The Eastern Front

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Fred Kagan, senior fellow and director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine. How worried should we be about Russian advances on the battlefield? How likely is Putin to consider negotiations and what factors are at play in getting him to agree to a cease...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Dan Hamilton, a senior fellow at John Hopkins University's SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution to discuss the future of the Transatlantic relationship under a Trump presidency. How will the US Senate constrain or support Trump's foreign policy? Is Europe prepared for the c...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Nick Lloyd, a historian and professor of modern warfare at King's College London to discuss historical parallels to our current moment. What parallels can be drawn from Russia's experience in World War I to now? How can the lessons of implementation of new technologies in WWI be compared to the roll out of drones and surveillan...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Stefan Meister, head of the Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia at the German Council on Foreign Relations. What opportunities should the West be seizing to displace Russian influence in the Black Sea region, South Caucuses and beyond? What should the EU be prioritizing for its Black Sea...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Oleksandr Kraiev, the director of the North America program at Ukrainian Prism to discuss the Ukrainian view on US elections. Will a Harris presidency bring more of the same in terms of US strategy towards Ukraine? How are Ukrainians framing the outcomes of the US elections? Dalibor and Iulia discuss the BRICS summit in Russia...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Lesia Orobets, Founder of the "Safe Sky for Ukraine" Initiative and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament to discuss her initiative. How are Russian bombardments impacting Ukraine? What support does Ukraine need to make it through the winter? Dalibor and Iulia discuss the security outlook for Eastern Europe in their news se...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Edward Lucas, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and longtime journalist covering Eastern and Central Europe to discuss greyzone warfare with Russia. Why do democracies struggle to respond to greyzone aggression? How can we improve our deterrence against Russian cyber attacks? Dalibor and Iulia cover what...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Luke Coffey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institutes to discuss strategy in regards to the war in Ukraine. Was the Kursk offensive a risk worth taking and how has it benefitted the Ukrainians strategically? What did Zelenskyy's visit to the US yield in terms of results for Ukraine? Dalibor and Iulia cover what you need to know a...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Joseph Nye, professor emeritus at Harvard's Kennedy School and pioneer of the theory of soft power to discuss the role of soft power in the context of the war in Ukraine. How should we determine who is winning and who is losing between Russia and Ukraine? Is Russia overperforming in terms of soft power? Dalibor and Iulia cover...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine, and chair of the Committee of Ukraine's integration into the European Union. Can the war against Ukraine be viewed as the beginning of a wider conflict? Where does the disconnect between Ukraine and the US on the stakes of the conflict lie and how...

On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Michael Sawkiw, the director of the Ukrainian National Information Service to discuss his work advocating for Ukraine on the Hill. What are the challenges in translating money from the supplemental aid package into tangible support for Ukraine on the ground? What does the path for future aid to Ukraine look like in the US? Dali...

Back from summer break, Dalibor and Iulia relaunch The Eastern Front with exciting new changes. On this episode of The Eastern Front , Dalibor and Iulia welcome Ambassador Matt Field, the British ambassador to the Czech Republic to provide his insights on European support for Ukraine. How has Britain succeeded in keeping aid for Ukraine a bipartisan priority? How is the UK leading in Europe in a p...

New changes are coming to the Eastern Front podcast, and we will be relaunching a new and improved version of the podcast at the beginning of September. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Dalibor and Iulia say goodbye to our dear host Giselle Donnelly and detail the changes that are to come for the podcast. Additionally, the hosts delve into the implications that the election may have on foreig...

Though Ukraine's 'irreversible path' towards NATO membership was announced at the NATO 75 conference, a lack of more concrete actions left supporters of Ukraine feeling disappointed. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian member of parliament and leader of the Holos party to discuss the Ukrainian reaction to the NATO summit. What message w...

Bulgaria is an important member of NATO's eastern flank, with a multinational battle group stationed there and a role in securing the Black Sea. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Todor Tagarev, the former minister of defense of Bulgaria to discuss his insights ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. Is NATO focused enough on its Eastern flank? What role does Bulg...

Facing coordinated aggression from Russia, China, and Iran, NATO must update its strategy to counter the threats facing the alliance and its allies. On this episode of  The Eastern Front,  Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia detail the plan for NATO's strategy moving forward that they outlined in their new report NATO Beyond 75: The Task That Remains Before US . How does NATO benefit US national...

Ahead of the NATO summit, Ukraine's potential future membership in NATO and its implications for regional security is being hotly debated. On this episode of  The Eastern Front,  Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia report their insights from Dalibor's recent travels to Chisinau, Moldova and Odessa, Ukraine. How are demographic declines impacting these cities? What are the roadblocks to NATO and...

Since the ruling Georgian Dream party passed a controversial 'foreign agents' law in the face of mass public protests, fears about Russian influence and the future of Georgian democracy have been heightened. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Shota Gvineria, a lecturer at the Baltic Defence College and senior fellow at the Economic Policy Research...

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has attempted to balance its relationship with Russia and its commitments to NATO. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Ozgur Ünlühisarcikli, regional director of the German Marshall Fund in Turkey, to give his insights on Turkish politics and strategy. How has Turkey approached its relationship with...

Disclaimer: This episode was recorded before the Biden administration announced it would allow Ukraine to carry out limited strikes inside of Russia using US-made weapons. In many ways, Ukraine is fighting with one hand tied behind its back as its access to weapons systems has been limited. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Phillips O'Brien,...

There's been a concerning rise in populism in Central and Eastern European countries, as has been the case in Hungary and Slovakia under the respective presidencies of Victor Orbán and Robert Fico. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss her new b...

As Europe has been slow to respond to the Russian threat, the Baltic states have been ringing the alarm bells. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Kristjan Prikk, Estonian Ambassador to the United States, to discuss the Baltic perspective ahead of the July NATO summit. What issues are Estonians hoping to see on the summit's agenda? What has be...

On May 15th, Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico was shot five times in an attempted assassination and, as of this recording, remains in critical condition. On this episode of The Eastern Front, Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia draw on Dalibor's local expertise to unpack the breaking news and its developments. What is Fico's political background and why is he such a polarizing figure? What implication...

As Ukraine awaits US aid, it is struggling to hold back a Russian offensive that has claimed control over several settlements in Eastern Ukraine. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome George Barros, Russia Team and Geospatial Intelligence Team lead at the Institute for the Study of War, to discuss the current state of the battlefield in Ukraine....

A recent terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall by ISIS-K has tested Russia’s regional relations and tolerance for torture at home. On this episode of  The Eastern Front , Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia welcome Paul Goble, distinguished senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. What effect, if any, has the March attacks had on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategic calculus?...