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This morning, in a move that resulted from Russia’s failures in Ukraine, Wagner forces under mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin seized the city of Rostov-on-Don without firing a shot and began advancing towards Moscow.
This represents a serious escalation of the long-simmering tensions between the Russian mercenary group and the official military authorities, but more importantly it finally puts to bed the lie that Putin is some kind of strategic mastermind. Prigozhin, with a few thousand men, was essentially able to defy the entire Russian government and move forward almost unopposed.
A few hours later, it appears that Act I of this drama concluded with Prigozhin announcing that his forces were “turning around our columns and returning to field camps according to plan.” This isn’t the end of this intra-Russian conflict, but merely an intermission. Reverberations from Prigozhin’s rebellion will continue to be felt for weeks in both Russia and on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Ultimately, the single greatest impact of this surprise turn of events is demonstrating to both Russian citizens and the world at large that the Emperor has no clothes. For all of Putin’s posturing, he presides over a Potemkin village whose power—both military and otherwise—has clearly been overstated.
Join RDI Chairman Garry Kasparov and RDI Executive Director Uriel Epshtein for a special episode to analyze what’s been going on and stay tuned as events continue to unfold.
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Abdelrahman Elgendy’s mother was against him going to the protest but he insisted he just wanted to watch. His father decided to go with him to keep him out of trouble. Then the unthinkable happened - both were arrested. Inside Prison Gendy, his dad and hundreds of other prisoners were subjected to inhumane treatment and living conditions and that is what sparks Gendy’s passion for writing what he sees and experiences daily. “What happens to the untold stories, the ones that no one ever sees or hears?” He asks. Heart rending and awe inspiring, this humble young man’s resilience will move you to want to do more. Spoiler alert - his eventual release is as unbelievable as his arrest - buckle up.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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As a young talented musician, Tsewang Norbu had everything going for him. He’d performed on the world’s largest stages and his fans loved him. Like many Tibetans, he’d been forced to bottle up the pain and frustration of Chinese brutality towards Tibetans. In this shocking and inspiring interview, Pema Doma of the Students For A Free Tibet movement explains Tsewang Norbu’s story and tells of the horrors experienced by her people and of the inspiring new generation of Tibetans who are uniting globally and rejuvenating the fight for freedom.
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China is attempting to erase the Uyghur people. They're not just taking over their their home land, they're systematically removing them from existence. In this shocking conversation, Zubyra Shamseden - a Uyghur and an escapee, walks us through what is being done to the Uyghur people to rub out their culture, their religion, their heritage and their genes. This human rights catastrophe must be known and fought by everyone.
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For participating in anti-government protests, the Syrian government arrested teenage children and tortured them by pulling out their fingernails. They packed oil barrels with shrapnel and explosives and dropped them from planes into streets crowded with innocent civilians. Using his old Nokia phone Aziz captured some of the most verifiable evidence of the mass murders by the Syrian government and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). They launched what has become known globally as Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS). Though Aziz escaped after many arrests and interrogations, many of the young people that told the world of the horrors in Syria did not make it out. Some are dead, others still in prison 10 years on and some live undercover in exile. This is the story of hope for freedom Syria.
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Growing up in the middle of a bloody civil war was Nicholas Opiyo’s childhood. He remembers skipping over dead bodies on his way to school and his father being hunted by angry political mobs. Opiyo’s inspirational story of becoming a firebrand human rights and democracy lawyer is marked with shocking moments of courage and despair in equal measures. Through it all however, he learns to turn pain into purpose as he takes on injustice and the brute force of a dictatorship that has had enough of him.
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With her husband arrested for his work in civil society and as opposition leader, Berta Valle the news anchor had to suddenly take on a massive challenge - to free not only her husband but all political prisoners. Berta’s fight for her husband and that of many other political prisoners renewed my sense of hope for the lone fighters of freedom who many times seem destined for defeat. Berta tells a very special story as the episode comes to an end, you want to experience it - truly special.
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In our final podcast of 2022, we’re going to take a bit of a different look at the global fight between tyranny and democracy by focusing on our internal struggle. The health of American democracy is critical to the global fight for freedom. As America, so the world. With this in mind, I wanted to dive into the conversation around the January 6th report and get a sense of how we got here and the impact the committee will have as Republicans get ready to take the House. Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp and former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara join me for this special episode of Winter is Here. We discuss the findings of the committee's final report, the distinctions between free speech, political speech, and criminal culpability, Trump's path to an indictment, and what it all means for the future of American democracy.
Heitkamp served as North Dakota's Attorney General from 1992 to 2000, and as a US Senator from 2013 to 2019. She currently serves on the boards of the McCain Institute, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the German Marshall Fund. Recently, Heitkamp was named director of the University of Chicago's Institute of World Politics. She is also a frequent contributor to politics and public affairs for ABC News and CNBC.
Preet was the former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. As US Attorney, he oversaw the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in the Southern District of New York. Currently, he is a partner at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
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Escaping North Korea is a mission that many thousands of North Koreans have not accomplished. Some were killed on capture and others die in hard labour prisons. Joseph is orphaned at a young age when his father dies of hunger before his eyes. His mother and sister take off to look for work and Joseph never sees of hears from them again. The 12-year old begins a perilous journey that leads him through deep pain and suffering yet he still found his real mission - Silently fighting for those oppressed by tyranny.
This is our last episode as we go into the Christmas break. Thank you for listening to the Frontlines of Freedom podcast in 2022. We hope that the coming year will be one of finding true meaningfulness in the things you do for yourself and for others. We will be back with the first episode 0f 2023 on Monday January 9th.
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit renewdemocracy.substack.com -
Today’s episode is one that I was very excited about, but before I get into it, I want to offer a quick update on my recent trip to Berlin. Jeff Gedmin and I were joined by a few journalists as well as a number of Ukrainian, German, and Polish thought leaders to see how the West could come together to join forces in support of Ukraine. This is just the beginning of a series of dialogues RDI will host in coordination with American Purpose. We’ll keep you apprised of how these conversations go and what they will produce. And now, onto the episode!
I’m joined by Fiona Hill for a conversation on how Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s psychology informs his decision making in the war in Ukraine, and how it may inform the decision making of dictators everywhere. We discuss Putin’s calculated choice to escalate the war in Ukraine, the many ways Putin could lose control over Russia, Putin’s connection to Zelensky and Trump, the possibility of nuclear war, and the necessity of maintaining a united front against Russian aggression.
Fiona was the deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019. She served as a national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council from 2006 to 2009. Prior to that, she held numerous positions at the Eurasia Foundation in Washington, D.C. and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Fiona is currently a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe and has written extensively on Russian history, Vladimir Putin, and geopolitics.
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit renewdemocracy.substack.com -
I’m joined by Larry Diamond for a conversation on how our social media ecosystem amplifies extremist movements and empowers authoritarian regimes such as China, Iran and Russia. We discuss how our democracy at home relates to the fight for freedom abroad, the perverse incentives of today's social media ecosystem, Twitter’s fate, and how Russia’s war against Ukraine relates to Taiwan.
Larry Diamond is one of the foremost experts on the study of democracy. He is a Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Larry is also a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, where he leads its programs on China's Global Sharp Power and on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region. He is the co-founding editor of the Journal on Democracy and the author of numerous books, the most recent being "China's Influence and American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance."
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She is fueling the people’s revolution! Masih Alinejad is fulfilling the promise she made to the mothers of murdered and jailed protestors who have stood up to the brutal Iranian regime. As hundreds of thousands take to the streets to demand the dictatorship’s end, Masih (despite an attempt to assassinate her in Brooklyn, New York) and the millions of women she has inspired have become the backbone of this revolution. Listen to an inspiring revisit of the story of Masih Alinejad’s bravery as an exiled journalist and women’s rights activist.
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As Iran enters its fourth week of protests, Roya Hakakian joins Uriel Epshtein for a conversation on Iran and its place in the global battle between tyranny and freedom. They discuss the murder of Mahsa Amini, the irrationality of Iran's morality police, and how the situations in Ukraine and Iran are connected.
Roya Hakakian is a writer, journalist, poet, and political activist. She was a founding member of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Roya has served on the board of Refugees International, a non-profit dedicated to human rights and the relocation of refugees, and as a fellow at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University. Her writing appears in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and NPR's All Things Considered.
The Winter is Here podcast and the newsletter The Democracy Brief will be running on alternating Thursdays.
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Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson was based in Cambodia as a foreign English teacher. Every time he rode out on his bike through the lush forests of Cambodia he noticed the disaster that was slowly but surely unfolding. He decided to speak out and his actions sparked the birth of Mother Nature Cambodia, an organization that today mobilizes citizens to stop environmental degradation and human rights abuses. His narration of both the price they have paid for this work and the success they have had is awe inspiring.
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Jeffrey Gedmin joins Uriel Epshtein for a special conversation from Berlin, Germany. They have spent the week meeting with German lawmakers to make the case that Germany could be doing more to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom. In this conversation, they discuss whether German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s commitment to fight authoritarianism will be backed up with concrete policy or if Germany’s backlash to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just talk.
Jeffrey Gedmin is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine American Purpose. He is the former CEO of Radio Free Europe and previously ran the Legatum Institute in London and the Aspen Institute in Berlin.
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Evan Mawarire fled Zimbabwe in July 2016 after leading mass protests against the mis-governance of the Mugabe dictatorship. Thousands had spontaneously turned up at his court hearing demanding his release. Now after six months in exile Evan returned and was met with an immediate arrest at the airport. In this episode of Frontlines of Freedom Evan narrates how an encounter he could never have predicted changed everything. Listen as he draws us into taking on challenges that are imbedded with unexpected moments of strength and encouragement.
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“In a dictatorship everyone has a number, the only difference is when that number will come up.” This is how David Smolansky describes the life of people who live under authoritarian regimes. When David became the mayor of El Hatillo in Caracas Venezuela, he didn’t expect that he’d have to bury hundreds of young people in the city cemetery who’d been shot by his country’s own military. What he did understand however, is that when your number comes up and it’s your turn to face persecution, you engage in the most important activity - you gather people and give them vision. David’s story is both stirring and endearing.
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In this special episode of Winter is Here, Uriel and Garry take a step back to look at how we got here and how we can avoid the mistakes of the past. We highlight the importance of signaling mechanisms on the global stage, whether we can have an impact on Russian public support for the war, and how the Free World can deter Putin and other dictators moving forward.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit renewdemocracy.substack.com - Visa fler