Danube Institute Podcast

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 these two sides are perceived in the EU and the Islamic world.

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 East relate to them?

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 Christian community has a future in Kurdistan and Iraq.

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 other Christian faiths in the region, as well as constructive and positive dialogue between political and religious groups therefore; he gave an insight how Jordan in the Middle East is a "safe house in the midst of a burning avenue". We also asked how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects Jordanians and how Christian women are treated in the country. To conclude, we asked how common the emigration of Jordanian Christians to Western countries is.

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 here.

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” in London Review of Books, and “The Clue China is Preparing for War” in Unherd.

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 suffering can wield considerable power. How has this situation come about? And how can the importance of free speech be reasserted? Is it fair to brand a younger generation ‘snowflakes’? Is being offended really all that empowering?

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.