Israel has launched an aerial bombardment of Iran, with the aim, it says, of ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Gideon talks to Philip Gordon, who was national security adviser to former US vice-president Kamala Harris, about how realistic Israel’s aims are, Iran’s capacity to fight back, and whether the US is about to be drawn into another conflict in the Middle East. Clips: Channel 4 News, The Independent

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War on Iran is splitting Trump’s Maga movement

Can an American bunker-buster destroy Iran’s nuclear mountain?

Could strikes on Iran cause a nuclear disaster?

Let them kill us’: millions of Iranians refuse to leave Tehran

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

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Gideon talks to Oana Lungescu, Nato's former and longest-serving spokesperson, about what to expect from this month’s summit and what's at stake? Can Europe convince the Trump administration that Russia is a risk they need to take seriously, and will an agreement to increase defence spending be enough to satisfy the US president? Clips: Sky; Channel 4, Aljazeera

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Europe, the US and the question of values

Europe confronts Trump’s triple threat on Ukraine, Nato and trade

Europe has a weaker hand than it thinks on Ukraine

Nato defence ministers to discuss path to 5% military spending

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Simon Panayi and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

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Gideon Rachman and China historian Rana Mitter discuss the evolution of Xi Jinping from internal exile, to party apparatchik, to strongman leader. What motivates Xi and what’s behind his friendship with the Russian leader? This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London late last month. Clip: CGTN

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump says China’s Xi Jinping is ‘hard to make a deal with’

Xi’s history shapes China’s diplomatic strategy

Chinese defence minister set to skip security forum in Singapore

China’s Xi Jinping likens ‘US hegemony’ to ‘fascist forces’ ahead of Vladimir Putin summit

Xi and Putin are the greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s chaos

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

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In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election. 

Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.

If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email [email protected] 

Read Martin’s FT column here

Subscribe to Paul’s substack here

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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.

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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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