A US-led peace plan has brought renewed hopes that an end to the conflict in Gaza may be in sight. But as talks in Cairo continue over the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and disarmament of Hamas, what are the prospects for a lasting peace settlement?

Gavin Esler discusses the latest with Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for The Economist.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Trump’s foreign policy means the United States is leaving a vacuum in world affairs – and China looks increasingly willing to fill it.  

Following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin last month, what is the real nature of Xi Jinping and China’s expanding but complex international relationships, including those with Narendra Modi in India and Vladimir Putin in Russia?

In the latest episode of This Is Not A Drill, Gavin Esler talks to Elizabeth Wishnick, expert on Chinese-Russian relations and senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and Tanvi Madan, senior fellow in the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, host of the Global India podcast and author of the book Fateful Triangle: How China Shaped US-India Relations during the Cold War.” 

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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In a dramatic shift over the war in Ukraine, Trump took to Truth Social this week to declare his belief that Ukraine can win back its territories. 

Will Trump’s change in stance last, and will the shift in rhetoric lead to a change in policy from the White House?

To discuss a dramatic week at the UN General Assembly meeting and the latest from the front lines in Eastern Ukraine, Oz Katerji is joined in Kyiv by security analyst Jimmy Rushton.

Read Jimmy Rushton’s report on Ukraine’s defence of its front lines in New Lines Magazine here.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

• Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this.

Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Trump’s economic policies have caused chaos globally and he’s made it clear he’s happy to use America’s financial might against his enemies – or help his friends. But, when it comes to security, who is this actually helping? 

In the latest episode of This Is Not A Drill – we ask,how do tariffs and inflation in the US impact global security? Emma Beals is joined by Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Read Adam Posen’s Foreign Affairs article ‘The New Economic Geography’ here.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

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Written and presented by Emma Beals. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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How did Nepal’s ‘Discord revolution’ spark so quickly and bring in a new national leader chosen by online poll?

On the 8th of September, a group of young Nepali gathered in Kathmandu to protest a social media ban they saw as a heavy-handed crackdown against an anti-corruption movement. A week later, the government has fallen, more than 70 people lie dead after protests were infiltrated by violent groups and the government responded with lethal force, and Nepal has a new Prime Minister, herself nominated via social media.

In the latest episode of This Is Not A Drill, Oz Katerji is joined from Kathmandu by journalist and academic Dinesh Kafle.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

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Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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Israel’s targeting of Hamas in Qatar has further escalated the crisis in the Middle East, and follows Benjamin Netanyahu’s evacuation order for Gaza City as Israeli forces prepare to send in occupying forces.

Joining Gavin Esler to discuss the latest from the Middle East. and whether the Arab states in the region may play a part in defusing this endless conflict, is Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Middle East Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. 

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

• Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this.

Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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NATO jets have scrambled to shoot down Russian drones after what Polish military command has called an ‘unprecedented violation’ of its airspace. 

As Europe reacts to Russian aggression crossing into NATO airspace and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk invokes Article 4 of the NATO treaty, Gavin Esler is joined for the latest from Warsaw by Ian Garner, assistant professor at the Center for Totalitarian Studies at the Pilecki Institute.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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As conflicts and tariff-led trade wars fracture an international order forged at the end of the Second World War, have we entered an era of great power competition? 

Joining Oz Katerji today to discuss whether the rise to prominence of autocratic ‘strongman’ leaders marks a new landscape of great power contest is Stacie Goddard, Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. 

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill  to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

• Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this.

Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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China is upping its pace in a race to dominate the world of technology. What will Beijing’s quest mean for its rivalry with the US and how will it shape the future? Gavin Esler is joined by Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, to discuss China’s ambitions.  

Buy Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund This is Not a Drill by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9780241729175 

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by ⁠Incogni⁠, the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to⁠ https://incogni.com/notadrill⁠ to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan. 

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. 

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As details, claims and counter claims emerge after Trump’s long-promised peace talks, Ukraine’s future remains in the balance.

In this special 100th of edition of This Is Not A Drill, Oz Katerji discusses a week of crucial diplomacy with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s minister for foreign affairs from 2020 to 2024.

• This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by Incogni, the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to https://incogni.com/notadrill to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan.

• Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this.

Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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