The Rachman Review
Financial Times
Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist, takes you with him on his travels, as he meets the decision-makers and thinkers who are shaping world affairs
- 22 minutes 15 secondsIndia and Pakistan: what now?
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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15 May 2025, 4:00 am - 27 minutes 47 secondsHow can Democrats combat Donald Trump?
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.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
8 May 2025, 4:00 am - 21 minutes 4 secondsAre we any closer to peace in Ukraine?
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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1 May 2025, 4:00 am - 26 minutes 24 secondsEl Salvador’s ‘jailer for hire’
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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24 April 2025, 4:00 am - 23 minutes 54 secondsIran’s nuclear talks could reshape the Middle East
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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17 April 2025, 4:00 am - 28 minutes 15 secondsThe end of globalisation as we know it
Gideon talks to the economic historian Harold James about the economic and political implications of Donald Trump's tariffs. What are the similarities with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930? What kind of forces will his decision to smash the global economic order unleash? Clip: CBC
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Free links to read more on this topic:
It falls to Congress to unravel Trump’s reckless tariffs
Trump’s ‘reshoring’ ambitions threatened by tariff chaos
Market turmoil strains bro-sphere’s bromance with Donald Trump
Trump and the mob boss approach to global markets
Markets could get a lot worse — and quickly
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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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
10 April 2025, 4:00 am - 28 minutes 32 secondsChina in the age of Trump 2.0
German businessman Joerg Wuttke has been an observer of China since the 1980s, watching it evolve from backwater to superpower. He talks to Gideon about US-China rivalry and how Europe can find its place as a trading partner to both powers. Clip: CNBC
Free links to read more on this topic:
China launches large-scale military exercises around Taiwan
China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade
China is suffering its own ‘China shock’
BASF’s Joerg Wuttke: ‘The essence of China is this warrior’
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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.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
3 April 2025, 4:00 am - 28 minutes 50 secondsThe making of Vladimir Putin
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.
Free links to read more on this topic:
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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27 March 2025, 5:00 am - 28 minutes 27 secondsMexico hopes to stave off Trump tariffs
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
Free links to read more on this topic:
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
20 March 2025, 5:00 am - 28 minutes 19 secondsEurope's response to the threat from Trump
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
Free links to read more on this topic:
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.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
13 March 2025, 5:00 am - 22 minutes 2 secondsHow should Canada react to Trump’s threats?
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.
Want more? Free links:
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
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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