The Focus

In this episode, we speak with former British investigative journalist and politician in the Blair government, Chris Mullin. Tony Blair is a man for all seasons. Condemned for his support of US President George W. Bush’s disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq, not all of Blair’s political legacy is negative or about Iraq. However, Iraq haunts the former British Prime Minister in a way that continues to damage his reputation no matter what ‘good works’ he applies himself to. Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like the old classic song by Kenny Rogers, The Gambler goes:  “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, And know when to run, You never count your money, When you’re sittin’ at the table, There’ll be time enough for countin’, When the dealin’s done” In this episode, John speaks with former Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Georgia, Eka Tkeshelavili, on Ukraine and Putin. Is the Russian President about to pull off another of his signature surprises and stun the world by taking Ukraine in part or completely? Or, has he overstretched Russia’s strategic limits and boxed himself into a corner through a miscalculated gamble? Who else to better unpack this international puzzle than someone who has experienced a Russian attack on her country back in 2008. Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode John speaks with Kazakh academic, Dr. Nurseit Niyazbekov. Nurseit found himself in the middle of Kazakh protests in Kazakstan's largest city, Almaty. Mystery still surrounds why peaceful protests rapidly turned violent & Kazakh President Tokayev found it necessary to call for Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) troops to reimpose order. In the middle of the ongoing strategic crisis between Ukraine & Russia - was this meant to be an orchestrated display of Russian power in the post-Soviet space?Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The allegations that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff were involved in office parties while the rest of the UK population were expected to abide by strict lockdown provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have become a significant problem for Johnson and the Conservative Party. Unfortunately, the anticipated Gray Report, which should clearly show the culpability of those involved in these parties, has yet to be released when recording this podcast. The importance of this report is that it might trigger the resignation of Johnson as British PM. To discuss this, John speaks with Emeritus Professor Paul Whiteley from the Department of Government, University of Essex.Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last month Milorad Dodik sparked international controversy when a vote was cast to pull the autonomous statelet of Republic Srpska out of the Bosnian federation. In this episode of The Focus, John is joined by Bosnian politician and policy analyst Reuf Bajrovic where they discuss the ramifications of this move. Was this in answer to legitimate Bosnian Serb political grievances? How will this affect the area formerly known as Yugoslavia, the site of some of the worst fighting in Europe since World War II. And what will this mean for European strategic stability?Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this our first episode for 2022, John speaks with American science correspondent and author Brendan Borrell on the race to produce the COVID vaccines. Brendan has recently released his book on this topic, The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries & Heroic Science behind the race to the Corona Virus Vaccines. Did the West win the race for the vaccines? Did competition between big pharma companies drive development? How effective were the Chinese and Russian approaches? Was the Trump administration as clueless as it appeared? And was media reporting well managed during the pandemic? Join us for this comprehensive breakdown of how we got where we did regarding vaccine development looking at the heroic and not so heroic aspects of this critical development.Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this our final episode of the year we are joined by returning guest, New York Times Best-Seller &  Harvard University Professor, Avi Loeb. Avi is not a conventional thinker. He believes that scientific discovery, including the search for extraterrestrial life, can be accelerated by maintaining an open mind and pursuing a child-like curiosity where nothing is taken off the table, until it is. Avi heads up Project Galileo a systematic, scientific search for extraterrestrial artefacts. Join John as he and Avi discuss what disclosure of extraterrestrial life would mean to life on Earth.Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prof. Alfred W. McCoy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has recently published a book entitled “To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change”. It is a highly readable, sweeping historical narrative. But within it pages lurks a stark warning that it is out of disasters that new world orders are born and that we are on the cusp of such a change. Join John as he speaks with Prof. McCoy on international order, disorder and rebirth and what might lie ahead for us all in this fascinating episode of The Focus.  Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's use of migrants against the countries of Poland and Lithuania is but one example whereby aggressor-states are now deliberately blurring the lines between war and peace. Plausible deniability of these sorts of non-military ‘attack’ can leave the recipient country in a legal and ethical quandary. Do they counter? Do they simply absorb the attack and do nothing? Welcome to the peculiar world of 21st Century conflict. In this episode John speaks with the University of Canberra’s  Prof. Sascha-Dominik Doc Bachmann on this new, innovative form of conflict and where it may lead.Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Few would think that the tiny country of Lithuania has an activist foreign policy agenda, wedged as it is between Poland to its west and Russia to its east. But this country of just over 2 million people has played its part in pushing back the grey zone threat posed by ‘weaponised migrants’ from Belarus, in coordination with fellow EU/NATO state Poland. It has also taken a particularly strong stance against the worst totalitarian excesses of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by overtly backing the Uyghur people of East Turkestan, Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and supporting an autonomous, democratic Taiwan. In this episode of The Focus, John speaks with Lithuanian MP Dovilė Šakalienė were they discuss this tiny country’s counter migration strategy against Belarus and its bold position against the PRC. What makes this Baltic state so strong in its convictions?Support the show: https://www.sageinternational.org.au/strategikon-merch/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.