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Disorder takes a look at the way the world makes decisions and why now it seems so disordered. From Climate Change to Tax Havens, to Unregulated Cyberspace, to the Wars in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. Jason Pack, NATO Foundation Senior Analyst, and Alexandra Hall Hall, a former British Ambassador, discuss with world-leading experts, senior diplomats and cultural icons, the fundamental principles lurking behind today’s global issues.

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In another special edition of Battleground we return again to the subject of Gaza which is looming so large. In this episode Saul and Patrick try and explain what some of the forces are that lie behind this apparently endless conflict. Why is the bitterness on both sides so intense and how is it that a solution seems so difficult to find? Well as it happens both Saul and Patrick have written books which shed some light on both those questions. History may not help us predict the future but it is the only means we have of understanding the present.

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On this episode of Battleground: Ukraine Saul David and Patrick Bishop, discuss the main news from the front line this week that Russia has intensified operations in the Avdiivka area of Donetsk Oblast. They look at a story that has emerged from occupied Kherson Oblast where Ukrainian partisans are said to have used a car bomb to kill a local head of Putin’s political party. They also of course, take a look at the potential consequences for in Ukraine, as a result of the unfolding situation in Israel.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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In this special episode of Battleground, Patrick and Saul react to the deadly Hamas attack that was launched on Israeli territory on Saturday morning. Drawing on their expertise they discuss how this happened, the wider historical context, what happens next, and of course what this means for the war in Ukraine.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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After indications that a Ukrainian breakthrough might have been imminent, progress on the battlefield slowed down this week with no news of further significant advances. Saul and Patrick discuss this and the details released by Kyiv of an extraordinary amphibious aid mounted by their special forces, which resulted in putting Ukrainian boots on Crimean soil for the first time since 2014.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Slovakia, Robert Fico won the election on a pro-Moscow ticket, Saul and Patrick examine the significance of this and answer listeners questions which includes a sighting of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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On this week's big interview, Patrick speaks to Francis Scarr from the BBC's monitoring service, Francis is a member of its Russia team who analyse Russian TV and social media, and specialises in the TV political talk shows, which dominate the schedules. Francis shares his fascinating array of knowledge about the Russian media landscape and draws from his own personal experiences from years spent living in Moscow.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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This week on Battleground: Ukraine - Patrick and Saul David discuss a fascinating week in which the word breakthrough has been heard everywhere. The Ukrainians are claiming a series of small victories that collectively could bring about a decisive and favourable shift in their fortunes. Also in the news is the spectacular cruise missile attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, they discuss the significance of this and more, and answer a host of interesting listeners questions.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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In this final instalment from our travels to Ukraine, Saul, Patrick and producer James sit down in the historic central square of the Polish city of Krakow, to reflect on the previous days spent in Ukraine and what they took away from it all.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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This week Saul and Patrick react to the news that Ukraine continues to make important gains on the battlefield, particularly south of Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia, and has also been degrading Russia’s defensive capability in Crimea.

They also take a look away from the battlefield, where President Joe Biden doubled down on his support for Ukraine in a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, and they have a look at reports being spread by Russian opposition figures that Vladimir Putin’s staunch Chechen ally Ramzan Kadyrov, has either died in hospital or is seriously ill.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground

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For this week's big interview, we have some more material from our time in Ukraine, this time from the outskirts of Kyiv at a child psychiatry centre, where children are receiving treatment for war trauma. We spoke to Oksana Sliepova - the director of the children's club 'positive' and two of the club's members - 12 year old Nastia and 15 year old Sofia, who told us about their experiences of the war and about the club. 

We also have in the second half of the podcast, a moving interview with Oleg - a Bucha resident who buried some of the victims of Russian brutality in his hometown and described some harrowing accounts of his time there during its occupation by Russian forces. 

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - [email protected]

Producer: James Hodgson

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