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PODCAST

Battle Lines

Battle Lines is The Telegraph’s defence, security and foreign affairs podcast. It offers expert analysis and on-the-ground reporting from around the world, everywhere from China and the United States to the Middle East and Europe.Three times a week, veteran foreign correspondents Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey bring you on-the-ground dispatches from the world’s most volatile regions and informed analysis from world-class experts.Every Wednesday on Battle Lines x Global Health Security they’re

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All Episodes

48:52

A day at UK’s largest arms fair, plus Qatar and...

Battle Lines ·

2025/09/12

It's been a week of big developments, with Nato planes scrambled after Russia sent more than a dozen drones into Polish airspace, and Qatar on high alert after Israel bombed a Hamas negotiating team in the centre of Doha. Roland and Venetia unpack the significance of the events and what might happen next.Plus, the team spends a day at DSEI, one of the world's largest arms fairs, to look at how the UK is getting its armed forces ready for the next war. They catch up with a veteran British tank

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43:49

Kim Jong Un: the underestimated dictator and his teen...

Battle Lines ·

2025/09/08

For three generations the Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea with ruthless precision. Now Kim Jong Un appears to be grooming his 12-year-old daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his heir—a bold move in a country where women have never held power. At the same time, reports surface of a disastrous US Navy SEALs mission to bug Kim’s communications, ending in civilian deaths. So what does all this tell us about the Hermit Kingdom’s future, its ties to China and Russia, and the grip of one family dynasty? We are

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55:24

'A mole blew our CIA cover': The spy couple who found...

Battle Lines ·

2025/09/05

Andrew and Jihi Bustamante aren’t your average married couple — they met inside the CIA and their romance played out under the shadow of espionage. In this gripping conversation, they reveal how they fell in love during training, the reality of life inside America’s most secretive agency, and how a mole within the CIA blew their cover. Love, lies, and life on the frontline of the new spy war.https://linktr.ee/BattleLinesContact us with feedback or

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38:03

Axis of upheaval: Inside China's military parade with...

Battle Lines ·

2025/09/03

China's biggest ever military parade boasted sophisticated new weapons, thousands of goose-stepping troops, and a guest list designed to put the West on notice.The footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping walking in between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in particular was a clear message to the US, Europe and its democratic allies: Beijing now officially heads up a new world order of authoritarian states.Venetia is joined by former Russia correspondent Roland

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32:36

The battle for Darfur + Chinese weapons in Sudan

Battle Lines ·

2025/09/01

As the war for Sudan's Darfur region heats up, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are stepping up their brutal siege on the last remaining army stronghold of El Fasher, with new satellite pictures showing a wall being built around the northern city.The RSF have been accused of genocide for conducting a campaign of violence, rape and murder against Darfur's non-Arab communities. Famine has been declared in the region and millions have been displaced.To understand what is going on in El Fasher, Venetia

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48:07

Famine denials, dead journalists and disinformation:...

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/29

As the old cliché goes, the first casualty when war comes is truth.In the past week, Israel has denied that it has caused a famine in Gaza, accusing the UN-backed body behind the report of a “blood libel”, and killed five more journalists in a widely condemned double-tap attack on a hospital.It is part of a wider trend that has made getting to the facts of the war in Gaza difficult. To understand how a war on truth is being waged in Israel, Venetia speaks to UNICEF’s Tess Ingram in Gaza City, Phil

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27:44

‘We can’t future-proof our defence, but we can be...

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/25

How can Nato make itself future-ready? What are the biggest threats facing Western democracy? And what black swan event helped change the course of the First World War?To find out, Venetia chats to Dr Gabriele Rizzo, a defence futurist and foresight strategist whose job is to imagine different possibilities and help his clients prepare for them.He has years of experience working with the US Space Force, NATO, the Italian Government, the European Defense Agency, and the United Nations.In 2022, UNESCO

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32:29

Did Trump really stop six wars?

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/22

In his desperate attempt to win the Nobel Peace Prize, President Trump claims to have ended at least six wars around the world. But how does that stack up in reality?In this episode Roland Oliphant hears from Telegraph correspondents Adrian Blomfield and Sarah Newey alongside Caucasus expert James Kilner about Trump’s actual involvement, or not, in halting these conflicts and how likely it is that he’ll win the prize he seemingly covets above any other…Listen to our mini series on the rise of

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44:43

Remembering WWII's 'forgotten army': VJ Day

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/18

Eighty years on from Victory over Japan day in 1945, the contribution of British and Commonwealth soldiers in a brutal battle against the Imperial Japanese armed forces is often overlooked. The fact that the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved the lives of many in prisoner of war camps is even less discussed.Featuring voicenotes from readers whose family fought in Asia and the Pacific, Venetia and Roland dive into this tangled history and reflect on the legacy they have left

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40:09

What Ukrainians want from Trump and Putin's meeting

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/15

As US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin get ready to meet in Alaska, there has been lots of talk about what Washington, Moscow and even Europe want from the historic summit.But what about Ukrainians? What do they want? To find out, Roland speaks to former Ukrainian defence ministerand chairman of the Center for Defence Strategies Andriy Zagorodnyuk and veteran frontline soldier Max Kuzmenko.Plus, Ukraine: The Latest host Dominic Nicholls and acting deputy US editor Connor Stringer

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38:13

Frenemy: why Australia can't live without China

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/11

Australia holds a unique position in global geopolitics - on the other side of the world but still very much a 'Western' country.To that end, Roland Oliphant speaks with former Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne about the delicate balancing act his country faces in dealing with an increasingly sharp-elbowed China; and whether President Trump will stand by the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact with Australia.Also in this episode, Roland looks at developments in Gaza. Nearly 200 journalists have

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45:42

How Putin, Xi and Trump sparked a new nuclear arms race

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/08

Nuclear weapons are back.This week, Moscow announced that it would no longer abide by the once hugely significant Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he had moved nuclear submarines towards Russia.From growing stockpiles in China and North Korea, to growing cooperation between the UK and France, the direction of travel is clear.As Japan marks the 80th anniversary of the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Venetia talks

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30:15

Israel's growing isolation - and why it benefits Hamas

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/04

Amid growing international outrage over an unfolding famine in Gaza, lack of aid supplies and the high death toll in the ongoing war, Israel is increasingly isolated on the world stage.Last week, several of Israel's major Western allies - the UK, France and Canada - set out a timetable for recognising a Palestinian state. In the following days, an apparently emboldened Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both released fresh videos of hostages they kidnapped on October 7th, showing the two men in

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35:58

China’s military (3/3): Why, when and how it might...

Battle Lines ·

2025/08/01

Will China invade Taiwan? If so, when and what signs should we look for that will show it is imminent? How exactly could Beijing seize the island? And what would the US do in response? These questions have been at the core of Indo-Pacific security concerns for decades, but in recent years, the threat has become more tangible - and the questions more urgent.In the final episode of this three-part series on China's military, Venetia Rainey looks at different analyses of whether Beijing is getting

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22:04

China’s military: Its three major flaws and how Xi is...

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/30

China’s military is not a real army - it’s the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party. Ideology is paramount and corruption is endemic.Plus, the People’s Liberation Army hasn’t fought a war since 1979. Xi Jinping calls it “the peace disease”.In episode two of this three-part series, Venetia Rainey looks at the PLA’s weaknesses and how the Chinese president Xi is trying to fix them, from endless purges of top generals to a specially built training centre in Mongolia and live-fire drills around

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24:03

China's military: How it went from obsolete to...

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/28

Dive into the strengths and weaknesses of China’s military and its remarkable transformation over the last few decades from obsolete to world-class in a new special series on Battle Lines.How significant is China’s military buildup? What does Xi Jinping’s ongoing purge mean for the People’s Liberation Army? And how likely is an invasion of Taiwan in the next few years?As the US pivots to the Indo-Pacific and the threat of a truly global war looms, understanding the evolving role of China’s military

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38:32

Why Gaza is starving, plus Thailand-Cambodia conflict...

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/25

What exactly is going on inside the Gaza strip? Amid growing reports of children starving to death and fears of full-blown famine, the international community appears to be becoming more critical of Israel. Roland Oliphant hears from a UNICEF staffer with recent on the ground experience in Gaza about why mass starvation is setting in - but is still avoidable. Tess Ingram shares the latest from the area and how it is now nothing short of a ‘hellscape’.Plus, in a dramatic escalation of tensions,

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36:44

War with China: Inside Taiwan's biggest ever drills

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/21

Amid growing speculation around China’s invasion of Taiwan, the island nation has held its largest ever military exercises.Fresh from reporting on live fire drills off the Taiwanese coast, The Telegraph’s Asia correspondent Allegra Mendelson shares the latest on Indo-Pacific tensions with Roland Oliphant.Also, Roland speaks to Neal Urwitz, close friend of the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy - Elbridge A. Colby - to discuss the latter’s push to dramatically refocus America’s military might

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51:00

'If it flies it dies': Why America's ever-evolving...

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/18

Donald Trump—never one to shy away from controversy—has done another dramatic U-turn. After flatly refusing to send any more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, he’s now decided to send them anyway. So what’s changed? And why do these missiles matter so much?Let’s cut through the noise. Are Patriot missiles genuinely game-changers on the battlefield, or are they just a powerful symbol in modern warfare? To get to the truth, we’re speaking to someone who’s actually been there—Air Marshal Edward Stringer. He

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50:04

'Prepare for war with Russia by 2030': ex-army chief...

Battle Lines ·

2025/07/14

General Sir Patrick Sanders has a stark warning: Britain must prepare for war with Russia within five years and start building bunkers and better air defences.Speaking exclusively to our Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan, the former head of the British army points to the Nordic countries and says we need to start taking a leaf out of their book.He also discusses why an Iron Dome couldn’t work in the UK, his thoughts on the recent Israel-Iran war, and why he didn’t encourage his son to join the

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201 results

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