Departures With Robert Amsterdam

George F. Kennan is arguably the most important American diplomat of the modern era, whose "long telegram" and strategy of containment shaped the Cold War and postwar period. And yet, at critical moments later in his career, he was cast aside and shut out by the institutions he once led. In his new book, "Kennan: A Life Between Worlds," acclaimed historian Frank Costigliola draws attention to the very interesting and intimate details of his personal life and upbringing, drawing a much more complex and sometimes surprising portrait of America's top diplomat, bringing us inside his thinking and decision making experiences. In this podcast interview with host Robert Amsterdam, Costigliola explores the intricate web of politics, ideology, and personal struggles that shaped George F. Kennan's rise to prominence, and shares some of his thoughts about Kennan's policy visions which did not come to fruition, and what he might think of current global tensions.

As China and the U.S. increasingly compete for power in key areas of U.S. influence across the Middle East and African continent, competition has grown in linear succession, and is increasingly adversarial. Often cynical of Chinese involvement and intentions, the U.S. points to blunders of the Belt and Road initiative, fears of neocolonialism, and the support of nations of interest that might lead to the resurgence of terrorist groups, as justification for criticisms. But are Beijing's ambitions really so nefarious? In her new book, “China's Rise in the Global South: The Middle East, Africa, and Beijing's Alternative World Order,” Dawn Murphy posits that China’s growth in Africa and the Middle East in the post-cold war era, should be understood as evidence of its desire to develop an alternative world order that will allow China to interact with these two regions on its own terms; and that China is mostly cooperative with the liberal order—particularly within the security and military realms. In this podcast

There is no historical precedent for a former US president who is facing a more complicated web of both civil and criminal liabilities than Donald Trump, let alone for a former president who again intends to run in the upcoming election. To help sort through this mess and understand what the cases mean and what kind of risks they pose to his candidacy, Departures is pleased to welcome special guest Karen Friedman Agnifilo. Friedman Agnifilo is a deeply experienced lawyer, the host of the Legal AF podcast, a guest legal analyst for CNN and other media, and formerly served as Chief Assistant District Attorney of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Amid a slew of headlines highlighting Vladimir Putin's efforts to expand Russia's footprint in Africa since the beginning of the Ukraine war, a certain narrative is emerging regarding Moscow's aims, tactics, and results in this crucial but often neglected region. Is Russia's presence in Africa a threatening menace or merely an empty gesture? As it turns out, it is neither, argues Samuel Ramani, author of the excellent "Russia in Africa: Resurgent Great Power or Bellicose Pretender?" Emphasizing the long established playbook and historical memory of the Soviet Union's support of decolonization and anti-apartheid stance, Ramani speaks with Robert Amsterdam about the underpinnings of current Russian policy in Africa, based on cyclical themes abadonment and return. Beyond the recent high profile engagements of Wagner Group in countries such as the Central African Republic, Amsterdam and Ramani discuss the strategic shortcomings of Western sanctions policies, competition and cooperation with China, and intra-elite

It takes a certain kind of person to become a collaborator for Axis powers during World War II - a level of self-delusion and survival instinct that is off the charts. In Ian Buruma's latest book, "The Collaborators," he paints in-depth portraits of three such figures - Felix Kersten (masseur to Heinrich Himmler and others in the Nazi elite), Yoshiko Kawashima (a cross-dressing Manchurian princess who spied for the Japanese) and Friedrich Weinreb (the “fixer” whose fellow Jews paid him to secure reprieves from deportation to concentration camps, only to be turned over to Nazi police). The strands that braid these individual's lives together often represent shocking moral failings - but also deeply human experiences. In his conversation with host Robert Amsterdam, Buruma describes how he approached the structure of writing the book, what drew him to these three seemingly disparate figures, and how often first tellings of history are shrouded in self-deception by the subjects which can translate to common misap

Democracy, in terms of its branding, has had a fairly rough decade. Numerous authors we have had on this podcast have highlighted and explained its global decline, discussed the expansion of nationalist movements which have eaten away at rule of law and institutional integrity, and the frustrating resilience of some of the world's most established authoritarian leaders, who seem to weather every storm keep their grip on power intact.  So it's such a refreshing change to pace to receive such a well researched and sharply argued case for optimism for the power of democracy to continue attracting those seeking freedom and opportunity from Charles Dunst in his new book, "Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman." Dunst, who is deputy director of research and analytics at The Asia Group and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), says that he approached his book with the goal of offering a tangible roadmap for combatting autocracy, focus

Before becoming one of the world's most recognizable heads of state, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a comic actor and entertainer, whose most famous show, "Servant of the People," imagined him in a role he would one day, unbelievably, come to hold in real life. But how was it possible for someone with so little political experience to unify and mobilize such an intense outpouring of patriotism of his fellow citizens and, arguably, the creation of a new Ukrainian civic identity in response to the Russian invasion? According to a new book by co-authors Olga Onuch and Henry Hale, Zelensky's rise is one that was paralleled by that of Ukraine's post-Soviet development as a culture and society. In many ways, the authors argue, it could be any Ukrainian president to wear this mantle, as it is a public force. Zelensky is “a product of a Ukrainian culture steeped in the same sense of civic national belonging and duty that he advocates, advances and now symbolizes.”  Henry Hale joins in conversation with Ro

The gradual breakdown of the prevailing geopolitical order has brought to the fore numerous far right parties and politicians across Western democracy, bringing with them some very old (and very dangerous) tropes of anti-Semitism. In light of these frightening trends, it is more important than ever for us to confront the often difficult and challenging reality of the Holocaust, how this "irrational emotive energy" allowed it to happen, and also analyze some of the early signals that were ignored. On this week's episode of Departures, we're pleased to host the accomplished historian Dan Stone of the University of London, whose new book, "The Holocaust: An Unfinished History," takes the reader on a riveting journey into some of the most unforgettable narratives and archival findings, challenging many of the assumptions carried by most of us. In his conversation with Robert Amsterdam, Stone speaks at length about the Nazi's demonization of Jews as a some sort of root cause of modernity's problems, and how this a

The end of slavery in the United States was an arduously complex process, which beyond simply the issues surrounding cultural and social norms, not to mention the conflicts remaining at the end of the Civil War, the dismantling of established racist institutions began with critical cases going through the courts. In historian Kate Masur's new book, "Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction," this history is explored with unprecedented detail and archival research, bringing to light the stories of the African American activists and their white allies, often facing mob violence, courageously built a movement to fight these racist laws. Discussing her book on the podcast with Robert Amsterdam, Masur explores the politically courageous pursuit of the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment by the Republican Party, and how the movement’s ideals became increasingly mainstream in the 1850s despite a series of rigged court decisions.

The story of the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1936 is often overshadowed by that of the country's civil war and its entanglement across the other major developments in Europe at the time. But Spanish fascism was also driven by an enduring set of beliefs - which were so thoroughly odious and absurd - that it is a significant challenge to unravel how so many came to support the dictatorship and permit its genocide. Sir Paul Preston is among the greatest living historians on this period in Spain, and the Departures podcast was fortunate to host him on a discussion of his most recent book, "Architects of Terror: Paranoia, Conspiracy and Anti-Semitism in Franco’s Spain." In his conversation with Robert Amsterdam, Preston explores the rather insane alleged scheme for world domination by a non-existent "Jewish-Masonic-Bolshevik Conspiracy," and how so many people bought into this false propaganda leading to the slaughter of half a million people. Despite the fact that Spain had only a tiny minority o

Marina Litvinenko has seen a lot in her life. In 2006, her husband, the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, was assassinated by radioactive poisoning by agents of the Russian government. Her unrelenting quest for justice and answers has led through the courts, the media, and the highest levels of diplomacy - and yet, after all this time, there were people in the UK who still did not heed her warnings about dealing with Vladimir Putin before last year's invasion of Ukraine. In this conversation with Robert Amsterdam, Marina discusses her campaign, views and insights on the conflict in Ukraine, and how the West should deal with punishing those around Putin (while avoiding isolation of independent Russian citizens).

The period during which 'Il Duce' Benito Mussolini ruled Italy as prime minister from 1922 to 1943 remains as confusing and contested today as it did during the disastrous postwar years, due mainly to a series of myths about the man, his government, and facism in general. In the new book from the decorated historian Paul Corner, "Mussolini in Myth and Memory: The First Totalitarian Dictator," the author ruthlessly interrogates these myths, and explores what it means when we have such a large section of the Italian population continue to live in a fictional memory of a past "when the trains ran on time." Speaking in his interview with Robert Amsterdam, Corner explains that his book is about illusion, about the creation of towering myths. "We don't remember things to get them right," he says, "we remember them to get them wrong." Addressing the mistaken claims that Mussolini was somehow "strong" and "decisive" in memory, Corner documents all the incredibly inefficiencies, incompetence, corruption, and violence

It may just be a smattering of insignificant rocks and reefs along the Nine-dash line between the Philippines and China, but in recent years this area has become the focus of the world's most complex and dangerous maritime dispute. China's growing influence and willingness to project its will against smaller neighbors and US allies has drawn Washington into a set of intersecting disputes, while placing significant pressure on America's commitment to established international law regarding open seas. This week on Departures we are pleased to feature Gregory Poling, the Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Poling is the author of the new book, "On Dangerous Ground: America's Century in the South China Sea," which offers a detailed and highly engaging history of Washington's involvement in this part of the world and how the current tensions evolved from past unsettled issues. Poling's book takes issue with the Ch

In the age of information and with growing calls around the world for democracy, Vladimir Putin, Lee Kuan Yew and Alberto Fujimori are redefining what it means to be a dictator in the 21st century. Through the manipulation of information, media, and using censorship, this new breed of despots are covertly monopolizing power under the guise of democracy.  Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman's new book, "Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century," explores these new methods of discipline, postmodern propoganda, and global pillage to control the masses, while counselling the way forward for democracies and the global community at large.  In his discussion with Robert Amsterdam, Guriev explains the difference between spin and fear dictators, and how free societies tendencies towards innovation can save democracy; as well as current political structures in Israel and Georgia, debating how they could be at risk of sliding into this new version of authoritarianism. His research highlights the im

In international finance, the difference between what is legal and normal and what is criminal and corrupt is often unclear, a disparity made worse by an overlapping series of laws and regulations which in some cases can put U.S. competition at a disadvantage. These networks of illicit finance, shell corporations, and offshore structures used by global elites to create, move, and conceal vast amounts of wealth is explored in great detail by Prof. Kimberly Kay Hoang in her new book, "Spiderweb Capitalism: How Global Elites Exploit Frontier Markets." Hoang's investigation, which involved some 350,000 miles of travel and dozens of field interviews with executives and market players, sheds light on this secretive and poorly understood corner of the global economy. In her discussion with Robert Amsterdam, Hoang explains how shell corporations can be set up to move funds from statelets like Guernsey, to more well known offshore havens like the Cayman Islands, as well as Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and De

As we approach the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a number of journalists and authors have published highly detailed chronicles from the battlefield, stories of resilience and heroism of the Ukrainian resistance, and geopolitical analyses across the spectrum. But quite few of these books view the war through Russian eyes, understanding the thinking that motivated the decision to declare war, and how everything thus far has so clearly defied their expectations. This week we're pleased to feature the veteran foreign correspondent Owen Matthews, whose new book, "Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin and Russia’s War Against Ukraine" investigates the historical roots of the conflict from Moscow's perspective, detailing the fog of extreme paranoia around Vladimir Putin and how perceptions of the Western threat and convictions of Ukrainian weakness led the country into disaster. "What is objectively bad for Russia is not necessarily bad for the siloviki - the men of power around Putin," says M

The role of foreign correspondents, especially during times of war, can be extraordinarily important not only in shaping public perceptions and strategic decisionmaking at the highest level, but also in informing on revolutionary shifts in social norms, as these reporters find themselves bringing their personal lives into the public and the newsmaking process into their own relationships. In Deborah Cohen's kaleidoscopic ensemble biography, "Last Call at the Hotel Imperial," the reader is given unprecedented access to the personal lives of legendary American reporters John Gunther, H. R. Knickerbocker, James Vincent “Jimmy” Sheean and Dorothy Thompson as they reported on the rise of fascism in Europe and the gradual impending horror of what was to come. In her conversation with Robert Amsterdam about the book, Cohen, who is a history professor at Northwestern University, discusses the incredible intimacy of how her subjects experienced the cultural changes that were taking place in the background in Europe in

After almost 23 years in power, Russian President Vladimir Putin currently appears more weakened and vulnerable than during any other period of his presidency, thanks in large part to his disastrous decision to invade Ukraine. On this week's Departures, we bring back the veteran journalist Luke Harding, who for years serving the Guardian's correspondent in Moscow before being expelled. Harding's latest book, "Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival," takes readers on a trip along the various battlefronts of this conflict, bringing rich detail and color to the main protagonists on both sides. As a reporter on the ground in Kyiv when the invasion started, Harding describes the sense of unreality surrounding the war, and the astounding resilience and leadership shown by the Ukrainian people and their leadership in resistance to Russian aggression. In this discussion with host Robert Amsterdam, Harding shares his views on Putin's health concerns and decisionmaking, how t

When we talk about the gig economy, we usually are referring to rideshare drivers, errand runners, and all sorts of service industry freelancers. But we rarely think about the freelancers and non-state actors which take part in wars and armed conflict, doing the sometimes violent fighting and often disruptive hacking, as playing a very important role in how some of the world's most intractable competitions for influence develop into hybrid wars and eventually into conventional wars between nation states. Joining the podcast this week is the author and journalist Anna Arutunyan, whose new book, "Hybrid Warriors: Proxies, Freelancers and Moscow's Struggle for Ukraine," explores the myraid ways in which Vladimir Putin's approach to the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year was colored by his history of deploying a chaotic and decentralized network of "rogues, businessmen, enthusiasts, mercenaries and political technologists" into the separatist conflict. In her discussion with Departures host Robert Amsterdam, A

Though we often view China's increasingly activist foreign policy in its trade wars, territorial disputes, and frequent collisions with Western states, less attention is paid to its gradual and quiet expansion of influence in the 'Stans of Central Asia. But it is here, among the populations of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan where one can see the true evolution of the Belt and Road Initiative, and watch the in progress departure of Russian influence over these former Soviet republics which has only accelerated since the war in Ukraine.  In this episode of Departures we welcome the Raffaello Pantucci, the co-author along with the late Alexandros Petersen of the remarkably unique book, "Sinostan: China's Inadvertent Empire." Pantucci and Petersen, the latter of whom was tragically killed in an attack in Afghanistan before the book's publication, underwent more than 10 years of field research and travel to draw this incredibly detailed portrait of the evolution of China'