Gideon talks to journalist Anshel Pfeffer about Israel’s ‘strongman’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They discuss how his ‘brazen disregard’ for international norms has helped him to cling to power, but also left him at the mercy of more and more extreme forces in Israel. This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London earlier this month. Clips: LBC; CNN; BBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

Israel unbound: was Qatar a strike too far?

EU moves to freeze some funding to Israel over war in Gaza

Israeli annexation of the West Bank would be ‘red line’ for UAE

Netanyahu’s disastrous plan to take control of Gaza

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 and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gideon talks to Albanian academic Lea Ypi about her book Indignity. In the book, she describes how living first under the Ottoman empire, then as part of fascist Italy and later in a post-war communist state affected the lives of her grandparents. They discuss possible parallels between the first half of the 20th century and the times we are living in today and ask what lessons can be drawn from this history to avoid making the same mistakes. Clip: AQSHF

Free links to read more on this topic:

Kant and the case for peace

Albania’s ‘old sheriff’ on course to win fourth term as prime minister

Why the EU’s migration dilemma is pushing the bloc further right

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 and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The longheld US position to defend Taiwan’s independent status in the face of Chinese aggression is looking shaky under the Trump administration, in spite of Taiwanese efforts to court the American president. This week, Gideon talks to analyst and author James Crabtree - former director of the Asia office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies - about why the US now seems more interested in doing a deal with China than showing support for Taiwan. They also discuss the broader implications that this, and other issues, might have for US alliances across the Indo-Pacific region, including relations with South Korea, Japan, Australia and India.

Clips:

Amazon Prime

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

More on this topic:

Taiwan raises defence spending by 23% under US pressure to counter China threat

Donald Trump blocks Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te from New York stopover

US cancelled military talks with Taiwan

Trump is the gift that keeps giving to China

The geopolitics of chips: Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’

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

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gideon discusses the outcome of the recent Alaska and Washington summits with Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Has Russia emerged as a clear winner? What can be achieved without more pressure on Vladimir Putin? How effective would western security guarantees be to prevent future Russian aggression?

Clip: Sky News

Free links to read more on this topic:

Ukraine talks expose Trump’s dreadful attention to detail

Donald Trump says US could play role ‘by air’ in Ukraine security guarantee

Donald Trump says US to ‘co-ordinate’ Ukraine’s security with Europe

‘Stab in the back’: Kyiv reels as Trump embraces Putin’s terms

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 by Breen Turner. The executive producer is Flo Phillips.

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump administration has hit India with 50% tariffs. And just after a short military conflict between India and Pakistan, President Trump played host to Pakistan’s army chief of staff at the White House. Gideon discusses what this means for India and for the region with Tanvi Madan, author of a noted history of the US-India relationship. Clip: WION. Weekend Festival link

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump tariffs threaten Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ drive

How Pakistan wooed Trump — and rattled India

Narendra Modi tells Indian farmers he will ‘never compromise’ in face of 50% US tariffs

India’s Russian oil conundrum: yield to Donald Trump or face tariff backlash

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Manuela Saragosa.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zbigniew Brzeziński was one of the most influential statesmen of the cold war. But many of the geopolitical problems he wrestled with in Russia, China and the Middle East, have returned with a vengeance. Among his many prescient ideas, ‘Zbig’ as he was known, predicted that American hubris might lead to an ‘alliance of the aggrieved’ between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Gideon discusses his life and legacy with FT colleague Ed Luce, who has written an acclaimed biography of the Polish-born strategist. Clip: Voice of America

Free links to read more on this topic:

A new cold war with China won’t help the US

The World of the Cold War — timely reading in an age of US, Russia and China tensions

The last grand strategists: what Brzezinski and Kissinger could teach Trump

King of Kings — the 1979 revolution that changed Iran and the world

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 Jean-Marc Eck and the executive producer is Manuela Saragosa.

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel has demonstrated its capacity to strike at its enemies far and wide since the Hamas attacks of October 7 2023. But what will it do with this military dominance? The FT’s Charles Clover puts this question to Palestinian historian Yezid Sayigh. They discuss the weakness and instability of neighbouring Arab states and how the Netanyahu government’s moves to prevent Palestinian statehood represent the biggest threat to peaceful coexistence in the region. Clips: France 24; Channel 4 News

Free links to read more on this topic:

Has Gaza tested the limits of Donald Trump’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu?

UK to recognise Palestinian state unless Israel ends Gaza crisis

Israel’s quiet war in the West Bank

The world is failing the Palestinian people

Gaza: a war without end?

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

Presented by Charles Clover. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Humans have never been healthier or better fed. We’re living longer, but having fewer children - and many countries’ populations are now shrinking. Gideon discusses these trends with demographer Nicholas Eberstadt. Have smartphones played a role in our declining fertility? How will we look after our elderly people? Is migration the answer? Clip: CBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

The fight to revive Europe’s shrinking rural areas

Population undercounting threatens public policy, scientists warn

Japan urged to use gloomier population forecasts after plunge in births

The unspoken truth about the baby bust

Brain ageing is the best predictor of longevity, scientists find

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 and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

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

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.