Shows
The Second Cold War ObservatoryCatching the China-Europe Express: Logistics, Local Agency & Eurasian Geopolitics in the Polish BorderlandsIn this episode, we focus on the often-overlooked geographies of Eurasian connectivity with Dr. Wojciech Kębłowski, whose research brings attention to the Polish border towns of Małaszewicze and Narevka, key yet rarely discussed nodes in global infrastructure networks. As Eurasia undergoes a dramatic reconfiguration—with initiatives like China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, and numerous regional projects vying for influence—we discuss what happens at the edges. How are logistics nodes developed? Who lives in these nodes of connection, and how do they navigate the shifting tides of global ambition?
Our conver...2025-05-0458 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryCotton, Central Asia and the New Great GameOn this episode, rural sociologist Dr. Irna Hofman explores how Tajikistan’s cotton fields illuminate shifting power dynamics in Central Asia, historically and in the present. She discusses how the Soviet Union once showcased cotton production to visiting delegations—particularly from Muslim-majority countries—as evidence of its development model. Now, as global powers, including Russia, China, and the EU, vie for influence in the region, cotton has again become a strategic commodity—used to forge political ties, secure resources, and drive infrastructure projects. Hofman highlights local communities’ active role in shaping these developments, emphasizing that rural landscapes are not simply bac...2025-03-1046 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryWhy Can’t the US Compete with China in Infrastructure?In this episode, Dr. Shahar Hameiri and Dr. Lee Jones discuss the political economy and financing behind global infrastructure development, with a focus on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The discussion explores the driving forces behind Chinese infrastructure investment, while addressing the crucial question of why American and European initiatives such as Global Gateway and the Program for Global Infrastructure and Investment struggle to compete with the BRI. We discuss dynamics of public and private finance, the role of public-private partnerships, and the challenges private investors face. Importantly, this episode reveals the U.S. Development Finance Corporation’s in...2024-11-0748 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryIndia Rising: Navigating the Second Cold War in South Asia from Nepal to the MaldivesWhat is the role of India in the Second Cold War (SCW) in South Asia? How do local histories, internal politics, and subnational dynamics shape relations with India and China? How does connectivity and infrastructure become a tool for geopolitical competition in the region, from China’s BRI to India’s infrastructural collaboration, and the US’s Millennium Challenges Corporation? On this episode we sit down with Dr. Dinesh Paudel and Aaron Magunna to answer these questions and discuss how it unfolds through cases in the Maldives and Nepal. A wide-ranging conversation, we learn about a rising India, India-China tensio...2024-10-2357 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryIndustrial Policy and Energy Transition amidst Geoeconomic Restructuring: Perspectives from Eastern EuropeThis episode features scholars who research East European countries situated on geopolitical border zones and characterized by long-term external economic dependence. Current geopolitical tensions and geoeconomic restructuring are rapidly transforming the maneuver space of local regimes. What do these positions tell us about third-country maneuvering and its limits in the current global context? How are these positions transformed in the context of global industrial restructuring? And what theoretical considerations do they highlight as necessary to grasp the potential impacts of geoeconomic transformation? To answer these questions, we are joined by several guests:
David Karas proposes a r...2024-06-281h 06The Second Cold War ObservatoryUS-Soviet Scientific Cooperation & Implications for Environmental Politics Today with Dr. Vladimir JankovicIn this episode, we look to history to consider areas of potential areas for US-China environmental politics and cooperation today. Dr. Vladimir Jankovic discussed US-Soviet scientific cooperation in the 1980s, early climate cooperation, and the 1989 Sundance Symposium on Global Climate Change dubbed ''greenhouse glasnost'' by its sponsors. What are the legacies of this conference and partnership, and how did they move the needle on our understanding of climate change? What happened after the collapse of the USSR? What were the lasting impacts on the scientific field, and what might be the implications for climate and environmental (geo)politics today?2024-03-0242 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryAfrica and the Second Cold War: Infrastructure, Corridors, and Critical Minerals with Dr. Tim ZajontzIn this episode, we sit down with Dr. Tim Zajontz to discuss growing geopolitical and geoeconomic competition across infrastructure, economic corridors, and resource extraction in Africa, specifically Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Dr. Zajontz is a Lecturer in Global Political Economy at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His research focuses on Africa’s international relations and political economy, particularly Africa-China and Africa-EU relations. Before joining academia, Tim worked in several advisory positions in German and EU politics. He is...2023-10-021h 08The Second Cold War ObservatoryExtractivist Projects and Environmental Justice Struggles on the Polar Silk Road with Dr. Ksenija HanačekIn this episode, we talk with Dr. Ksenija Hanaček about her research on the Polar Silk Road and extractivism and environmental conflicts in the Arctic region. Dr. Hanaček is a political ecologist and a Margarita Salas postdoctoral fellow at Global Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki and at Institute for Science, Technology and Environment Global (ICTA), at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she is working on the Atlas of Environmental Justice. Her research focuses on environmental conflicts due to extractivist and mega infrastructure projects in the Arctic region. Current research includes commodity frontiers, cl...2023-06-2734 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryTechnological Competition in Argentina: Nuclear Energy and Smart Cities, with Dr. Maximiliano Vila SeoaneThis episode centers on competition in two technology sectors in Argentina: nuclear energy and smart cities. While they may seem like disparate sectors, Dr. Maximiliano Vila Seoane shows how both illustrate the interest of Argentine state actors in cooperating with Chinese counterparts in science & technology, specifically in areas that used to be dominated by US or Western partners. He offers a nuanced and localized understanding of how competition in these sectors is unfolding in various provinces and cities in Argentina. Dr. Maximiliano Vila Seoane is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina. He...2023-05-2246 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryThe Micro-Geopolitics of Kenya's Digital Renaissance with Andrea PollioIn this episode, we talk with Dr. Andrea Polio about his research on Chinese technology companies in Nairobi, Kenya, and how African cities have emerged as proxy arenas where different modes of international relations are given effect through the development of infrastructure. He discusses how African cities are crucial actors and sites of the geopolitics of digital infrastructure, which will increasingly be one of the key geopolitical arenas of the 21st century as the US, China, and the EU compete for global influence with new programs of development finance. In a related paper, Dr. Pollio argues that urban areas a...2023-04-2042 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryDebt & Development Finance in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape with Nick JepsonIn this episode, Seth and Jess are joined by fellow Second Cold War Observatory research associate and professor Nick Jepson. The conversation explores debt in the context of China-US rivalry while considering the nature of the current crisis/impasse and how we arrive here. It then turns to cases in Sri Lanka and Laos to explain the drivers of national debt and join many others who have debunked 'debt trap diplomacy. Nick concludes with thoughts on the border global financial system, where it might be heading, and how this looks in a world-historical context.Dr. Nick Jepson i...2023-03-0850 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryThe Geopolitics of Renewable Energy and Resource Extraction in Argentina with Marcelo SaguierA conversation with Marcelo Saguier (Director of the Area of International Studies, National University of San Martín) on the relationship between domestic politics and geopolitics surrounding resource extraction in Argentina. Argentina is a leading producer in the minerals and petroleum sectors. With the global energy transition, countries have ramped up investment in renewable energy sources, particularly the critical minerals used in Lithium batteries. In this episode, Saguier explores the mining–development nexus in Argentina. As both Chinese and American firms increase engagement in resource extraction, Saguier suggests that Argentina will not be forced to choose between the two but...2023-02-0234 min
Demos Helsinki PodcastState Platform Capitalism with Steve Rolf Podcast: The Second Cold War ObservatoryEpisode: State Platform Capitalism with Steve RolfPub date: 2023-01-12Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationIn this episode with Dr. Steve Rolf, we explore the deepening connections between states and platforms in the two heartlands of the digital economy, China and the US.In a recent paper, Steve Rolf and Seth Schindler develop the notion of State Platform Capitalism (SPC) as an emergent logic of competition for both states and firms, in which platforms are in...2023-01-1849 minThe Second Cold War ObservatoryState Platform Capitalism with Steve RolfIn this episode with Dr. Steve Rolf, we explore the deepening connections between states and platforms in the two heartlands of the digital economy, China and the US.In a recent paper, Steve Rolf and Seth Schindler develop the notion of State Platform Capitalism (SPC) as an emergent logic of competition for both states and firms, in which platforms are increasingly mobilized by the US and Chinese states as geopolitical-economic agents. Far from simply undermining state authority in a zero-sum power struggle, they look at the ways in which Beijing and Washington instrumentalize domestic platform firms in...2023-01-1251 min