IR blogs, podcasts & maps

International Politics Blogs, Podcasts and Map sites

Below is a list of blogs that focus on various aspects of international politics. These are blogs and podcasts by people who have expertise and specialization in the topics they write or podcast about. I’ve also included a few cool map sites at the end.

If you have any suggestions to add to this blogroll, let me know.

General international politics blogs and sites

Regionally focused blogs

  • Registan.net – All Central Asia, All the Time
  • Informed Comment: Thoughs on the Middle East, History and Religion
  • Jadaliyya Independent ezine produced by ASI (Arab Studies Institute)
  • Syria Comment
  • Newlines Magazine “published by the Center for Global Policy, is a forum for the best ideas and writing about the Middle East and beyond.”
  • +972 Magazine an independent, online, nonprofit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists. Founded in 2010, our mission is to provide in-depth reporting, analysis, and opinions from the ground in Israel-Palestine.
  • MEMRI Independent non-profit non-partisan organization “exploring the Middle East and South Asia through their media, MEMRI bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, Turkish, Russian, and Chinese media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends.”
  • MERICS – Mercator Institute for China Studies. MERICS is the largest independent research institute focusing on contemporary China in Europe. Experts from seven European countries, China, Singapore, Australia and the United States analyze China’s political, economic and social developments and their consequences for Europe.
  • US-China Perception Monitor (中美印象) is an online publication that explores perception and misperception in U.S.-China relations through insightful commentaries, interviews with experts, surveys, and profiles on key figures in the bilateral relationship.
  • Americas North and South
  • The Diplomat: international current-affairs magazine for the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Balkan Insight, from BIRN, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, a network of non-governmental organisations promoting freedom of speech, human rights and democratic values in Southern and Eastern Europe
  • Florian Bieber (Balkans)
  • Reading the China Dream – devoted to the subject of intellectual life in contemporary China, and more particularly to the writings of establishment intellectuals, translated into English.
  • In Moscow’s Shadows – Analysis and Assessment of Russian Crime and Security
  • Russian Military Reform – Tracking developments in the Russian military
  • Russia without BS – foreigner-in-Russia blog that strives to give all those interested in Russia an insight into life in the capital from the perspective of an ordinary working-class American
  • Russia Direct (run by official Russian government paper, but does include opposing viewpoints)
  • Window on Eurasia
  • Hungarian Spectrum – daily analyses of news from Hungary—political, economic, and cultural
  • Ottoman History Podcast Historical blog on Ottoman Empire

 Private Military and Security Company – related blogs

Podcasts

  • Global Translations. Global Translations unpacks the political roadblocks to smart policy decisions, examining the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions.
  • US-China Dialogue Podcast from the Georgetown University Initiative for US-China Dialogue.
  • On China’s New Silk Road. Join host Mary Kay Magistad as she explores how China’s New Silk Road may change the world.
  • Global Dispatches Named by The Guardian as one of 27 “podcasts to make you smarter”, episodes often shine a spotlight on under covered global issues.

Cool maps stuff

Revised 2/20/2024