26 – Stop Self-Deterring! – TallinnsideOut – Talk of the Town from the Lennart Meri Conference

BerlinsideOut, the podcast that takes an expert look at international politics from Berlin – goes to Tallinn! From the International ‘Lennart Meri Conference’ Dr. Benjamin Tallis, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Action Group Zeitenwende at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and Aaron Gasch Burnett, a security analyst and journalist specialising in German politics, host a series of special editions of the podcasts - TallinnsideOut!

Ben and Aaron talk to Latvian Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rihards Kols and foreign policy experts Hanna Notte and Balkan Devlen – based in Berlin and Ottawa respectively, about the first day of the Lennart Meri Conference. Panelists share their thoughts on the most important insights coming out of the conference’s first day – from the urgency of seizing Russian state assets to the message from the conference’s Estonian hosts about the need to define what Ukrainian victory looks like and the need of certain allies – particularly Germany and the US – to plan to achieve it. This is not just down to military strategy, but also economic statecraft – as the need to tighten sanctions and seize Russian assets demonstrates.

Guests:

• Rihards Kols, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee, Latvian Parliament, Riga (@RihardsKols)
• Hanna Notte, Director for Eurasia, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Berlin ([@HannaNotte ](https://x.com/HannaNotte ))
• Balkan Devlen, Transatlantic Program Director and Senior Fellow, MacDonald-Laurier Institute, Ottawa (@BalkanDevlen)

Follow the Lennart Meri Conference, organised by ICDS Tallinn (@ICDS_Tallinn) here and on X/Twitter using the hashtag #LennartMeriConference.

This podcast is an original production of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). It was created as part of DGAP's Action Group Zeitenwende.

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Dr. Benjamin Tallis

Aaron Gasch Burnett

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