Danube Institute Podcast

In the special episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Or Yissachar, the Head of Research Department at the Israel Defence and Security Forum. In our conversation, Mr Yissachar walked us through the deep historical background of the current conflict in Gaza and how the war affected the West Bank. We also talked about Hezbollah's involvement in the Israel-Hamas war. To conclude, we talke...

An interview with Dr. Gadi Taub historian at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on the war in Gaza, the character of Hamas' terror state and the problematic western reaction to the atrocity of 7th October.

An interview with Dr Tim Williams on the impact of Covid 19 on the modern city and how cities adapt to the post pandemic world. Tim Williams is practice leader, Cities, for Grimshaw International Architects and has served as special adviser to five UK Ministers for Cities.

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we continued our discussion with Elie Pieprz, the director of International Relations of the Israel Defence and Security Forum. Following the first part of this broadcast, we discussed why it's important for Israel to reject calls for an immediate ceasefire. In our conversation, we also asked about the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas&#3...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Professor Asbed Kotchikian, an Associate Professor of Political science and International relations at the American University of Armenia about the Armenian presence in Iraqi Kurdistan. He shared his own experience in Kurdistan as well as the struggles and the current reality of Armenians living in Kurdistan and Iraq.

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Elie Pieprz, the director of International Relations of the Israel Defence and Security Forum. In our conversation, Mr Pieprz walked us through what happened to Israel on October 7, Black Saturday, when Hamas brutally attacked Israel, killed over 1200 Israeli civilians and took around 240 more as hostages. We also talked about the intelligence...

What is cosmopolitanism? What is its history? Can there ever be a truly universal culture? And how do European and East Asian cultures think differently about these questions? In this episode we talk with David Tse-Chien Pan, Professor of European Languages and Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and editor of  Telos Journal  in New York. For more on his publications and research, see...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we continued our conversation with Professor Joas Wagemakers, an Associate Professor of Islam and Arabic at Utrecht University, who specializes in the intellectual history of modern Islam and Salafism. Following the 1st part in this broadcast, we discuss the history of the confrontation between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the current situation and how t...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Professor Joas Wagemakers, an Associate Professor of Islam and Arabic at Utrecht University, who specializes in the intellectual history of modern Islam and Salafism. By listening to the discussion, we can get an overview of Salafism and Hamas and their historical and ideological sides. Also, how do other religions and countries in the Middle...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Jeremy P. Barker, the Director of the Middle East Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute, about the current situation of the Christian communities in Iraqi Kurdistan. Mr. Barker spoke in detail about the factors, such as violence against women that adversely affect Christians in Iraq today. He also expressed his opinion on whether the...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Jeremy P. Barker, the Director of the Middle East Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute, about his fieldwork in Iraq. By listening the discussion, we can get an overview of how the situation of the Christian communities in Iraq has changed in recent decades. Mr. Barker also expressed his opinion on the effectiveness of Hungary Helps.

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Father Rifat Bader, director and editor-in-chief of the Jordan-based Catholic Center for Studies and Media, about Jordanian Christians' situation. Father Rifat has overseen research, journalism, and social media productions focusing on the Christian Arab experience in the Middle East, aiming to support and empower those of the Catholic or...

Has the Cultural Revolution that Mao Zedong headed – his attempt to suppress the “Four Olds” in China – shaped Westerners’ hostility to their own “old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits”? In this episode we talk with David Martin Jones, Director of Research at the Danube Institute and Visiting Professor at King's College London. For Martin Jones’s book on Maoism in the West, see h...

Has the “Asian century” started? And will it be a “Chinese century,” as The Economist recently suggested? In this episode we talk with David P. Goldman of the celebrated Asia Times column “Spengler”. For Goldman’s book on the resurgence of China, see here .

Can great powers have catastrophic blind spots? In this episode we talk with Edward Luttwak, a historian of grand strategy and a strategist who counts many governments among his clients. In his 2013 book The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy , Dr. Luttwak coined the phrase “great state autism” to describe Russia, China, and the United States. For more of his analysis, see “ Limitless Empire...

Joanna Williams and Viv Regan join the podcast to discuss the current fashion for appealing to 'lived experience' in debate. They explain how a deference to identity allows an often privileged minority to present themselves as victims and silence opposition. In the media, universities and the workplace, hurt feelings routinely justify censorship, and those who cry loudest about their suffe...

Maria Engström joins the podcast to discuss Russia's 'dark conservatism': it's origins in 19th century European thought; its core tenets; and its relevance today, both in the context of the Ukraine war, and political trends in both Russia and the West.

In a special episode of Reflections from Budapest, dedicated to the remembrance of the Hungarian victims of the Holocaust, we asked László Bernát Veszprémy, a journalist and historian about his book titled Bereft of Council: The Jewish Leadership in Hungary and the Holocaust, 1944-1945 which was published this year. In our conversation, we talked about the Jewish leadership of Hungary during and a...

In this special episode of Reflections from Budapest Sáron Sugár, a researcher at the Danube Institute asked her colleagues Prof. Jeffrey Kaplan distinguished research fellow, Logan West visiting fellow, and Virág Lőrincz researcher, about their findings and experiences of their two-week-long fieldwork trip in Iraqi Kurdistan. We talked about the current and past challenges of Christians in Iraqi...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Jonathan Andrews, Middle East Monitor for the Persecution Intelligence Unit of Global Christian Relief and writer of several books dealing with the situation of Christians in the Middle East. In our conversation, we talked about the challenges of those Christians living in Middle Eastern countries who chose to convert from Islam to Christianit...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked David Curry, the president and CEO of Global Christian Relief, an international ministry that advocates for those persecuted for their Christian faith. In the second part of our conversation, Mr Curry explained the situation of Christian communities in Egypt, Sudan, and Lebanon. We concluded by discussing how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict i...

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked David Curry, the president and CEO of Global Christian Relief, an international ministry that advocates for those persecuted for their Christian faith. In the first part of our conversation, Mr Curry shared how he was called to dedicate his life to supporting Christians in the most oppressive countries in the world and how Brother Andrew van d...

Dr. Brittany Pheiffer Noble joins David Martin Jones and Rod Dreher to discuss the role of the Orthodox Church in post-communist Russian political life, and the thought of Alexander Dugin, a far-right philosopher considered by some to be influential on Putin.

In this episode of Reflections from Budapest, we asked Juliana Taimoorazy, who is the founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, leading international advocate and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, about the situation of Christian communities in Iraq. In our conversation, Ms Taimoorazy shared her connection as an Assyrian Christian to Iraq and her experiences with the Iraqi Christi...

Joanna Williams joins the podcast to discuss her recent research on the teaching of history in Europe, which reveals how critical thinking has given away to ideology, and a concern for modifying children's behaviour.