Matter File

In this episode, we look at the story of the heavily contested region of Nagorno Karabakh. Ms. Anush Ghavalyan served as the former advisor to the president of the national assembly of the Republic of Artsakh. With her help, we understand the conflict from the lens of the region that has faced the wrath of Azeri troops for decades and still managed to develop independently. We look

In our final episode of the year, we look at the international relations and economic landscape of the Republic of Armenia. The episode distills the reasons for Armenia's ties with its geographic neighbours and looks at the influence of Russia in the region. It further explores the economic history of the country through the 20th century and looks at the transition economy after in

In this episode, we take a closer look at how the relationship of Armenia with its neighbours shaped its present political state. We cover the horrifying numbers behind the Armenian genocide and the continuous partitioning of the state. We further examine the development of Armenian nationalism in an era where large populations of Armenians were forced to migrate due to oppressive

In this episode, we explore Poland's economy with the author of the book "Europe's Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland", Professor Marcin Piatkowski. We analyse Poland's economic transition post-communism in 1989 with the actions of Solidarity and Leszek Balcerowicz's Shock Therapy and trace the growth through the 21st century. We talk about the development o

We've hit 25 episodes and this one is an incredibly interesting interview on the insurgency in the south of Thailand! Mr. Shintaro Hara is an analyst and a translator who lives in Patani and has been interacting with people and communities that are affected daily by the insurgency in Thailand. The conversation talks about the concerns of individuals who inhabit the region and the i

In this episode, we speak with Ms. Elana DeLozier on the incentives and roles of various actors involved in the Yemeni Conflict. The conversation follows on from her publication of the Yemen Matrix (https://yemen-matrix.washingtoninstitute.org/) which plots the bilateral ties between 12 key actors in the current geopolitical state of Yemen. We cover not only the Houthi movement, Ha

In the first of three episodes on Armenia, we take a look at the ancient and medieval history of the Armenian plateau. The episode covers Stone and Iron age cultures on the plateau and the early regional influences of Persia and Rome. It introduces a millennia-old conflict between Persia and Byzantium which converged on Armenian solid and how that conflict evolved to one between Tu

In this episode, we speak with Mr. Subhash Ghimire, the editor in chief of the daily newspaper Republica Nepal. The conversation covers the political dissatisfaction with the current Oli government in Nepal and their response to the pandemic. It looks at the freedom of the press in Nepal and why Nepal's private news media companies play a vital role in preserving Nepali democracy o

In this episode, we speak with the management consultant Mr. Zaid Basha. Zaid has authored several papers and been on projects that explore the mismanagement of Yemen's public infrastructure and look at Yemen's public policy reform. In our conversation, we talk about what caused the current famine in Yemen and what steps need to be taken to combat the terrible hunger that is being

In this episode, we speak with Ms Al-Deen who is a non-resident fellow at the Sana'a Centre for strategic studies on the evolution of the Houthi Movement in Yemen. We cover how the Houthi's have impacted the geopolitical state of Yemen today and what their control of Sana'a means for the state apparatus of Yemen. We cover the interaction of the Houthi's with other actors in the con