Diplomacy and International Relations

This episode is about Danish-Nepali relations, and also about why a small state reassonably can maintain an embassy in a country like Denmark. Listen along and if you like what you hear, please follow the podcast and also check out my Substack or Instagram (IQulture Talking) for more content.

In this episode we take a closer look at the relationship between the Philippines and Denmark. Please follow on Substack and Instagram.

Listen to this episode about the relationship between Denmark and Pakistan. From the pakistani diaspora in Denmark to windmills and energy. Follow me on Substack and Instagram for more content.

The current race and election of the new UN Secretary.-General is happening in a vacuum. Few people outside IR circles even know that it is going on, that the world is about to get a new top-diplomat. Listen to learn more and follow me on Substack and Instagram for more content.

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti has explicitly sanctified the campaign against the Houthis as an "act of devotion," days after Riyadh, Islamabad and Ankara mobilized under their new Mecca/Makkah mutual-defense pact. This is a genuinely under-covered angle: a modern, technocratic Gulf state reaching for classical religious legitimation language exactly when it needs Pakistani and Turkish publics — not just their governments — to accept the costs of a wider war. For more content please follow on Substack and Instagram.

Danish officials are calling this a diplomatic success, not a retreat and the signed text backs them up more than the "permanent US control" headlines suggested: no annexation, sovereignty and Greenlandic self-determination explicitly preserved, environmental and traditional-livelihood protections written in (inherited from the 2004 Igaliku Agreement, now strengthened), and for the first time Washington has put its name to a formal, if NATO-gated, path to Greenlandic independence. The episode argues Denmark got the substance of what Trump was threatening to take by force, without the coercion, and asks what that says about the real balance of leverage between a small, alliance-embedded state and an erratic superpower. If you like the content, please follow on Substack and Instagram.

A new Vatican document, "A Journey of Hope," marks 60 years of Catholic-Jewish dialogue since Nostra Aetate — and admits, in careful diplomatic language, that the war in Gaza has strained that relationship more than anything since 1965. Meanwhile Gaza's only Catholic parish just reopened its school for 1,000 children with no desks. Please follow me on Instagram or Substack for more content.

Religion is being used as a tool in geopolitics, and have since 9/11 25 years ago. Listen in and subsribe. If you like what you hear please follow on Substack or Instagram.

Trump has doubled down on acquiring Greenland, NATO's Rutte has conceded he "has a point" on Arctic security, and a Greenlandic self-government report on independence alternatives is due by year's end. This episode goes beyond the headlines into what sovereignty actually means when a great power treats a NATO ally's territory as a bargaining chip.If you like what you hear please follow me on Substack and Instagram for more content.

In this episode I have found sources about the visit by the Vatican's foreign minister to Moscow. Talks circled around Ukraine. At the same time high level officials from CIA was in town. Listen in and get a grip on what is going on. Can the Church move the negotiations in a way that the US and EU haven't been able to? If you like what you hear, please visit Substack for more content and follow me on Instagram.

When 140 ships vanished from the Strait of Hormuz within days, it wasn't warfare that shut the route down — it was the insurance market. This episode traces the collapse of the Islamabad memorandum between the US and Iran, the asymmetric American escalation that followed, and how Iran has since stood up its own governing body, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, charging tolls of up to $2 million per transit — settled in Chinese yuan to sidestep US sanctions. We examine Oman's role as broker between Tehran and Washington, the parallels to Danish mediation diplomacy during the Oslo process, and the legal questions UNCLOS raises when a strait starts behaving like a border. Is this the birth of a new regional security order, or the first sign of a privatized ocean? More content on Substack and Instagram.

Millions of people in Bamako are living without power, without fuel, without open roads out of the city. A coalition of insurgents has encircled Mali's capital and is strangling it economically — and almost no one in Western media is reporting it. In this episode we trace how a rural insurgency in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger became a full-blown urban siege; why the region's military juntas tore up their alliance with France and the West and replaced it with Russia's Africa Corps; and why that trade has produced more civilian deaths at the hands of the state than at the hands of the jihadists it was hired to fight. We also ask a harder question: why does this war — nearly 10,000 dead in a year — barely register in the outlets that decide what counts as news? This is the war nobody is talking about. It's time someone did. More content on Substack and Instagram.

In this episode, we analyse the tensing geopolitical situation over Greenland. We do a review of the American demand for control, the threats of punitive tariffs against European allies, and Denmark’s military response. Hear about the build-up of the Danish defense, the deployment of conscripts as a strategic ‘stumbling block’ and the EU’s countermeasures. Finally, we take a look at the complicated agreement from Davos and ask: What does this crisis mean for Greenland’s sovereignty and future NATO cooperation?

Listen in as we go another route than most coverage of the Hormuz crisis and the Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi defence pact treats it as pure realpolitik. But Shia-Sunni dynamics, Iran's revolutionary-Islamic self-conception, and the religious legitimacy stakes for Gulf monarchies are doing real work underneath the "interests" language. That is what we will look at now. If you like this content please follow on Substack and Instagram.

Listen to this episode where I look at how Denmark is hitting NATO's 2% target three years early, has troops in Latvia, and is funnelling billions into Ukraine and all of it under a foreign policy strategy explicitly branded "pragmatic idealism." If you like what you here please follow on Substack and Instagram (IQulture Talking).

Listen to this episode on Greenland, US and the religious current underneath it all. When Donald Trump promises that Greenland will be “under US control” before his term ends, the story is usually told as one about minerals, military bases, and raw geopolitics. This episode asks whether it is really about something far more sacred: competing religions of sovereignty. We unfold three narratives: Greenland’s long struggle for self‑government and the right to independence under the Self‑Government Act. Denmark’s guilt‑ and responsibility‑driven insistence that “Greenland is not for sale” and that only Greenlanders can decide the island’s future. And an American frontier mythology that treats territory as destiny, casting the Arctic as yet another frontier for national salvation. Along the way, we look at how conscription, military exercises, and bases are used as symbolic rituals of statehood – not just as instruments of deterrence. This isn’t a real‑estate deal; it’s a clash between sacred stories about who…

How does ancient history and religion influence a modern nuclear deal? Listen

This episode looks at tariffs and how a lot of diplomatic theatre is happening right now. Focus on Greenland.

Listen as we take a closer look at Climate Diplomacy and how to understand Climate in relation to global politics. If you like what you hear and want to support this independent podcast, please visit https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture and follow and subscribe, you will also get access to more content.

In this episode we take a closer look at how the Saudi nuclear deal is now formally conditioned on joining the Abraham Accords, which is a religious-symbolic act as much as a strategic one. Meanwhile Pope Leo warns against unilateral moves violating "the status quo of the holy sites." Religion is having a come-back in international relations and global politics. Follow IQulture Talking on Instagram for more content.

Listen to this final episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where we reflect on IR's lessons for navigating Denmark's changing global role. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Everyone covers the Trump–Frederiksen soundbites. Almost no one covers that the European Commission just proposed doubling support for Greenland in the 2028–2034 budget, and that Commissioner Síkela was in Nuuk updating the EU Arctic strategy. The real Greenland story is a quiet bidding war in budget lines, not sale rumors. Follow IQulture Talking on Instagram for more content.

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where declining US hegemony reshapes NATO, EU, and Danish security strategy. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

In this episode we look at the Rubio–Lavrov talks in Manila that lasted barely 35 minutes with no framework, while in the meantime the real action happened in the Senate gallery with Zelensky watching a sanctions vote. It is an episode on what diplomatic rituals mean when everyone knows they're empty — and where leverage has actually migrated (sanctions law, Patriot co-production deals, jamming technology). Follow IQulture Talking in Instagram for more content.

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where food security reveals the surprisingly political world of global agriculture. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where climate negotiations test the limits of international cooperation. If you want support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where we unpack terrorist networks, radicalisation, and Denmark's security response. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where protests, elections, and populism challenge elite foreign policymaking. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where internet governance and cyber threats reshape power and security. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where Responsibility to Protect confronts sovereignty in intervention dilemmas. If you want support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where aid, trade, and inequality politics explain why poverty persists despite globalgrowth. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where faith and identity return as powerful forces in modern diplomacy and conflict. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where trade, corporations, and crises reveal the economic forces driving internationalpolitics. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where NGOs and activists challenge governments and shape global norms from the outside. If you want support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

A tiny island of just over 56,000 people has quietly become the most strategically contested territory in the Northern Hemisphere. In this bonus episode we map out why the United States, China, and Russia are suddenly tripping over themselves to reach Greenland — starting with the cold logic of the map. We trace the GIUK gap and the radar perched at the top of the world, then descend beneath the melting ice to the real prize: rare earth elements, the building blocks of every EV motor, wind turbine, and F-35. From there the story turns into something stranger than geopolitics — a single radioactive mountain above a town of sheep farmers, a democratic earthquake that killed a multi-billion-dollar mine, and an $11.5 billion lawsuit, bankrolled by Wall Street litigation financiers, that now hangs over the island's dream of independence. It's a briefing that connects the EV in your driveway, the fighter jets overhead, and the question that may define our generation: can we save the planet without destroying the…

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where UN, EU, NATO both constrain states and create new diplomatic opportunities. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where sovereignty, treaties, and the Lotus case reveal what makes (and breaks)international law. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

What happens when states stop treating religion as background noise and start using it as foreign policy infrastructure? In this episode, Bastian breaks down four case studies — Morocco, Russia, the United States, and Nigeria — where theology isn't just decorating the statecraft, it is the statecraft. The rational calculus of traditional diplomacy doesn't survive contact with a divine mandate. f this episode made you think differently about what's actually driving the headlines, the best thing you can do is tell someone. Share it with a colleague who still thinks religion is just a cultural footnote in IR. Support on Patreon — patreon.com/iqulture Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Rate & review — it genuinely helps new listeners find us Follow for updates on new episodes and Danish political developments

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where realism, liberalism, and critical theories explain world events and Danishforeign policy choices. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where we unpack states, organizations, corporations, and individuals and their role on the global stage. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthlybriefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where we explore the US-Iran hostage crisis to nuclear deal, revealing how diplomatsmaintain the "long peace." If you want to support the podcast, please go toPatreon and subscribe for weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast. Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations summer series where we trace how empires, wars, and state formation created today's international system — and Denmark's place within it. If you want to support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthlybriefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Listen to this first episode of the summer series that will take the listener through the basics of International Relations. Relevant for students and practitioners alike. If you wantto support the podcast, please go to Patreon and subscribe for weekly and monthlybriefings on Danish politics, and access to bonus episodes of the podcast.Follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Plato’s political failures, ethical insights, and critique of democracy still shape how we think about power, war, and justice today. In this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations, we revisit Plato’s Seventh Letter, his doubts about democracy and written words, and the evolution of just war theory through Christian thought to ask what his legacy means for modern diplomacy and global conflict. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting on Patreon, where you will also gain access to weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics. https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture

Listen to this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations if you are interested in how the algorithms of Big Tech and AI influence how we see the world and thereby Statecraft. Also, follow on Patreon where you can gain access to briefings and insights from Danish politics. https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

In today’s political landscape, decision-making is no longer confined to elected officials alone. A powerful, professionalized class of consultants and lobbyists now operates behind the scenes, using advanced data analytics, psychological insights, and strategic communication to shape both policy and electoral outcomes. In this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations, we explore how political consulting has evolved into a multi-billion dollar global industry, and the tensions this creates between winning elections and sustaining democratic integrity. As we move into 2025, the growing use of artificial intelligence in voter micro-targeting, alongside the expanding influence of “dark money,” raises urgent questions about transparency, accountability, and public trust in democratic systems. If you like what you hear and want to support this podcast, you can follow and subscribe on Patreon and gain access to more episodes and weekly and monthly briefings on Danish politics.…

This episode will take a look at Danish Foreign Policy and how it has changed in recent years. Listen if foreign policy interest you and you want to hear how it can change due to circumstances. Also, get this episode and much more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Denmark is small, but in EU climate policy it’s a heavyweight. In this episode of “Diplomacy and International Relations,” we unpack how the 2012 Danish EU Presidency used a smart toolbox of coalitions, technical expertise and non‑state actors to shape the Energy Efficiency Directive—and how today’s ambitious climate goals and public‑private partnerships make Denmark a green front‑runner setting standards far beyond its borders. https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

In this episode of Diplomacy and International Relations we take a look at Climate politics and its consequences. Listen along. If you like what you hear and want briefings on Danish Politics, please follow me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/iqulture/

Denmark stands at a crossroads: a small, high-tech economy riding a pharmaceutical boom, yet increasingly aware of how dependent it has become on a few winners like Novo Nordisk. At the same time, long-run trade data suggest that export patterns are surprisingly sticky, changing only slowly even as governments talk about diversification and resilience. In this episode, we unpack new insights from a 2025 report by the Embassy of Switzerland and an academic study from Aalborg University on export specialization across OECD countries. We explore how Denmark’s recent growth has been powered by its pharma sector, why looming labor shortages and overreliance on a single industry giant pose strategic risks, and what “path dependence” really means for a small open economy. We also look at the subtle global trend toward de-specialization, where countries gradually broaden their trade profiles instead of betting everything on a few sectors. Finally, we zoom in on the evolving economic relationship between Denmark and…