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.

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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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Thirty years ago Mexico made a fateful decision to open its economy and engage with the US. Now that decision is being tested by Donald Trump’s tariff threat. Gideon talks to Mexican economist Luis de la Calle about the impact this could have on his country's economy and that of the US. Clips: ABC News; Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo

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How Trump could destroy his own political movement

Half of Mexico’s exports to US risk steep tariffs

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is riding high on Donald Trump’s trade war

China delays approval of BYD’s Mexico plant amid fears tech could leak to US

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

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Europe is facing its biggest defence challenge since the second world war. This is compounded by the destabilising impact of US tariffs. So how is it measuring up? Gideon puts this question to Arancha González Laya, dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Science Po and a former foreign minister of Spain. Clip: Emmanuel Macron

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EU retaliates after Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs take effect

Trump is making Europe great again

How Europe can take up America’s mantle

Sweden to expand arms and space capabilities without US

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

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Canada’s Liberal party will elect a new leader this weekend and Chrystia Freeland is running to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Donald Trump’s belligerence towards his northern neighbour seems to have restored the party’s popularity ahead of a general election this year. Chrystia tells host Gideon Rachman that Canadians are sticking together and that they have some strong cards to play.

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Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here. 

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Donald Trump’s tariffs loom suddenly through the fog of trade war

Europe has bought Zelenskyy some time

Donald Trump warns tariffs will cause ‘a little disturbance’ in defiant speech

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

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Gideon tests the mood in Kiev three years after the Russian invasion as the Trump presidency upends previous tenets of international politics. He talks to Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko and Oleksandr Khomiak, director of Drone Space Labs, a defence start-up. Clip: European Commission

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Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US

US drives Ukraine war measure through UN with Russian backing

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s toughest battle begins

Now is the time for Europe really to step up on Ukraine

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

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Gideon dissects US vice-president JD Vance’s incendiary speech at the Munich Security Conference with German businessman Mathias Döpfner. They discuss the state of the transatlantic relationship and how Donald Trump’s actions towards Russia and Ukraine could mark a turning point. They are then joined by FT colleague Laura Pitel to talk about Döpfner’s media empire Axel Springer and the cancellation of federal government subscriptions to the Politico Pro news service. Clip: The White House

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Donald Trump calls Volodymyr Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ as US rift with Ukraine deepens

Vance’s real warning to Europe

How Europe can defend itself without US help

Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness

Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin’s grandest ambitions

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

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Gideon talks to Daniel Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in the US, about why it’s no longer possible to trust America and what the rest of the world can expect from the Trump presidency. Clip: CBC

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Tariffs won’t bring back America’s unipolar moment

'Cost and chaos’: Donald Trump’s metal tariffs sweep across corporate America

Trump is giving a green light to corporate corruption abroad

Trump is forcing Europe to a reckoning on Ukraine

Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire

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

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Gideon talks to Andrew England, the FT's Middle East editor, about the US president's 'crazy' plan for a takeover of the Gaza Strip. And he talks to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid about the prospects for his country as it finally returns to peace and stability.

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Middle East and Europe condemn Donald Trump’s plans to take over Gaza

Donald Trump’s Gaza plan resurrects grandiose Middle East playbook

The deceptively negotiable Donald Trump

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Gideon talks to Muhammad Yunus, interim leader of Bangladesh, who was invited by students to take charge after their revolution last July. He describes the alleged corruption that took hold when Sheikh Hasina was in office and his vision for a better future for the country. Clip: AP

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Bangladesh hires Big Four audit firms to review ‘robbed’ banks

Tycoon threatens international legal action against Bangladesh over ‘destroyed’ investments

Bangladesh’s unlikely revolutionaries: an 84-year-old and some students

Bangladesh requests UK minister’s bank account details in corruption probe

Bangladesh central banker accuses tycoons of ‘robbing banks’ of $17bn with spy agency help

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

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As Donald Trump begins his second term as US president, and Russia presses forward in Ukraine, Gideon Rachman speaks to Finland’s President Alexander Stubb about Europe’s place in the world. They also discuss the risk of strategic irrelevance in Europe, the rise of the far right, Finland’s position in Nato – and whether other European countries need to be a bit more like Finland. Clip: Reuters

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Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here. 

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‘Will President Trump even notice Europe?’ asks Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

Davos agenda turns to dealmaking as Trump takes office  

Trump and the contest between two visions of democracy

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Lulu Smyth, Manuela Saragosa and Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner

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