47. Arne Dalhaug and Wolfgang Sporrer - On the War in Ukraine

This episode was recorded at 1000h CET on 27 Feb 2022. 

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Today, I spoke with Arne Dalhaug and Wolfgang Sporrer, both of whom I recently interviewed independently about the crisis in Ukraine (links with longer bios below). Arne is a retired three-star Norwegian Army officer, who also served as a senior officer in NATO and, more-recently, as a senior leader at the OSCE in Ukraine. Wolfgang is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Hertie School in Berlin and was recently the head of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE in Ukraine.

They join me today to discuss the invasion, current crisis and possible future outcomes. Some of the topics we covered are:

• Reason behind Putin’s ultimate invasion
• Influence and importance of social media
• Narrative control in Russia
• Zelenskyy and his communication skills
• Russian military and its failures to date
• Impact of sanctions and financial measures
• Energy sector and Nord Stream 2 
• China’s orientation towards the invasion and Russia
• Other strategic tensions influencing the current situation
• Putin’s options from here

You can find more-extensive biographies of both guest in our previous discussions below: 

Special Release: Lieutenant General (Ret.) Arne Bård Dalhaug: On the current Russia/Ukraine crisis

Special Release: Wolfgang Sporrer - Providing nuance to the crisis in Ukraine

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