This week we bring you a short insight from Israel, which is about to get a new Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu has been in this position since 2009, but now the opposition parties, regardless of the differences in their programs, came together to oust the  PM. 

Naftali Bennet, a far-right politician, is about to take his seat. A short insight into Bennet who is about to become the new PM of Israel - listen in this episode. If interested in learning more, be free to visit our website thepolinet.com and follow up the whole story.

Follow us for new updates and stories from Israel.

This week US President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. We talked about potential consequences and is there a place for optimism to achieve a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. Another conflict is grabbing international attention because of its importance for regional security and the global economy. The fights in the Mozambique region of Cabo Delgado between government forces and terrorists could include forces from the regional countries on the government's side if they support initiatives from South Africa. On the Venezuelan Colombian border, we have a refugee crisis because of armed fights between the Venezuelan government and Colombian gurrillas. Why now this conflict escalated, and what is the role of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

In this episode, we bring you the story of a country in South America, with great social inequality, which in the end fueled the protests that have started in late April. We are witnessing an excessive use of force from the Colombian government, but Colombians are still on the streets protesting. Our guest, Natalia Herrera, a human rights lawyer explains to us why. Natalia works at the legal corporation and she brings are on the field of information on how dire, in terms of the victims, is the situation. She tells us about the judiciary processes, media, and internet freedoms, and talks about various human rights violations. Moreover, she explains why the change is hard ad what are the obstacles. Still, she believes there is a perspective for a change.

Make sure to share the story on social media, so what is happening inside Colombia, can reach more people. That is a low-effort action that all can make, but that can mean a lot as a sign of support to those far away.

Visit thepolinet.com for more information or reach us via social media accounts @thepolinet

In our new episode we talk about Afghanistan, ongoing war, and American withdrawal. With Star and Stripes reporter J.P. Lawrence from Afghanistan, we discuss the historical context of war, different American's approach under four administrations, other sides in conflict, the Doha Deal, upcoming events, and epilogue of presence of US troops.

For today's episode, we came together with professors Marc Cogan, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, and we are going to discuss what is happening in Myanmar and in Thailand.

Both of these countries have the protests going right now, and the military in power. Protests in Thailand have started in February 2020, and the latest wave started this February. They are student-led protests, and they started exclusively on student campuses. What started as a demand for Prime Minister Prayut Chan o-cha to step down, now became a demand for constitutional reform and reform of monarchy. 

In Myanmar, military staged the coup and took the power from Aung San Suu Kyui and her party National League for Democracy. They won the election by the landslide, but the opposition said it was fraudalant. Protests erupted and the new military leader General Min Aung Hlang did everything to silence the protestors. Number of deaths is growing and the regime is becoming more and more brutal.

In today's episode we talked with Luca Nania about Israeli-Palestinian history, conflict, reconciliation and future. 

Luca Nania is an MA student in Protection of Human Rights at the University of Bologna (IT) and a PhD Candidate at the University of Sussex (UK). As a young researcher, he investigated various topics in the field of social anthropology, ethno-demography, institutional and corporate violence, as well as peace studies. For many years, he organised initiatives to raise awareness about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on the global scale. He is a huge supporter of gender equality, civil disobedience and nonviolent communication.  

We also talked about Palestinian and Israeli narratives about their conflict, Nakba, First and Second Intifada (Uprising against Israel), Israeli-Palestinian peace process and how the world sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's important to say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most controversial conflicts and if you have some comments/questions, we're open for discussion!

Serbia has one unique situation - Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has a child with her partner, but members of the LGBT+ community still cannot get married. Also, Serbia cannot enable its LGBT+ citizens to regulate the partnership, while recognizing same-sex marriages when it comes to foreign diplomats. So, in this episode we talked with Filip Vulović about the position of the LGBT+ community in Serbia (but also in WB region). 

Filip Vulović works in the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) and he is trying to improve the position of young people. Also, he worked at Pride Info Center where he was working on raising the visibility of the LGBT+ community. 

We talked about legislative framework and adoption of the Law on Same-Sex Unions, discrimination and problems of the LGBT+ community, as well as about the privileged position of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. 

On the first full day of the new administration in Washington and the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, we talk about foreign policy with a political science student from Columbia University.

The world is currently expecting great changes in US policy abroad. It is expected that the country will be more present on the world stage and in the international institutions, which were greatly abandoned during Trump's term in office.

The world is also watching how things between China and the USA will evolve, and how will Joe Biden approach the rising power of China. Did Covid - 19 decisively influence this relation, or would have these tensions happen nevertheless?

Will relations with Russia show signs of improvement or will Biden's plan to deal with Russia's influence in Europe, help it deteriorate even more?

We hope that your questions about US foreign policy get answered in this episode, but if not, you are welcomed to send us a message via our social media and we will be pleased to answer them.

In this episode, we talk with a German professor and political scientist about the upcoming post-Merkel era, the German parliamentary system, the upcoming CDU election, parliamentary election in September, and their consequences for Germany, European Union, and the Western Balkans EU integrations. Angela Merkel has been German chancellor since 2005 and announced that she will not be a candidate for that position this year. Also, her party Christian Democratic Union - CDU, will elect a new leader, after 18 years of her leadership, and short leadership of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer since 2018.  What to watch out for this year in Germany and the consequences of those events, find out in our new episode.