In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Valery Kavaleuski, former Belarusian diplomat and Executive Director of the Euro-Atlantic Affairs Agency, about Minsk’s evolving foreign policy and how it is constrained by enduring Russian influence. They discuss the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise Zapad 2025, which took place just after 19 Russian drones crossed into Poland, heightening tensions between NATO and Moscow. They unpack Belarus’ continued participation in the Vienna Document, its recent engagement with Washington, which seems to have led to prisoner releases in exchange for sanctions relief, and whether the EU and its members should adopt a more pragmatic approach when engaging with Minsk. They also look at the future of Belarus’ domestic politics, the prospects for dialogue between the opposition and the Lukashenka government, and what a post-Lukashenka Belarus might look like.

This episode was made possible through extra-budgetary funding from the OSCE. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE.

For more, check out our Belarus and Europe & Central Asia pages.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga Oliker speaks with Hanna Notte, Director for Eurasia at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and a non-resident Senior Associate at CSIS, about Russia’s changing role in the Middle East. They discuss how Moscow is responding to the fall of Assad in Syria and the twelve-day war between Israel (and the U.S.) and Iran. They explore how Russia’s relationships with regional capitals are evolving, what Middle Eastern states hope to gain from partnership with Moscow and the prospects for U.S.-Russia cooperation in the region.

For more, check out our Middle East and Europe & Central Asia page.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Dr. Pia Fuhrhop, head of the International Security Research Division at SWP, about the upcoming NATO summit, transatlantic relations, and how European NATO allies are working to strengthen their own defence. They discuss expectations for the summit, the potential role of Ukraine, and the alliance’s push to raise defence spending targets to 5% of GDP amid growing U.S. pressure for more burden-sharing. They look at Germany’s evolving role in European security and the new government’s ambition to build “the strongest conventional army in Europe”. Finally, they consider the value of holding regular summits at a time when transatlantic relations are increasingly volatile.

For more, check out our report Ukraine and Beyond: Shaping Europe’s Security Future and our Europe & Central Asia page.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Crisis Group’s senior Ukraine analyst, Lucian Kim, about how the war in Ukraine is evolving and what is happening with diplomatic efforts to end it. They discuss recent developments along Ukraine’s front lines, how Kyiv is adapting on the battlefield and the mood among Ukrainians. They assess the recent Istanbul talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations and the prospects for follow-on negotiations. They discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement and the takeaways from his recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They also explore the prospect of a U.S. withdrawal of support for Ukraine and the possible responses of European leaders to fill the gap.

For more, check out our Ukraine country page.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa talk with political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann to unpack how aspiring authoritarian leaders transform democracies into autocratic governments and whether democratic erosion in Western democracies is, in fact, a trend. They discuss how such leaders concentrate power and systematically weaken democratic institutions. They also explore the role of ideology in authoritarian systems and how these regimes differ from totalitarian forms of governance. Finally, they delve into how democratic resilience can be fostered and what can be done to reverse democratic backsliding.

For more, check out our Europe and Central Asia regional page.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa talk with Crisis Group’s Latin America program director Renata Segura and senior Colombia analyst Elizabeth Dickinson. They unpack the evolving landscape of narcotics trafficking in Latin America and how the violent crime it fuels is affecting communities across the continent. They explore why, more than 50 years after the U.S. declared a “war on drugs”, law enforcement efforts to dismantle criminal networks have failed to deliver lasting results. They also discuss how the EU can support its Latin American partners in pursuing alternative strategies to curb drug-related violence beyond military-led crackdowns, at a time when such crime is also rising in European cities.

For more, check out our recent report “Curbing Violence in Latin America’s Drug Trafficking Hotspots”, our visual explainer “How a New Drug Trafficking Landscape Fuels Violence in Latin America”, and our Latin America regional page.

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Today, we're bringing you a bonus episode from Crisis Group's global podcast, Hold Your Fire!

In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood is joined by Gérard Araud, Crisis Group Trustee and former French ambassador to the U.S., the UN and Israel. They take stock of U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy so far, his administration’s seemingly competing visions for European security and how European capitals are reacting. They talk about diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, whether the Trump administration can get genuine concessions out of Russia and the prospect of European troops in Ukraine. They assess the role of France in Europe and debates around extending its nuclear umbrella to eastern Europe. They also discuss whether the Trump administration’s unorthodox diplomacy might bear fruit in the Middle East.

For more, check out our report “Ukraine and Beyond: Shaping Europe’s Security Future” and our Europe & Central Asia Program page.

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In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Berkay Mandıracı, Crisis Group’s senior Türkiye analyst, about Ankara’s evolving role in Syria following the Assad regime’s collapse and about the apparent progress of efforts to resolve the conflict between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). They examine Türkiye’s relations with Hei’at Tahrir al-Sham, the new rulers in Syria, and what Ankara stands to gain from the shifting political landscape in its neighbouring country. They assess the situation in north-eastern Syria, where tensions remain high between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). They also discuss whether the latest attempts to end the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the PKK have a real chance of success, as well as Ankara’s regional ambitions amid rapidly changing security dynamics in Europe.

For more, check out Berkay’s latest op-ed, co-authored with colleague Dareen Khalifa, “Turkey’s tightrope in post-Assad Syria”, and Crisis Group’s page “Türkiye’s PKK Conflict: A Visual Explainer”, and our Europe & Central Asia and Middle East regional pages.

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