The IR thinker

In this episode, John Roberts examines Azerbaijan’s evolving role in regional energy security, from its traditional position as an oil and gas exporter to emerging opportunities in electricity and renewable energy. John explores the geopolitical significance of Azerbaijan’s energy partnerships with the European Union, Türkiye, Russia, Iran, Central Asia and China, and considers whether the country...

How certain can great powers ever be about the intentions of their rivals, and what happens when that uncertainty becomes a permanent feature of international politics? In this episode, Professor Sebastian Rosato joins us to discuss 'intentions pessimism', the limits of information, and what uncertainty means for great-power conflict, diplomacy, and the study of international relations. Sebastian...

Why is Africa still importing so much of the food it consumes? What is holding back trade in food and agricultural products between African countries? In this interview, we speak with Professor David Luke, editor of How Africa Eats: Trade, Food Security and Climate Risks , an open-access book published by LSE Press. We discuss the causes of food insecurity across Africa, the role of agricultural i...

In this episode, Professor Miles Kahler discusses the future of global governance in an era of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, shifting power balances, and growing challenges to the post-1945 international order. Drawing on his recent paper, Global Governance in the Twenty-First Century: Sustain, Reform, Transform, he examines whether existing international institutions can still adapt or wheth...

Published by the Brazilian Institute of International Relations since 1958, the Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (Brazilian Journal of International Politics, also known as RBPI) has spent nearly seven decades serving as a vital bridge between Latin American scholarship and global debates on international affairs. The journal has also reached several important milestones, including its...

In 1989, an American cultural institute helped arrange Boris Yeltsin's first trip to the United States — and a single visit to a supermarket may have changed the course of Soviet history. Thus, what is the untold story of America's involvement in the transformation of the Soviet Union? Daniel Satinsky Daniel Satinsky is an independent scholar, retired attorney and retired business consultant. He b...

After 9/11, the word "terrorism" replaced older colonial vocabularies — but the racial logic underneath stayed intact. Dr Somdeep Sen of Roskilde University joins The IR thinker to show how concepts such as development, security, and the War on Terror continue to sort the world along racial lines, even when race itself goes unnamed. From NATO's global colour line to China's reproduction of Western...

Artificial intelligence is redrawing the boundaries of cybersecurity — accelerating attacks, complicating attribution, and compressing the time humans have to make decisions that matter.  In this episode, Myriam Dunn Cavelty of ETH Zurich examines AI-driven conflict, the politics behind critical infrastructure protection, the limits of European governance, and what it means when cyber war has...

Today, it is a real pleasure to speak with Professor Jonathan Fisher, co-editor of African Affairs — one of the leading journals in the field of African Studies. African Affairs is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the London-based Royal African Society . It was established as the Journal of the African Society in 1901, then it was published as the...

Today, it is a real pleasure to speak with the editorial team of Regional & Federal Studies , one of the leading journals in the field of territorial politics, regionalism, and federalism.  The journal was established in 1991 as Regional Politics and Policy: An International Journal focusing on regionalism in Western Europe. In 1995, the journal changed its name to Regional and Federal St...

As American power recedes and European unity fractures, Poland finds itself at the centre of one of the most consequential geopolitical transformations of our time. Dr Piotr Pietrzak joins us to trace Poland's journey from historical insecurity to strategic confidence. Can Poland sustain great-power aspirations without overreaching?  Piotr Pietrzak Piotr Pietrzak is co-founder of In Statu Nas...

This episode explores African agency in global climate governance, moving beyond narratives that portray African states solely as vulnerable recipients of climate policy.  Drawing on debates in International Relations, environmental politics, and African climate futures, Dr Carl Death examines how African actors negotiate, contest, and reimagine climate governance across local, continental, a...

Today, it is a real pleasure to speak with the editorial team of Contemporary Security Policy , one of the most influential journals in the field of international security studies. Previously, known as Arms Control (1980 - 1993). Since its founding in 1980, the journal has played a central role in shaping discussions on armed conflict, intervention, strategic change, and global security governance...

Problems of Post-Communism is a long-standing peer-reviewed academic journal that examines political, economic, security, and international developments in post-communist societies. First established in 1952 under the title Problems of Communism, the journal was originally published by the United States Information Agency and adopted its current name in 1992 to reflect the profound transformations...

Myanmar occupies a unique position in contemporary international affairs, where the legacies of post-independence neutralism, decades of military rule, and a fractured post-coup order converge to produce one of the most complex foreign policy environments in the Indo-Pacific. Dr Naing is a visiting scholar at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, under the Taiwan Fellowship Program. At...

In this episode, I speak with Professor Sergei Prozorov about biopolitics, one of the most provocative frameworks in contemporary political theory, and how it reshapes our understanding of power, life, and death across IR, philosophy, and Soviet studies. From Foucault to Mbembe to Stalin, this is a conversation that cuts to the heart of how modern states govern human existence. Sergei Prozorov is...

How does a country under heavy sanctions continue to win influence across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia? In this episode, Vladimir Liparteliani unpacks the full machinery of Russian soft power — from RT and Sputnik to educational diplomacy, cultural outreach, and religious projection. Vladimir Liparteliani is an associate fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Durham University...

South Africa has been involved in nuclear development for more than 75 years. In 1948, the Atomic Energy Act established the Atomic Energy Board (AEB) — only two years after the United States created its own Atomic Energy Commission. South Africa's first nuclear research reactor, SAFARI-1, went critical in 1965, and the country's first large nuclear power station, Koeberg, came online in 1984. In...

Today, we are hosting an episode that provides an opportunity to present a research journal together with its editor. The aim is not only to introduce the journal, but also to offer a critical assessment of suitable venues for publishing research articles. In this context, we turn our attention to the British Journal of Politics and International Relations (BJPIR). Impact Factor: 3.4 / 5-Year Impa...

This episode features a conversation with the historian Philip Snow on the evolution of relations between Russia and China. Drawing on archival research, the discussion traces the relationship from the early border settlements at Nerchinsk and Kyakhta to contemporary geopolitical and economic cooperation, highlighting how frontier regions such as Manchuria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang have shaped inter...

This interview with Professor Mark N. Katz explores one of the central debates in contemporary international relations: the transition from unipolarity to a more complex multipolar world. Drawing on historical cases and current geopolitical developments, the discussion examines whether multipolarity is truly the global norm, how great powers are defined, and what the post-Cold War “unipolar moment...

In this interview, political scientist Marc Sanjaume‑Calvet examines the constitutional status of Catalonia, the distribution of powers within the Spanish state, and the evolving debates surrounding Catalan autonomy and identity. The discussion also explores Catalonia’s external action, from its relations with the European Union and international organisations to the constraints imposed by Spanish...

In this episode, Professor McCourt unpacks the foundations of New Constructivism: where it came from, what it demands of researchers, and where it's heading. From the theory/method distinction to the practice and relational turns, from C. Wright Mills to Multiple Correspondence Analysis, this is a wide-ranging conversation about how social science can move beyond positivist inheritances without lo...

In this episode, together with Dr Reuben Steff, we explore how New Zealand’s geographic isolation, colonial legacies, and small-state status have shaped a distinctive strategic culture; one that combines alliance cooperation with a persistent commitment to autonomy, non-nuclear norms, and multilateralism. Reuben Steff Reuben Steff  is a Senior Lecturer at Mendel University in Brno whose schol...

In this episode, Professor Charlotte Epstein reflects on how postcolonial perspectives reshape the study of norms in international relations, challenging conventional accounts of diffusion, compliance, and legitimacy. The conversation explores colonial inheritances embedded in contemporary normative orders, while examining positionality, experience, and the epistemological stakes of critical schol...