Voices: The EISA Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Dr Esther Marijnen, Associate Professor and Political Ecologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Esther’s work explores the uneasy entanglements of nature, military conflict, and authority - from the militarisation of conservation efforts to the ecological and social impacts left by colonial violence. Drawing on over a decade of field research in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and more recent work in Uganda and Europe, Esther introduces her current project Wounded Landscapes funded by the Dutch Research Council. The project examines how slow violence and historical legacies of conflict reconfigure both environments and...

What is the arms trade, and how does it shape our world? In our first episode of 2026, we explore why scholars of international relations should pay closer attention to the arms trade, and what its dynamics reveal about power, security, and global inequality. Joining us is Professor Anna Stavrianakis (Sussex), leading expert on the international arms trade, UK arms export policy, and militarism in North–South perspective. Anna teaches at the University of Sussex and serves as Director of Research and Strategy at Shadow World Investigations, an organisation that exposes corruption and abuse in the arms industry. She has provided...

In this episode, host Polly speaks with Daniel Quiroga-Villamarín (New York University), winner of this year’s EISA Best Dissertation Award for his dissertation Architects of the Better World: Democracy, Law, and the Construction of International Order (1919 - 1998), which he is currently developing into a monograph. Daniel’s research examines how the metaphorical use of architectural language in international law discussions often obscures the real, material spaces where international law is shaped, challenged, and debated. He argues that that the metaphorical language of architecture in international law - epitomised by Truman’s call for “architects of the better world” - conceals...

In this special Voices episode, we unpack the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western governments, including the UK, France, Portugal, Canada, and Australia. The move came shortly after a UN Special Committee report finding Israel’s actions in Gaza consistent with genocide. This historic decision has sparked intense debate about the timing, motivations, and consequences of recognising Palestine as a state. Emile Badarin (University of Oxford) and Victor Kattan (University of Nottingham) join host Polly Pallister-Wilkins to discuss these developments and examine the broader politics and legal aspects of recognition within the long struggle for Palestinian statehood.
Emile Badarin...