Chatham House

Israel faces weeks of political horse-trading after the most pivotal election in the country’s history delivered no clear result. Neither victorious nor vanquished, Benjamin Netanyahu is still prime minister and lives to attempt another coalition negotiation – and perhaps launch further strikes on Iran to shore up his interim power. Arab parties have secured a record number of seats, but the question remains whether opposition Jewish parties will enter a coalition with them.

Will anyone do a deal with Netanyahu? What does it all mean in a deeply polarized society riven by settler violence, personality-centred politics and with a seemingly permanent security emergency?

To examine the election results and what they mean for Israel’s future, Bronwen Maddox is joined by The Economist’s Israel editor Anshel Pfeffer, plus Zizette Darkazally and Yossi Mekelberg from Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

What began in October 2016 as a protest movement, in which anglophone Cameroonians voiced their exasperation at feeling marginalized within a francophone-dominated political system, has become an entrenched conflict trapping millions of civilians. Marked by guerrilla warfare, a heavy humanitarian toll and political stalemate, the crisis has drawn a muted international response. A series of mediation attempts and a national dialogue have yielded limited results, and multilateral solutions remain absent.

In this episode, guests Dr Jacqui Cho and Hubert Kinkoh join the Africa Programme's Romane Dideberg and Lisa Musumba to discuss the evolution of anglophone Cameroonians’ grievances in the past decade, the conflict economy and separatist movement fragmentation. They also discuss the internal political dynamics at the heart of the conflict, as well as international mediation efforts and pathways for durable peace.

As the world becomes more unstable and the demands for critical minerals from China and big tech increases, can greater international attention on Africa translate into greater power and prosperity for African nations?

Can African states leverage their huge deposits of natural resources and the youngest population in the world into more infrastructure, better engagement with international partners and greater representation for Africa on international bodies, including the UN Security Council?

Our experts explore the new global opportunities for African nations, the increasingly transactional approach of the US, trade deals with the EU, the Accra Reset, creating regional value chains, Russia’s involvement in conflicts in Africa and why international organizations need to open up their decision-making bodies.

In a special edition for Black History Month, Bronwen Maddox is joined by Tighisti Amare, director of our Africa Programme, and Lisa Musumba, host of our sister podcast, ‘Africa Aware’.

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

In November, global climate negotiators will gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for the latest round of the UN climate talks at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31). This episode explores how, amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis, global conflicts or emerging El Niño conditions, the negotiations may shape progress on implementation. We unpack the key issues to look out for at this conference: the role of Türkiye and Australia’s shared leadership, growing adaptation and finance needs, and the leadership vacuum in climate diplomacy.  

To discuss this, Bhargabi is joined by Pelin Zorlu, Senior Research Fellow and Lead on Climate and Energy at Chatham House, to speak with Jennifer L. Morgan, Former State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the German Federal Foreign Office, and Ümit Şahin, Head of the Climate Change Program at the Istanbul Policy Centre.  

For more on these issues, watch the recording of Making the Case for COP in a Fractured Geopolitical Environment, with the COP30 and COP31 Presidents, alongside the COP32 President-Designate. The discussion explored the continuing value of multilateral climate diplomacy amid geopolitical tensions.

President Trump and President Putin’s back-door deal to release hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Russian diesel into international markets has revitalized the Kremlin’s war effort and left President Zelenskyy incandescent. Is the US president sacrificing Ukraine in the hope that it will help him in the midterms? Can Europe bridge the gap in support? And can Ukraine survive another winter under Russian attack?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Orysia Lutsevych, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme and head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House; General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of the Joint Forces Command in the UK Armed Forces and a senior consulting fellow with our International Security Programme; and Sharon Hudson-Dean, associate fellow with Chatham House’s US and North America Programme.

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

The rightward movement in democracies in Europe and beyond shows little sign of slowing. Germany has elected its first far-right regional government in Saxony-Anhalt. In France, voter anger with Emmanuel Macron puts the Rassemblement National’s Marine Le Pen in pole position for the presidency. In Spain, Pedro Sánchez called a snap election in an attempt to mobilise the beleaguered left around Spain’s housing crisis. And Flávio Bolsonaro’s success in the first round of Brazil’s presidential elections suggests a second round of anti-woke, pro-Trump bolsonarismo is on the cards. What is driving politics to the populist right? And what does it mean for global security, stability and efforts to preserve what’s left of the rules-based order?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Grégoire Roos, director of our Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes; Nic Lawley, special adviser to the director of Chatham House; and Dr Christopher Sabatini, director of our Latin America Programme.

Produced by Podmasters, with thanks to Sara Seth and Stephen Farrell.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels' capture of Yemen’s port city of Mocha means that Iran now effectively controls two crucial waterways in the region – the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the Red Sea and thus the Suez Canal, as well as the Hormuz Strait. Why has this simmering conflict exploded again? What do Iran and the Houthis want? How serious is this potential blockade for world trade and energy supply? And could the Houthis become a regional power, in economic terms even more powerful than Iran?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, Dr Sanam Vakil; Horn of Africa specialist Ahmed Soliman; and Yemen and Gulf specialist, Farea Al-Muslimi, who joins us from Jordan.

Produced by Podmasters, with thanks to Sara Seth and Stephen Farrell.

Bhargabi and Beatrice are joined by Susanne Schmeier and David Michel to examine how climate change and rising demand are putting water systems under strain, emerging contestation over water in international geopolitics, and how global cooperation can help address these mounting challenges.

President Donald Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to Washington with the US-China dynamic in a moment of historic flux. China is rising economically and militarily, while the US is mired in the Iran war, alienating allies and pursuing Trump’s unpredictable trade and tariff disputes.

What do the two leaders want from this meeting, and will they get it? Can they reconcile their differing economic powers, the competition for critical minerals, and their radically contrasting visions for artificial intelligence.

And in the longer term: who will dominate the 21st century? Does Xi really want to retake Taiwan for China before his time in power ends? Or is the US-Chinese dynamic more complex and perhaps less alarming?

To unpick these threads Bronwen Maddox is joined by three experts from Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Programme: programme director Ben Bland, senior research fellow Dr Yu Jie and associate fellow Dr Bill Hayton.

Produced by Podmasters, with thanks to Sara Seth and Stephen Farrell.

A call by leaders of the tech giants on the frontier of Artificial Intelligence to ‘slow the pace’ of its development has sparked debate over the risks associated with AI.

Does AI represent an existential threat, and if so, how urgent are the warnings? Or can humanity harness this powerful technology to our benefit?

Our experts discuss the implications for international security, from cyber to the increasing use of AI in today’s conflict zones, and the dynamics of the race toward the cutting edge – not only among industry competitors, but also in the realm of geopolitics.

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Dr Marion Messmer, director of our International Security Programme, and Alex Krasodomski, director of our Digital Society Programme.

Produced by Podmasters, with thanks to Sara Seth and Stephen Farrell.