Exactly 10 years ago, on March 15th the Syrian war started and it is still going on, displacing half the population, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving ruins where once stood buildings of the first civilizations. This war is one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies of this time. It started on the wings of Arab Spring, with first protests taking place in early 2011. The demonstrations turned violent when President Bashar al- Assad sent his forces in order to crack down the democratic civil uprising. It started in the city of Deraa, with anti – government grafitti and few young boys, but it ended up being the bloody conflict which involved dozens of different foces, 2 great powers, few regional powers and some terrorist groups like ISIS and Hezbollah. The demonstrations turned into civil war, and then because of special geopolitical position Syria has, it turned into international mess. Currently, the state is mostly divided between central government of Assad, state of Rojava, and small part of the land held by opposition powers. In today’s episode we talked with International Relations Jahja Muhasilovic about this ongoing conflict in Syria, about ots actors, geopolitics of the region, and how it could end. If you have any questions or suggestions be free to contact us via Instagram or Twitter on @thepolinet

IWD

In this episode, we talked about conservatism in the United States with a philosophy student from North Carolina – Kate Cruz. She gave us an inside story of how is to be a woman in the South, the differences between conservatism and liberalism in everyday life, and her opinion on the future of that ideology in the United States. 

Serbia has one unique situation – Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has a child with her partner, but members of the LGBT+ community still cannot get married. Also, Serbia cannot enable its LGBT+ citizens to regulate the partnership, while recognizing same-sex marriages when it comes to foreign diplomats. So, in this episode we talked with Filip Vulović about the position of the LGBT+ community in Serbia (but also in WB region). 

Filip Vulović works in the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) and he is trying to improve the position of young people. Also, he worked at Pride Info Center where he was working on raising the visibility of the LGBT+ community. 

We talked about legislative framework and adoption of the Law on Same-Sex Unions, discrimination and problems of the LGBT+ community, as well as about the privileged position of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. 

In our new segment Happening Now we will discuss current world events like this war in Ethiopia. The conflict started on 4th of November 2020 in Tigray region. It has escalated on other part of the country, and neighboring countries like Eritrea, Somalia, Soudan and others, are affected and involved. The conflict is a serious humanitarian crisis, and the central figure is Ethiopian Prime Minister, or to world known as a Nobel Peace Prize Winner Abiy Ahmed. He camr to power after protests that drove away previous authoritarian government mostly controlled by Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Abiy’s policies are directed towards centralization of the country and reconciliation, and he did make serious enemies in short time. Now, his country is battling war, war crimes, journalists are calling for freeedom of speech and his promises for democracy in Ethiopia are falling short.

In today’s episode we talk about six Western Balkans countries and their path towards EU. Each of them is special and can be an episode of their own, but we aimed to provide a short summary of their successes as well as struggles on their accession in EU. We discussed their internal matters and if there is a will to comply with EU enlargement criteria. We also discussed current state of the Union and its willingness to accept new members.

In our today’s episode we are talking about The Gambia with our guest Thomas Dr Beule. We talked about economy, society, and democracy, and The Gambia’s changes in foreign policy. Thomas talked about hopes for The Gambia’s future, will democracy hold and what we can expect from elections this year. We went over former president Yahya Jammeh, and discussed the current one, Adama Barrow. We also went over some history facts and some interesting things to know about this small African country.

This episode was recorded in Serbian (BHS). For translation reach to us on our social media. U ovoj epizodi sa Ilmom Čosić govorili smo o raznim temama iz domena feminizma i iz perspektive religije. Rodno zasnovano nasilje i rodno senzitivni jezim su samo neke od njih.

On the first full day of the new administration in Washington and the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, we talk about foreign policy with a political science student from Columbia University.

The world is currently expecting great changes in US policy abroad. It is expected that the country will be more present on the world stage and in the international institutions, which were greatly abandoned during Trump’s term in office.

The world is also watching how things between China and the USA will evolve, and how will Joe Biden approach the rising power of China. Did Covid – 19 decisively influence this relation, or would have these tensions happen nevertheless?

Will relations with Russia show signs of improvement or will Biden’s plan to deal with Russia’s influence in Europe, help it deteriorate even more?

We hope that your questions about US foreign policy get answered in this episode, but if not, you are welcomed to send us a message via our social media and we will be pleased to answer them.

In this episode, we talk with a German professor and political scientist about the upcoming post-Merkel era, the German parliamentary system, the upcoming CDU election, parliamentary election in September, and their consequences for Germany, European Union, and the Western Balkans EU integrations.

Angela Merkel has been German chancellor since 2005 and announced that she will not be a candidate for that position this year. Also, her party Christian Democratic Union – CDU, will elect a new leader, after 18 years of her leadership, and short leadership of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer since 2018. 

What to watch out for this year in Germany and the consequences of those events, find out in our new episode.