May 22, 2025
In our latest episode we speak with the author and academic Frank Gerits, whose most recent work explores the history of the intense ideological battle which took place in the 1950s and 1960s for African hearts and minds. His book, The Ideological Scramble for Africa, explores how this competition wasn't just between...
Feb 25, 2025
Issues of religious freedom, in theory, should not be controversial or disputed - there is a general consensus among public opinion that all peoples should have the right to worship according to their beliefs. And yet, it seems that we are going backwards on this basic right, with governments and political parties all...
Feb 4, 2025
The Muslim world, despite its sprawling and complex history, is largely understood by outsiders to fall within the Shia or Sunni category, or among the conflict between. This is not just misleading, but also obscures a much more fascinating and colorful human history of the Middle East which continues to shape...
Dec 31, 2024
The imposition of economic sanctions has become Washington's preferred method of expressing disapproval over the conduct of other states. But how effective are sanctions in changing behavior or achieving desired outcomes?
This week on Departures with Robert Amsterdam, we are pleased to feature the brilliant former...
Dec 13, 2024
There's an old Soviet joke that goes something like "the future is certain; it's the past that is unpredictable" which continues to have an eerie resonance today, as revisionism seems to be on a constant assault against past events which are challenging or complex for some people to accept based on modern social mores...