The EI Podcast

In war and diplomacy, personal relationships between leaders can shape the course of events in unpredictable ways. According to Suzanne Raine, those who know their adversaries are in a better position to take decisive action. Read by Leighton Pugh. 
Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-political-power-of-knowing-your-enemy/.
Image: Cartoon from Punch showing from Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Credit: Alamy

Brendan Simms talks to EI’s Jack Dickens about a new age of geopolitical rivalry.
Image: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Credit: Alamy

When it comes to nuclear weapons, the concerns that West Germany’s first chancellor wrestled with during the Cold War have not disappeared. In this audio essay, Marina E. Henke suggests that they have simply re-emerged in new forms. Read by Leighton Pugh. 
Read it here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/germanys-new-old-nuclear-dilemma/
Image: A nuclear power plant in Bavaria, circa 1985. Credit: INTERFOTO

Paul Lay speaks to Phil Tinline, author of Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax that Duped America and its Sinister Legacy, about the variety and violence of a country built on high ideals and low conspiracies.
Image: The interior of the United States Capitol. Credit: Alamy

Russia is a Near Eastern country now subordinated to East Asia. But Stephen Kotkin argues that historically it has prospered most when tied closely to Europe.
Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/where-is-russias-place-in-the-world/.
Image: Map of Russia, 1562. Credit: Alamy