Dr. Jessica Moody is a political risk, due diligence and peacebuilding consultant in West Africa. She conducts open source and on the ground research into political, economic and security developments in West Africa and provides timely forecasts as well as scenario planning to clients, enabling them to better plan their operations. She also provides detailed…
Written by Elisa Garbil – 10.11.2025 Across the dry savannahs that stretch from Mauritania to Chad, the Sahel stands as one of the world’s most fragile regions. A place where political instability, violent extremism, displacement, and climate stress are converging into a perfect storm. Once viewed mainly as a buffer between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil The Sahel stands at a crossroad, it is torn by crisis, instability, and shifting power. Join Dr. Jessica Moody and Dominic Bowen as they dive deep into the region’s unfolding humanitarian emergency. What does ECOWAS’s withdrawal mean for the people? How is Russian influence rewriting the rules? And why are jihadist groups gaining ground?…
Vjosa Musliu is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the VUB. Her research interests include international and European interventions, conflicts and international political economy. Her area of focus is primarily the Balkans and post-Soviet space. She is a co-editor of the Routledge Series of Studies in Intervention and Statebuilding and co-founder of Yugoslawomen+ Collective,…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil In this episode, Dominic Bowen hosts Vjosa Musliu to analyse the growing wave of protests and dissent across Serbia. Together, they examine the EU’s influence, the controversial lithium extraction agreement, and the role of media bias in shaping public opinion. From political repression to Serbia–Kosovo tensions, they trace how civil rights and democracy are…
Written by Elisa Garbil – 05.11.2025 Belgrade has been burning with frustration. What began as protests over corruption and governance failures has evolved into a broader reckoning with Serbia’s political direction, its democratic health, and its unresolved nationalist legacy. As thousands take to the streets demanding accountability and reform, the country faces a convergence of pressures: eroding…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil In this episode, Dominic Bowen is joined by César Muñoz Acebes to examine the deepening crisis in the Amazon. They unpack the role of organized crime in environmental destruction, the links to drug trafficking and illegal economies, and the devastating consequences for local communities and global stability. A critical look at how crime, politics,…
Written by Elisa Garbil – 31.10.2025 The Amazon is not simply a forest. It is a vast, transnational market in which criminal networks monetise land, timber, minerals, cattle, and people, and launder those proceeds into mainstream supply chains. This convergence of environmental crime, organised crime, and corporate procurement creates a composite risk that is far bigger than…
César Muñoz Acebes is the Brazil director at Human Rights Watch, where he supervises research, advocates for foreign and domestic policies that promote human rights, and leads fundraising efforts in Brazil. Before his current role, he served as America’s senior researcher and later associate director. In those capacities, he researched and wrote reports and articles, produced…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil The student-led protests in Serbia have been going on for months. Today we have Saša Dobrijević on the podcast to discuss: Saša Dobrijević is an international journalist and reporter based in Belgrade. He is a seasoned journalist with experience in Munich in Berlin and Luxembourg, with a beat across geopolitics, social movements, and…
