logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
29m 16s

Hot and cold wars: How Eurasia shaped th...

ECFR
About this episode

Hal Brands argues that, while American power is often seen as dominating the modern era, it is in fact part of a long and violent Eurasian century. From world war one to today's geopolitical tensions involving the US and the authoritarian axis of China, Iran and Russia, the Eurasian landmass has consistently shaped global conflict.


This week Mark Leonard welcomes Hal Brands, the Henry Kissinger distinguished professor at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, to discuss his new book, The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World. What inspired him to write it? How is the second Eurasian century, driven by the authoritarian axis of Russia, China, and Iran, emerging? And how does Donald Trump change the equation between liberal powers and the authoritarian Eurasian heartland?


Bookshelf:


The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World by Hal Brands


By More Than Providence by Michael J. Green

 

This podcast was recorded on 10 January 2025


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Mar 20
Europe, Trump and the war in Iran
Mark Leonard welcomes Piotr Buras, Carla Hobbs, Camille Lons, Jana Puglierin and Arturo Varvelli and to discuss how Europe is responding to the war in Iran.This week Mark Leonard records live from ECFR’s all-staff retreat in Sofia, bringing together colleagues from across the con ... Show More
21m 33s
Mar 13
War in the Middle East
This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Aziz Alghashian, senior non-resident fellow at the Gulf International Forum, Eran Etzion, former Israeli diplomat and deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council at the Pime Minister’s Office and Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy director of ECFR ... Show More
35m 34s
Mar 6
India in a world of chaos
This week Mark Leonard speaks to Raja Mohan, academic and foreign policy analyst, in a podcast episode recorded live from New Delhi during the Raisina Dialogue conference. Together they explore how India views the current global moment: from the resilience of US autonomy to the d ... Show More
37m 53s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
Analyzing Ukraine’s Attack on Russian Airbases With Former Admiral Stavridis
Today on the show, Fareed is joined by former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis to discuss Ukraine’s stunning attacks on Russian airbases. Next, Christopher Kirchhoff, a top military strategist, speaks with Fareed about the future of warfare, and how the US needs to a ... Show More
41m 14s
Sep 2024
Why We Should Be Worried About Iranian Nukes
Eric and Eliot pay homage to Daily Telegraph journalist and podcaster David Knowles who was the driving force behind the podcast, Ukraine: The Latest, on which Eliot has appeared several times. They also discuss the intensifying cooperation among Russia, China, Iran, and North Ko ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2024
The New Cold Wars: A Conversation with David Sanger
In this bonus episode, Jane Perlez sits down with New York Times national security and White House correspondent David Sanger. In this candid conversation, they talk about his new bestseller: New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the Wes ... Show More
53m 21s
Nov 2024
Trump and the Crisis of Liberalism
<p>Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election comes at a moment of turbulence for global democracy. It’s been a year marked by almost universal backlash against incumbent leaders by voters apparently eager to express their anger with the status quo—and also an ... Show More
35m 13s
Nov 2023
Charles S. Maier, "The Project-State and Its Rivals: A New History of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries" (Harvard UP, 2023)
We thought we knew the story of the twentieth century. For many in the West, after the two world conflicts and the long cold war, the verdict was clear: democratic values had prevailed over dictatorship. But if the twentieth century meant the triumph of liberalism, as many intell ... Show More
50m 49s
Jan 2025
Season 4, Episode 3: Prof. Glenn Diesen, The Ukraine War and the Eurasian World Order
Send a textJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist Glenn Diesen as they discuss Professor Diesen’s new book, The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order. Professor Diesen explains Europe’s fractured security framework which he believes has steered the continent toward ... Show More
58m 54s
Nov 2025
Xi Jinping’s World of Treachery and Sacrifice
<p>Last week’s meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping may have brought a respite in the trade war. But it hardly touched the more fundamental drivers of U.S.-Chinese rivalry, a rivalry that has come to shape more and more dimensions of geopolitics, the global economy, and be ... Show More
56m 45s