The Global Gambit

Donald Trump’s critics may hope a divided Congress will curb his foreign policy. Matthew Kroenig argues they will be disappointed. Beyond hearings and control of funding, Congress has little power to stop a president at war. In this conversation, Kroenig makes a hawkish case for American strength as wars in Ukraine and Iran overlap with growing Chinese pressure on Taiwan. He says the United States...

The war in Ukraine is entering a potentially decisive period. Russia continues to absorb enormous losses while adapting its military strategy, Ukraine is finding new ways to strike deep inside Russian territory, and Europe faces growing questions about its ability to defend itself without American support. But General Sir Richard Barrons warns that the greatest danger may lie in what comes next. R...

“The old West is dead.” Mark Leonard argues that Europe must prepare for a lasting change in its relationship with America — and recognise that it has more power to shape its future than it often believes. The director and co-founder of the European Council on Foreign Relations joins Pyotr Kurzin to discuss how Europe can sustain Ukraine’s defence, use its leverage over Russia and take responsibil...

Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials have arrived in Tehran together, and the symbolism is hard to ignore. As the war between Riyadh and the Houthis spills onto Saudi soil, reaching Riyadh and its airport, the kingdom is turning to Iran for help. Tehran, however, is backing the Houthi demand that the air blockade on Sanaa be lifted before the fighting stops. Trita Parsi argues that this is what...

Donald Trump’s war with Iran is colliding with a growing political struggle at home. With the midterms approaching, the prospect of electoral defeat could increase the temptation to escalate abroad — even as Iran seeks to turn economic disruption and regional instability into leverage against Washington. But Professor Robert Pape warns that the greatest danger may come after the votes are cast. He...

Weeks after signing a sweeping sanctions law against Russia’s energy revenues, Donald Trump has struck a deal to buy Russian diesel, announced while his envoys sat down with Ukrainian officials to discuss ending the war. Trump calls it a win. In Moscow, it looks like something else entirely. In this conversation, I’m joined by Tina Fordham, geostrategist, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, and W...

Ukraine has transformed Russia’s vast geography from a source of strategic depth into a growing vulnerability. Its long-range drones are striking oil refineries, supply lines and military infrastructure, while Crimea is becoming increasingly difficult for Moscow to defend and sustain. But Sir Lawrence Freedman warns against assuming that Russia’s mounting failures have made Ukraine’s position easy...

Russia’s war in Ukraine has done more than redraw Europe’s security map. It has exposed the limits of military alliances—and triggered a potentially dangerous chain reaction far beyond the battlefield. For Turkey, the choice is not simply between Vladimir Putin and NATO. Ankara is maintaining its relationship with Moscow, strengthening its position inside the Western alliance and reducing its depe...

General Ben Hodges says Russia is already at war with Europe. Not with missiles striking NATO cities, but through drones, sabotage and attacks designed to frighten populations and weaken support for Ukraine. So why are European governments still reluctant to impose meaningful consequences? Hodges joins me to discuss Germany’s far-right breakthrough, NATO’s response to Russian provocations and the...

Iran has been militarily devastated — and yet, six months on, it may be winning. General David Petraeus argues that Tehran's control of the Strait of Hormuz has become a "weapon of mass disruption" more powerful than the nuclear program the war was meant to destroy. In this conversation, I'm joined by General David Petraeus — former CENTCOM and NATO commander, former CIA Director, and Chairman of...

Description: Intelligence failures make headlines. Intelligence successes rarely do — which is exactly the problem when trying to understand how the West actually predicted Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and what it can and can't tell us about Putin's next move. In this conversation, I'm joined by Charles Finfrock — a former CIA officer with 18 years of experience across the Middle East, Europe, an...

Summary Iran's regime survives. The Strait of Hormuz is under threat. Gulf allies are furious. And the United States, further from its goals than when the war began, has spent months exposing the limits of its own power in the process. Jason Campbell, joins The Global Gambit to break down how Trump's Iran war became a self-inflicted collapse of American leverage in the Middle East: the depleted mu...

Description: Former US National Security Advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster joins The Global Gambit to examine why China, Russia and Iran have become the defining geopolitical challenge of our time. We discuss Beijing's support for Moscow, the changing character of warfare, NATO's future, Western fatigue over Ukraine, and why China may ultimately be the greatest long-term beneficiary of toda...

In this episode, Pyotr Kurzin hosts Dr. Bence Nemeth to explore Europe's strategic autonomy, defense capabilities, and the evolving landscape of NATO and EU military cooperation amid the Ukraine conflict and broader geopolitical shifts. Bence Nemeth is a Senior Lecturer at the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London, where he primarily teaches British and international military officer...

Trump says he has secured a major breakthrough with Iran, but is the deal even worse than many are already claiming? And are details taking so long to release? Joining me today is Ian Bremmer, founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media, to discuss the emerging US-Iran agreement, why many analysts remain sceptical, and whether Washington is actually in a weaker position than before the conflict began...

Senator Mark Kelly just returned from Odessa. His verdict: Ukraine has effectively shut down the Russian Navy in the Black Sea — Russia can't operate there anymore. Crimea is next. Full conversation with the Senator on what he saw on the ground, the momentum shift, and why Putin is running out of options. Senator Mark Kelly is a retired Navy combat pilot, NASA astronaut, and sitting US Senator for...

Ukraine just struck Putin's hometown during the St Petersburg Economic Forum. Is this a genuine shift in momentum or another false dawn in a war that keeps defying predictions? Dan Ridler, Senior Analyst for Europe at the Economist Intelligence Unit, joins to cut through the noise. We get into how the EIU actually forecasts war outcomes, why the battlefield probably won't decide this conflict, wha...

America is in a moment of self-inflicted crisis — and the man responsible may not be able to find a way out. Trump has started a war he promised he wouldn't, fractured his own base, and tied his political fate to every price rise and policy failure. In this episode, I speak with Tom Nichols about why Trump's domestic troubles are uniquely of his own making, what the Iran war reveals about the coll...

The ceasefire may have slowed the fighting - but according to former JCPOA adviser Alan Eyre, the underlying dynamics between the United States, Iran, and Israel have barely changed at all. In this conversation, we break down why the US-Iran talks remain stuck at “square one,” why Tehran believes time is on its side, and why the current pause in hostilities could simply be the calm before another...

Donald Trump's war with Iran is the reflection of something much bigger, perhaps much worse, happening with the USA, its foreign policy and its standing in the evolving world order. Can the United States still impose political outcomes abroad without triggering wider economic, geopolitical, and strategic blowback? In this part 1 of 2 Retired Australian Major General Mick Ryan joins The Global Gamb...

The US-Iran ceasefire may still technically be holding — but experts worry and warn that it is already beginning to rot. In this conversation, we break down why Iran is targeting the UAE, why the Strait of Hormuz remains the key pressure point, and why Trump’s attempt to claim victory may be colliding with economic reality. Alan Eyre - distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute,...

Global democracy is changing and Hungary’s election may signal more than just a political shift — it could mark the beginning of a broader democratic rebound. In this episode, I speak with Katherine Stewart about whether the world is moving out of a decade-long “democracy recession,” why Orbán’s defeat matters, and what it tells us about the resilience of democratic systems. We also explore the gl...

The collapse of US–Iran negotiations highlights a deeper structural problem: escalation is now outpacing diplomacy. Following a high-level meeting in Islamabad that failed to produce any meaningful breakthrough, the United States has escalated by moving to blockade the Strait of Hormuz—raising serious questions about strategy, sustainability, and the risk of broader regional spillover. In this epi...

While Trump's fragile ceasefire with Iran continues to hold, Israel is now going after Hezbollah in Lebanon, putting the entire Middle East on edge. We are joined by David Daoud of the FDD to understand why Israel’s escalation in Lebanon was likely once the Iran front quietened, and why Hezbollah remains far harder to uproot than many assume. We discuss the limits of decapitation strategies, Hezbo...

Russia’s apparent momentum in Ukraine is misleading. As David Petraeus argues, it reflects adaptation and external support rather than lasting strength, while Ukraine’s innovation has been underestimated. The war is also reshaping how conflicts are fought — with drones, decentralised tactics, and rapid adaptation replacing traditional military dominance. Ultimately, the outcome will depend less on...