The World Stage

Ukraine is fighting for survival against Russia while its democracy faces a second battle at home. Ukrainians show extraordinary trust in the Armed Forces, family and civic networks—but far less in politicians, government and bureaucrats. Now, high-level corruption scandals, calls for wartime elections, roadblocks to EU accession and possible peace talks with Russia are raising a hard question: can the trust that has helped Ukraine survive the war be turned into a state people believe in?

In this episode, Jessica Hendrick welcomes Roman Petrov, honourable president of the Ukrainian European Studies Association, professor of EU law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and one of Ukraine’s leading experts on EU accession and EU-Ukraine relations working on the NUPI led RE-ENGAGE project; and Svitlana Zalishchuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Sweden and former civil-society activist, member of parliament and government adviser, now working at the centre of Ukraine’s wartime defence and European security partnerships. Roman warns that major decisions on peace could be challenged later if Ukraine’s elections remain suspended. Svitlana pushes back on the picture of low public trust, arguing that the war has actually increased trust in the state—just unevenly—and that public trust itself is part of Ukraine’s national defence capability.

RE-ENGAGE conducted nearly 600 interviews with Kyiv residents last year, at times even moving them into air-raid shelters as alarms sounded across the city. Drawing on the findings, Jessica, Roman and Svitlana discuss how a society can distrust the state so deeply and still defend democracy; what recent corruption scandals reveal about whether the system actually works; and if fast-tracking EU membership risks turning reform into a superficial “copy-paste” of European laws.
How is the far-right AfD’s historic landslide in eastern Germany viewed by those working on EU accession in Kyiv? Why might Ukraine now be better described as a contributor to European defence than a recipient of military aid? And what does Ukraine need to do differently to make its post-war vision last?

Further reading:
RE-ENGAGE research on Ukraine
RE-ENGAGE research on Eastern Europe
RE-ENGAGE policy recommendations on Eastern Europe

This podcast was recorded on September 9th 2026. It's the eight episode from the RE-ENGAGE podcast series The Neighbourhood, which unpacks how countries hoping to join the EU navigate political change and outside pressure, and what that means for Europe’s democracy and security. The podcast series is produced by ECFR, and co-published by ECFR and NUPI. The RE-ENGAGE project is led by NUPI, and is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101132314.
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What happens if your economy is suddenly in crisis, Brussels offers help with strings attached—and Turkey, China or Russia can move faster? What if your country delivers every reform the EU asks for, only for a member state to block the next step anyway? And after years of waiting, would voters still choose to join?

In this special bonus episode, The Neighbourhood goes live from Lisbon for an EU enlargement game. Jessica Hendrick brings together RE-ENGAGE experts representing six EU candidate countries and throws a series of fictional—but very plausible—political and economic shocks at them inspired by real headlines: Russia’s intensified attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, Ireland’s EU presidency push on enlargement, Iceland’s referendum, Germany’s regional elections and the upcoming 2026 Enlargement Package. Drawing on three years of surveys, interviews and crisis simulations, each expert has to answer for their country.
Playing for each country:

Albania: Morten Bøås, research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), representing RE-ENGAGE’s Albanian partners at the European University of Tirana
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Damir Kapidžić, director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Sarajevo
Georgia: Ketevan Bolkvadze, senior lecturer in the department of political science at Lund University, originally from Georgia
Moldova: Mathilde T. E. Giske, research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), representing RE-ENGAGE’s Moldovan partners at Moldova State University
Serbia: Luka Filipović, research associate at the Institute for Contemporary History in Serbia
Ukraine: Roman Petrov, president of the Ukrainian European Studies Association

The result is part enlargement simulation, part policy conversation and part game night. The experts bargain over a fictional €100 million EU cheque, decide whether the EU can compete with faster offers from other powers, test how easily disinformation could exploit frustration with enlargement, and imagine what would happen if EU membership was finally put to a public vote. Along the way, Serbia proposes keeping its relationship with Brussels “casual”, Bosnia finds a creative use for €100 million, and Ukraine calls for Hungarian “Varangians” when backsliding strikes.
When a crisis hits, does speed matter more than values? Can “Europe never wanted you anyway” become a winning political message? And if a country finally joins the EU, what stops democracy from sliding backwards once the prize of membership is secured?

Further reading:
RE-ENGAGE research overview
RE-ENGAGE research on Albania
RE-ENGAGE research on Bosnia and Herzegovina
RE-ENGAGE research on Georgia
RE-ENGAGE research on Moldova
RE-ENGAGE research on Serbia
RE-ENGAGE research on Ukraine

This podcast was recorded live in Lisbon on September 3rd, 2026. It's the seventh episode from the RE-ENGAGE podcast series The Neighbourhood, which unpacks how countries hoping to join the EU navigate political change and outside pressure, and what that means for Europe’s democracy and security. The podcast series is produced by ECFR, and co-published by ECFR and NUPI. The RE-ENGAGE project is led by NUPI, and is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101132314.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rules that have governed global trade for decades are now under more pressure than at any point since they were written. Tariffs are back as a frontline political weapon.

Major economies are pouring money into industrial policy. The WTO's dispute settlement mechanism has been effectively paralysed for years. And the assumption that deeper economic integration would produce political stability is being openly questioned by governments across the political spectrum. So how are governments and firms adapting to this world where trade is inseparable from geopolitics? What rules and dynamics are emerging from this period of disruption?

And what kind of global trade governance, if any, are we moving toward?

In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, NUPI Senior Reserch Fellow Taylor St John sits down with Arancha González, Dean of the Paris School of nternational Affairs at Sciences Po to discuss these questions.
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In this episode, Professor Deborah Welch Larson joins host Morten Skumsrud Andersen to discuss how the need for recognition and the fear of status loss affect international politics.

Drawing on decades of research, Larson starts with the mistrust that defined the Cold War, before examining how powers like China and Russia seek international status through emulation, competition, and social creativity.

The episode also explores a paradox of contemporary U.S. politics; whilst President Donald Trump aims to restore American greatness, his policies may undermine the foundations of U.S. international status. We examine the psychology of grievance and humiliation, and ask what it signals when a hegemon begins to retreat from the international order it helped create.
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Over the past decade, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has redrawn physical, economic, and political maps. From ports in the Indian Ocean to railways across Central Asia, the BRI has been described as the most ambitious infrastructure project in modern history. But ambition does not necessarily equate permanence, and scale does not guarantee influence.

How far can infrastructure take power and where are its limits? Is the Belt and Road Initiative a durable foundation for global influence, or have we begun to see the edges of its reach?

In this episode of The World Stage, Lunting Wu (NUPI) asks Carla Freeman (Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies) and Hidekazu Sakai (Kansai Gaida University) these questions.
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