Departures With Robert Amsterdam

Faced with challenging and intractable problems from climate change to civil conflicts to terrorism, it is tempting for many of us to look to the heavens, with billionaires pouring their resources into space exploration, expansion, and even dreams of colonization.  But this is a major mistake, argues Professor Daniel Deudney of Johns Hopkins University in his fascinating new book, "'Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity." Deudney's perspective is that the "space age" race toward developing these technologies has mainly resulted in multiplying risks for the survival of humanity itself, from hypersonic missiles being seen as space weapons, to competition for control and influence far beyond our atmosphere. "Space is an inherently violent environment," Deudney argues in his conversation with Robert Amsterdam. We are occupying a miraculous oasis of life, an enormously unique and special place, surrounded by trillions of miles of desolate and inhospitable vacuum. In terms

Yoweri Museveni's 35 years of iron-gripped ruthless authoritarianism in Uganda did not take place in a vacuum. It has instead been a years-long process of converting the country's institutions into instruments of arbitrary power, which has been fueled by a series of targeted moves to destabilize the social coordination that would be needed to hold leadership accountable. This has been the fascinating focus of research for Prof. Rebecca Tapscott, a visiting fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Politics and International Relations Department. She joined the Departures with Robert Amsterdam podcast this week to discuss her book, "Arbitrary States: Social Control and Modern Authoritarianism in Museveni's Uganda." Tapscott explains that for Uganda, among other countries with nationalist movements which took power, it is crucial that there is a high level of "unpredictability and arbitrariness" which shapes people's experience of how the state works, how they experience security and justice. Her research takes a

It was once the dream of starry-eyed proponents of globalization that the increasing pace of trade, travel, and exchanges of ideas would lead to a "borderless" world of reduced conflict and cosmopolitanism. Instead, the opposite has happened, as the lines and demarcations between nations struggling to manage their conflicts have become paramount and subject to escalating risk. Whether it's China building islands in the South China Sea or Russia seizing the arctic or even the UK having a Northern Ireland problem after Brexit, borders are increasingly becoming more hostile environments. Professor Klaus Dodds explores the issue with tremendous clarity in his fascinating new book, "Border Wars: The Conflicts that Will Define Our Future." Joining Robert Amsterdam on this episode of Departures, Prof. Dodds argues that even though we have international legal frameworks such as the Law of the Sea, it has already been demonstrated that some countries pick and choose legal principles as lawfare (such as building island

As world leaders gather in Scotland for the COP26 climate change summit this week, there's a tremendous level of scrutiny not over the ambitions but the shortcomings of the world's biggest sources of emissions. This week, Departures is pleased to invite David Claydon, the founder of Kaya Group, which is an advisory firm which helps companies, investors, and governments navigate climate change policy and the decarbonization process. Claydon, who will be among the delegates in Glasgow, is clear-eyed about the stiff challenges facing the major players. Xi Jinping will not be attending, so little progress can be expected from China. Russia shows only a passing interest and little ability to transition away from its fossil fuel economy, while India is not expected to deliver much in the way of promises. US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, arrives with a dearth of trust and credibility, with his reconciliation budget package held up by the Republicans and members of his own party. Claydon points out that the pandemi

Many of us have wondered what it would be like to be a real spy. Not necessarily the James Bond-esque car chases and shootouts, but the real practice of exercising tradecraft in the field, recruiting and handling assets, and maintaining such a complex web of relationships between your colleagues, family, and sources. There could possibly be no better book to take us deep into this world than the latest release by Douglas London, titled "The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence." London, who was a 34-year veteran of the CIA, shares highly personal and courageous details in this memoir, which makes for such a fascinating read. London takes us from his earlier Cold War days up through 9/11 and the dawn of the war on terror, which saw an unfortunate shift within the intelligence community toward more militaristic covert action and paramilitary operations that undermined traditional espionage. And with this shift, also came a decreasing level of accountability for who is responsible when thi

We are no longer living in a unipolar world of US dominance, argues India's brilliant former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in the latest episode of Departures with Robert Amsterdam, but neither have we transitioned to multipolarity or whatever is coming next. Former Ambassador Menon's new book, "India and Asian Geopolitics: The Past, Present," is slightly misleading in its title, in that it implies a regional study, when in fact his insights, analysis, and proscriptions are truly global in their validity. In this discussion with Robert Amsterdam, Menon addresses the sweeping changes which have undergone Asia in the past few decades, including the rebalancing between India and China, and makes a strong argument for the enhancement and expansion of Mumbai's integration and engagement with the international system. Menon expresses his concern over the spread of rising nationalism and nativism in many countries, which he argues often restricts their ability to negotiate and successfully engage with other na

History is not a single continuum. There are certain stretches in which momentous change occurs in a very compact timeframe. The forty-year period between 1490 and 1530 is one of these bursts of revolutionary change. In The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World, Patrick Wyman, a historian and the host of the popular podcast Tides of History, argues that the turn of the 16th century was a momentous moment in history when Europe began to break off from the rest of the world and “became recognizably the global power,” ushering in the era of imperialism and colonialism – “the central problem of world history in the last 500 years.” Rather than studying the centuries-long process that brought us into the modern era, Wyman looks at a particularly eventful period which began this “Great Divergence.” Europe at the turn of the 16th century featured the invention of the printing press, great sea voyages, the rise of modern finance, extreme taxation, among other revolutionary developmen

Since Britain's annexation of Lagos in 1861 up until independence in 1960, the history of colonialism in Nigeria has almost always been told from London's perspective - often exaggerating the benevolent intentions and downplaying and blameshifting the abuses, ethnic violence, and social disarray the occupation created. Every listener to this podcast knows that we love Nigeria. Been traveling there and working there for decades, so when we heard about Max Siollun's new book, "What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule," we had to get him on the podcast. In his discussion with Robert Amsterdam, Siollun emphasizes just how cynically the British colonial administrators exploited ethnic and religious identity to maintain control of territories, while forcefully rejecting the myth the Nigeria's problems are purely homegrown. Instead of solely focusing on Nigeria's modern problems of corruption, crime, and terrorism, instead it can be argued that the country, which is by far the most unique na

Looking back almost 60 years ago when the United States and the Soviet Union came within an inch of destroying the world via all-out nuclear war, we continue to gain new insights into the dramatic events, the changing of thinking and decision-making that went on in both ExComm and the Presidium. This week we're proud to be joined Serhii Plokhy, a professor of history at Harvard University and the author of the excellent book, "Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis." Plokhy's book provides an international perspective on the crisis, featuring unprecedented access to Soviet archives and documentary materials showing how Nikita Khrushchev navigated the incredibly tense diplomatic showdown as well as the struggle for influence going on within the Presidium. Plokhy's findings reveal that CIA intelligence could have catastrophically misjudged Russia's ability to fight in Cuba and launch warheads, including how they appeared to miss the presence of nine short-range Luna missiles with nuclear warheads,

As Kennedy and Khrushchev just barely navigated their way out of a world-destroying nuclear armageddon, there remain many lessons to be explored with regard to statecraft, diplomacy, and decisionmaking in a crisis. The Pulitzer-winning historian joins the Departures podcast this week to discuss his book, "Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis," which not only provides fresh insight into the critical meetings which changed Kennedy's thinking on the proper response, but also explores the deep roots of the crisis, how Washington played with nuclear escalation with a monstrous recklessness. In his discussion with Amsterdam, Sherwin argues that the disadvantages of nuclear weapons outweigh their advantages, discarding the conventional wisdom that the bombing of Hiroshima was instrumental in Japan's surrender. Sherwin makes it clear that if the Joint Chiefs of Staff had had their way, the US government would have mounted an full-scale armed invasion of Cuba. But lucki

The rapid collapse of Kabul in the final weeks of the US withdrawal has forced a reckoning of not only Washington's failure in the region, but broader questions about US foreign policy and what the Biden administration wants (or is actually able) to achieve. This week Departures with Robert Amsterdam is pleased to welcome a return guest for this special emergency podcast, Prof. Alexander Cooley of Barnard College, who is a highly regarded expert on Central Asian politics and the coauthor of the excellent book, "Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order." According to Cooley, Biden's mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal should be understood in the context of his own history on this area of this world, including his opposition to previous surges, and his insistence that the pullout had to happen now without any extensions, without any further excuses to be further, inextricably drawn into a permanent military presence. Robert Amsterdam offers the comment that US policymakers have allo

The chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and rapid fall of Kabul to the Taliban brought back in sharp focus the misguided policies of the George W. Bush administration that led the US into the War on Terror. In “To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq,” Robert Draper, a writer at large for the New York Times Magazine and the author of several books tells the story of the Bush Administration’s misguided invasion of Iraq in 2003. Draper delves into the relationships between the President, his key advisors, and the US intelligence community while painting a vivid picture of the misguided decision-making process that led to groupthink and a colossal intelligence failure. The popular narrative on the invasion of Iraq points to the politicization of intelligence on the question of Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction. Draper’s book delves into this question, revealing in intimate detail the intense pressure piled onto the agency by Vice President Dick Cheney and hi

China’s rise on the global stage has sparked both envy and fear across the globe. Much has been written about how China might reshape the international order, but few have taken the time to delve into the myriad Chinese actors and interests that collectively make up China’s newfound global influence rather than viewing Beijing as a monolith. Shaun Breslin, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick analyzes the nature of Chinese power and the extreme – and often contradictory – responses that it has triggered across the globe in his book “China Risen? Studying Chinese Global Power.” The book takes the unique approach of delving into the complex Chinese-language debates and discussions surrounding the nature and aims of Chinese power in the 21st century to form a more comprehensive picture of what China actually wants on the global stage. Breslin highlights the contradictory analyses of China’s rise, noting that “You can end up with two very different conversations about China

In "Don't Call it a Cult," Vancouver-based investigative journalist Sarah Berman tells the story of the bizarre cult known as NXIVM. Founded by longtime pyramid scheme mastermind Keith Raniere in 1998 who referred to himself in the group as the "Vanguard," the group roped in many rich and prominent individuals from socialities Buffy and William Cafritz, actress Nicki Clyne, and Clare Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune who enabled and funded the cult. Raniere was sentenced last year to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking, racketeering, and forced labor and Berman's book tells the story of the group through Raniere's trial. Many of the women in NXIVM found themselves blackmailed and literally branded with Raniere's initials on their bodies, near-starved, and enslaved. Raniere built a wall of silence and went after enemies and whistleblowers until the very end, and convinced his members that they had joined an "executive coaching" group rather than a dangerous and exploitative cult. Raniere does not just

By many measures, 2020 was a year to forget. With natural disasters, a climate crisis, a vicious pandemic, a massive economic crisis, a cruel and dishonest president, unprecedented demands for racial justice and its corresponding ugly backlash, US society has been taken to the brink. For Prof. Andrew Bacevich of Boston University, these events represent an American Apocalypse, one which requires a thorough rethinking of how Washington engages with the wider world based on the needs of its people and the very different circumstances we face now as compared to the postwar period. Bacevich's book, "After the Apocalypse: America's Role in a World Transformed" argues that American foreign policy has in many ways failed to protect the safety of its people. The insistence on global military primacy and spreading market economy has not delivered a stable world order, but instead has brought endless wars and a succession of moral and material disasters. In his discussion with Robert Amsterdam, Bacevich outlines his th

In the Xinjiang region of northwestern China, more than 1.8 million people have been disappeared into a vast network of concentration camps without any clear charges, due process, or fair trial. How are these victims selected? Via state-of-the-art predictive artificial intelligence and surveillance technology systems deployed by Beijing that seek to punish people for political activity they may be profiled to potentially commit in the future. This week on the podcast we're very pleased to feature journalist and author Geoffrey Cain, discussing his excellent new book, "The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future." Cain's deep dive into the issues surrounding Xinjiang explores how the hardening of Xi Jinping's positions and adversarial tilt toward foreign powers has influenced this implementation of Big Tech in the service of crushing dissent among Uighur Chinese citizens. The book tells this fascinating story through the eyes of three subjects who

In power since 2005, Angela Merkel's CDU coalition has managed to govern Germany with an admirable level of success, but at the same time during this period, Vladimir Putin's Russia has invaded multiple countries, interfered in elections both near and far away, and run amok with jailings and assassinations of dissidents. How is it possible that still today, many German public officials fail to see that they have a problem in managing relations with Moscow? Author John Lough, a friend of the podcast and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, tackles this thorny issue in his latest book, "Germany's Russia Problem: The Struggle for Balance in Europe." Lough explores the uniquely close historical ties between Russia and Germany, including some practices and perceptions dating back to the GDR, as well as Vladimir Putin's training in East Berlin to communicate with and influence prominent German political leaders. Lough argues that Moscow's attempts to rebalance Europe by weakening the

When we think about dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, we tend to think of extremes. Places like North Korea, with brutal, absolutist rulers vanquishing their opponents with prejudice and limitless power. But that's really not the reality for most autocratic countries, in fact, there are usually a series of executive constraints, rules, procedures, and structures even in the most non-democratic countries which shape and limit what the leader can do, and how stable transitions of power take place. That's the focus of attention in Anne Meng's terrific new book, "Constraining Dictatorship: From Personalized Rule to Institutionalized Regimes," in which she sets out to study these institutions, exploring how these rules get created in dictatorships, and how key appointments are made.  Meng argues that the first couple of years in a given autocratic regime are instrumental in the creation of executive constraints, especially when weaker leaders come into power and find themselves creating "institutional promi

To commemorate the 100th episode of our Departures with Robert Amsterdam podcast, for the first time we have invited back a return guest, one of our favorite authors, Philip Zelikow. Dr. Zelikow is a renowned former diplomat, historian, lawyer academic, and author of extraordinary talent. He has formerly served as the Director of the 9/11 Commission, the former Counsel to State Department, National Security Council, and currently serves as the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia. In his latest book, "The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917," Zelikow examines the pivotal period of time when World War I could have ended - right before that fragile peace was squandered. Zelikow's book unpacks and demystifies a period of failed diplomacy during the great war, and shows how the machinery of engagement works while providing a much more nuanced presentation and appreciation for the operational craft of peacemaking. Speaking in the podcast wi

The disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has obliterated many standing global norms, but it's less clear how this crisis could change our approach to solving the world's biggest challenges. According to Ian Goldin, who is a Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford, the coronavirus pandemic could serve as the necessary catalyst to set in motion a much stronger response to a vast array of challenges, from climate change to inequality to conflicts. With the pandemic, Goldin argues, the entire world is sharing the same experience at the same time for the first time. After going through the crisis together, many people finally understood the essential role of government in their lives. Governments understood that many taboo policies, such as direct relief payments to citizens, banning bankruptcies and evictions, were now possible.  By focusing on reducing the number of participants to a solution, instead of just kicking problems up to the UN level where nothing happens, there ar