Football and Politics in the Gulf
The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicked off this week in the Qatari capital Doha. The tournament comes at a time of fast-evolving politics in the region. Just a few years ago, a spat within the Gulf Cooperatio...
25 Nov 202255min
Finland's FM Pekka Haavisto on the Ukraine War, European Security and Peacemaking Elsewhere
In this episode of Hold Your Fire! Richard Atwood is joined by Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto for a wide-ranging discussion from the war in Ukraine to peacemaking efforts in the Horn of Afr...
18 Nov 202249min
Ethiopia’s Tigray War: After the Cessation of Hostilities, What Next?
On 2 November, the Ethiopian federal government and Tigrayan forces reached an agreement to cease hostilities and end almost two years of bloody war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The truce cam...
10 Nov 202257min
Lula and Latin America’s Leftward Lurch
Last Sunday in Brazil, former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a tightly fought presidential run-off against incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro’s supporters took to the stree...
5 Nov 202254min
After the Crackdowns, is Chad’s Transition Unravelling?
On 20 October, Chadian security forces killed more than 50 protesters on the streets of Chad’s capital N’Djamena and other cities and towns. Demonstrators had taken to the streets in anger at an exten...
28 Okt 202251min
Can a New UN Envoy Help Resolve Libya’s Political Crisis?
Clashes between rival factions rocked Libyan capital Tripoli over the summer. The fighting pit forces loyal to UN-backed Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba against supporters of Fathi Bashagha, who las...
21 Okt 202248min
An Escalatory Spiral in Ukraine?
The war in Ukraine took another nasty turn this week. Last Saturday, a blast destroyed parts of the Kerch bridge, which links Russian-occupied Crimea with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin blam...
14 Okt 202248min
Coup in Burkina, Russia in Mali and a New Chapter in the Sahel?
On 30 September, a group of young army captains, led by Ibrahim Traoré, seized power in Burkina Faso. They ousted Interim President Paul-Henri Damiba, who himself had come to power in a coup last Janu...
7 Okt 202245min
