To achieve the ambitions of the European Green Deal, the European Commission insists that healthy oceans and a sustainable maritime economy are crucial. With rising demand for minerals from various sectors, including to advance the green transformation, many expect we are on the brink of the biggest gold rush in history – deep beneath the ocean surface. In this episode of Europe Listens, ECFR’s Rafael Loss and Jana Puglierin welcome Pradeep Singh, environmental lawyer and fellow at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam. What are the key resources in the seabed? Is deep seabed mining more of an opportunity or a risk? How can the European Union and its global partners help to guard against the known and unknown dangers of deep seabed mining?  This podcast was recorded on 4 March 2024. Other episodes of this season: Episode 1: Protecting the high seas with Essam Yassin MohammedFurther reading: The European Union and seabed mining by Pradeep A. Singh, Virginie Tassin Campanella, and Frank Maes A “deadline” expires: Quo Vadis, International Seabed Authority? By Pradeep Singh The country with nothing left to lose by Christina Lu Resolution on Norway’s recent decision to advance seabed mining in the Arctic by the European Parliament  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around 70 per cent of our planet is covered by the ocean, of which two-thirds fall beyond national jurisdiction. After decades of discussions and negotiations, states adopted the so-called High Seas Treaty in September 2023. The treaty aims to increase the governance of the world’s oceans and tackle common challenges such as environmental degradation, illegal fishing, and preserving our marine resources sustainably.   To kick off the third season of Europe Listens, ECFR’s Rafael Loss and Jana Puglierin welcome Essam Yassin Mohammed, director general of WorldFish and senior director of aquatic food at CGIAR, a global partnership that unites international organisations engaged in research about food security. What are the most pressing challenges when navigating the realm of ocean governance? What other developments or multilateral initiatives in ocean governance are on the horizon for the European Union and its allies?This podcast was recorded on 28 February 2024. Other episodes of this season: Episode 2: Exploring the deep seabed with Pradeep SinghFurther reading: 2024: A turning point for transforming aquatic food systems by Essam Yassin Mohammed A momentous milestone for the ocean and global biodiversity by the High Seas Alliance Protecting the ocean, time for action by the European Commission Multilateral Matchmaker: Outer-space and maritime security governance by Rafael Loss  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the mood in Russian society after two years of war? How can we understand what is happening? Expressing meaningful dissent can land Russians in jail, yet a huge number of people attended the funeral of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, taking huge personal risk. In this episode, we discuss public opinion in Russia in the run-up to the presidential election and after Navalny’s death.     ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, explores the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To examine public opinion in Russia, our host Kadri Liik is joined by Ksenia Luchenko, ECFR visiting fellow, and Alexei Levinson, head of the sociocultural research department at the Levada Center.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we delve into how the Russian economy transitioned into a wartime economy. What does the structure of the Russian economy and the 2024 state budget reveal about Putin's strategy? Does the Kremlin possess sufficient resources for a long war? Will Russia persist in gradually nationalising remaining foreign assets? Will the government seize the assets of Russian business figures who have not explicitly endorsed the war? How does this affect the sentiment of large and small businesses in Russia? ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, explores the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To dive deeper into Russia’s economy during war, our host Kadri Liik is joined by Mikhail Komin, ECFR visiting fellow, and Andrei Yakovlev, economist and fellow at German research institute Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we analyse who is really in charge of the Russian military and its nuclear weapons. The answer is far from simple. Does Putin have overwhelming control or does the military have a decisive say? What are the implications of civil-military relations on Russia's foreign policy, defense reform, and domestic politics? And who ultimately controls the Russia’s nuclear weapons? ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, explores the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To investigate who controls the Russian military and security services, our host Kadri Liik is joined by Kirill Shamiev, ECFR visiting fellow, and Pavel Podvig, director of the Russian Nuclear Forces Project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fourth episode of ECFR’s WOMENP mini-series, recorded during the 2023 Doha Forum, looks at the regional reverberations of the war in Gaza, particularly from the perspective of key Arab Gulf monarchies such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The podcast unpacks how these countries have reacted to the 7 October attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza, the prospects of ongoing normalisation deals and negotiations between Arab Gulf monarchies and Israel, domestic dynamics in these countries, and potential future scenarios. How is Qatar managing the new cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine, and what role has it played? How have different Gulf countries positioned themselves on the war in Gaza? What is the state of Saudi-Israeli negotiations following the 7 October attacks?In this episode, ECFR’s Cinzia Bianco speaks to Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum and lecturer at Georgetown University and Elham Fakhro, associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House.This podcast was recorded on 11 December 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do Russian officials "coexist" with the war nearly two years after the invasion? How has the bureaucratic system adapted to the requirements of the war? Do officials who openly endorse the invasion or are deployed to work in occupied territories receive better roles or resources ? Does the relative efficiency of the Russian bureaucracy boost the Kremlin’s capacity to sustain the conflict?ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, will explore the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To investigate the role of Russian bureaucrats, our host Kadri Liik is joined by ECFR visiting fellow Mikhail Komin and Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann. Bookshelf: Legislation as a Political Process and Practical Political Science: A Guide to Contact with RealityNomenklatura by Voslenskiy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Russian Orthodox Church is supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine in its sermons, sending priests to the front, and collecting humanitarian aid for soldiers and the occupied Ukrainian territories. It is also involved in the administration of the occupied territories and in promoting propaganda narratives abroad. So why did the head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, bet on Putin? How influential is the Church in Russian politics and society? What will happen to it after the war and will it survive Putin's regime? ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, will explore the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. To dive deeper into the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, our host Kadri Liik is joined by ECFR visiting fellow Ksenia Luchenko and Alexander Agadjanian, a senior research fellow at Yerevan State University. Bookshelf: Daniel Stein, Interpreter: A Novel | Ludmila Ulitskaya La Sainte Russie contre l’Occident Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine | Catherine Wanner Understanding World Christianity: Russia | Alexander S. Agadjanian (Author), Scott M. Kenworthy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 1 September, Russian high schools transitioned to new "patriotic" history textbooks authored by one of Russia's staunchest conservatives, former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky. How do these textbooks mirror the core tenets of the Russian regime's ideology? What stance do they take on figures like Stalin, the dissolution of the USSR, and Russia’s war in Ukraine? What narratives will Russian students be exposed to based on these textbooks? How has the Russian and Soviet history curriculum changed in the past?ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, will explore the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. For a closer look at history, our host Kadri Liik is joined by ECFR visiting fellows Ksenia Luchenko, Kirill Shamiev, and Mikhail Komin. Bookshelf: The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian RevolutionSoldiers and the Soviet State: Civil-Military Relations from Brezhnev to Gorbachev | Timothy J. ColtonEverything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet GenerationAlexei Yurchak Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The third episode of ECFR’s WOMENP mini-series looks at domestic dynamics and the human rights situation in Iran a year after nationwide protests erupted following the death of a young woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, in police custody. The podcast unpacks how power dynamics between state and society have shifted since, and its implications on the country’s leadership. How have Iranians continued with acts of resistance and civil disobedience despite the large scale crackdown by authorities? How has the West has responded, and what more can European countries do to tangibly support activists and human rights defenders inside Iran?In this episode, ECFR's Ellie Geranmayeh speaks to Tara Sepehri Far, Iran and Kuwait researcher, Middle East and North Africa division, Human Rights Watch; Sussan Tahmasebi, executive director, FEMENA; and Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House. This podcast was recorded on 30 August 2023. Suggested reading by experts: The Protests Inside Iran’s Girls’ Schools by Azadeh Moaveni Iran’s Hijab-Industrial Complex by Kourosh Ziabari We-change.org, by multiple authors The Uncaged Sky by Kylie Moore-Gilbert Bureaucraft: Statemakers in Amman and Baghdad by José Ciro Martínez, Omar Sirri Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.