Chatham House

The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS early last year – and the subsequent formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – has posed a critical challenge for regional cooperation, particularly on security. According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel is the “epicentre of terrorism” and rising insecurity is compounded by stalled progress on core issues including the right of hot pursuit, joint military operations, intelligence sharing and tackling illicit finance.

Following a panel event on West African security with Ghana and Nigeria’s foreign ministers at Chatham House, Paul Ejime and Paul Melly join the podcast to discuss the ministers’ call for local security solutions in the region.

The panel event formed part of the Chatham House Africa Programme’s ongoing work on African peace and security. The Programme will shortly launch a new project focused on regional conflict systems in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Central Africa.

China is the world’s largest emitter and dominates global production of green technology. A few days ago, the National People’s Congress approved the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, China’s main economic and policy blueprint for the period 2026–2030. What does the new plan say about China’s climate and clean tech ambitions? And what does it reveal about China’s broader geopolitical and foreign policy goals?

To discuss this, Anna is joined by James Kynge (Senior Research Fellow for China in the World at Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Programme) and Lauri Myllyvirta (Lead Analyst at and Co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, CREA).

The US military's AI provider Anthropic is feuding with the Pentagon after the company tried to impose 'red lines' over the use of its artificial intelligence products for lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans.

President Trump accused the US firm of being 'radical left' and designated it a 'supply chain risk' – usually reserved for Chinese or Russian firms who could compromise US security.

Our panel discusses the dispute, the battle to control artificial intelligence systems already being used in Iran, Venezuela and Ukraine, and how a public battle between tech and government throws a much-needed spotlight on the wider global issues of AI governance and who is – or isn't – writing rules for the new era of warfare.

They also look at how China is pushing ahead quickly with its plan to integrate 'AI Plus' into all aspects of its economy and military.

This week's guest host of the Independent Thinking podcast is Alex Krasodomski, director of Chatham House's Digital Society Programme. He is joined by Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America Programme; and James Kynge, a senior research fellow with the Asia-Pacific Programme who has spent years studying China and its high-technology industrial sector.

What does President Trump hope to achieve in Iran – a quick show of force, or long-term regime change?

The US and Israel’s long-threatened air strikes on Iran have materialized, and the Middle East is facing widespread disruption and a mounting death toll as the war spills across borders.

In this episode of Chatham House’s international affairs podcast, our expert panel analyses the Trump administration's many stated motivations for the attack, whether there can be a clear-cut end game, and who is likely to take over in Iran after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

They also discuss the effect of the war on President Trump’s popularity at home as mid-term elections loom, and the criticism levelled at UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for doing, his detractors say, too little, too late.

Host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme; General Sir Richard Barrons, senior consulting fellow with the International Security Programme; and Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America Programme.

Produced by Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

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What are the most important changes the Paris Agreement has brought about? How should the COP process evolve? And why does geoengineering need to be approached with caution?

The fourth part of the Future of Climate Diplomacy mini-series features a fascinating conversation between Chatham House’s Chris Aylett (standing in for Anna and Bhargabi) and Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and previously France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21.

Africa's digital landscape is one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving in the world. African states are not merely adopters of digital norms; they are shaping regulatory approaches in data protection and cybersecurity in addition to innovating mobile money ecosystems and digital health solutions among others. 

While innovation hubs are dotted across the continent, growth amongst African states and local communities remain uneven due to infrastructure gaps, broadband affordability, energy reliability and regulatory fragmentation. 

In this episode, Ambassador Philip Thigo and Hon. Neema Lugangira join the Africa Programme’s Professor Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo and Lisa Musumba to discuss how digitalization can be harnessed to drive inclusive growth, strengthen institutions, and ensure that innovation translates into sustainable development outcomes.

On this week’s Independent Thinking podcast, our experts analyse why Trump is wedded to tariffs as an economic and political tool, and what effect they will have on the US and global economies.

They also discuss whether tariffs have ended globalization for good even after the Trump era ends.

Joining regular host Bronwen Maddox are Creon Butler, director of the Global Economy and Finance programme at Chatham House, and down the line from Washington, Heather Hurlburt, a consulting fellow in our US and North America Programme.

Negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war do not appear to have made significant progress. In the meantime, the focus of US President Donald Trump's 'lighthouse diplomacy' appears to have switched to Iran.

Chatham House analysts discuss the state of the talks, and whether Europe will step up to provide the weapons and military support that Ukraine needs. They also examine how the Russia-Ukraine conflict fits into the wider superpower competition between the US, Russia and China.

Joining host Bronwen Maddox are Grégoire Roos, director of Chatham House's Europe, Russia and Eurasia programmes; Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum; and Natalie Sabanadze, Senior Research Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme.

This episode comes as we look ahead to two major upcoming Chatham House events: a conversation with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, marking four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and our annual Security and Defence conference.

Both events are now fully booked for in-person attendance, but audiences will be able to watch General Zaluzhnyi’s appearance and some of the defence conference events online.

Full details are available on our website: https://www.chathamhouse.org/events.

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

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The race to secure critical raw materials is turning attention towards an unlikely place: the ocean floor. In this episode, Anna speaks with Dr Isaac Kardon (Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Meredith Schwartz (Associate Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies) about the geopolitics of deep-sea mining.

In a special edition of Chatham House’s Independent Thinking podcast recorded at the Munich Security Conference 2026 over the weekend, Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox and Grégoire Roos, Director of the Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes, unpack the key issues that emerged from this year’s forum.

The main speaker, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adopted a different tone from Vice President JD Vance, who shocked many in the audience last year when he delivered a verbal broadside against Europe at the same conference.

But does it signify a shift in the Trump administration’s newly assertive stance, or was it the same message in a different wrapping?

In a recording session in a side room amid the hustle and flow of the conference, they also discuss innovations in defence technology and drone development, the resilience of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, what level of support Ukraine can expect from Europe, and whether European companies and policymakers will respond effectively in the face of increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers.

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