Abuse of Constitutional Identity in the European Union (OUP, 2023) by Julian Scholtes (Lecturer in Public Law, University of Glasgow) was published in September. In this latest RevDem Rule of law podcast, Oliver discuss constitutional identity and its implications for the Rule of Law and democracy in Europe today. Oliver Garner: I found that your distinction between generative, substantive, and relational aspects of constitutional identity abuse is an impressive attempt to categorize such illegitimate practices systematically. How do these concepts advance our understanding of constitutional identity and its abuse? Do you believe they can be operationalized to allow the identification of abusive identity claims in practice? Julian Scholtes: I think we need to distinguish this idea of constitutional identity, that is quite commonly used in comparative constitutional law, as an analytical lens which allows us to look into the relationship between [...]
29.09.2023
Podcasts
Bloodless Murder: Stefano Bottoni on How the Orbán Regime Was Made and What Hungary Has Become
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Stefano Bottoni – author of the new Hungarian-language book A hatalom megszállottja. Orbán Viktor Magyarországa (Obsessed with Power. Viktor Orbán’s Hungary) – discusses how the current political system has been built up in Hungary and which theories might help us analyse this process; reflects on the Orbán regime’s sources of legitimacy and internal contradictions; and explores the changing relationship of the country to the European Union and to Putin’s Russia.
6.09.2023
Podcasts
The Freedom to Stay: Eva von Redecker on Positive Ecological Freedom and the Need for a New Temporal Literacy
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Eva von Redecker – author of the new German-language book Bleibefreiheit (The Freedom to Stay) – shows what it means to think of freedom in terms of time rather than space; explains what implications it has that we are actually “born unfree but not alone”; reflects on the personal experiences and intellectual influences that inspired her; and sketches what the realization of positive ecological freedom might look like.
4.09.2023
Podcasts
A Betrayal of Liberalism: Samuel Moyn on the Mistaken Path of Cold War Liberals
In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Samuel Moyn – author of the new book Liberalism Against Itself. Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times – discusses what motivated him to explore the Cold War liberal betrayal of previous liberal traditions; what their redefinition of the liberal canon and silences about crucial developments in their own lifetime may reveal about Cold War liberals; why the liberal establishment has failed to reexamine Cold War liberalism since 1989–91; and what would be minimally needed to make contemporary liberalism “credible enough for salvation.”
29.08.2023
Podcasts
Negotiating Amidst Turmoil: Analyzing the Interplay of Dialogue and Conflict in Kosovo-Serbia Relations
In this conversation with assistant editor Lorena Drakula, Bodo Weber, a Senior Fellow at the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, discusses the current situation, as well as the complex dynamics of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, unpacking its democratic implications, challenges, and opportunities.
22.07.2023
Podcasts
Models of Judicial Independence in Europe: In Conversation with Pablo Castillo Ortiz
In this latest RevDem Rule of Law podcast, assistant editor Teodora Miljojkovic discusses the different models of judicial independence in Spain and beyond with Pablo Castillo Ortiz.
19.07.2023
Podcasts
“Neither Amnesia nor Nostalgia” Discussing the Non-Aligned Movement with Chiara Bonfiglioli, Agustín Cosovschi, and Paul Stubbs
In this conversation with RevDem contributor Una Blagojević, Paul Stubbs, Chiara Bonfiglioli, and Agustín Cosovschi discuss the different meanings of the Non-Aligned Movement and the need to rethink the “West–East–Non-Aligned” trajectories; approach Yugoslav foreign policy critically and explain why they attach such importance to imaginaries; show the importance of developing a “perspective from below” and analyze what a gendered perspective on the movement can yield; and reflect on possibilities of future research.
13.07.2023
Podcasts
India’s Basic Structure Doctrine: Past, Present, and Future: In Conversation with Moiz Tundawala and Anuj Bhuwania
In this episode, assistant editor Rohit Sarma discusses the “basic structure” doctrine of the Indian Constitution on the occasion of its 50th anniversary with Moiz Tundawala and Anuj Bhuwania, Professors of Constitutional Law at the Jindal Global Law School in India.
12.07.2023
Podcasts
A Savage War of Russian Decline: Serhii Plokhy Discusses the Russo-Ukrainian War
In this conversation co-hosted by Marta Haiduchok (Visible Ukraine) and Ferenc Laczó (the Review of Democracy), Serhii Plokhy – author of the new book "The Russo-Ukrainian War" – discusses why Ukraine was so crucial to the Soviet collapse and how Ukraine and Russia diverged subsequently; explains what made Ukraine a focal point of competition in the post-Cold War decades and which factors enabled the current devastating war; dissects the origins of Russian imperialism and Russia’s current war aims; reflects on the state of Ukrainian Studies and suggests new questions concerning Ukrainian nationalism and Russian imperialism; elaborates on the stages of the unfolding war and the reasons behind Ukraine’s ability to fight back; and ponders what major geopolitical shifts the Russo-Ukrainian war might signal or reinforce.
30.06.2023
