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PODCAST

Independent Thinking

Chatham House director Bronwen Maddox hosts conversations with leading policymakers, journalists and Chatham House experts to provide insight into the latest international political issues. Independent Thinking gives listeners the opportunity to engage with the high level conversations hosted by Chatham House.

news politics

All Episodes

37:07

Is Rory Stewart right about Britain?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/10/05

Bronwen Maddox speaks with Rory Stewart about the state of British politics in a world of populist leaders. Journalist Robert Peston meanwhile joins us from the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. Later in the show, Roxanne Escobales and Olivia O'Sullivan discuss whether Rory Stewart is right about the state of Britain, and whether his time in government was a success or failure. Don't miss our expertise: In conversation with The Rt Hon Rory Stewart President Biden should not rush a deal

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30:05

Should we talk to the Taliban?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/09/29

Bronwen Maddox speaks with Ambassador Roya Rahmani, Shaharzad Akbar and Tobias Ellwood MP about the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and whether the West should engage with the Taliban. Read our expertise: Seizing MENA’s moment Presented by Bronwen Maddox. Produced by John Pollock. Sound by Alex Moyler.

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29:18

Is the United Nations now irrelevant?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/09/22

World leaders met in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). All the P5 leaders bar America's Joe Biden stayed away however. Is the UN losing its relevance in international affairs? Joining Bronwen Maddox on the show this week are Mark Malloch-Brown, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Roger Boyes, Diplomatic Editor for The Times, and Leslie Vinjamuri, the Director of the US and Americas programme. Read our expertise: Rishi Sunak’s speech will make

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30:09

Was the G20 India's 'coming out' party?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/09/15

G20 leaders met in New Delhi this week to discuss economic cooperation. Underlying the summit however were wider international tensions and a sense of India on the rise. Joining Bronwen Maddox on the show this week are Samir Puri, a visiting lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London, Chietigj Bajpaee, the new South Asia fellow at Chatham House, and Leslie Vinjamuri, the director of the US and Americas programme. Read our expertise: US–India ties deepened at the G20. But domestic politics

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31:27

How has Iran changed after Mahsa Amini’s death?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/09/08

September 16 marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman killed in police custody. Since her death Iran has been rocked by a year of protests in which over 500 people, many of them women, have been killed. Joining Bronwen Maddox in the studio this week are former BBC journalist Rana Rahimpour, Dr Sanam Vakil, the Director of our Middle East and North Africa programme and journalist Michael Goldfarb. Read our expertise: Making climate an election issue risks

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34:44

Has Ukraine's counter-offensive failed?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/08/31

Independent Thinking is back after a short summer break for the start of Season 2 of the podcast. This week, for our first episode, we’re returning to the much-discussed topic of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Since June, the Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting hard to breach the defensive lines established by the Russian army in the east and south, the so-called ‘Surovkin Line’. Joining Bronwen Maddox on the show this week are Christopher Miller, the Ukraine correspondent for the FT and the

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26:41

How China views Ukraine

Independent Thinking ·

2023/07/28

In the final episode of our first season, we return to the topic we started Season 1 of the podcast with: China and how Beijing sees the world post-February 2022. Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Western capitals, especially Washington and London, have been watching ties between Russia and China closely, attempting to decipher any signs of disagreement or even disapproval between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. We discuss how China views the invasion of Ukraine, the ties between China and

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36:26

Artificial intelligence – A threat to democracy?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/07/21

On the show this week we discuss artificial intelligence, the hopes, and opportunities the technology may bring, as well as the challenges and even the risks it presents to governments and above all democracy. This week the United Nations Security Council, operating under the UK presidency, met for the first time to discuss the issue of AI, with UN officials and diplomats alike urging the world to take the emergence of this new technology seriously. Meanwhile in the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is

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27:41

NATO membership for Ukraine delayed

Independent Thinking ·

2023/07/14

On the podcast this week we discuss the fallout from the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Turkey cleared the way for Sweden to join the alliance this week, and across Vilnius there were signs aplenty calling for F-16s for Ukraine, and of course, NATO membership. We discuss what was agreed at the summit, what was deferred and what the NATO joint communique means for President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. Also, on the show this week we discuss the European Union and its relations with countries eager to

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31:03

Can Vladimir Putin survive?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/07/07

On the show this week, we ask how long Russia’s Vladimir Putin can survive. Two weeks on from the mutiny by the Wagner Group and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s challenge to his rule, we’ve seen a flurry of activity by the Russian leader to reassert his authority in Moscow. Russian history however is replete with leaders who appear unassailable, right up until the point they’re not. We discuss whether Putin’s grip is weakening, and how might Western governments react if he falls. Also, on the show this week we

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37:45

London Conference special with President Volodymyr...

Independent Thinking ·

2023/06/30

We are live this week from our London Conference, where we discuss the war in Ukraine, the recent events in Russia with the mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group and the weakening of Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. And then later in the show, we look at the increasing tensions within the international system and discuss how the UK as a ‘middle power’ can manage these tensions with an increasingly fragile economy and Brexit. And finally on the podcast, we announce this year’s Chatham House prize

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27:38

Securing NATO's northern flank

Independent Thinking ·

2023/06/23

On the podcast this week we look at the UK’s role in the defence of the Nordic region. Since the annexation of Crimea, the UK has taken a keen interest in the Nordic and Baltic regions, with the formation of the Joint Expeditionary Force. With Kyiv’s counter-offensive now underway, we look at how Europe’s security is being reshaped by events in Ukraine, what London and the JEF states are looking to achieve by operating more closely in the north, and the balance of forces between NATO and Russia in

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35:19

China’s challenge to India

Independent Thinking ·

2023/06/16

On the podcast this week, we look at the growing tensions between India and China. This week marks three years since Indian and Chinese troops were killed fighting each other in the Himalayas along the contested border. Since then, ties between Beijing and New Delhi have gone from bad to worse. This week, India's last remaining journalist in China was asked to leave. A stark sign of the increasingly cold ties between the two countries. We discuss the current state of India’s relations with China and

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26:30

Wagner’s war inside Ukraine

Independent Thinking ·

2023/06/08

On the podcast this week, we look at the Wagner Group, the shadowy paramilitary organisation, and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has been active on the ground and involved in some of the conflict’s fiercest battles, notably around Bakhmut. We discuss the group’s relationship with the Russian armed forces, its ties with the Kremlin and the increasingly tense relationship Prigozhin seems to have with senior Russian leaders. Also on the show we

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34:02

Turkey election special: Where next for Turkish...

Independent Thinking ·

2023/06/02

On the podcast this week we look at the outcome of the final round of Turkey’s presidential election. Despite the polls showing him behind, and amid a devastating earthquake and an economy in crisis, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been re-elected as Turkey’s president, winning by 52 per cent of the vote. In the last episode we covered what Erdoğan’s re-election might mean for Turkey’s fragile democracy and economy, this week we discuss what five more years of Erdoğan’s foreign policy means for Ankara and

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26:42

Bashar al-Assad comes in from the cold

Independent Thinking ·

2023/05/26

This week on the podcast we discuss Syria and the regime of Bashar al-Assad. For over a decade, the regime in Damascus has been an international pariah, amid a brutal campaign of terror by the Syrian armed forces against its people. The geopolitical sands however are shifting, with signs that regimes across the Middle East are prepared to talk with Assad once more. We look at what this means for the region, the implications for the alliance between Iran and Syria, and whether justice for the Assad

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34:48

Turkey election special: Where next for Turkish...

Independent Thinking ·

2023/05/19

This week on podcast we look at the fallout from the first round of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections. President Erdogan is just a hair's breadth away from securing the 50% of the vote needed to become president. With Turkey set to enter a presidential run-off on 28 May we ask what this means for Turkey’s fragile democracy? Has the opposition under Kilicdaroglu lost momentum? And what impact did issues such as identity politics, the economy, foreign policy, and the devastating

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25:44

Will Russia put nuclear weapons in Belarus?

Independent Thinking ·

2023/05/12

This week on the podcast we look at the announcement by Vladimir Putin to move Russian nuclear weapons into Belarus and equip Belarusian forces with dual-use equipment and technology. We discuss what the security implications are of this decision, how it fits into Russia’s wider nuclear doctrine and how concerned we should be? We also dive into the internal dynamics of Belarus. It’s been three years since the 2020 presidential election. An election Aliaksandr Lukashenka was widely seen to have lost,

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29:15

Japan's new security era

Independent Thinking ·

2023/05/04

This week on the show we look at Japan, and the historic changes underway in its foreign and security policy. In March, prime minister Fumio Kishida visited Kyiv, marking the first time a Japanese leader has visited an active war zone since WWII. This comes amid successive changes to how Japan approaches national security concerns. We ask whether Tokyo is moving away from its pacifist constitution? What role has the rise of China and the invasion of Ukraine played? And is this the culmination of

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37:20

Sudan on the brink

Independent Thinking ·

2023/04/28

This week on the podcast we look at the crisis overtaking Sudan. Since fighting broke out in Khartoum twelve days ago, the country appears to be descending into outright civil war, with intense fighting between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces. We discuss how Sudan’s military bifurcated into two opposing camps, who leads and supports the two factions, and what if anything can be done to stem the fighting now underway. We also look more widely to the Horn of Africa and what the

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142 results

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