Silicon Curtain

GUEST: John Lough - Associate fellow of the Russia & Eurasia Programme, Chatham House ---------- Calls to treat as legitimate the ‘security concerns’ raised by Russia, and to account for these in a future settlement of the war in Ukraine, disregard the fact that Moscow’s requirements are fundamentally incompatible with European security. Proponents of a settlement in the war on Ukraine often put forward the idea that Russian ‘security concerns’ must be taken into account in any such settlement, but also in broader revisions to the European security system. These proposals echo the Russian information campaign over the past 30 years to persuade European publics that there can be ‘no security in Europe without Russia’. They provide false support to the argument that Western security policy after the collapse of the USSR unnecessarily encroached on core Russian interests by expanding NATO and forcing Moscow to militarize its foreign policy. In this telling, Russia was merely challenging what it viewed as an unjust European security order. ---------- SPEAKER: John Lough is an associate fellow of the Russia & Eurasia Programme at Chatham House. He began his career as an analyst at the Soviet Studies (later Conflict Studies) Research Centre focusing on Soviet / Russian security policy. He spent six years with NATO and was the first Alliance representative to be based in Moscow (1995–98). He gained direct experience of the Russian oil and gas industry at international affairs TNK-BP as a manager in the company’s international affairs team (2003–08). From 2008 to 2016, he ran the Russia & CIS practice at BGR Gabara, a public affairs and strategy consulting company. Alongside his work with Chatham House, John is a consultant with Highgate, a strategic advisory firm. ---------- LINKS: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/06/how-end-russias-war-ukraine

GUEST: Simon Smith - Ukraine Forum chair of steering committee, Chatham House ---------- Any territorial concessions by Ukraine in a peace agreement with Russia will reward crimes and aggression. They will encourage, not end, Russia’s attacks on countries in its neighbourhood and elsewhere in Europe. The belief that Russia and Ukraine need to strike a deal (see preceding chapter) is frequently accompanied by the belief that a settlement has to include some Ukrainian territory being conceded to Russia, because Russia won’t settle for an outcome that does not include territorial gains. In this view, Crimea is often presented as the least problematic potential concession for Ukraine: supposedly a post-Soviet ‘grey area’ in terms of recognized borders. ---------- SPEAKER: Simon Smith chairs the steering committee of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House. He retired in January 2022 from a 35-year career in the UK diplomatic service. He served in London, Tokyo, Moscow, Vienna as the UK Governor at the IAEA, was the Perm Rep to UN in Vienna and HM Ambassador to Austria, in Kyiv as HM Ambassador to Ukraine and in Seoul as HM Ambassador to South Korea. He has also served as Director, Russia, South Caucasus, and C Asia, at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as Head of NE Asia & Pacific Department at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. ---------- LINKS: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/06/how-end-russias-war-ukraine

Today I’m speaking with Dr Tracey A. Parnell, a Medical Doctor providing frontline medical care in Ukraine. She has treated both combat related wounds and provided primary care for those in the battle zones, alternating with immigration and refugee work. In her native Canada she delivers primary care in, also as a part of the BC Rural Locum Program, providing coverage to rural communities. Links https://www.gofundme.com/f/medicteam4ukraine https://medicteam4ukraine.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mullee23/ https://baseua.org/ https://adventrelief.org/ https://ctomsinc.com/

Russia’s attempt to destroy Ukraine as an independent country cannot be allowed to succeed. This is not solely for the sake of Ukraine. At stake are the future of global security and the preservation of the core principles of international relations embodied by the United Nations. ---------- SPEAKER:James leads the Russia-Eurasia programme at Chatham House, and his principal expertise concerns the relationships between Russia and the other post-Soviet states. He has published papers and articles in books and journals and commented extensively in the national and global media. He has also organised hundreds of private expert roundtables on Russian and Eurasian affairs while at Chatham House. Publications include The Long Goodbye: Waning Russian Influence in The South Caucasus and Central Asia, Putin Again: Implications for Russia and the West, and many others. ----------LINKS: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/06/how-end-russias-war-ukraine https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/james-nixeyhttps://twitter.com/jamesnixey?lang=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/james-nixey-3621a710/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/author/james-nixey ----------

Edition No14 | 20-07-2023 Russian Violence on a Massive Scale in Ukraine and Terror at Home Mark a Return of the Worst Echoes of History ~~~~~ NEWS LINKS: The Moscow Times https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/18/for-russias-elites-kremlins-failure-to-protect-crimean-bridge-no-longer-shocks-a81876 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/18/kremlin-warns-of-ukraine-export-risks-after-exiting-grain-deal-a81878 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/18/russian-health-minister-slams-pursuing-a-career-before-childbirth-as-improper-practice-for-women-a81882 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/07/18/wagner-announces-closure-of-russian-base-a81877 https://t.me/moscowtimes_ru/14349 https://t.me/moscowtimes_ru/14340 Ground News https://ground.news/article/russia-targets-key-ukraine-black-sea-port-of-odesa-a-day-after-halting-grain-export-deal_462824 Kyiv Independent https://kyivindependent.com/ The Economist https://www.economist.com/ukraine-crisis The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/jul/18/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-airstrikes-crimea-kerch-bridge-explosions-reopens-latest-news Russian Media Monitor https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews ~~~~~ USEFUL LINKS: Vatnik Soup https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/ Real World News https://kyivindependent.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://english.nv.ua/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://meduza.io/en https://meduza.io/ https://novayagazeta.eu/ https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russia... Analysis https://www.ft.com/russia https://www.economist.com/ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ https://cepa.org/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/search/?s... YouTube Channels / @timesradio1 / @khodorkovskyru / @popularpolitics / @macknack / @plushev / @tvrain / @fake_news / @feyginlive ~~~~~

Fighting for Ukraine by supporting heroes on the front. Fundraising for frontline supplies and fighting vatniks with NAFO. A volunteer helping UA Defenders on the front --- A member of #NAFO and a Big Fan of #InternationalLegionofUkraine ------- DONATE: https://savelife.in.ua This is "Come Back Alive" foundation one of the most impactful charities. https://prytulafoundation.org Prytula fund which absolutely all Ukrainians love. ------- LINKS: Insta: @appelle_moi_nina https://twitter.com/ninaselyna https://choko.link/standWithUkraine -------

Dan Kaszeta is a specialist defence and security consultant and is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the author of 'Toxic'. he has held positions in the US Secret Service and White House Military Office. Dan is of Lithuanian ancestry and has long studied Baltic history. He is experienced in many aspects of physical, technical, and operational security, and has 20 years of experience in every aspect of CBRN defence, across both military and civil sectors. He is also a Liveryman of London, supporter of NAFO, and outspoken critic of the current UK government – which we’ll talk about more in the interview, because that has caused some political controversy recently. --------- LINKS: http://strongpointsecurity.co.uk/resources/downloads/ https://twitter.com/DanKaszeta https://www.linkedin.com/in/dankaszeta/ https://rusi.org/people/kaszeta https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/dan-kaszeta-end-blacklisting/ --------- ARTICLES & NEWS: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66180552 https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/23/dan-kaszeta-banned-from-uk-government-event-for-tweets-criticised-tories https://muckrack.com/dan-kaszeta/articles --------- BOOKS: Toxic: A History of Nerve Agents, from Nazi Germany to Putin's Russia (2020) The Forest Brotherhood: Baltic Resistance Against the Nazis and Soviets (2023) CBRN and Hazmat Incidents at Major Public Events: Planning and Response (2012) ---------

Timothy Ash, who has been professional economist for more than 30 years, with two thirds of that in the banking industry. Timothy’s specialism is emerging European economics, and he writes and blogs extensively on economic challenges for leading publications such as the Kyiv Post, Atlantic Council, the Financial Times, and the United Business Journal. He is also an Associate Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House and has advised various governments on Ukraine-Russia policy and specifically on the impact of sanctions. --------- LINKS: https://timothyash.substack.com/ --------- ARTICLES: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/06/how-end-russias-war-ukraine/about-authors ---------

GUEST: Konstantin Samoilov - Well-known YouTuber and outspoken opponent of the war ---------- Russia has no borders. This was the expansive and imperialistic idea behind the Russian World philosophy. But Ukraine has turned the tables on this idea and shown that Russia’s vast border regions are undefended, and in some ways undefendable. From the ‘little blue men’ appearing in Belgorod, to the drone strikes deep in Russian territory, the theatrical explosion about the Kremlin roof, and the mysterious fires happening at strategic facilities all over Russia, it seems that Putin’s war to secure Russia’s borders has actually had the effect of stripping Russia of any safety and security. ---------- SPEAKER:Konstantin Samoilov is a well-known YouTuber whose channel ‘Inside Russia’ comments insightfully on Russia’s decent into authoritarianism over the last few years. But now, like many others, he’s outside Russia, with no idea of when he can return there.

100 years ago, nobody cared about Ukraine – or its disappearance as an independent state – swallowed up as the newly born tyranny of the USSR flexed its imperial muscles; but that has now changed. Putin’s Russian World revanchism and violence have accelerated the evolution of Ukrainian identity and increased the pressure for social, political, and economic change. Perhaps the most perverse Russian invasion narrative, is that Ukraine is not old, and is not distinct from Russia in any case. But Ukraine is not just a footnote to Russian imperial history. As a nation, it is old, different, and diverse. And at the end of this war, Ukraine could prove to be the rock upon which the decrepit, brittle hull of the Russian imperial ship tears itself apart and sinks from history. ---------- SPEAKER: Dr Sasha Dovzhyk is a London-based author from Zaporizhzhia and a special projects curator at the Ukrainian Institute London. She holds research affiliations with Goldsmiths and Birkbeck, University of London. Since February 2022, she has been dividing her time between London and Ukraine. Sasha has written on topics as diverse as the legacies of Chornobyl, transnational decadent aesthetics, and Ukrainian literature for various publications, including Los Angeles Review of Books, The Guardian, CNN, The Ecologist, openDemocracy. Sasha regularly gives public talks, interviews, and moderates events on the topics of Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion and Ukrainian traditions of resistance. #SashaDovzhyk #ukrainianinstitute #ukraine #ukrainewar #russia #zelensky #putin #propaganda #war #disinformation #hybridwarfare #foreignpolicy #communism #sovietunion #postsoviet ---------- LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-dovzhyk-3a907b25/ https://twitter.com/sasha_weirdsley https://www.sashadovzhyk.com/ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/people/olexandra-dovzhyk https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/sasha-dovzhyk/ ---------- ARTICLES: https://www.londonukrainianreview.org/ https://theecologist.org/profile/dr-sasha-dovzhyk https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sasha-dovzhyk https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/sasha-dovzhyk/ https://newlinesmag.com/writers/sasha-dovzhyk/