On Geopolitics

Does learning lessons from history do more harm than good?

About the hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Ali and Suzanne ask whether we are trapped by history — and how we might use it better to approach today's challenges.

About the hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Expert on international summits Professor Tristen Naylor joins Ali and Suzanne to ask what summits are for, whether they are worth it, and what makes them successful (or not).

About the hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Suzanne and Ali discuss the current protests with Dr Anahita Arian from the Centre for Geopolitics.

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Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Professor Bill Hurst and Suzanne Raine examine the significance of the recent outbreak of protests in many cities in China, and the CCP's response.

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The host:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Jade McGlynn joins Suzanne and Ali to discuss how memory and myth are used to build support for Russia's War on Ukraine, and why it isn't quite right to call it "Putin's War".

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The hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

What happened at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and what does it mean for China's future direction? Ali and Suzanne are joined by Professor Bill Hurst, who talks us through personalities, drama, and the new Chinese focus on persistence and security.

The hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Suzanne and Ali discuss how the anti-Western case is made by leaders from Putin to Bin Laden (and everyone in between).

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The hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

After an eventful summer, Suzanne and Ali discuss the role and limitations of predictions and forecasting in geopolitics.

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The hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

Ali Ansari updates us on the state of negotiations on the JCPOA, and we discuss Iran's relationship with Russia.

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The hosts:

Suzanne Raine is an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge University. She served for 24 years in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on foreign policy and national security issues, including postings in Poland, Iraq and Pakistan. She specialised in counter-terrorism and was a senior member of the UK government assessment community. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

Ali Ansari is professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in the UK. He is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.