Episode 52

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Published on:

23rd Jan 2022

Ukrainian Security

As Ukraine celebrates its long holiday season, all eyes are on the East. Putin has built up a massive force on the border between Russia and Ukraine but so far no one knows what he plans to do with it.

The US media are talking about a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia, apparently forgetting there was already an invasion during the takeover of Crimea in 2014. What they’re not doing is interviewing Ukrainians, of course.

On today’s episode of Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr talks to Polina Sinovets, an international relations specialist at Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University, and Mykola Bielieskov, a Research Fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Ukraine.

They cover the lack of international support for armed resistance, relations with NATO, and Ukraine’s military readiness for an attack by the Kremlin. It’s a heavy episode about subjects with serious consequences so we’re glad to have locals walk us through the details.

Thank you for listening!

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About the Podcast

Black Diplomats
The world is full of black people, but when the mainstream media talks about the world, we hardly ever hear from them. Black Diplomats—a podcast dedicated to international politics and culture from the perspective of people of color—is going to...
Founded in 2020 and led by Terrell Jermaine Starr, Black Diplomats is the go-to podcast for those who want relatable content on global affairs that doesn’t center the perspectives of white male experts.

Few foreign policy shows are led by Black people or center the opinions, experiences and expertise of people of color. Black Diplomats is one exception. Guests are mostly people of color and people who are indigenous to the regions the episodes focus on.
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Terrell Starr

Terrell Jermaine Starr is the senior reporter at The Root, where he writes about the 2020 election and foreign policy, mostly U.S. relations with Ukraine and Russia. He is also the The Root’s 2020 correspondent and is tasked with interviewing presidential candidates and traveling to communities around the country to see who voters are eyeing to cast ballots for during the 2020 primary and the general election.

Some of the people Starr have conducted sit-down interviews with include U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, among other politicians.

Before working at The Root, Starr was at Foxtrot Alpha, a blog that focuses on military, technology and policy. Prior to that, he worked for FUSION as a national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential campaign. He lived Ukraine as a Fulbright fellow, and Georgia as a Peace Corps volunteer. Starr has over four years of experience living in the former Soviet Union and more than eight years working as a reporter. Starr uses his media skills to break down Russia-U.S. relations in ways that make him not sound like a Washington hack. He is a frequent guest and co-host of the popular podcast In The Thick and his work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Mother Jones and Buzzfeed.

Starr is a regularly sought after speaker on U.S.-Russian relations, Ukrainian politics and the intersection of race and politics in America.