Chatham House

What does President Donald Trump’s promise of Patriot missiles for Ukraine — and a 50-day tariff ultimatum to Putin — really mean for Ukraine and Russia?

Chatham House experts Jaroslava Barbieri, John Lough and Samir Puri look at whether it is a significant pivot towards Ukraine, how both sides are faring in the war, and how U.S. credibility is affected by Trump’s changing positions. They are joined by guest host Stephen Farrell, standing in for Bronwen Maddox.

The public health systems in Africa are under growing pressure. The sharp 70% drop in official development assistance (ODA) risks weakening critical health programmes, while a rise in public health emergencies continues to stretch already fragile infrastructure.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) – the public health agency of the African Union – recognises that these are not isolated challenges. They present a fundamental threat to Africa’s political, social, and economic resilience, with far-reaching implications to global stability.

In this episode, Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General at the Africa CDC, discusses the agency’s mandate to support AU member states in advancing public health priorities and strengthening the capacity of national health institutions to respond to disease threats.

What happened at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) and what does it mean for climate action? What are ‘solidarity levies’ and how might they help close the climate finance gap? What is needed to ensure someone actually reads the ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T’ after COP30? To find answers to these and other burning climate finance-related questions, Anna speaks to Joe Thwaites (Senior Advocate, International Climate Finance, Natural Resources Defense Council) and Tom Evans (Senior Associate, Global Solidarity Levies Task Force).   To learn more about climate finance, please see these Chatham House outputs: ‘Closing the climate finance gap: How to raise the money the world needs to support climate action’ (research paper, available ) ‘Taxing high-emitting sectors could help pay for climate-induced loss and damage’ (expert comment, available ).

What does Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House mean for the likelihood of a Gaza ceasefire? Bronwen Maddox is joined by Stephen Farrell, Yossi Mekelberg, Sanam Vakil and Max Yoeli to examine the state of negotiations, U.S.-Israel and regional dynamics, and competing plans for what comes next. Read our latest: Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by . 'Independent Thinking' is an production for Chatham House. 🎧  🎧 Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

After a crisis week for Britain’s ruling Labour Party, host Bronwen Maddox and Chatham House’s Olivia Sullivan are joined by economist Professor Stephen Millard and pollster Joe Twyman to look at the foreign and domestic challenges facing the country just one year after Keir Starmer won a landslide election victory. Read our latest: Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by . 'Independent Thinking' is an production for Chatham House. 🎧  🎧 Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Climate litigation is both a strategic tool for climate action and an increasingly common part of the litigation landscape. Recent legal rulings have huge potential implications for the accountability and financial liability of big emitters, including both corporations and national governments.

Anna and Ruth talk to Joana Setzer, climate litigation and global environmental governance expert at London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute. Joana explains the growth in climate litigation, describes landmark cases and tells us what we might expect from climate litigation in the future.

The 2025 edition of the June climate meetings in Bonn (formally ‘the sixty-second sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation of the UNFCCC’, or ‘SB62’) took place 16 to 26 June. These meetings, which take place every year, constitute the only formal space for negotiations ahead of the COP, and are therefore very important.   In this episode of the Climate Briefing, Anna and Ruth speak to (Senior Associate at E3G) and (Director of the International Climate Politics Hub) about what the main outcomes of the conference were, what the key sticking points were, and what it all means for COP30.

Did U.S. strikes cripple Iran’s nuclear programme — or just set the stage for the next crisis? Bronwen Maddox hosts from Jordan, joined by international security expert Marion Messmer and Middle East associate fellow Lina Khatib in London, to examine the claims and counter-claims and what it means for the region’s fragile balance of power. Read our latest: Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by . 'Independent Thinking' is an production for Chatham House. 🎧  🎧 Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Following Israel’s strikes on Iran on 13 June, and the subsequent sequence of retaliation and counter retaliation, fears are rising that the conflict could escalate.

 

In this special episode of Independent Thinking (an edited version of a live webinar) Galip Dalay joins a panel of experts to discuss strategic goals, the responses of the key regional and international actors, including the Gulf states and the US, and what if any viable diplomatic or military off-ramps exist to prevent a broader regional war.

Is Britain chasing faded glory or forging a credible future? As the government lays out its latest spending review, Bronwen Maddox is joined by Jeremy Hunt and Samir Puri to ask whether bold talk of growth, defence and science hides a deeper strategic drift – or a real path back to global influence.