The Interview

Can President Macron fix awkward realities in France and elsewhere in Europe? Stephen Sackur speaks to France’s Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, about the young president's vision for a reformed France, leading Europe on a march to deeper integration and greater global influence.

(Photo: Foreign Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau leaves a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, Paris, 2017. Credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP)

Is Pakistan at risk of losing allies over its inability or unwillingness to control militants? Sarah Montague speaks to Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khawaja Asif. President Trump has accused his country of "housing the very terrorists" that the United States is fighting. He says that will have to change "immediately". He has also questioned why the United States is giving Pakistan billions in aid and military support. It is an argument that has been made before. But now other countries are also pointing to what they see as Pakistan's seeming double-speak on terrorism. Even China has signed a declaration including Pakistan-based groups on a terror list.

(Photo: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif speaks at a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, 2017. Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Relations between the US and Russia are at a post-Cold War low point, filled with mistrust, unpredictability and potential danger. In Washington, there's a President whose mixed messages tie his own staff in knots. Meanwhile, in Moscow is a President who seems intent on exploiting Western division. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Russian Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee and an influential Russian voice on foreign affairs. Does Russia see opportunity in diplomatic chaos?

(Photo: Konstantin Kosachev)

Are reports of the EU’s resurgence premature? After a bleak decade of economic stagnation, internal dysfunction and public disaffection in the EU, officials in Brussels claim the tide has turned. But is there really a renewed appetite for deeper European integration, while Britain is still searching for an exit strategy? Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to former Italian Prime Minister, EU Commissioner and ardent integrationist, Mario Monti.

In this age of the internet, the world has come to expect instant access to knowledge. But real, deep understanding takes longer to acquire and to share. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to one of the world’s most acclaimed novelists- Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk. He has lived almost all of his life in Istanbul, writing stories about Turkey which have over decades painted a vivid picture of a country and society pulled between east and west, past and future. What is the key to understanding Orhan Pamuk's Turkey?

As demands to relocate migrants across Europe continue to grow, Hungary seems more and more at odds with the EU's policy on migration. After losing a legal challenge at the European Court of Justice which overruled its objections to the compulsory fixed-quota scheme, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has accused the court of playing politics. He tells Zeinab Badawi that

(Photo: Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto of Hungary attends a press conference, Budapest, 2017. Credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)

Does the UN have the moral clout and authority to handle pressing world crises? Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is presiding over his first UN General Assembly since he took up the post in January this year. Hardtalk speaks to him at the UN headquarters in New York.

(Photo: António Guterres, UN Secretary General, attends the London Conference on Somalia, 2017, London. Credit: Jack Hill/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Is the African National Congress- the iconic movement of South Africa's liberation struggle, close to the end of its productive life? If so, will its demise be quick, or slow and painful? At the end of this year, the ANC’s current party leader- Jacob Zuma, will quit as party chief, with a host of candidates including his ex-wife vying to replace him. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the former President of South Africa and ANC stalwart, Kgalema Motlanthe. Are the most respected ANC members ready to contemplate a new political home?

How will Africa cope with an impending population explosion? Over the next thirty years Africa's population is projected to double, requiring delivery of jobs, housing and infrastructure to enable two billion people to thrive. It is an unprecedented leadership challenge. Does governance in Olusegun Obasanjo's Nigeria inspire confidence or scepticism?

(Photo: Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria speaks at the London Global African Investment Summit, 2015. Credit: Anthony Devlinl/Getty Images)

Is social media bad for public discourse? Man Booker prize-winning author Howard Jacobson thinks the internet is changing the way we use words, and not for the better. But is he an artist swimming against an irresistible cultural tide?

(Photo: Howard Jacobson author of The Finkler Question, poses after winning the 2010 Man Booker Prize. Credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)