Independent Thinking

Sixty countries signed a declaration on 'inclusive' artificial intelligence at a global summit in Paris this week, but the UK and US refused. What was agreed at the summit, why did London and Washington decline to sign and what comes next?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Professor Birgitte Andersen from Birkbeck Business School, Lord Tim Clement-Jones, Co-Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI and Alex Krasodomski, Programme Director, for Chatham House's Digital Society Programme.

Read our latest:

Events in the DRC show a new realpolitik is emerging in Africa – one that is fraught with danger

Modi's Washington visit highlights India's importance to the US, but will not resolve long-term challenges

The international trading system needs urgent support to survive

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock with Indio Media.

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.

President Trump has threatened to put tariffs on Mexico and Canada and imposed them on China, fuelling fears of a looming global trade war. With the European Union likely next in his sights – what is the US president trying to achieve with these tactics? And what are the consequences?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Creon Butler, the director of our Global Economy and Finance programme, economist Linda Yueh and ambassador Julian Ventura, both associate fellows with our US and Americas programme.

Read our latest:

Trump's tariffs are delayed but they have already done long-term damage to US–Canada relations

Event | The rewriting of North America: How are Canada and Mexico adapting to Trump?

Warming India–Indonesia rhetoric belies challenges of Global South leadership

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock with Indio Media.

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.

President Trump wants a peace deal in Ukraine and has signalled he's willing to put pressure on Vladimir Putin to achieve it. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also appears more open to a deal – if there is a guarantee for Ukraine's security.

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Mark Landler, London Bureau Chief of the New York Times, The Telegraph's Francis Dearnley who hosts the award-winning podcast Ukraine: The Latest and Orysia Lutsevych, the deputy director of our Russia and Eurasia programme.

Read our latest:

Can the international order survive Trump 2.0?

The world should take the prospect of Chinese tech dominance seriously, and start preparing now

South Africa's G20 presidency is a chance for the West to engage with Global South priorities

The Trump administration's sanctions policy could matter more than its use of tariffs

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock with Indio Media.

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.

Donald Trump has signed a wave of executive orders in his first days as America's 47th President. The panel discuss the president's changes to US foreign policy and their potential impact on America and the world.

Guest host Mike Higgins, editor of The World Today magazine, is joined by Leslie Vinjamuri, the director of our US and the Americas Programme, Samir Puri, the director of our Centre for Global Governance and Security, and Susan Glasser, a staff writer with The New Yorker.

Read our latest:

Amid soaring US debt, can Trump balance fiscal challenges with campaign promises?

Trump's energy policies ignore the urgent lessons of the California fires

The Trump administration should build on Biden's sanctions to disrupt the networks feeding the war in Sudan

Presented by Mike Higgins. 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.

A fragile ceasefire and hostage deal has been agreed between Israel and Hamas to end 15 months of war and suffering. Chatham House experts discuss the timing of the deal, whether it can hold and what comes next.

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Sanam Vakil, the director of our Middle East and North Africa (MENA) programme, Leslie Vinjamuri, the director of our US and Americas programme, and Amjad Iraqi and Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellows with our MENA programme.

Read our latest:

The new Trump administration could herald a remaking of the international order. How should the world respond?

Trump's ambiguous stance on China raises the risk of accidental conflict in the Indo-Pacific

The tough dilemma Trump 2.0 poses for Beijing

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.

From the devastating wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza to Donald Trump's threats over Greenland and the Panama Canal, what are the places to watch this year?

Bronwen Maddox is joined by Gideon Rachman, the FT's chief foreign affairs commentator, Leslie Vinjamuri, the director of our US and America's programme and Renad Mansour, a senior fellow for our Middle East and North Africa programme.

Read our latest:

As the UK government seeks greater engagement with China, a clearer strategy is crucial – and long overdue

A rapid ceasefire in Ukraine could lead Donald Trump into a Russian trap

With Trump's inauguration, the EU and Turkey must finally get serious about security cooperation

Russia's economic dilemmas give Trump important leverage in negotiations on Ukraine. But will he use it?

Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock.

Cross-border conflict, evidence, policy and trends (XCEPT)

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.

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.