Future Discontinuous

Making sense of the current geopolitical moment is no easy undertaking. In the third episode of Future Discontinuous, hosts Misha Glenny and Eva Konzett invite prolific author, historian, and Russia expert Mark Galeotti on the podcast. Together with their guest, they try to illuminate the murky waters of Russia’s foreign policy, the repercussions of the power shifts in the Middle East on Putin’s strategy, and the broader security implications of Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership.Mark Galeotti is the director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence and an Honorary Professor at University College London. A specialist in Russian politics and security, he has worked for the British Foreign Office, headed the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, and studied at Cambridge University and the LSE. A prolific author, he has some 30 books to his credit, most recently Forged in War: A Military History of Russia from its Beginnings to Today (Osprey Bloomsbury, 2024).

In the second episode of Future Discontinuous, hosts Misha Glenny and Eva Konzett are joined by historian Nils Gilman, COO of the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles. Together with their guest, they take a deep dive into the national, the global, and the planetary, and discuss how the outbreak of the Black Death in the 1300s differed from COVID-19, whether a world state could work, and what kind of institutions we need to tackle humanity’s many predicaments in the 21st century. Nils Gilman is a historian and currently the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of the Berggruen Institute, an LA-based think tank developing ideas to shape future institutions. He is the author of Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America (2004), Deviant Globalization: Black Market Economy in the 21st Century (2011), and, most recently, Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises (2024).

In the first episode of Future Discontinuous, hosts Misha Glenny (IWM) and Eva Konzett (FALTER) welcome international relations scholar and Harvard Professor Stephen Walt. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss the US elections and their implications for the international stage. Against the backdrop of heightened global tensions, what does the second presidency of Donald Trump mean for trade relations with China, Europe’s engagement in Ukraine, and the deepening conflict in the Middle East? Listen in as Walt gives his take on this time of monsters, as Antonio Gramsci has famously termed the moment when the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born.Stephen Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. Walt is a columnist for Foreign Policy magazine, commenting regularly on global affairs. His most recent book is The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy (2018). From September to December 2024, he is a Guest of the Institute at the IWM Vienna.

Feeling lost in a crumbling world? In Future Discontinuous, hosts Misha Glenny and Eva Konzett explore global challenges with top thinkers. From climate tech to geopolitics, they seek answers to whether humanity can reverse decline or face conflict. Join them to navigate uncharted waters with hope.Our hosts Misha Glenny is the Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences and one of the BBC’s most distinguished correspondents, as well as the presenter of the highly-praised podcast How to Invent a Country. Eva Konzett is a renowned editor and reporter for Vienna’s leading news magazine, Falter. Future Discontinuous: Smart Talk with Smart People is a co-production of FALTER and the IWM Vienna.