Independent Thinking

The major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast is not just a public health emergency in an already impoverished and violence-beset region. Armed rebellion, fragile government and a collapse in public trust are combining to make outbreaks more frequent – and fostering dangerous disinformation that makes the virus harder to fight.

How dangerous is the Ebola virus? Could it spread to the rest of the world? And is America's withdrawal from global health leadership at least partly to blame for its return?

Bronwen Maddox finds out from director of our Africa Programme Tighisti Amare, and director of our Global Health Programme Emma Ross.

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.

Read Chatham House's latest:

Comment | The flow of arms and money feeding the war in Sudan can be cut. What is missing is the will

Upcoming event | Targeting medics on the battlefield: addressing the crisis through law and practice

Comment | Ethiopia needs more than an election to calm internal and regional conflict

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧

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Almost exactly ten years since Britain's seismic vote to leave the EU, the debate reopens thanks to early skirmishes in the fight for leadership of the Labour Party and thus the prime ministership. Could a credible bid to rejoin make its way onto Britain's political agenda? Are the drastically changed economic and defence environments making the case for re-entry unanswerable? And under what terms would European leaders consider the return of their often-troublesome former partner?

Bronwen Maddox talks over a major potential shift for the entire continent with Chatham House visiting fellow Ben Judah, director of our UK in the World programme Olivia O'Sullivan, and associate fellow and Financial Times international trade specialist Alan Beattie.

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.

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Comment | A 2026 'super El Niño' could expose gaps in UK preparedness

Comment | China and Russia's strategic duo endures – but its limits are clear

Research paper | Avoiding a new nuclear arms race

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧

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President Donald Trump brings a band of senior US business executives seeking trade deals to China for what is possibly the biggest bilateral summit of 2026. But what does the US hope to achieve? More sales of Boeings, beef and soybeans; an off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran; a sense of world pre-eminence; or all three? Our experts discuss whether Taiwan will end up paying the price for Chinese help in ending the Iran war, and whether the success of the summit really boils down to the chemistry between Trump and the world's other most powerful man, Xi Jinping.

Host Bronwen Maddox discusses the visit and what it means with Dr Yu Jie, senior research fellow with our Asia-Pacific Programme, and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America Programme.

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

Chatham House's latest:

Comment | Trump–Xi summit will be about managing US–China rivalry, not resolving it

Comment | Rare earths are on Trump's agenda in China. But US electronic waste offers an untapped source at home

Comment | Xi and Trump won't discuss China's growing nuclear arsenal

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧

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Is the initiative on the Ukraine war slipping out of Russian president Vladimir Putin's hands? And how has the US-Israel war on Iran affected Moscow?

The economic crisis is tightening, and Moscow and St Petersburg are increasingly subject to lengthy internet and mobile blackouts.

Fearing Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia has vastly scaled down its traditional celebration of military power – the Victory Day parade – while Putin is reported to be increasingly isolated, micromanaging the war from an assortment of bunkers.

Bronwen Maddox talks to Grégoire Roos, director of Chatham House's Europe and Russia and Eurasia programmes, and associate fellow John Lough.

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

Chatham House's latest:

Comment | China will benefit from the Iran war, regardless of any deal between Trump and Tehran

Comment | Germany rearms – but can it lead? Europe's hesitant superpower in waiting

Comment | A naval coalition in the Strait of Hormuz should learn these lessons

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧

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King Charles III's state visit to the US won acclaim as the monarch charmed President Donald Trump. But can it really rescue US-UK relations from their current dire state? The 'special relationship' – a term first voiced by Chatham House before becoming widely popularized by Winston Churchill – now seems not so special.

Our experts discuss what Britain and Europe should do now that the US wants to bear less of the burden of European defence, whether Prime Minister Starmer is right to stand up to President Trump on Iran, and where all of this leaves the NATO alliance.

On this week's panel, host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America Programme at Chatham House. And by General Sir Richard Barrons, a former Commander Joint Forces Command who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was one of the leaders of the UK's Strategic Defence Review 2025. He is now a senior consulting fellow with the International Security Programme.

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

Read Chatham House's latest:

AI export controls are not the best bargaining chip

Mali attacks show security cannot be delivered by military means alone

Norway can teach the UK about energy security – but the lesson is not more North Sea drilling

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EU expansion, energy shocks, and uneasy alliances: will the conflict in the Gulf – and other crises – force a more unified European strategy? This week's episode comes from the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, where host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Grégoire Roos, director of our Europe, Russia and Eurasia programmes. As the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran ripples through global markets, Europe finds itself under renewed pressure. Recorded on location amid the activity and discussions of the forum, they explore how Europe is responding to an increasingly unpredictable United States, reconsidering its own economic and security priorities, and navigating its relationship with Russia. Is this a moment of fragmentation – or the beginning of a more coherent European stance?

Produced by Stephen Farrell.

Chatham House's latest:

Comment | A Taiwan crisis would cause far more global economic damage than Strait of Hormuz disruption

News release | Lord Robertson: UK's 'naïve belief' the US 'will always be there' has diminished its defence capabilities

Comment | Israel's accelerating de facto annexation of the West Bank has dangerous implications

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts.

From Hormuz to Hungary and the Vatican to the Federal Reserve, it has been an unusually contentious week for the White House, even by the standards of President Trump's second administration.

This week's podcast comes from the US, where our analysts assess the political and economic state of the US as it begins gearing up for the midterm elections. From New York, Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox and Director of the US and North America Programme, Laurel Rapp, are joined by David Lubin, Senior Research Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance Programme, who is in Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's annual Spring Meetings to discuss the global economy and financial markets. The panel discuss the Iran ceasefire, nuclear negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz blockade, the health of the global economy, a setback for one Trump ally in Budapest and domestic criticism for President Trump over tensions between the White House and Pope Leo.

For further reading, see David Lubin's commentary 'Dollar dominance is surviving the Iran war - just about'

Produced by Stephen Farrell.

Chatham House's latest:

Comment | How to keep the Strait of Hormuz open in the long term

Comment | Lebanon–Israel talks must be given a chance

Comment | Hungary election: Orbán has been defeated – but will Orbánism survive?

Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts.

China prepared in advance for a US attack on Iran. But many of its Asian neighbours have been hit hard because their economies were heavily reliant on energy imports from the Gulf. In the short-term, the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered rationing, and shortages of diesel, gas and fertiliser. Does that set a negative precedent for other choke points across the world? In the longer-term the war may force Asian nations into deeper reckonings: to reassess supply chains, economic strategies and whether the US can be trusted as a stable ally. Why hasn't China supported Iran more? Will the standoff over Hormuz tempt Beijing to flex its muscles over the Taiwan Strait or the South China Sea? How will Pakistan leverage its status as negotiator? Will the countries of southeast Asia follow through on calls for more regional integration of energy supplies? To discuss these issues, and more, Ben Bland, Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme, hosts this week's Independent Thinking podcast, standing in for Bronwen Maddox. He is joined by two of his Chatham House colleagues: Yu Jie, Senior Research Fellow for China; and Chietigj Bajpaee, Senior Research Fellow for South Asia.

Read our latest:

News release | Syrian President al-Sharaa on Iran war: 'Syria will remain outside this conflict'

Comment | The Iran war risks triggering a new wave of nuclear proliferation

Comment | Spectator, beneficiary, player: Russia's strategy in the Iran war, from oil to drones

Comment | Iraqi civilians are paying the price of the Iran war

Produced by Stephen Farrell.

Read the Spring 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.

An earlier than usual episode of the Independent Thinking podcast, ahead of the Easter break. In a one-on-one conversation, Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox discusses energy with Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford, who has been advising governments and writing on energy, water and the environment for decades.

They examine how energy policies of different governments over decades led to the UK's energy costs being so high. And what the government should do if it wants to guarantee security of supply – and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Are those concerned about climate change right to push for net zero? Are current policies driving industry from the UK? Should there be more nuclear power stations, or more drilling in the North Sea?

Read our latest:

The Iran war risks triggering a new wave of nuclear proliferation

Any Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon will work to Hezbollah's advantage

Moscow internet blackouts: the Kremlin tightens its grip on Russia's digital space

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by Stephen Farrell.

Read the Spring 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.

One month on from the start of the US and Israeli war on Iran, governments worldwide are trying to assess the scale of its long-term impact on the global economy and political system.

Much will depend on how long the conflict continues, and how long Iran blocks fuel exports and other cargo vessels from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House and Iran have sent conflicting signals about whether negotiations are under way, even as thousands of US troops head to the Middle East. And even if President Trump secures a ceasefire with Iran, it is unclear if US and Israel are aligned on their visions for an end game.

Our panel assesses whether the world is headed for a 1973-style shock to the global economic system, pushing up inflation and cutting growth. And how Europe, Russia, China, and other nations will deal with a crisis that has disrupted energy flows and supply chains.

Joining regular host Bronwen Maddox are David Lubin, senior research fellow in Chatham House's Global Economy and Finance Programme, and Grégoire Roos, director of our Europe, Russia, and Eurasia programmes.

Read our latest:

Starmer's handling of Trump and Iran reflects public opinion, but shows the limits of UK power

Any Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon will work to Hezbollah's advantage

Spectator, beneficiary, player: Russia's strategy in the Iran war, from oil to drones

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by Stephen Farrell.

Read the Spring 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.