Football can be geopolitics by other means. Financial Times Journalist Simon Kuper has covered every World Cup since 1990. This week, he joins Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika to unpack how football and geopolitics collide. 

Kuper explains why he thinks FIFA president Gianni Infantino runs the organization like an autocrat, how U.S. President Donald Trump's red card intervention echoes historical precedents set by Mussolini and Brazil's military government, and why hosting a World Cup brings prestige but rarely economic benefit. The conversation also covers the KGB's use of Soviet football clubs for cover during the Cold War, football's role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, why China's investment in football hasn't paid off, and how France's multicultural national team has become a flashpoint in its domestic politics.

Plus, in Brief: Russian strikes on Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit, German prosecutors' Nord Stream allegations against Ukraine, deepening Russia-China military cooperation, and reports of Trump pushing for a "master list" of intelligence assets.

In this episode:

• (00:00) World Cup Geopolitics Football & Global Power

• (00:45) England's Surprising World Cup Victory

• (03:05) Football As Geopolitics Explained

• (03:24) Russia-Ukraine War Intelligence Analysis

• (11:12) Trump CIA Spy List Dangers Exposed

• (14:25) Andy Burnham Northern Devolution Power Shift

• (19:10) Simon Kuper On The Geopolitics Of Football

• (23:07) FIFA Corruption Infantino's Autocratic Control

• (28:00) Jules Rimet World Cup Origins Peace Vision

• (30:23) 1954 World Cup Rebuilt German National Identity

• (38:42) KGB Soviet Football Cold War Espionage

• (47:53) Argentina 1978 World Cup Junta Propaganda

• (49:52) Qatar 2022 World Cup Human Rights Backlash

• (1:02:49) Reflecting On Football Power, Politics, & Identity

Show Notes: 

Soccernomics: Why European Men and American Women Usually Win―and American Men Don’t (Yet) | https://a.co/d/07dBzyak

World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments | https://a.co/d/0g5raBr3

Football Against The Enemy: https://a.co/d/04OUzQgR 

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika (House of Lords)

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President Donald Trump has continued his pressure campaign on European defense spending. But in the lead-up to the next NATO Summit, there is another core question to ask: How is Europe coordinating its defense production? This might be the key issue that determines how Trump's pressure campaign pays off in the long run. 

Kate McCann and Sir Richard Dearlove are joined by Ambassador Julianne Smith (Former United States Permanent Representative to NATO under President Biden) and A. Wess Mitchell, Ph.D. (former senior State Department official who helped shape the first Trump administration's Europe strategy) to break down what's really at stake in Ankara. 

Plus: Should NATO stay laser-focused on Russia and leave China to the U.S.? How deep is the lingering trust deficit after the Greenland dispute? 

Got a question or comment? Email us at [email protected] or drop us a comment on YouTube. We might answer it in next week's episode.

In this episode:

(00:00) Cold Open

(00:57) Where US-Iran Talks Stand

(06:33) Five Eyes Warnings: Chinese LinkedIn Recruitment & AI Threats

(11:51) Setting the Scene for NATO's Ankara Summit

(13:35) What Does the US Want Out of This Summit?

(19:47) Debating What "US Leadership" Really Means

(24:59) Trump's Balancing Act: Pressure vs. Reassurance

(28:04) The Coordination Problem: Europe's "Potluck Dinner"

(37:19) Should NATO Even Focus on China?

(44:31) The Anglosphere & AUKUS Debate

(45:23) Who's the Most Awkward Meeting for Trump in Ankara?

(47:47) Is Trump's Personality a Distraction From Policy?

(50:05) Will the Iran War Overshadow the Summit?

(52:35) Chaos Agent or Strategic Operator?

(56:19) The One Decision to Watch at Ankara

(59:31) Listener Mail: Energy Pricing & Geopolitical Reality

(1:04:15) Listener Mail: Cuba's Civil Society Problem

Show Notes: 

• https://youtu.be/0pYUYBwRdLs?si=2fbDUznnuIs-Y5H3 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7FGkxRO_es 

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio)

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In the wake of the United States’ MOU with Iran, the headlines have been chock-full of optimism.

Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Sabrina Singh sit down with Helima Croft, Managing Director and Head of Global Commodity Strategy and MENA Research, RBC Capital Markets, to lend more nuance to the news. 

Also: What Starmer’s resignation could mean for the UK, takeaways from the recent G7 meeting, Ukraine’s success with drones, and how things have changed in the decade since Brexit. 

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro: Strait of Hormuz Crisis Explained

(02:00) UK PM Starmer Resigns: What Comes Next

(08:34) G7 Summit: China, Ukraine, and Europe's Crisis

(14:22) Ukraine War: Can Russia Be Stopped?

(18:35) Brexit at 10: Was It Worth It?

(23:24) Is the Strait of Hormuz Really Open?

(30:08) Oil Markets React to Iran-US Peace Deal

(36:55) Iran Nuclear Deal: What's Really at Stake

(44:39) Iran Sanctions Explained: Congress vs. Treasury

(48:01) OPEC's Collapse: Saudi Arabia vs. China

(51:47) Best and Worst Case Outcomes for Oil

(58:22) Key Takeaways: Global Energy's New Reality

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Sabrina Singh (former Pentagon Press Secretary)

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The man who secretly negotiated with Cuba for the Obama Administration says it plainly: the risk of military intervention is quite high. Ricardo Zúniga breaks down why the U.S. and Cuba are headed toward conflict, why the Cuban regime would rather fight than negotiate, and why Cuba is not Venezuela, no matter what the White House says.

Also this week: the Iran-U.S. ceasefire deal, the resignation of UK Defense Secretary John Healey, and what Armenia's election means for Putin.

In this episode:

(02:07) Iran Deal

(07:32) UK Defense Shakeup

(09:39) Armenia Votes West

(12:14) Cuba Interview Begins

(15:04) Life Inside Cuba

(18:31) Cuba Versus Venezuela

(20:22) Russia China Backing

(24:01) Collapse Crime Risks

(28:28) Will US Strike Cuba?

(33:04) Reform Not Bombs

(36:51) CIA Channel Talks(

44:00) Intermediaries Options

(46:34) One Decision to Change Cuba’s Fate 

Show Notes: 

• The Day After in Cuba | Foreign Affairs https://www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/day-after-cuba 

• Is Cuba About to Fall? A 35-Year CIA Analyst on What Comes Next | One Decision https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlk1Wxy8To 

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio)

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The minerals inside your phone, your car, and U.S. fighter jets almost all pass through one country: China.

Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, founding director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS, joins Sir Richard Dearlove and Rosanna Lockwood to explain how China built a stranglehold on rare earth production, and what it will actually take to break it. Critical Minerals are this century's defining supply chain vulnerability: it's a demand problem, a democracy problem, and, for the West, a race against a country that isn’t swayed by elections.

Also: Israel's espionage escalation against US officials, Poland's rise as Europe's top defense power, and the fall of Orbán's Hungary.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro: China's Rare Earth Minerals Takeover

(01:43) World Cup 2026 Preview

(03:50) Middle East Conflict Updates

(06:57) Israel Spying on US Officials?

(08:43) Bill Pulte Named Intelligence Director

(10:27) US APAC Strategy Shifts

(14:41) Poland Becomes Europe's Defense Power

(16:44) Hungary After Orbán's Fall

(19:57) China's Critical Minerals Chokehold

(27:12) Western Mining Supply Chain Crisis

(38:28) Frontier Markets: Africa's Mineral Race

(57:32) Taiwan Crisis and Mineral Shortages

Show Notes: 

• The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/us/politics/pentagon-sees-growing-espionage-threat-from-israel.html

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist). 

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The Iran conflict contains dueling narratives. Iran says it repelled the attack. Israel says it decimated the nuclear program. The US says it brokered peace. So, how do you find out what actually happened? That’s where Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) can provide valuable information to the public. 

Eliot Higgins built Bellingcat from a Leicester living room blog into the world's most influential open source intelligence organization. Sir Richard Dearlove and Rosanna Lockwood sit down with him to find out how OSINT cuts through the war of narratives on Iran, Ukraine, and the fronts nobody's covering. Plus: why AI is making the truth harder to find, not easier, and why Higgins won't set foot in the United States right now.

Show Notes: 

• bellingcat.com 

• The al-Qaeda offshoot looking to Syria as a blueprint | The Financial Times

• Senior State Department official sought internal communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics | MIT Technology Review

• Why these Irish cartel bosses are still free | Search Party  

In this episode:

• 03:21 Iran Ceasefire

• 06:39 Israel Strategy Explained

• 08:53 EU Gets Tough on China

• 12:30 Mali The Next Syria

• 16:21 CIA Gold Bar Scandal

• 20:12 Meet Eliot Higgins

• 23:37 What Is Bellingcat

• 25:41 AI Slopaganda Threat

• 29:20 Dark Web Data Trails

• 31:13 Russia Adapts Tradecraft

• 32:54 UAE Image Manipulation

• 34:07 Rapid OSINT Response

• 35:57 Blackouts and Radar Tools

• 37:17 Iran Narrative War

• 39:17 Tomahawk Strike Verification

• 41:50 Prediction Versus Proof

• 43:19 Spies Versus OSINT

• 46:19 Threats and Harassment

• 50:56 Ukraine OSINT Evolution

• 54:50 Why China Is Hard for OSINT

• 01:00:31 Funding and Partnerships

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist)

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With Ayatollah Khamenei’s demise occurring hours into the war, the West anticipated a collapse of the Iranian regime and a popular uprising that never came to be. Is a ‘memorandum of understanding’ the only thing preventing total escalation in the region? In this episode of One Decision, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host journalist Kate McCann sit down with John Raine, Senior Adviser for Geopolitical Due Diligence for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), to analyze the ripple effects of the war in Iran and what it will take to stabilize the Middle East.

What is keeping a comprehensive peace deal off the table? How did Western intelligence miscalculate the IRGC’s resilience? And where does this leave the rest of the Middle East?

We also break down China’s pledge to support Cuba’s sovereignty, the 75th anniversary of the Cambridge Five espionage scandal, and the latest in the war in Ukraine, including China’s role in training Russian soldiers and the opening of a museum in North Korea that memorializes the North Korean losses in the war.  

In this episode:

• 1:07 – Iran, Israel & Trump: The Middle East Crisis Explained

• 2:52 – Cuba, China, and US Spheres of Influence

• 6:23 – Cambridge Five: Cold War Spy Scandal Revisited

• 9:51 – Russia, North Korea, and Ukraine War Shifting

• 13:26 – Iran War: MOU vs. Formal Peace Deal Explained

• 16:55 – Why a Comprehensive Iran Deal Remains Out of Reach

• 22:41 – IRGC Resilience: How Iran's Regime Survived

• 29:08 – Who Has Influence Over Iran's IRGC?

• 33:51 – Israel's Military Objectives and Netanyahu's Agenda

• 39:36 – Gulf States' Vulnerability and Abraham Accords Future

• 45:26 – How Does the Iran Conflict End? Three Scenarios

• 49:47 – Sir Richard and Kate Discussion

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and journalist Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio).

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95 percent of global internet traffic travels through underwater fiber optic cables. They've never been more vulnerable.

In this episode of One Decision, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood are joined by journalist and author Samanth Subramanian. His latest book,  The Web Beneath the Waves, is an investigation into the hidden infrastructure holding the world's economy together, and the growing threats to it. Subramanian’s book, The Web Beneath the Waves, is an investigation 

Iran is threatening to levy tolls on cables running through the Strait of Hormuz. China is cutting cables in Taiwan's territorial waters using "fishing boats." Russia has been probing European undersea networks for years. And yet there's virtually no international legal framework to stop any of it.

Links: 

• The Web Beneath the Waves | Columbia Global Reports 

In this episode:

• 1:05 — Iran Nuclear Deal: Trump's Strategy

• 3:44 — US-China Summit: What Really Happened

• 6:10 — Putin Visits Xi: Russia's Anxiety

• 8:13 — CIA in Cuba: Economic Takeover Begins

• 11:17 — Israel's New Mossad Chief Explained

• 13:22 — Germany's BND Gets New Powers

• 17:52 — Undersea Cable Vulnerability Exposed

• 18:48 — How 95% of Internet Data Travels

• 32:58 — Can Cables Be Tapped Underwater?

• 38:54 — Deliberate Cable Attacks: Gray Zone War

• 45:04 — South China Sea: The Biggest Chokepoint

• 54:53 — One Decision: Future of the Internet

• 55:55 — Sir Richard and Rosanna Discussion

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and journalist Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio). 

Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist)

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All eyes are on Beijing as President Trump meets with President Xi Jinping for the first US presidential visit to China in nine years. This week, Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood sit down with Rush Doshi — former Deputy Senior Director for China and Taiwan at Biden's National Security Council and author of The Long Game — to break down what's really at stake.

What does China want from this summit? How far will Trump go on Taiwan? And why is artificial intelligence now the defining battleground between the world's two superpowers?

We also cover the latest from the Iran ceasefire collapse, the Russia-Ukraine stalemate, and what sweeping local election losses mean for Keir Starmer's future as Prime Minister.

In this episode:

• 1:02 – Sir Richard’s Secret China Mission
• 3:11 – Iran Ceasefire Collapse Explained
• 7:19 – Russia-Ukraine War Stalemate Update
• 10:50 – UK Elections: Labour's Sweeping Defeat
• 17:13 – Rush Doshi on US-China Strategy
• 22:46 – China vs US Economic Interdependence
• 35:47 – Taiwan: Invasion or Economic Pressure?
• 43:11 – AI Regulation: New Nuclear Arms Race
• 44:51 – Sir Richard and Rosanna Discussion 

Show Links: 

• The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order 

• Iran's Regime Won't Fall. It Was Built for This. Iran Expert Trita Parsi on Regional Ramifications 

• Obama's China Advisor on Why China Wants the US Stuck in the Middle East | One Decision

• Will China Invade Taiwan in 2026? Expert's New Insight Reveals "Perfect Storm" | One Decision  

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist)

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Venezuela's leader Delcy Rodríguez has no constitutional legitimacy, by any standard, including Chavismo's own rules, according to lawyer-turned-journalist Raul Stolk. So who is actually running Venezuela right now? And what does the United States really want?

Raul Stolk, Managing Director of Caracas Chronicles, joins Sir Richard Dearlove and Kate McCann for a deep dive into the power structures propping up the Rodríguez government, the US military's direct line to the Venezuelan armed forces, and why opposition leader María Corina Machado may be the single biggest wild card in the country's future.

Links: 

• https://caracaschronicles.com

• https://caracaschronicles.substack.com/

• https://caracasconsulting.com/ 

In this episode:

2:53 - Iran War Impact on Global Energy Markets

6:34 - UAE Exits OPEC: End of Saudi Dominance

8:16 - New Iraqi Government and Middle East Stability

11:31 - Japan Creates Intelligence Bureau 

15:40 - Venezuela After Maduro: Trump's Business Strategy

17:34 - Delcy Rodriguez Legitimacy and Constitutional Crisis

24:34 - Venezuela Military Power Structure Post-Maduro

30:07 - US Geopolitical Goals in Venezuela

45:07 - Venezuela Oil Market China Russia Rivalry

54:47 - Machado Return: Venezuela Election Wild Card

55:48 - Sir Richard and Kate Discussion

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Kate McCann (Political Editor, The Times)

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Has the divisive rhetoric of President Trump’s administration irrevocably changed America’s reputation in the eyes of its allies and adversaries? Former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika sit down with Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to discuss how US foreign policy has shifted during Trump’s second term. Beginning with In Brief, Sir Richard and Ayesha examine the history of UK royalty visits to the US from Queen Elizabeth II to King Charles II, and the strategic importance of these visits for maintaining the “special relationship” between the US and UK. Then, Senator Shaheen argues that Trump’s lax approach to Putin and Russia undermines support for Ukraine, emphasizing that a win for Ukraine is a win for the West. She criticizes the administration’s China strategy, warning that the withdrawal of aid and allyship by America has put China in a position to fill the vacuum. The Senator also warns about the growing relationships between members of the “axis of resistance”—China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—citing their increased cooperation as why America maintaining its historic alliances with NATO countries and beyond is so critical for a stable world.

In this episode:

03:02 – King Charles’ first official state visit to the US

13:50 – The fragility of the US-UK relationship

17:04 – Allies and adversaries behind the scenes

19:07 – Russia, Ukraine, and the Iran war

21:51 – Putin and the G20

25:10 – What’s next in the Iran war?

24:49 – The blockade ‘game of chicken’ at the Strait of Hormuz

32:39 – US and China relations

36:22 – China’s rare earth dominance

39:26 – NATO defense spending

42:22 – One Decision: Will Iran negotiations be successful? 

45:15 – Sir Richard and Ayesha discussion

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Baroness Ayesha Hazarika (Member, House of Lords).

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