New podcast explores how law makes our world a better place

A new podcast takes listeners behind the scenes with leading international lawyers to reveal the machinations of war, peace and human rights.

Better Place: Talking International Law is an interview series with international law practitioners from around Australia and the world, hosted by Dr Jonathan Kolieb from RMIT University’s Graduate School of Business and Law.

Guests in the first season include Nobel Peace Prize winning anti-nuclear weapons campaigner Tilman Ruff, Palestinian human rights activist Maha Abdallah, international peace negotiator Paul Williams and former lead adviser to the US Pentagon on civilian protection in wartime, Sarah Holewinski.

They share their experiences from working in refugee camps to advising three-star generals, and talk about how they got to where they are.

Soldiers taking prisoners during a conflict. Credit: ICRC

Kolieb, whose own research covers international conflict resolution and the intersection of business and human rights, said he was motivated by the perennial questions students ask him of what international law is really about, and what motivates people to take on such epic challenges.

“International law is increasingly relevant to every facet of life, work and society in our globalised world. These are the people that create, support, engage, enforce and work with international law… the people that “do” international law,” says Kolieb.

“I also hope there's something amongst the interviews that international law students may find of some value - both in terms of the substantive areas of international law and governance that they are engaged in as well as their personal career paths - and as a supplement to the teaching of international law courses,” he added.

Better Place host Dr Jonathan Kolieb.

Guests provide interesting insights into what it’s really like in the field, the access to power and decision makers, the major achievements and the crushing disappointments.

Oh, and they all get asked what their favourite ice cream flavour is too, which for many is actually not as straight forward a question as it seems.

The podcast is available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and as video on Youtube.

Story: Michael Quin

Society and Environment

27 October 2020

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Society and Environment

27 October 2020

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New podcast explores how law makes our world a better place