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PODCAST

The Debate

FRANCE 24 English

A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

news & politics

All Episodes

00:42:21

Turning point for European defence? Germany's next...

The Debate ·

2025/02/24

There's no hitting the snooze button on this wake-up call. Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting is savouring victory in Sunday’s federal elections while taking stock of what he faces: with the Putin and Trump-backed far right finishing a strong second, Friedrich Merz is stating that his country and continent can no longer rely on the United States for their defence. Merz is stepping out of the shadow of the woman who in a previous life beat him to the CDU's leadership. Back in her day, Angela Merkel

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00:42:30

Germany's crunch elections: Can mainstream parties...

The Debate ·

2025/02/20

Sunday's crunch elections in Germany are coming at perhaps the most pivotal moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Back then, it was about making a success of reunification. Now comes a reckoning over the German model that ensued. Under threat is the kind of global free trade that powers Germany's export-driven economy. Instead we're seeing Donald Trump's tariffs, a Russian aggression that's inching closer in not-so-far-off Ukraine and an ageing population that needs to replenish its workforce,

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00:43:40

Rule by decree? Trump's executive orders and the...

The Debate ·

2025/02/19

Does the United States already face a constitutional crisis? At what point does a president’s "rule by decree" manner of governing take a centuries-old democracy into unchartered territory? After one month back in office, the executive orders keep on coming. One of Donald Trump's latest states that only he and his attorney general – what we call here the US justice minister – can interpret what the law is for government bodies, even independent ones. Is the White House breaking down the firewall

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00:43:59

At Ukraine's expense? US and Russia break the ice in...

The Debate ·

2025/02/18

Three years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of a sovereign state, what has he gained? A path to normalisation with the United States and negotiations on Ukraine—without the Ukrainians. Without the Europeans, either. Instead, Donald Trump is sending his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to Saudi Arabia, along with fellow New York real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, who has swiftly pivoted into a Middle East envoy role. Meanwhile, Brussels is a long way from Riyadh. So why is

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00:44:49

The death of NATO? Europe in crisis over Trump-Putin...

The Debate ·

2025/02/17

European leaders are meeting in Paris for emergency talks on Ukraine, following last week's call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. With NATO's most powerful member sidelining its allies in negotiations with Russia, is the US still a reliable partner? As the Trump administration follows through on its promise to engage with Moscow on its own terms, European leaders are scrambling to support Ukraine and rethink their defence strategy. We discuss the fallout

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00:43:03

Trump's call: Does direct overture to Putin betray...

The Debate ·

2025/02/14

How about that phone call? The US president has gone over the heads of the Ukrainians and the Europeans by promising talks "immediately" with Vladimir Putin, this on the same day that his new defence secretary told NATO counterparts that returning to Ukraine's borders of 2014 was "unrealistic". Donald Trump may not have forced a sit-down on Day One of his presidency, as he had boasted as a candidate, but here it comes. What can Volodymyr Zelensky do or say as he meets in person with Pete Hegseth,

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00:44:34

Trump's Gaza plan: will Arab allies push back?

The Debate ·

2025/02/12

Remember the run-up to Inauguration Day, when Donald Trump‘s envoy twisted arms to push a Gaza ceasefire over the line. How did it so quickly go to thisDonald Trump not only doubling down on his plan to forcibly deport the entire Palestinian population of Gaza but also telling visitors like the King of Jordan to take them in. We’ll ask about the plan, the pushback to the plan and the whether that ultimatum to Hamas to free all its hostages by Saturday noon signals a return to all-out war. Israeli

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00:43:55

Modi in the middle? Superpowers in the age of tech...

The Debate ·

2025/02/11

Is it down to the Digital Age? Not only has the world become a smaller place but now, more and more power’s concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Elon Musk’s offer to buy the parent company of ChatGPT from Sam Altman’s OpenAI is the latest example of a whole new age, an age where a billionaire like Musk can also have one foot in government as he and Donald Trump arbitrarily purge the federal payroll. Altman, who swiftly rejected Musk’s offer is here in Paris for the AI summit co-hosted by France

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00:43:24

Too fast to process? The global challenges of...

The Debate ·

2025/02/11

As France and India co-host an AI summit in Paris, we ask if technology has advanced too far beyond our control and that any well-intentioned bid by world leaders to forge common rules and guidelines is too little, too late? Right now, it’s Silicon Valley that’s got the money to draw the best and the brightest and the cheap energy to power the bigger and bigger data centres needed for AI. With a new US administration that’s ready to start a trade war with all those in its path, how does the rest

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00:42:43

Ukraine's options: How to maintain US support in the...

The Debate ·

2025/02/06

Does what goes for Greenland and Gaza also go for Ukraine? With the third anniversary of Russia's all-out invasion approaching and Kyiv on the back foot, allies are scrambling to figure out the "art of the deal" power plays of a US president they thought they already knew. Do you placate or push back when dealing with Donald Trump? Ukraine's president has been showing transactional flair by vaunting his country's rare minerals in exchange for protection from Vladimir Putin. Zelensky is now openly

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00:43:01

How serious is he? Trump's plan for Gaza

The Debate ·

2025/02/05

Donald Trump has told the world in the company of a beaming Binyamin Netanyahu that "the US will take over the Gaza Strip". Should we take at face value what he's selling as a grand development scheme and what critics denounce as a quixotic pipe dream that can only lead to the ethnic cleansing of the two million Palestinians who live in Gaza? How does one rebuild Gaza after destruction on a biblical scale? In the aftermath of past wars, Gulf states footed much of the bill. The money went to

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00:43:53

Trump and South Africa: Doing Musk's bidding?

The Debate ·

2025/02/04

One might assume that the new president of the United States has a pretty full in-tray. So at first glance, it was a bit of a surprise to hear Donald Trump lash out at South Africa, threatening to cut aid over its 2023 Employment Equity Act. There's obvious suspicion over who did the whispering in Trump's ear. South African-born Elon Musk has been locking horns with the ANC-led government of Cyril Ramaphosa over its refusal to sign onto SpaceX founder's Starlink broadband via satellite system. Musk

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00:43:20

Who needs soft power? Trump threatens neighbours with...

The Debate ·

2025/02/03

Forget soft power. It's all about hard bargains. Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise of tariffs and is starting with his closest neighbours. We ask if it's all a big made-for-reality-TV drama that ends at the negotiating table. He has already hit pause on tariffs for Mexico. How much has the world's most powerful nation decided to throw its weight around? We gauge reactions. Trump turned heads at his inauguration when he referenced William McKinley, the tariff-loving turn-of-the-20th

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00:43:38

Return to Damascus: How to build the new Syria?

The Debate ·

2025/01/29

For exiled Syrians, this is their Berlin Wall moment—the doors to a homeland they thought they’d never see again suddenly swinging open. The heady days following December 8th and the fall of Assad’s seemingly immovable regime have brought an unexpected Christmas gift: a return to Damascus. But as the initial euphoria fades, clear-eyed Syrians know better than to declare, “And they all lived happily ever after.” The lessons of the Arab Spring loom large, and the challenges ahead are daunting. How to

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00:45:19

Panic in Silicon Valley? China's DeepSeek challenges...

The Debate ·

2025/01/28

On his first full day back in power, Donald Trump trumpeted a 500-billion dollar plan to build giant data centers for artificial intelligence. The photo op put the rest of the world on notice: the billionaire tech bros of Silicon Valley reign supreme with the full weight of the White House behind them. Fast forward to Monday and the record 590-billion dollar drop in the market value of US chip maker Nvidia. Spooking the markets, the announcement that a Chinese start-up can operate its latest AI

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00:44:37

Lessons from the last survivors: How to remember the...

The Debate ·

2025/01/27

Some 50 former inmates of the largest of the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau have made the trip to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation. How to process the collective folly of the industrial-scale mass extermination of 1 million Jews, along with 100,000 others, in the space of a few short years? The Holocaust shattered the belief that technology could only be synonymous with progress and on that score, the gas chambers serve as a cautionary tale. How do citizens and

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00:42:05

Davos 2025: How can Europe find the money to achieve...

The Debate ·

2025/01/27

With public coffers depleted and an ageing population putting pressure on social safety nets, how can Europe mobilise the financial resources necessary to meet its triple goals of a decarbonised economy, effective defence and technological competitiveness? FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin puts the question to his panel of guests at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The EU's objectives are threefold: Completing the transition to a fully decarbonised economy in the face of global warming;

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00:42:03

The Covid Backlash: Trump targets UN World Health...

The Debate ·

2025/01/23

In a crowded Paris metro car or at the counter of a bustling café, it’s easy to forget what loomed over us just five years ago.Yet, on the fifth anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown in Wuhan, China, the headlines tell a different story: Donald Trump, on his first day back in office, signing an order for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization.We’ll examine why the UN health body might lose its largest donor and discuss the grievances surrounding global health

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00:44:06

Can Europe rise to the challenge? Trump takes on...

The Debate ·

2025/01/22

Do they stand firm or bow to the pressure? Europe is facing a clear message: Donald Trump’s administration isn’t just pushing liquefied natural gas exports. The U.S. is demanding that the continent adjust to a new reality. From walking away from multilateral efforts on climate change and global tax standards to charting its own course on regulating tech—especially artificial intelligence—Washington is making its priorities clear. Trump’s domestic AI initiative showcases America’s edge, leveraging

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00:44:29

Back with a vengeance? Trump's bid to unravel the...

The Debate ·

2025/01/21

With a few strokes of the pen, it’s as if he never left. Or is it? On day one of his second term, Donald Trump pardoned nearly all those convicted in the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol. Has the 45th and now 47th president succeeded in rewriting the narrative? His diehard supporters are cheering, hailing the pardoned as "hostages" of a political witch hunt and celebrating his promise of mass deportations targeting "criminal aliens". But can Trump keep his coalition intact? From populist

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