Security in Context

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Understanding Iran's Grand Strategy: A discussion with Vali Nasr” from July 15, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

The statements made and opinions expressed in this publication are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Security in Context network, its partner organizations, or its funders.

Security in Context Senior Researcher Negar Razavi interviews Vali Nasr about his new book, "Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History."

Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as the eighth Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS between 2012 and 2019 and served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke between 2009 and 2011.

Nasr is the author of "Iran's Grand Strategy" alongside other books, including "The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat"; "Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World" and "How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare."

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NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “India-Pakistan Tensions and the Indus Waters Treaty: An Interview with Daanish Mustafa” from Jun 20, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

The statements made and opinions expressed in this publication are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Security in Context network, its partner organizations, or its funders.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Daanish Mustafa on the recent India-Pakistan crisis.

Professor Daanish Mustafa obtained his BA in Geography from Middlebury College, USA, his MA from University of Hawai'i Manoa, and his PhD in Geography from University of Colorado. He has taught at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and then at the University of South Florida, St Petersburg, before finding his intellectual home in the Department of Geography. While at King's, he has received the School of Social Science and Public Policy excellence in teaching award.

His research has been funded by the Belmont Forum, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Department for International Development (DfID), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), National Geographic Society, Royal Geographical Society, and the British Academy. Daanish was the co-author of the first climate change response strategies for Pakistan, in addition to being the lead author for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Pakistan five-year flood response strategy. In addition, he has also undertaken policy-related work with the DfID, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Stimson Centre, and United States Institute for Peace (USIP).

For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on X @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Kenya, the United States, and the War on Terror: An Interview with Samar Al-Bulushi” from May 22, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

The statements made and opinions expressed in this publication are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Security in Context network, its partner organizations, or its funders.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Samar Al-Bulushi about her book, "War-Making as Worldmaking: Kenya, the United States, and the War on Terror."

Samar Al-Bulushi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UC Irvine. She obtained her PhD in Anthropology at Yale and her MA in International Affairs at Columbia University. Prior to obtaining her PhD, she spent ten years working in the field of international human rights with the Center for Economic and Social Rights, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), and the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). She is currently a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, D.C., and previously served as contributing editor for Africa is a Country.

Al-Bulushi’s research is broadly concerned with militarism and geopolitics.  Her book, War-Making as World-Making: Kenya, the United States, and the War on Terror (forthcoming with Stanford University Press), argues that Kenya has emerged as a key player in the post 9/11 era of endless war. Her next project, The Afterlives of Non-Alignment, explores how Africans re-engage with the concept of non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While contemporary invocations of non-alignment are not necessarily grounded in a commitment to anti-imperialism, memories of European colonialism loom large, as do memories of the Soviet Union’s support for African independence struggles. This project aims to shed ethnographic light on how asymmetrical yet shifting global power relations are interpreted and contested, shaped simultaneously by colonial legacies of exploitation and inequality, by affective discourses that invoke memories of these legacies, and by everyday forms of geopolitical knowledge.

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This episode is an audio version of our video interview “How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy: An Interview with Van Jackson” from May 18, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

The statements made and opinions expressed in this publication are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Security in Context network, its partner organizations, or its funders.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Van Jackson about his new book with Michael Brenes, "The Rivalry Peril: How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy."

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NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Understanding Trump's Tariffs” from April 14, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

The statements made and opinions expressed in this publication are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Security in Context network, its partner organizations, or its funders.

In this video, Security in Context's Omar Dahi moderates a discussion between SiC co-founder Firat Demir and economist Francisco R. Rodriguez to discuss Trump's tariffs and their impact on the world.

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NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Dissecting Europe’s Political Landscape: German Elections and U.S.-Ukraine Tensions” from March 7, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Anatol Lieven about Europe's political landscape, in particular Germany's elections and the newfound tensions between the US and Ukraine.

Anatol Lieven is the Director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Lieven is a former professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London.

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NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Israeli Aggression in Syria” from March 3, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context Project Director Omar Dahi interviews Wael Tarabieh about the history of the Israeli occupation in the Syrian Golan.Wael Tarabieh - Syrian Artist and activist, based in the Occupied Syrian Jawlan. Graduated from St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture named after Ilya Repin. A Co-founder of the “Fateh Al-Moudarres Center for Arts and Culture” - in Majdal Shams. He has been teaching fine arts since 1996. He has worked with fellow artists and cultural activists on developing the local artistic and cultural space in the occupied Syrian Jawlan, and sought to link it to the democratic cultural movement in Syria, Palestine, and the world. He joined Al-Marsad- The Arab Human Rights Center in the Occupied Jawlan, in 2018, as a project manager for the cultural program “New ways of seeing”, and is currently managing Al-Marsad’s program on economic, social, and cultural rights.

For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Dr. Viviana García Pinzón on Trump's Foreign Policy in Latin America” from February 26, 2025. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Roosbelinda Cárdenas speaks with Dr. Viviana García Pinzón about US President Donald Trump's foreign policy in Latin America, with a focus on Colombia.Dr. Viviana García Pinzón is Senior Researcher at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute (ABI) in Freiburg and an Associate at the Institute of Latin American Studies at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). She has a PhD in Political Science with a focus on peace and conflict studies from the Philipps University of Marburg.

For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “UN 1701 & Peacekeeping in Lebanon: An Interview with Karim Makdisi” from November 1, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Karim Makdisi about UN Security Council Resolution 1701 as well as peacekeeping in Lebanon amid attacks from and conflict with Israel. Karim Makdisi is an Associate Professor of International Politics and Founding Director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He served as Associate Director in AUB’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, where he also directed the “UN and the Arab World” research and policy program. He currently directs the environmental policy program within AUB’s interdisciplinary graduate program in Environmental Sciences. He was a founding member and served on the first Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences. Prior to joining AUB, he worked for three years at the Economic and Social commission for Western Asia, focusing on the global and regional UN sustainable development agenda and the inter-connected issues of crisis, intervention and reconstruction. He is the co-editor of Land of the Blue Helmets: The United Nations in the Arab World (University of California Press, 2017); and Interventions in Conflict: International Peacemaking in the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). He has published in journals such as Global Governance, Third World Quarterly, International Peacekeeping, and International Studies Perspective. His current book project is: Disarming Syria: The International Politics of Eliminating Syria’s Chemical Weapons. He obtained his BA from Georgetown University and Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Iran's Foreign Policy Since the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation: Interview with Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi” from October 25, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Omar Dahi interviews Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi about Iranian foreign policy since the Al-Aqsa Operation by Hamas. Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi is a Senior Lecturer in the History of the Middle East at the University of York. He is a historian of West Asia (Middle East), with a particular focus on the modern intellectual and political history of Iran and the wider Shi'i Muslim world. In disciplinary terms, he works at the intersection of intellectual and political history, the history of political thought, and postcolonial theory. Sadeghi-Boroujerdi has also extensively researched and published on the history of Iranian intellectuals, political militants and clandestine organisations during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the intellectual lineages of “Third Worldism” in modern Iran. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Is Israel Implementing Gaza Policy in Lebanon? An Interview with Hicham Safieddine” from October 24, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Omar Dahi speaks with Professor Hicham Safieddine about Israeli policy in Lebanon and its intersection surrounding their policies in Gaza as well. Hicham Safieddine is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in the History of the Modern Middle East. He researches financial, economic and intellectual history (19th and 20th centuries) with a particular emphasis on the MENA region. He is currently examining the emergence and transformation of global and national monetary regimes and financial systems under capitalist expansion, debt, war, colonial conquest, national liberation and revolution. In addition to his academic research and teaching, he is the co-founder of e-zines Al-Akhbar English and The Legal Agenda’s English Edition. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “AI and Global Security: Edward Ongweso Jr. Joins SiC” from October 23, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews our newest team member, Edward Ongweso Jr., about his work and research involving AI and global security issues. Edward Ongweso Jr. is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor, and a Senior Researcher in Technology, Finance and AI at Security in Context. He’s the finance editor at Logic(s) (a Black, Asian, and queer critical tech magazine) and the co-host of the This Machine Kills (a podcast on the political economy of technological development). His work has appeared in Motherboard, The Guardian, The Baffler, The Nation, Dissent, WIRED, Slate, and elsewhere. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Understanding Sudan's Counter-revolutionary War: An Interview with Khalid Mustafa Medani” from August 25, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Dr. Khalid Mustafa Medani on Sudan's ongoing war, including its historical context and global implications. Dr. Khalid Mustafa Medani is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies at McGill University. He also serves as the university's Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies and Chair of the African Studies Program. Dr. Medani received a B.A. with Honors in Development Studies from Brown University, an M.A. in Development Studies from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on globalization, and the political economy of Islamist and Ethnic Politics in Africa and the Middle East with a special focus on Sudan, Egypt, and Somalia. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Seeking Justice for Israel's Genocide in Palestine: An Interview with Inès Abdel Razek” from July 12, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Inès Abdel Razek, Co-Director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and its digital platform Rabet, about Gaza, Palestinian solidarity, and the quest for justice amid genocide from Israel. Inès Abdel Razek is the Executive Director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and its digital platform Rabet, an independent Palestinian organization focusing on international mobilization and digital campaigning for Justice, Freedom and Equality. From 2019 to 2022, Inès was the Advocacy Director of the PIPD, helping to develop the political networks and international advocacy pillar of the organization. Prior to joining the PIPD, Inès held policy advisor positions in the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona, the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi and the Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office in Ramallah, where she advised executive leadership on international aid for development policies. Inès is also a board member of the social enterprise BuildPalestine, Advisory board member of Palestine DeepDive, and policy member at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Sciences-Po, Paris. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Branko Milanovic on Global Inequality: Past Lessons and Future Prospects” from June 21, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Branko Milanovic on global inequality and how the subject's past can inform the future. Branko Milanovic is an economist best known for working on income distribution and inequality. He is a research professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center. Milanovic obtained his Ph.D. in economics (1987) from the University of Belgrade with a dissertation on income inequality in Yugoslavia. He served as lead economist in the World Bank’s Research Department for almost 20 years, leaving to write his book on global income inequality, Worlds Apart (2005). He was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington (2003-2005) and has held teaching appointments at the University of Maryland (2007-2013) and at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (1997- 2007). He was a visiting scholar at All Souls College in Oxford, and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid (2010-11). For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Analyzing Mexico's Election: Claudia Sheinbaum's Landslide Victory” from June 6, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. In this interview conducted by Security in Context's Margaret Cerullo, Mexico-based independent investigative journalist, John Gibler, author of Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, To Die in Mexico: Dispatches From Inside the Drug War, and I Couldn’t Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us: An Oral History of the Attacks Against the Students of Ayotzinapa, provides in-depth analysis of the political landscape in Mexico in light of the most recent elections on June 2, 2024. Gibler analyzes the context in which Claudia Sheinbaum emerged victorious with a whopping 30+ point margin. In the interview, Gibler analyzes Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, and the legacies of her predecessor, López Obrador by looking at the war on drugs, immigration policy, state violence and the lingering impunity surrounding human rights, as well as the significance of Morena's triumph for Mexico and the region. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Nayib Bukele's Policies in El Salvador - An Interview with Amy Fallas” from May 3, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Janaina Maldonado interviews Amy Fallas on the policies of President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. Amy Fallas is a Salvadoran-Costa Rican writer, editor, and historian. She is a former editor of the Yale Journal for International Affairs and a current assistant editor at the Arab Studies Journal. Her published work has appeared in The Washington Post, Jadaliyya, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Mada Masr, HAZINE, the Revealer, Sojourners, Contingent Magazine, and more. She received her MA in History from Yale University and is currently a PhD Candidate in History at UC Santa Barbara. Her research examines religious difference, communal institutions, sectarianism, and historical memory in modern Egypt as well as transnationally between El Salvador and Palestine during the 20th Century. Her creative nonfiction explores these questions through personal and investigative essays on race, religion, and politics in and between Egypt, El Salvador, and the United States. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Returning Public Funds To The Public: An Interview with Stephen Semler” from April 29, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Stephen Semler about his paper, "Returning Public Funds To The Public: A Plan To Convert Excess US Military Spending Into $600 Tax Rebates," in which he lays out a plan aimed at refunding taxpayers for the dramatic increase in military spending that we’ve seen over recent years in the United States. Semler's paper can be read here: https://www.securityincontext.org/posts/returning-public-funds-to-the-public-a-plan-to-convert-excess-us-military-spending-into-600-tax-rebates Stephen Semler is co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute and author of the newsletter Speaking Security. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Countering “Day After” Narratives in Palestine: An Interview with Mandy Turner” from April 26, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Anita Fuentes interviews Mandy Turner about her February 2024 paper for the project, "Countering “Day After” Narratives: Notes Towards A Practical Program For Palestinian Liberation And Global Solidarity." Her paper can be read here: https://www.securityincontext.org/posts/countering-day-after-narratives-notes-towards-program-palestinian-liberation-solidarity Mandy Turner is a senior researcher with Security in Context. Her research focuses on the political economy of conflict and peace, humanitarianism and multilateralism, and the situation in Israel and Palestine. She has 25 years’ experience of these issues and has pursued research, writing and consultancy work through a variety of sectors. She is the author of over 50 articles and book chapters, has edited or co-edited four books and three journal special issues, and writes for media outlets. She holds a PhD in International Relations (2000), an MSc in International Relations (1994), and a BSc in Sociology (1993) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. She started her career as a journalist with The Guardian newspaper in London (2000-2004), then re-entered the academy as a research fellow then senior lecturer in the peace studies department at the University of Bradford, UK (2004-2011). From 2012-2020, Mandy lived and worked in Palestine as director of a British Academy international research institute. She left this position to become professor of conflict, peace and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester, UK, which she held until she joined Security in Context in January 2024. Her most recent book is an edited collection called From the River to the Sea: Palestine and Israel in the Shadow of ‘Peace’ (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019), which will be published in Arabic by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (Doha) in 2024. Her previous books are: The Politics of International Intervention: The Tyranny of Peace (co-edited with F.P. Kühn. Routledge, 2016); Decolonizing Palestinian Political Economy: De development and Beyond (co-edited with O. Shweiki. PalgraveMacmillan, 2014), and Whose Peace? Critical Perspectives on the Political Economy of Peacebuilding (co edited with M. Pugh and N. Cooper. PalgraveMacmillan, 2008). She can be contacted on: mandy@securityincontext.org For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Milei's election and the Argentinian economy: An interview with Matías Vernengo [Part 2]” from February 2, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

In this interview, Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes talks with Matías Vernengo, about his recent book "Dollar Hegemony," and the economic circumstances that contributed to Javier Milei's election in Argentina. Matías Vernengo is a Professor of Economics at Bucknell University. He was formerly Senior Research Manager at the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Utah, and Assistant Professor at Kalamazoo College and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He has been an external consultant to several United Nations organizations like the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He has seven edited books, two books and more than one hundred and twenty articles published in scientific peer reviewed journals or book chapters. He specializes in macroeconomic issues for developing countries, in particular Latin America, international political economy and the history of economic thought. He is also the emeritus founding co-editor of the Review of Keynesian Economics (ROKE), and co-editor in chief of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Vernengo's book "Dollar Hegemony" can be found here: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/dollar-hegemony-9781035320929.html For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Dollar hegemony explained: An interview with Matías Vernengo [Part 1]” from January 31, 2024. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

In this interview, Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes talks with Matías Vernengo, about his recent book "Dollar Hegemony," and the economic circumstances that contributed to Javier Milei's election in Argentina. Matías Vernengo is a Professor of Economics at Bucknell University. He was formerly Senior Research Manager at the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Utah, and Assistant Professor at Kalamazoo College and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He has been an external consultant to several United Nations organizations like the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He has seven edited books, two books and more than one hundred and twenty articles published in scientific peer reviewed journals or book chapters. He specializes in macroeconomic issues for developing countries, in particular Latin America, international political economy and the history of economic thought. He is also the emeritus founding co-editor of the Review of Keynesian Economics (ROKE), and co-editor in chief of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Vernengo's book "Dollar Hegemony" can be found here: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/dollar-hegemony-9781035320929.html For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “The Socioeconomic Consequences of the War on Gaza: An Interview with UN ESCWA's Mehrinaz El Awady” from December 16, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Mehrinaz El Awady about the impact of the Israeli attacks on the socioeconomic conditions in Gaza. Mehrinaz El Awady is the Leader of the Gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development Cluster at the UN's ESCWA. She previously served as Director for the ESCWA Centre for Women. Prior to that, she was ESCWA Senior SWAP Coordinator, in charge of mainstreaming gender within the organization. She has a long record in development organization and management at the grassroots and the policy levels. ESCWA's policy brief on the war in Gaza can be found here: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/.... For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Palestine, Human Rights, and Justice for Gaza: An Interview with Ione Belarra” from November 28, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context's Anita Fuentes and Fernando Brancoli interview Spanish former Minister Ione Belarra about the war in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, Belarra has emerged as one of the few European voices in a government position to strongly express her rejection of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. As the Secretary-General of Spain's Podemos party and former Minister of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, Belarra articulates a compelling narrative on the crisis in Palestine, the broader implications for global human rights advocacy, and the strategic vision of the #JusticeForGaza initiative. #JusticeForGaza is an international popular initiative to advocate for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute the Israeli government for the crimes and collective punishment committed in Gaza since 7 October, 2023, spearheaded by Belarra and other leaders of the transformative left in Europe and Latin America. Find out more about this initiative: https://www.justiceforgaza.info/ Read more about the conversation with Ione Belarra on our blog: https://www.securityincontext.org/pos... (English) https://www.securityincontext.org/pos... (Spanish) For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Monitoring Global Sanctions: An Interview with Michael Galant” from November 20, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Michael Galant about his work at CEPR leading the Sanctions Watch. Michael Galant is Senior Research and Outreach Associate with the international team at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. At CEPR, Michael conducts research and policy analysis on the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights and surcharge policies, as well as economic sanctions. Michael’s research focuses on global political economy, and how the structures of the global economic architecture affect prospects of equitable global development. Prior to CEPR, Michael has worked on issues related to foreign policy and international development at Win Without War, the United Nations, and more. Michael holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he studied international political and economic development, and researched the forms and functions of transnational advocacy networks. He also holds a B.A. in international relations and sociology from Brown University. CEPR Sanctions Watch: https://cepr.net/issue/cepr-sanctions... For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Settler Colonialism in Palestine: An Interview with Rabie Nasser” from November 11, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Security in Context Project Director Omar Dahi interviews Rabie Nasser about his recent article "Settler Colonialism in Palestine: Structures of Violence and Injustice." Rabie Nasser is an economist, researcher and co-founder of the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR). His areas of expertise and research include macroeconomic policies, inclusive growth, poverty, and conflict socioeconomic impact assessment. He holds a MSc in Economics from Leicester University, UK. Rabie's article can be read here: https://scpr-syria.org/settler-coloni... For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “How much military aid has Israel received from the US?: An Interview with Stephen Semler” from October 30, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Stephen Semler about US military aid in Israel. Stephen Semler is co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, a grassroots-funded US foreign policy think tank, and author of the newsletter 'Speaking Security,' dedicated to evaluating and visualizing security-related policies through a class lens. For more of Security in Context's coverage of the Palestine-Israel Conflict, visit our resource page here: https://www.securityincontext.org/cov... For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Inside the Long Fight against Torture: An Interview with Lisa Hajjar” from October 28, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context podcast Anita Fuentes interviews sociologist Lisa Hajjar about her new book, "The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight against Torture," with a focus on Guantánamo Bay. Lisa Hajjar is a Professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara, with specialties including the sociology of human rights, state theory, Middle East studies, torture, war crimes, and humanitarian law. Hajjar received her Ph.D. from The American University. She is an interdisciplinary scholar who contributes to multiple fields in the social sciences and humanities, including Middle East Studies, American Studies, and Law and Society. Her current research focuses primarily on the US “war on terror,” particularly around the issues of torture, targeted killing, and Guantánamo. She is the only social scientist who has traveled to Guantánamo (14 times to date), where she conducts research and writes about the military commissions. Another area of current research focuses on human rights in the Arab world. Her journalistic writings have been published by The Nation, Al Jazeera English, Middle East Report, and Jadaliyya. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “U.S. Sanctions, (Mis)Information, and the Possibilities of International Solidarity with Cuba” from October 20, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Roosbelinda Cárdenas interviews award-winning Cuban journalist Liz Oliva Fernández about US Sanctions, information and misinformation, and possibilities of international solidarity with Cuba. Liz Oliva Fernández is a Cuban journalist and the presenter of The War on Cuba, for which she won a Gracie Award. Apart from her journalism and filmmaking, Liz is a dedicated anti-racist and feminist activist. Check out the website for her organization, Belly of the Beast, here: https://www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/ For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Libya is a crime scene: An interview with Vijay Prashad” from September 28, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠. Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews historian Vijay Prashad about Tricontinental’s recent newsletter titled “NATO Destroyed Libya in 2011: Storm Daniel Came to Sweep Up the Remains” where he discussed the tragedy of the flood that struck the city of Derna in the aftermath of Storm Daniel and resulted in the deaths of thousands. Vijay is a historian, journalist, and executive director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and the author of forty books including “Arab Spring. Libyan Winter”, published in 2012. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “The Coup in Niger - An Interview with Sebastian Elischer” from September 23, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Security in Context's Abdalla Nasef interviews Professor Sebastian Elischer about the coup in Niger. Dr. Sebastian is an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida and an editor of the African Studies Review. His research examines how identities shape and influence democratization and other political dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “The Radical Right in the Global South - An Interview with Tatiana Vargas Maia” from September 19, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Professor Tatiana Vargas Maia about their latest book, "The Rise of the Radical Right in the Global South." Maia's book can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/The-Rise-of... Tatiana Vargas Maia is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and supported by a grant from the Research Support Foundation of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS). They collected their Ph.D. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University; an MA in International Relations, UFRGS; a BA in History, UFRGS, and a BA in Social Sciences, PUCRS. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Morocco Earthquake - An Interview with Zaynab El Bernoussi” from September 12, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews SiC's Zaynab El Bernoussi about the recent Earthquake in Morocco. Zaynab El Bernoussi is professor of international politics at Sciences Po Rabat of the International University of Rabat (UIR). Prior to teaching at UIR, Z taught at Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane and coordinated the Master of Arts in International Studies & Diplomacy (MAISD) and the Human & Economic Development Research Unit (HEDRU). Z holds a Master's in Finance from Instituto de Empresa, an MPA in economic development from Columbia University, and a PhD in political and social sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain. She was a doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a visiting scholar at Smith College and Harvard University. She is part of the executive committee of the Global South Caucus of the International Studies Association (ISA) and core faculty of the Beirut School of Critical Security Studies. Her work focuses on the politicization of dignity when looking at South-South cooperation, bioethical issues, and human and economic development programs. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “The Women of the Far Right - An Interview with Eviane Leidig” from September 7, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Host and executive producer of the Security in Context podcast Anita Fuentes interviews researcher Eviane Leidig on her new book, "The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization." Leidig's book can be found here: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-wome... Eviane Leidig is a postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University. She is affiliated with the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, the Global Network on Extremism and Technology in London, and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague. She has been featured by The Independent, Al Jazeera, BBC, Australia Broadcasting Corporation, and Bellingcat, among others. Her latest book, "The Women of the Far Right," explores how alt-right women on platforms like YouTube and Instagram build radicalized followings online. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Selective Security in the War on Drugs: An Interview with Alke Jenss” from July 5, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context podcast Anita Fuentes interviews author Alke Jenss about her new book, "Selective Security and the War on Drugs: The Coloniality of State Power in Columbia and Mexico" (January 2023). Dr. Alke Jenss is a senior research fellow at the Arnold-Bergstraesser Institute in Freiburg, Germany. Her research is centered at the intersection of critical political economy, state theory, and urban insecurity, with a focus on Latin America, particularly Colombia and Mexico. Selective Security and the War on Drugs: The Coloniality of State Power in Columbia and Mexico: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538151099/Selective-Security-in-the-War-on-Drugs-The-Coloniality-of-State-Power-in-Colombia-and-Mexico For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East: An Interview with Samer Shehata” from June 26, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Samer Shehata about "The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century" (Edinburgh University Press). Samer Shehata is an Associate Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is the editor of recently-published book "The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century." His areas of research include Middle Eastern politics, Egyptian politics, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist politics, and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. He is the author of "Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt" (SUNY, 2009), and editor of "Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change" (Routledge, 2012). His articles have appeared in both academic and policy journals including the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Current History, MERIP, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Middle East Policy, Folklore and as book chapters and encyclopedia articles. His analysis and op-ed pieces have been published in the New York Times, Boston Globe/International Herald Tribune, Salon, Slate, Arab Reform Bulletin, Al Hayat, Al Ahram Weekly and other publications.

For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview “Iran, Sanctions and Economic Warfare: A Conversation with Narges Bajoghli” from June 4, 2023. ⁠Click here to watch the original video⁠.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context podcast Anita Fuentes and Security in Context Media and Knowledge Production Intern Jordi Bernal interview Narges Bajoghli about her upcoming book, "How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare." Narges Bajoghli is an award-winning anthropologist and Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Professor Bajoghli received her PhD in socio-cultural anthropology from New York University, where her dissertation was awarded the Dean's Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences. She was also trained as a documentary filmmaker in NYU's Culture and Media Program. She is the co-author of the upcoming book, "How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare," which is slated for release in February 2024. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview "The Human Consequences of Sanctions: An Interview with Francisco Rodriguez" from May 24, 2023. Click here to watch the original video.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Professor Francisco Rodriguez. Professor Francisco Rodriguez is a Rice Family Professor of the Practice of International and Public Affairs at the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He has also taught economics and public policy at the University of Maryland, Wesleyan University, and the University of Notre Dame. Rodriguez has held positions in the public and private sector, including head of the Economic and Financial Advisory of the Venezuelan National Assembly (2000-2004), head of the Research Team of the United Nations’ Human Development Report Office (2008-2011) and chief Andean economist of Bank of America (2011-2016). For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview "Turkish 2023 Presidential Election Heads for a Run Off: Analysis and Implications" from May 16, 2023. Click here to watch the original video.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Professor Firat Demir about the 2023 Presidential Election in Turkey. Firat Demir is a Professor of Economics at the University of Oklahoma (OK, USA). He received his B.A. from Bogazici University (Istanbul Turkey), and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Notre Dame (IN, USA). Firat is also an affiliate faculty in the Department of International and Area Studies, the Center for Peace and Development and the Center for Social Justice at the University of Oklahoma. Firat is an associate editor of the Review of Social Economy and the Journal of Economic Surveys. His main fields of research are economic development and open economy macroeconomics focusing on the issues of economic globalization, structural change, South-South trade and finance, long run development and growth, and political economy of development.

For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext

NOTE: This episode is an audio version of our video interview "Understanding China in Latin America: an Interview with Paul Amar and Fernando Brancoli" from May 9, 2023. Click here to watch the original video.

Executive Producer of the Security in Context Podcast Anita Fuentes interviews Paul Amar and Fernando Brancoli about their latest book, "The Tropical Silk Road." Dr. Paul Amar is a professor of Global Studies at UCSB trained in political science and anthropology with a long history of research, teaching and publishing in the field of Critical Security Studies. He holds affiliate appointments in Feminist Studies, Sociology, Comparative Literature, Middle East Studies, and Latin American & Iberian Studies. Before he began his academic career, he worked as a journalist in Cairo, a police reformer and sexuality rights activist inRio de Janeiro, and for six years as a conflict-resolution and economic development specialist at the United Nations. His books include: "Cairo Cosmopolitan" (2006); "New Racial Missions of Policing" (2010); "Global South to the Rescue" (2011); "Dispatches from the Arab Spring" (2013); and "The Middle East and Brazil" (2014). Recently, he was Chair of Middle East Studies, founding director of the PhD program in Global Studies, and Director of the Global Security Studies hub at UCSB. He is a founding editor of the journal “Critical Military Studies” and a reviewer for landmark journals such as Security Dialogue, Critical Terrorism Studies, and the International Journal of Feminist Politics. His book "The Security Archipelago" won the Charles Taylor award for Best Book of the Year from the American Political Science Association’s Interpretive Methods section in 2014. Fernando Brancoli is Associate Professor of International Security at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a Fellow at the School of Social Science (SPSS) at the University of Princeton and an Associated Researcher at the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. His research interests are centered on how narratives of violence and neoliberalism circulate in the Global South, specially the Middle East and Latin America. In the last years, he conducted field research on Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. For more please visit www.securityincontext.org or follow us on Twitter @SecurityContext