Enemy Encounters

Turkish Islamists and “the West”

In this episode Dr. Uri Rosenberg grants us a sneak peek into his forthcoming book "If you can’t beat them, join them': Millî Görüş’s view of 'the West' from entering Turkish politics until reaching power." In his conversation with Dr. Fabian Baumann, Rosenberg traces the shifting attitudes of the Turkish nationalist and Islamist movement Millî Görüş vis-à-vis "the West." From castigating the West's supposed cultural degeneracy to admiring its industrial prowess and welcoming its protection under NATO, Millî Görüş's relation towards its professed enemy is full of ambivalences. How did Millî Görüş establish itself in the Turkish political scene? To what extent did it influence Erdoğan's AKP party? Did its ongoing entanglement with western political culture foster a gradual integration or a deepened animosity? Listen in!

US Intervention in Venezuela

In our tenth episode, Professor Sebastian Harnisch, Principal Investigator at the RTG 'Ambivalent Enmities' and Professor of International Relations and Foreign Policy at the University of Heidelberg, discusses the exfiltration of Nicolás Maduro by US armed forces. During his conversation with Dr Barend Noordam, Prof Harnisch contextualises the US intervention in Venezuela within the broader scope of US foreign policy under Trump, analysing its significance in the context of geopolitical power struggles and competing national interests. How does Trumpian transactionalism shape US power projection? Does the intervention imply tacit acceptance of a division of the world into spheres of influence? What kind of political arrangement might emerge in Venezuela following Maduro's removal? Tune in to find out!

Women in the Partition of India

In the first episode of 2026, we welcome Urvashi Butalia, a feminist writer, historian, and Mercator Fellow at the RTG 'Ambivalent Enmity' to discuss the oral history of the Partition of India in 1947 and its violent impact on women's lives. During her conversation with Dr Fabian Baumann, she delves into the genesis and key findings of her seminal work, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India (1998). Starting from her own family history, Butalia uncovered memories of sexual violence, abduction, and expulsion that had been suppressed by societal stigma and nationalist narratives in both India and Pakistan. How did violence erupt between Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab? And why did women come to symbolise national purity, making them targets of sexual violence at the hands of male nationalists? Did familial ties survive the separation of states? Listen in!

The Judeo-Bolshevik Myth

In this episode, Professor Paul Hanebrink of Rutgers University unpacks the history of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth and its echoes in today's political discourse. In conversation with our very own Dr Fabian Baumann, he traces the myth's "fungal" proliferation across interwar Europe, sheds light on its evolving uses and invocations, and examines its Cold War legacy. What constitutes this 'racial theory of communism'? And why did the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism stimulate the imaginations of Central and Western Europeans so powerfully? Do we still see traces of it in contemporary politics? Tune in to find out!

US Military Intelligence on China

In our latest episode, Dr. Sara Castro, instructor at the US National Space Security Institute,  discloses the inner workings of US military intelligence. In her wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Barend Noordam, she discusses its emergence as a distinct field, her own career path from academia to intelligence and back, as well as her recent book "Mission to Mao: US Intelligence and the Chinese Communists in World War II" (Georgetown University Press, 2024). What are points of tension between the state and intelligence agencies? Did prolonged contact with Chinese communists test the loyalty of US intelligence officers? And how can historical knowledge be useful for spies in space? Listen in!