Does Bashar al-Assad’s removal offer a renewed chance for peace in Syria, or is his fall the start of a new phase of conflict in the Middle East?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Gideon Rachman, the FT’s chief foreign affairs commentator, former BBC Persia journalist Rana Rahimpour and Haid Haid, a senior consulting fellow for our Middle East and North Africa programme.

Read our latest:

The fall of Assad has exposed the extent of the damage to Iran’s axis of resistance

While international support is crucial, Syrians must lead their country’s political transition

How South Korea’s turmoil will reverberate beyond its borders 

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the Winter issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Five months in, has Sir Keir Starmer's foreign policy been a success? The UK-EU relationship remains a major challenge for 2025, as does the prospect of a new US president. How will Starmer respond, and will the recent Chagos Islands deal impact the UK's international standing?

Bronwen Maddox is joined the BBC’s diplomatic editor James Landale, Professor Anand Menon, the director of UK in a Changing Europe at King's College London and Olivia O’Sullivan and the director of our UK in the World programme.

Read our latest:

Starmer and his government must make a better case for an active UK foreign policy

Syria’s conflict was never going to stay frozen. A new push for a lasting peace is needed

North Korea and Russia’s dangerous partnership

State capacity, mining and community relations in Peru

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Europe is contending with a stagnating economy, political dysfunction in Germany and France, and Russia's relentless attacks on Ukraine, all while it looks to the return of Donald Trump. Will the continent's democracies hold together in the face of such challenges?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by journalist and historian Timothy Garton Ash, Mujtaba Rahman, Europe Managing Director at the Eurasia Group and Armida van Rij, senior research fellow and the Head of our Europe programme.

Read our latest:

The break-up of Scholz’s coalition government signals the end of Germany’s old economic model

The ceasefire in Lebanon has dealt a huge blow to Iran’s regional strategy

Why cyber doomsday warnings do more harm than good

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

The panel discuss whether the COP29 climate summit delivered anything meaningful and what Donald Trump's election means for combating climate change.

As the world moves closer to crossing the 1.5 degree threshold, Bronwen Maddox is joined by former BBC journalist Roger Harrabin and Maria Netto, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Society in Brazil. Also with them from COP29 in Baku is Ruth Townend, senior research fellow with our Environment and Society Centre. 

More from Roger Harrabin: BBC Radio 4 - The Year We Lost the Climate

Read our latest:

Closing the climate finance gap

Azerbaijan’s climate leadership challenge

What is COP29 and why is it important?

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

The re-election of Donald Trump has major consequences for America’s relations with China. The panel discuss how the US-China relationship might change under the next president.

Guest host Ben Bland is joined by historian and political scientist Professor Rana Mitter, the FT’s US-China correspondent, Demetri Sevastopulo and Dr Yu Jie, a senior research fellow with our Asia-Pacific programme. 

Read our latest:

Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy will accelerate China’s push for global leadership

The Gulf will seek to manage Trump through self-reliance and pragmatism

Donald Trump’s policies risk making the US dollar a source of global instability

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Donald Trump has decisively defeated Kamala Harris in the US presidential election. What does his return to the White House mean for America and the world?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Edward Luce, the FT’s North America editor, Gerald Seib, the former Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal and Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of our US and Americas programme.

Read our latest:

The election shows that Trumpism is here to stay

America chooses a new role in the world

2024 US election results: what we know and what we expect

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

North Korea is sending troops to Russia, but what is Kim Jong Un hoping to get from Vladmir Putin for military assistance against Ukraine? The panel also discuss the role military conscription plays in Israel, South Korea and Ukraine.

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Edward Howell, the Korea Foundation fellow at Chatham House, Orysia Lutsevych, the head of our Ukraine Forum and Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with our Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Read our latest:

As the ruling party claims victory in Georgia’s disputed election, Western condemnation is no longer enough

Watch: 2024 US election: What will America choose?

Watch: Is the world ready for the next pandemic?

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Ahead of a crucial budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the UK’s national debt is at almost 100 per cent of GDP - and it's not alone. Many G7 economies face massive debt levels, restricting ambitions when it comes to foreign policy and global engagement. Bronwen Maddox is joined by Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s Diplomatic Editor and Ranil Dissanayake, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Development. With them are Olivia O’Sullivan and David Lubin from Chatham House.

Read our latest:

Trust in US democracy is at stake in this election

US election rhetoric on migration undermines Washington’s soft power in Latin America

Azerbaijan’s climate leadership challenge

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

France is facing political turmoil. The survival of Michel Barnier’s new government rests on whether he can pass a controversial budget intended to rescue the country from its huge fiscal deficit. Bronwen Maddox is joined by Sophie Pedder, the Paris Bureau Chief of The Economist, Shahin Vallée, a former advisor to Emmanuel Macron and Armida van Rij, the head of our Europe programme.

Episode includes a clip of Nancy Pelosi at Chatham House.

Read our latest:

Four scenarios for the end of the war in Ukraine

Moldova and Georgia face crucial elections – and diverging paths

How Beijing is closing surveillance gaps in the South China Sea

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.

Sanctions regimes are intended to be preferable to military force as a tool of foreign policy, but do they work to change behaviour or end up hurting ordinary people? With Bronwen Maddox is Daniel W Drezner, Professor of International Politics at Tufts University, Allie Renison, Associate Director at SEC Newgate, and Chris Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America with our US and Americas Programme.

 Read our latest:

How not to sanction | International Affairs journal 

Why the US–India relationship needs a healthy dose of realism

What the US election means for trade policy

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Read the latest issue of The World Today 

Listen to The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 

Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts - please listen, review, and subscribe.