Amid political chaos in the UK, with the resignation of Liz Truss, Bronwen Maddox speaks with Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, and Orysia Lutsevych, Head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, about the latest developments surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin's nuclear threats. Joining them is Dr Yu Jie, Senior Research Fellow for Chatham House’s Asia Pacific program, to break down Xi Jinping’s speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Read more of our expertise:    Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you get your podcasts. Please, listen, rate, review and subscribe. Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Abdul Boudiaf and Robin Gardner.&nbsp;

War in Ukraine, Congress in China – with Gideon Rachman

World leaders met in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). All the P5 leaders bar America's Joe Biden stayed away however. Is the UN losing its relevance in international affairs? 

Joining Bronwen Maddox on the show this week are Mark Malloch-Brown, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Roger Boyes, Diplomatic Editor for The Times, and Leslie Vinjamuri, the Director of the US and Americas programme.

Is the United Nations now irrelevant?

Bronwen Maddox speaks with Rory Stewart about the state of British politics in a world of populist leaders. Journalist Robert Peston meanwhile joins us from the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. 

Later in the show,  Roxanne Escobales and Olivia O'Sullivan discuss whether Rory Stewart is right about the state of Britain, and whether his time in government was a success or failure.

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Matthew Docherty.

Is Rory Stewart right about Britain?

Roxanne Escobales is joined by Lucy Fisher, the FT’s Whitehall Editor and host of the Political Fix podcast, to discuss Rishi Sunak’s AI summit.

Joining them are our experts Olivia O’Sullivan and Alex Krasodomski from our UK in the World Programme and Digital Society Initiative.

Can world leaders regulate AI before it’s too late?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Shashank Joshi, the Defence Editor at The Economist, to discuss Iran's role in the Hamas-Israel War. Joining them are our experts, Dr Sanam Vakil, Director of our Middle East and North Africa programme and Dr Renad Mansour, a Senior Research Fellow with the MENA programme.

Will Iran escalate the Hamas-Israel war?

is joined this week by journalist , the host of the News Agents podcast, to discuss the 2024 US presidential election. Joining them are , Director of our US and Americas programme and , a journalist formerly with Politico and Foreign Policy magazine. Don't miss our expertise:    Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by  Sound by Matthew Docherty.

What will US foreign policy look like in 2024?

At the Doha Conference, Bronwen Maddox speaks with Dr Majed Al Ansari, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bonus episode: How will the Hamas-Israel war end?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, to discuss the elections and geopolitical flashpoints of 2024. Joining them in the studio are Leslie Vinjamuri,  Ben Bland and Armida van Rij.

What can we expect from 2024?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by journalist Jojje Olsson and Dr Chun-Yi Lee from the University of Nottingham's Taiwan Research Hub to discuss Taiwan's presidential election. Joining them in the studio is Ben Bland, Director of our Asia-Pacific programme.

What are the stakes in Taiwan's election?

Roxanne Escobales, Editor of The World Today, is joined this week by Tom Sharpe, a former commander in the Royal Navy and defence columnist with The Telegraph. Joining them are Dr Sanam Vakil, the Director of our Middle East and North Africa programme, and Farea Al-Muslimi, a Research Fellow with Chatham House.

Can Western airstrikes stop the Houthis?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by journalist Olga Tokariuk, an Academy Fellow in our Ukraine Forum, and Natalie Sabanadze, a Senior Research Fellow in our Russia and Eurasia Programme to discuss Viktor Orbán and Ukraine.

Why is Orbán blocking EU aid for Ukraine?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Madiha Afzal, an author and Research Fellow at Brookings in Washington DC. Joining them are Dr Farzana Shaikh, an Associate Fellow with our Asia-Pacific Programme and Dr Chietigj Bajpaee, our Senior Research Fellow for South Asia.

Is Pakistan's democracy on the brink?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Ciaran Martin, the former Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre; Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo, Vice Chair of the African Union’s Cyber Security Experts Group; Amy Hogan-Burney, General Manager of Cyber Security Policy at Microsoft and Joyce Hakmeh, the Deputy Director of our International Security Programme.

Can the UN's first cybercrime treaty protect us?

Ruth Townend is joined in the studio by Gwynne Dyer, author of Climate Wars, and Chatham House’s own Dr Daniel Quiggin to talk about climate solutions from the magical to the mundane. For his forthcoming book Intervention Earth, Dyer has spoken with more than 50 thinkers, innovators and engineers about how we might cool the planet and avoid catastrophe.

Episode 39: Unicorns vs workhorses

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week from Jakarta by Professor Burhanuddin Muhtadi, executive director of the Indonesian polling organization Indikator Politik Indonesia, and Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a former advisor to Indonesia’s Vice President and chair of Indonesian think tank, The Habibie Center. Joining them all is Ben Bland, the director of our Asia-Pacific program at Chatham House.

What does Prabowo Subianto's election mean for Indonesia?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Bill Browder – who for years has worked as a human rights and anti-corruption campaigner against the Putin regime. Alongside him is Nikolai Petrov, a Consulting Fellow with our Russia and Eurasia programme and Yulia Mineeva, an Academy Fellow with Chatham House, who was previously Head of News for Novaya Gazeta, the main independent newspaper in Russia.

Is Alexei Navalny's death a watershed moment for Russia?

Tim Eaton and Leah de Haan (Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme) discuss their research on the transnational links between the movement of people and armed conflict – from Edo State in Nigeria, through Niger, to Libya.

This episode was produced with support from the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy, and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development.

From Nigeria to Libya: Linked through Migration and Armed Conflict

Bronwen Maddox is joined on the podcast this week by Gregg Carlstrom, the Middle East correspondent for The Economist, Siavash Ardalan from BBC Persian, and Dr Sanam Vakil, the director of our Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Iran’s elections: What’s at stake for the Middle East?

Guest host Leslie Vinjamuri is joined on the podcast this week by Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of Semafor News and Professor Jennifer M Lind – an Associate Fellow with our US and Americas programme.

Has Donald Trump changed US foreign policy forever?

Bronwen Maddox is in Japan this week, and is joined from Taipei by journalist Bethany Allen to discuss China's National People's Congress and the political calculations of Beijing's neighbours. Joining them are Robert Ward from The International Institute for Strategic Studies and Dr Yu Jie – a Senior Fellow with our Asia-Pacific programme.

China's National People's Congress: The view from Japan

Ahmed Soliman discusses his upcoming research on the Sudan conflict and its link to the gold sector – from how gold has evolved as a ‘conflict good,’ its connection to the current war and transnational dynamics. Dr Suliman Baldo (Executive Director, Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker) gives an overview of key political shifts in Sudan’s history that have facilitated links with the country’s gold sector. Denise Sprimont-Vasquez joins the podcast to discuss the economic activities and the illicit networks of conflict actors that are fuelling the ongoing war in Sudan.

How Gold Fuels the War in Sudan

Coming fresh from the Chatham House Energy Transitions Conference, Ruth Townend is joined in the studio by IPCC lead author on demand, Professor Felix Creutzig, Dr Christina Demski, Deputy Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation, and Toby Park, Principle Advisor and Head of Energy, Environment and Sustainability at the Behavioural Insights Team.

Together they discuss why we need to talk about behaviour change, however uncomfortable the conversation, and explore hot topics such as green lash, heat pumps and the future of cities.

Episode 40: We need to talk about… behaviour change

Bronwen Maddox is joined from Dakar, Senegal by Gilles Yabi, the founder and CEO of WATHI, the West Africa Citizen Think Tank and Idayat Hassan, a Senior Associate with CSIS. Joining them in the Chatham House studio is Paul Melly, a Consulting Fellow with our Africa Programme.

Senegal, Nigeria and the Sahel: Can democracy deliver in West Africa?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Mujtaba Rahman, the Managing Director Europe of the Eurasia Group and Georgina Wright, a Senior Fellow with Institut Montaigne. Joining them all is journalist John Kampfner, the former head of Chatham House's UK in the World Programme.

Can Germany lead in a divided Europe?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Soli Özel, a Professor of International Relations at Istanbul Kadir Has University, and Hürcan Aslı Aksoy, the Head of the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. With them is Galip Dalay, a Senior Consulting Fellow with our Middle East and North Africa programme.

Has Turkey turned against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Mohammed al-Ta’ishi, a civilian member of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council - where he served as the chief negotiator and main architect of the Juba Peace Agreement. Joining them both are BBC journalist James Copnall and Rosalind Marsden, an Associate Fellow with our Africa programme and the former UK ambassador to Sudan.

Has the world forgotten Sudan?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by Sanam Vakil, the director of our Middle East programme to discuss Iran's missile attack on Israel and the possible consequences across the region. Joining them both are Professor Yossi Mekelberg and Dr Elham Fakhro, Associate Fellows with our Middle East programme.

Are Israel and Iran on the brink of all out war?

Bronwen Maddox is joined this week by journalist Oz Katerji and Phillips P. O’Brien, a Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St Andrews. Joining them both in the studio is Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk, the OSUN Academy Fellow in the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House.

Is time running out for Ukraine?

This week, Bronwen Maddox discusses whether we are seeing a resurgence of the threat posed by nuclear weapons, given recent events in the Middle East and rhetoric from world leaders. 

On the panel is Robert E Kelly, Professor of Political Science at Pusan National University, Dr Hanna Notte, Director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Dr Patricia Lewis, Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House.

Which country is next to go nuclear?

In this special episode, Bronwen Maddox interviews a key figure in US foreign policy to the Middle East for over a decade, Ambassador Dennis Ross.

Ambassador Ross engaged directly with both Israeli and Palestinian parties in peace negotiations under multiple US presidents, and was instrumental in brokering agreements between them, including the ‘Oslo II’ accord of 1995 and the 1997 Hebron Accord.

They discuss topics including the US-Israel relationship, what pressure President Biden can exert on Benjamin Netanyahu over a possible invasion of Rafah, global protests against Israeli action in Gaza and whether any hope remains for a deal to end the conflict.

Will the US continue to support Israel?

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