President Biden’s time in office was a momentous period in world affairs and American foreign policy. The Taliban returned to rule Afghanistan, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas attacked Israel all on the watch of National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Gideon talks to Sullivan about the Biden legacy and hears how and why events unfolded and what the Trump administration is doing now. 

Clips: BBC, CBS, Sky News, The Guardian, Radio Free Europe, CGTN

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More on this topic:

Europe needs to keep up the pressure on Netanyahu

Putin thinks that time is on his side

Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan: ‘The core engines of American power are humming

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The EU is in Donald Trump’s cross hairs. So how should it respond? In this week’s episode, Paschal Donohoe, Ireland’s finance minister and president of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, discusses whether the euro can challenge the dollar. He tells Gideon that European integration should go even further - and makes the case for immigration and a new relationship between the EU and the UK.

Clips: Euronews,PBS Newshour

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More on this topic:

Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal

How the UK and EU thrashed out a post-Brexit reset in relations

Donald Trump says US will ‘100%’ strike trade deal with EU

Euro has ‘clear path’ towards greater reserve currency use, says Eurogroup president

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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After a short but intense clash, a ceasefire is holding between India and Pakistan, but tensions remain high. Both sides claim victory, but the rapid escalation in the conflict bodes ill for future diplomacy between the two countries. Gideon talks to Professor Sushant Singh, lecturer in south Asian Studies at Yale University, about the conflict and what’s at stake if tensions escalate again. Clips: Times of India, Fox News

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More on this topic:

How India and Pakistan pulled back from brink of war

India and Pakistan’s fragile ceasefire holds after alleged breaches

​​Narendra Modi says India has proved ‘superiority’ over Pakistan in clashes

India and Pakistan: a conflict in the hands of two religious strongmen

Military briefing: India and Pakistan test red lines of nuclear rivalry

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Donald Trump continues to issue a blizzard of controversial statements and executive orders. His political opponents often seem confused, even stunned. So how should the Democratic party take on the US president? Gideon talks to Senator Andy Kim, a new Democrat from New Jersey, on the merits of different approaches to opposition and what is needed to win back voters.

Clips: KTVU Fox

This is Gavin Newsom

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More on this topic:

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

‘Nadir for the party’: US Democrats edge towards civil war

Lessons from Russia, Turkey and India for Trump’s America

Traders made $100mn from buying Melania Trump memecoin before launch

Trump’s assault on the rule of law: ‘the speed and intent is remarkable’

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips and the sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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US efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine have so far not yielded anything close to a peace deal. Both Russia and Ukraine have objected to some aspects of the Trump administration’s plan. What – if anything – might make a lasting peace possible? Gideon Rachman speaks to Sir Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London, about what each party wants from a peace deal.

Free links to read more on this topic:

Podcast: Future weapons: Ukraine’s army of drone: https://on.ft.com/3GKlW00

US and Ukraine sign natural resources deal https://on.ft.com/4iRd4mY

Steve Witkoff, the Trump loyalist disrupting diplomacy https://on.ft.com/3EKE89q

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Gideon talks to the FT’s Michael Stott about Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, whose friendship with Donald Trump has been in the spotlight over his willingness to imprison US deportees, notably Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Clip: The White House

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Free links to read more on this topic:

Nayib Bukele: the TikTok authoritarian feted across Latin America

El Salvador’s Bukele refuses to repatriate man wrongly deported from US

How El Salvador became a model for the global far right

Trump is halfway to making America a police state

El Salvador offers to swap Venezuelan US deportees for political prisoners

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Nuclear talks between the US and Iran began last weekend in Oman, and are set to continue in the coming weeks. President Trump has warned that if the talks fail the US could take military action against the Islamic republic – an idea that Israel's government is pressing for. What might a new nuclear deal with Iran look like – and how might it change the geopolitical picture in the Middle East? Clip: The Express Tribune

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Free links to read more on this topic:

The false promise of regime change in Iran

US and Iran agree to follow-up talks over nuclear crisis

Is Iran on a collision course with the west?

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Gideon talks to the economic historian Harold James about the economic and political implications of Donald Trump's tariffs. What are the similarities with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930? What kind of forces will his decision to smash the global economic order unleash? Clip: CBC

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Free links to read more on this topic:

It falls to Congress to unravel Trump’s reckless tariffs

Trump’s ‘reshoring’ ambitions threatened by tariff chaos

Market turmoil strains bro-sphere’s bromance with Donald Trump

Trump and the mob boss approach to global markets

Markets could get a lot worse — and quickly

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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German businessman Joerg Wuttke has been an observer of China since the 1980s, watching it evolve from backwater to superpower. He talks to Gideon about US-China rivalry and how Europe can find its place as a trading partner to both powers. Clip: CNBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

China launches large-scale military exercises around Taiwan

China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade

China is suffering its own ‘China shock’

BASF’s Joerg Wuttke: ‘The essence of China is this warrior’

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Gideon talks to Russia experts Catherine Belton and Arkady Ostrovsky about Vladimir Putin’s goals. They discuss his early ambition to restore Russia’s status as a global superpower. And they go on to analyse why, after a quarter of a century in power, Putin may see his best chance yet of achieving that goal - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London earlier this month.

Free links to read more on this topic:

The age of the strongman

Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire

US agrees maritime ceasefire deal with Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine ceasefire: what is Vladimir Putin’s game?

Russia trained officers for attacks on Japan and South Korea

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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