The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

December 15, 2021 Leaving Timbuktu: What next as France redeploys in northern Mali?
Nine years after Timbuktu welcomed them as liberators, French troops are withdrawing from their final outpost in Mali's north. There are no cries of mission accomplished: the jihadist radicals who scattered when French-led forces intervened in 2013 have long since morphed into a low-intensity insurgency with raids as far away as the far north of Benin. With the summer's chaos in Afghanistan still fresh in memories, when is the right time to end a military intervention?
41 min
December 14, 2021 What's the alternative? Time running out to rescue Iran nuclear deal
With Tehran feared to be weeks away from a point of no return on nuclear weapons, are we looking down the barrel of an arms race in the Middle East? With little optimism in the air for the current round of talks in Vienna, where might this leave the Biden administration? Does the US have the stomach for a fight? And is a fight really what's unfolding? Traditional lines in the sand seem to be out the window as the same Gulf states that are cementing new ties with Israel are also keeping channels open with Tehran.
40 min
December 13, 2021 Boris Johnson on the edge: Is the UK PM the problem or just a symptom?
Are Boris Johnson's days numbered as British prime minister? If you had been reading the usually supportive British tabloids over the past few days, you would probably conclude that it's just a question of time, given the controversy over last year's Covid-rule-breaking Christmas party at Downing Street.
41 min
December 10, 2021 Global democracy summit: Is Biden pushing a US worldview?
US President Joe Biden is hosting a two-day summit on democracy, attended virtually by delegates the world over. Conspicuous by their absence from the guest list are Russia and China. The former accuses Biden of a "Cold War mentality", while the latter dismisses the event as a "joke" reflecting nothing more than sinister imperialism. But what stands to be achieved by such an event? Mark Owen's panel discusses the merits of the Summit for Democracy.
40 min
December 08, 2021 Enter Olaf Scholz: Can post-Merkel Germany meet its ambitions?
Functioning democracy completes peaceful transition of power. These days, that is no longer always a given. Germany's story is one of continuity but also change, even if the new chancellor is a familiar face who has been dubbed the Scholzomat for his monotone ability to stay on-message. Olaf Scholz may sound boring, but the platform of the country's first three-party coalition since the 1950s reads like a manifesto for wholesale reform.
41 min
December 07, 2021 Ukraine's red lines: How far are Russia and NATO willing to go?
Would Russia really invade Ukraine? Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin are speaking by video link after more than a month of escalation in eastern Ukraine and across the Russian border, where a troop build-up has got NATO allies warning of red lines and harsh sanctions if those troops cross over. We debrief the virtual summit and Washington's threat to send more troops to Eastern Europe in case of attack.
43 min
December 06, 2021 Point of no return? Myanmar after the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi
Will the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi discourage dissent or further galvanise the 10-month-old resistance to Myanmar's coup? Two years under house arrest is the first of several sentences to come against a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who, at 76, may or may not ever walk free again. Before the putsch, critics called her too accommodating to the generals. Now silenced, is Suu Kyi reinstated in her status as the face of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement?
42 min
December 02, 2021 Pressure on the Olympics: Will Peng Shuai case overshadow Beijing Winter Games?
A video distributed by the International Olympic Committee is not enough to reassure the tennis world. The Women's Tennis Association is suspending all tournaments in China until it is sure that doubles star Peng Shuai is safe and sound, following the 35-year-old Peng's quickly deleted post on Chinese social media last month denouncing sexual assault by a former vice premier. How far will the ripple effects go?
42 min
December 01, 2021 Candidate Zemmour: What's behind the presidential bid of French far-right pundit?
French far-right pundit Eric Zemmour has officially launched his bid for president with a 10-minute video clip on YouTube that looks like a crash course on replacement theory – immigrants supposedly taking over, violently – all to the dramatic sound of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. We ask our panel about the unorthodox campaign launch.
43 min
November 30, 2021 Celebrating an extraordinary life: What is Josephine Baker's legacy?
We bring you a special edition of The Debate on Josephine Baker's induction into the Panthéon in Paris. The Missouri-born dancer, who was also a spy for the French during the Second World War and a civil rights activist, is being honoured in the final resting place of France's most celebrated citizens.
42 min

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A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

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