This week on the show, we look at Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union. This week saw President Biden address an unruly joint session of Congress, during which he discussed, Americas place in the world, China, Ukraine, and the state of the US economy. As we enter the start of a new presidential cycle and the mid-point of Biden’s presidency, we look at how Biden is doing and what are challenges lying.

We also look at AUKUS, eighteen months on from the announcement that the UK and US will help Australia develop nuclear hunter killer submarines. What does AUKUS mean for Australia, non-proliferation, and the Indo-Pacific more broadly?

Finally, we’ll also discuss the topic everyone on Twitter suddenly became an expert on this week, China’s spy balloon over Montana. Was it a diplomatic signal from Beijing and what was it trying to photograph?

Joining guest host John Kampfner this week are Euan Graham, the Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Defence and Strategy at IISS, Leslie Vinjamuri, the Director of our Americas programme and Patricia Lewis, Director of our International Security programme.

Read our expertise:

State of the Union has lessons for transatlantic unity

A new nuclear order: In conversation with Rafael Mariano Grossi

World economy is fracturing, not deglobalizing

 The World Today - February & March 2023

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Presented by John Kampfner. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Abdul Boudiaf and Alex Moyler.