Egypt, which for so long has been a great referent in the Arab World, seems to be entering decline, politically and economically. Could its authoritarian military regime have something to do with this? In this new episode of our series on Democracy and Populism, we have the pleasure of welcoming Egypt expert Eberhard Kienle. We discuss the particularities of Egypt’s authoritarianism and its institutions, the role of the military, the legacy of the Arab Spring, as well as some prospects for Al-Sissi in the upcoming December elections.  Eberhard Kienle (https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/en/cerispire-user/20230/34887.html) is a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and a director of research at Sciences Po’s Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI). He focuses on state transformation, failed states and state varieties, political economy and sociology, and interstate relations in the Middle East.   Additional resource Eberhard Kienle. Egypt. A Fragile Power (https://www.routledge.com/Egypt-A-Fragile-Power/Kienle/p/book/9781138339170). Routledge, 2021 Eberhard Kienle. Why Have “Failed States” Failed to Disappear? (https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/fr/content/dossiersduceri/why-have-failed-states-failed-disap21f8.html?d17). Les Dossiers du CERI, 2021 Eberhard Kienle. Revisiting the State, Again (https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/fr/content/dossiersduceri/introduction-revisiting-state-again21f8.html?d17). Centre de recherches internationales. Les Dossiers du CERI Eberhard Kienle. A Grand Delusion. Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/grand-delusion-9780857713032/). Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001 Recorded on 4th October 2023 Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series., with the help of Blanca GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, Sciences Po Master student in Political Science. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

What encourages voters to support populist right parties? What has made Marine Le Pen’s discourse so powerful, especially with regards to its female vote share? What policies do radical right parties generally look for at the European Union level? Could support for the radical left and the radical right overlap? In this episode, Nonna Mayer, a specialist in radical ideologies and populism, answers these and many other questions regarding the rise of right-wing populism in France and Europe at large. Nonna Mayer is an emeritus researcher at France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). She is also a researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, and was president of the French Association of Political Science between 2005 and 2016. She focuses on the rise of the radical right in Europe and France, issues of antisemitism and racism, and the intercultural interplay between minorities and majority, and amongst minority groups.  Additional resources: Mayer, N. (2022). Undermining Democracy: Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour’s Populist Politics (https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/undermining-democracy-marine-le-pen-and-eric-zemmours-populist-politics). Institut Montaigne.    Durovic, A. & Mayer, N. (2022). Wind of change? The reconfiguration of gender gaps in the 2022 French presidential election. The reconfiguration of gender gaps in the 2022 French presidential election (https://www.cairn-int.info/journal-revue-francaise-de-science-politique-2022-4-page-463.htm). Revue française de science politique (72), p. 463-484.   Amengay, A., Durovic, A. & Mayer, N. (2017). The impact of gender on the Marine Le Pen vote (https://doi.org/10.3917/rfsp.676.1067). Revue française de science politique (67), p. 1067-1087.  Recorded on 15th September 2023 Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series, with the help of Blanca GONZALEZ MARTINEZ, Sciences Po Master student in Political Science. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it.

Social networks pose very complex challenges to governments. Those who want to sell news have become very good at creating clickbait on negative news, knowing that we are naturally more sensitive to this kind of news. Social media discourse also contributes to exaggerating minority positions. Even scientific knowledge, which is one of the factors informing good government policy, can be challenged that way, as we have seen during the pandemic. Even more worrying, social media has a feedback effect on traditional media and mainstream politicians are tempted to join in the populist drive. What can be done to counter this trend? Answers by Emiliano Grossman (https://www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etudes-europeennes/fr/chercheur/emiliano-grossman.html), a researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics. His research focuses on political  life  institutions in Europe and more specifically in France.  Additional resource Emiliano Grossman, Media and Policy Making in the Digital Age (https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-103422), Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 25, pp. 443-46 Recorded on 14th September 2023. Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

In this conversation, Alexander Etkind sets out the reasons why environmental challenges are largely ignored in Russia, by public authorities and more generally by society. If this is largely explained by the weight of fossil fuels in Russia's income, there are other factors to take into account, such as state ideology, education and demography. Alexander Etkind also presents his conception of the Anthropocene, based on the thinking of Bruno Latour on Gaia modernity. Alexander Etkind (https://people.ceu.edu/alexander_etkind), Professor of international relations at the Central European University. He has now launched a major project : “Politics of Anthropocene Interdisciplinary Hub”, jointly conducted by CEU and Sciences Po.  Additionnal ressources Russia Against Modernity (https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=russia-against-modernity--9781509556571), April 2023, Polity  Nature's Evil: A Cultural History of Natural Resources, Wiley, Oct. 2021    Recorded on 14 June 2023 Talk with Sergei is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène Naudet supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaelle Vergonjeanne. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it.  

The vulnerability of agriculture and energy production to water scarcity is not so new. Historically, this issue has been mainly addressed through the regulation of water sharing. A major problem today is that the water scarcity is worsening and that past solutions are not sufficient to resolve the problem. What are the new parameters to take into account? What public policies should be put in place? How can we adapt to the new hydrological conditions which promise to last for a long time? This is what Giacomo Parrinello, an environmental historian, devotes a large part of his research to. In this episode Giacomo Parrinello shares with us the results of his research. An assistant professor and researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre for History, Giacomo Parrinello is also a member of the European Society for Environmental History. For a long time, he has in particular investigated the history of the Mediterranean coast. Additional Resources (Open Access) Giacomo Parrinello - Times of Drought (https://histecon.fas.harvard.edu/climate-loss/po/index.html), Visualizing Climate and Loss, Center for History and Economics, Harvard University, 2022  Giacomo Parrinello, G. Mathias Kondolf -  The social life of sediment (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12685-021-00280-w). Water History, 2021 Giacomo Parrinello, Simone Bizzi and Nicola Surian - "The retreat of the delta: a geomorphological history of the Po river basin during the twentieth century (https://spire.sciencespo.fr/hdl:/2441/35ui6rdg8f9k1r46a1k9r57044)." Water History, 2021 Recorded on 9 June 2023 Talk with Sergei is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène Naudet supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaelle Vergonjeanne. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

The mobilisation of children for climate policies started in 2018, with Greta Thunberg benefiting from strong media coverage and social media.  After her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit, it became a concern at the level of international organisations. If children's rights were already a concern of UNICEF, the approach radically changed since international organizations had to consider young people as actors and no longer as simple victims. How did this process take place? What are its real consequences? This is what Anaelle reveals to us. Anaëlle Vergonjeanne, is a young researcher at the Sciences Po’s Centre for International Studies. She has dedicated her doctoral thesis ‘How dare you?’ : The United Nations and children's climate commitment » (in French). Additional Resources Anaëlle Vergonjeanne - Les enfants au chevet de la planète :  émergences d’une environnementalisation de l’enfance aux Nations Unies (https://www.cairn.info/annuaire-francais-de-relations--9782376510550-page-785.htm), Annuaire français de relations internationales, 2023, Éditions Panthéon-Assas. Recorded on 10 May 2023 Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

It’s a well-known fact that rich countries pollute more than poor countries. What is less taken in account is that it is within countries and especially inside emerging countries that inequalities in terms of pollution are increasingly significant. The middle classes, in India, China or Latin America, are beginning to pollute just as much as the western middle classes. What policies should be put in place to reverse the trend? Answers by Lucas Chancel (https://lucaschancel.com/en/), Associate Professor of Economics at Sciences Po's Center for Research on Social Inequalities (https://www.sciencespo.fr/osc/en/content/presentation-0.html)  and affilited to the Department of Economics. Lucas Chancel is also Co-Director of the World Inequality Lab (https://www.inequalitylab.world) at the Paris School of Economics and Senior advisor at the European Tax Observatory.   Additional Resources Lucas Chancel, Philipp, Bothe, Tancrède Voituriez -  Climate Inequality Report 2023 (https://wid.world/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CBV2023-ClimateInequalityReport-3.pdf), World Inequality Lab Study 2023 Lucas Chancel - Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00955-z). Nat Sustain, November 2022  Gregor Semieniuk, Lucas Chancel, Eulalie Saïsset, Philip B. Holden, Jean-Francois Mercure, Neil R. Edwards - Potential pension fund losses should not deter high-income countries from bold climate action (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435123002209), Joule, Issue 7, 2023   Recorded on 30th May, 2023 Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaëlle VERGONJEANNE. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

Decay, frugality, green growth; so many concepts that invite us to rethink our growth appeal as it dominated the 20th century. Where does our conception of limitless economic growth come from? What would have been the opinion of the economists of the 18th and 19th centuries who have laid down the first ideas of what growth should be? What did they think about the relationship between growth and nature? Did they really not see that natural resources are not unlimited? Answers by Thomas Kayzel (https://www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etudes-europeennes/en/researcher/thomas-kayzel.html), who joined the Sciences Po’s Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) as  a post-doc  of the Bruno Latour Fund. Recorded on 5 May 2023 Conversations with Sergei GURIEV  is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaëlle VERGONJEANNE. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

What do social movements have to say about climate change? What is their role in local and global governance of climate change? How do climate activists coordinate alternative futures in a postapocalyptic present? Some people say individual changes are needed, while others think it should come from systemic change. How does the climate movement reconcile both?  Answers by Joost de Moor (https://www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etudes-europeennes/fr/chercheur/joost-de-moor.html), a researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, who has been working on these issues for years. Additional Resources Joost de Moor, Jens Marquardt, Deciding whether it’s too late: How climate activists coordinate alternative futures in a postapocalyptic present (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718522002445?via%3Dihub), Geoforum, 2023 Joost de Moor, Postapocalyptic narratives in climate activism: their place and impact in five European cities (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2021.1959123), Environmental Politics, 2022 Joost de Moor, The ‘efficacy dilemma’ of transnational climate activism: the case of COP21’, Environmental Politics, 2018 Joost de Moor, Michiel De Vydt, Katrin Uba, et al. ‘New kids on the block: taking stock of the recent cycle of climate activism (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14742837.2020.1836617) ’, Social Movement Studies. 2020 Recorded on 20 April 2023  Talk with Sergei is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaelle VERGONJEANNE. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it. 

Small island states - that have 65 million inhabitants  - are all strongly impacted by climate change. What can they do, given their limitations in terms of financial and human resources ? Carola Klöck, who has been working on this subject for years, explains to us  their adaptation policies, their influence in international negotiations… Carola Kloeck (https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/en/users/carolakloeck.html)  is an Associate Professor at the Sciences Po’s Centre of International Studies (CERI).  Carola’s research is located at the  interface of political science, human geography and development studies, and examines adaptation to climate change, and the politics of climate change more generally. Transcription (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GJVV02qAEbfeWPldj-uLwtTUjqtJsIlJ/view?usp=sharing)  Additionnal ressources Carola Klöck, Elle Ledger, Climate justice through climate finance? Australia’s approach to climate finance in the Pacific (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2533601/v1). 2023. Pre-print Florian Weiler, Carola Klöck, Donor interactions in the allocation of adaptation aid: A network analysis (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100099), Earth System Governance, Volume 7, 2021 Klöck, Carola, Paula Castro, Florian Weiler, et al. (eds.). Coalitions in the climate change negotiations (https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sciences-po/detail.action?docID=6372353). Abingdon, Oxon. Taylor & Francis Group. 2020. (Global environmental governance series (Online)  Nunn, P.D. et al. (2020). Adaptation to Climate Change: Contemporary Challenges and Perspectives (https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32878-8_14). In: Kumar, L. (eds) Climate Change and Impacts in the Pacific. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham.  Recorded on 26 March 2023 Conversations with Sergei is a podcast by Sciences Po. Hélène NAUDET supervised the production of this series, accompanied by Anaelle VERGONJEANNE. The Sciences Po audio department produced and mixed it.