The Rachman Review

By Financial Times

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Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist talks to the decision-makers and thinkers who are shaping world affairs.

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Is Russia on the brink of w...

12.02.2021

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/34bb8aee-612e-4b2e-ab59-0d11518e1d82 Gideon talks to Kadri Liik, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about Russia’s military build-up on the Ukraine border and about how policymakers in Nato and ...

The Rachman Review episodes:

12.02.2021 Is Russia on the brink of war with Ukraine? Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/34bb8aee-612e-4b2e-ab59-0d11518e1d82 Gideon talks to Kadri Liik, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about Russia’s military build-up on the Ukraine border and about how policymakers in Nato and ...
11.25.2021 China and the US: competition or conflict? Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/c40abc3c-5a4b-4ebe-9f24-82241f2939f5 Gideon talks to former White House official Evan Medeiros about the recent summit between the US and Chinese presidents. Was the relative cordiality of the meeting a sign of reconciliation or ...
11.18.2021 COP26: success or failure? Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/f1dbd73c-381c-475b-8b22-fa07abd6d92f Gideon talks to Simon Mundy, author of Race For Tomorrow, about how he would assess global efforts to tackle climate change in the wake of this month’s gathering of world leaders ...
11.11.2021 Poland’s challenge to the EU Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/e66fa8b7-7b92-4497-8585-cf43e8cd41fc Poland’s judicial reforms have put it on a collision course with the EU over human rights and the rule of law. Can the bloc adapt to accommodate its more awkward members ...
11.04.2021 COP26: climate goals at stake in Glasgow Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/07579093-643e-4300-87c3-3b3e6b36526b Gideon talks to Leslie Hook, the FT’s environment correspondent, about what to expect from the UN climate change conference in Glasgow. Will determination to give teeth to the Paris accord survive ...
10.28.2021 Israel’s new political landscape Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/7dd6de54-58d0-4a5f-9c74-d599b513a668 Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, finally left office this year. He is now on trial on corruption charges and Israel is ruled by the most diverse coalition in its history. ...
10.21.2021 Great power rivals of the 21st century Gideon talks to historian Paul Kennedy about how long America’s period as the world’s most powerful nation can last in the face of a rising China. Clips: British Pathé See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
10.14.2021 American democracy under pressure Gideon discusses the strength of America’s political system with Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the foreign policy magazine The National Interest. Are fears about the Republican party’s commitment to democracy justified, and can Joe Biden win back the support of white, ...
10.07.2021 Populations on the move Gideon talks to Parag Khanna, founder and managing partner of FutureMap, a global strategic advisory firm, and author of a new book on mass migration called Move: the forces uprooting us. Clips: PBS, Channel 4 News See acast.com/privacy for privacy ...
09.30.2021 Germany’s traffic light coalition Gideon talks to Ulrike Franke of the European Council on Foreign Relations about Olaf Scholz’s election win, his Social Democratic party’s likely alliance with the Greens and Free Democrats, and whether this will lead to a change of direction for ...
09.23.2021 The Biden administration and the world Joe Biden says "relentless diplomacy" will be at the heart of American foreign policy. But the Aukus pact with Britain and Australia, reached without consulting other allies, angered European leaders, notably France’s Emmanuel Macron. Derek Chollet, counsellor at the state ...
09.16.2021 Trudeau's future on the line in Canada's election Gideon talks to Darrell Bricker, author of several books on Canadian politics and CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, about Canada’s upcoming federal election. With the vote opening on September 20th, the two discuss what led to this early election, the ...
09.09.2021 Covid and the end of the post 9/11 era Gideon talks to Thomas Wright, director of the Center on the US and Europe at the Brookings Institution, about the aftermath of a global crisis when ‘no-one was home’ on the international leadership side. Clips: Global News, NBC News and ...
09.02.2021 America’s Afghan legacy Sarah Chayes, a writer and former journalist who worked as a special adviser to the US military leadership in Afghanistan, talks to Martin Sandbu about what will be the legacy of America’s 20-year involvement. Clips: White House; ITV News; ABC ...
08.26.2021 Peru’s triple crisis Years of political instability, the world’s highest coronavirus death rate, and the recent election of leftwing President Pedro Castillo have plunged Peru into crisis. Michael Stott, FT Latin America editor, talks to Oswaldo Molina, executive director of think-tank REDES and ...
08.19.2021 Iran under Raisi How will Iran’s new president tackle growing disillusionment at home, a potentially hostile regime on its eastern border and negotiations to revive the nuclear deal? Andrew England, the FT’s Middle East editor, discusses what we can expect from Ebrahim Raisi ...
08.12.2021 Can climate damage be repaired? Gideon Rachman talks to Professor Sir David King about the string of environmental disasters across the globe this summer. With the IPCC report this week confirming that climate change is accelerating, Sir King says that it is no longer enough ...
08.05.2021 Is Lebanon a failed state? Gideon Rachman talks to Chloe Cornish, the FT’s Middle East correspondent, on how decades of misgovernance have led to Lebanon’s current political, economic and social crisis. Chloe recounts how the year since the explosion in Beirut, the country’s capital city, ...
07.29.2021 Ecocide: a new weapon in the fight to save the planet Pilita Clark talks to Philippe Sands, human rights barrister, professor, author and an expert in international law who recently co-chaired a panel that produced a legal definition of the crime of ‘ecocide’. He says there is growing support for the ...
07.22.2021 India, China and the contested border The foreign ministers of India and China have held talks amid an enduring standoff that has opened up new fault lines over Asia’s future. Meanwhile, the US has shown a growing interest in its alliance with India, despite concerns about ...
07.15.2021 How much trouble is Bolsonaro in? Gideon talks to Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas foundation in São Paulo about Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro. His government’s failure to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and recent corruption allegations have caused Bolsonaro's popularity to ...
07.08.2021 South Africa’s pivotal moment Gideon talks to Judith February, South African lawyer and journalist, about the case against former president Jacob Zuma. His refusal to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption during his nine years as president set a crucial test for the country’s ...
07.01.2021 Can Germany atone for its colonial-era genocide? Gideon speaks to Esther Muinjangue, a former chair of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation, and Franziska Boehme, a professor of political science, about the decades-long journey towards official recognition of Germany’s colonial-era atrocities in Namibia as genocide and why the apology ...
06.24.2021 Coming to terms with Putin's Russia Gideon talks to Fiona Hill of the Brookings Institution about the recent US-Russia summit and what the former presidential adviser sees as the best way to deal with a state 'run by operatives' who don't play by the rules. See ...
06.17.2021 Martin Wolf on G7 opportunities missed Gideon talks to Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, about the pressing problems requiring international co-operation, and asks him if, in light of the G7 summit, the west is up to the task. Review clips: The Guardian, WION See ...
06.10.2021 Can Asian prosperity survive US-China rivalry? South-east Asia has enjoyed a long period of sustained economic growth. But is this endangered by rising tensions between the US and China? Gideon puts this question to James Crabtree, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in ...
06.03.2021 Belarus: more than a moral dilemma The decision by Belarus to divert a plane to Minsk to arrest a dissident journalist was intended to send a message to opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, whose 27 years in office have seen him dubbed Europe’s last dictator. However, ...
05.27.2021 Washington’s will to find a Middle East solution A ceasefire is in place and an 11-day war is over, but that may not move Israelis and Palestinians closer to a two-state solution according to Martin Indyk, of the Council on Foreign Relations. Indyk has experience at the negotiation ...
05.20.2021 Myanmar on the brink The military coup in Myanmar threatens to roll back a decade of democratisation. In the months since the February coup, there have been strikes and protests as well as mass arrests and escalating violence as the junta attempts to quell ...
05.13.2021 A crisis in the Middle East Protests in Jerusalem at the beginning of the week have escalated to rocket launches, retaliatory airstrikes and civilian deaths. Gideon talks to Diana Butto, a Palestinian lawyer, and Noga Tarnopolsky, a journalist based in Jerusalem, about the political conditions that ...
05.06.2021 Why we should all give up meat Gideon talks to the FT’s Henry Mance about why he became a vegan. He says it's not just about preserving wildlife and the environment, it’s also about being true to our human values. Henry’s book How to Love Animals: In ...
04.29.2021 India’s wake up call to the world Gideon Rachman talks to Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School and a specialist in global health, about the current surge in coronavirus cases in India and why nationalistic approaches to curbing the pandemic will not help solve a ...
04.22.2021 Leaving Afghanistan Gideon talks to Tom Tugendhat, head of the UK parliament’s foreign affairs committee, about the US decision to finally withdraw from Afghanistan. How will this affect the credibility of the western powers and their ability to conduct successful military interventions ...
04.15.2021 Britain's legacy of empire Gideon talks to Sathnam Sanghera about his book Empireland and the legacy of racism and nostalgia that Britain has yet to come to terms with. Warning: This episode contains references to racist language. Clips: Sky News; Conservative party See acast.com/privacy ...
04.08.2021 Are the US and China entering a Cold War? The US president has promised that, after four years of retreat from the global stage, “America is back”. Over the past few years, China has continued to expand its economic and political influence and matched its growing clout on the ...
04.01.2021 Britain shifts its military focus The UK’s defence forces are slimming down and harnessing the power of AI and satellites to meet the emerging threats of the 21st century. Helen Warrell, the FT’s defence and security editor, talks to General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of ...
03.25.2021 Europe's Mr Normal Ben Hall, the FT’s Europe editor, talks to Dutch historian Luuk van Middelaar about Mark Rutte’s re-election as prime minister of the Netherlands and his country’s changing role within the EU. Clips: Bloomberg, Reuters See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out ...
03.18.2021 Spying in the digital age Helen Warrell, the FT’s defence and security editor, talks to cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch about the SolarWinds and Microsoft hacks. How extensive was the damage inflicted and how should the west respond to such attacks? Clips: CBS, CNN, NBC See ...
03.11.2021 Could this year mark a turning point for climate? Britain is hosting this year’s UN climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow. Pilita Clark discusses what these summits have achieved over the past three decades and what needs to be done to make the talks a success. Her guest is Richard ...
03.04.2021 Italy’s make or break moment Ben Hall, the FT’s Europe editor, discusses Italy as former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi takes on the premiership. How Draghi decides to spend up to €200bn in grants and loans from the EU recovery fund will be crucial, ...
02.25.2021 Michael Mann on the politics of global warming Pilita Clark talks to Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State university, and one of the world’s best-known climate scientists. They discuss the evolution of the climate change debate, from the war on science to denialism, doomism ...
02.18.2021 The world in review In a special retrospective episode, Gideon Rachman looks at some of his favourite podcast conversations that illuminate the state of geopolitics today, asking whether the pandemic has permanently changed the world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
02.11.2021 Britain’s post-Brexit role as ‘global broker’ Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s diplomatic skills will be tested as host of both the G7 and UN COP26 climate change summit this year. Gideon talks to Robin Niblett, director of the Chatham House think-tank and economist Linda Yueh, currently a ...
02.04.2021 Navalny’s crusade against the Kremlin Gideon talks to journalists Arkady Ostrovsky and Max Seddon in Moscow about why Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny decided to return home after he was poisoned and what his political movement can achieve if its leader is in jail. Max ...
01.28.2021 António Guterres on the United Nations in a fractured world The pandemic, climate change and peacekeeping are all priorities for the UN in 2021, but these challenges require multilateral solutions at a time when the world's superpowers are drifting further apart. Gideon Rachman talks to António Guterres, secretary-general of the ...
01.21.2021 Germany after Merkel Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union has chosen Armin Laschet to replace Angela Merkel as party leader ahead of September’s federal elections, paving the way for the end of the Merkel era. Gideon discusses what a post-Merkel Germany will look like ...
01.14.2021 America’s political meltdown After the storming of the Capitol, can America recover its democratic values? Gideon discusses what the recent lawlessness means for the US and its place in the world with Anne-Marie Slaughter, head of New America, a think-tank. See acast.com/privacy for ...
01.07.2021 David Miliband on the global leadership vacuum The former British foreign secretary championed the UK to remain in the EU. As head of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband has seen the consequence of a lack of global leadership in helping the world’s vulnerable populations. In this ...
12.17.2020 The best and worst of 2020 Gideon talks to Roula Khalaf, FT editor, and Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, about the extraordinary events of 2020 - from Covid-19 to the US election and unexpected signs of reconciliation between Israel and Arab Gulf states. See acast.com/privacy for ...
12.10.2020 EU at a turning point EU leaders are facing showdowns on several fronts this week, with the UK over Brexit, and with Hungary and Poland over the rule of law. Gideon discusses what’s at stake with Professor Catherine De Vries of Bocconi University in Italy. ...

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