Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell

with Charlie GammellCheck out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, the world's oldest think tank. Hosted on Acast. See...

I spoke to Dutch defence journalist and Russia expert Steven Derix about an important new revelation of Russia's use of chemical weapons in the war in Ukraine, happening as part of direct orders and thousands of times. You can find the original report here https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/07/04/nederlandse-inlichtingendiensten-russen-zetten-in-oekraine-op-grote-schaal-chemische-wapens-in-a4899319 Ch...

This is the 100th episode of Behind the Lines podcast. Thank you all for listening and for supporting this show. It's nothing without the listeners. In this episode I discussed the creeping authoritarianism in the United States with Jonathan Terra, a US political scientist based in Central Europe. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthur...

As Lenin apparently never said, ‘There Are Decades Where Nothing Happens and Weeks Where Decades Happen’. We are clearly living through the latter. Arthur and Jason attempt to untangle the latest: from the Iranian attack on the US airbase in Qatar to Trump’s declaration of forever peace to end what he is cleverly calling the 12 Day War. Arthur and Jason rally in violent unity for Mega Ordering --...

I spoke to Chris Coghlan, MP for Dorking and Horley and former diplomat and soldier about the unfolding crisis in the Middle East, the implications for European security and the wider political ramifications. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes...

At different engagements throughout the month, NATO allies will meet in Brussels and the Hague to discuss Ukraine and defense spending – with Trump’s team putting pressure on the Europeans to up their spending to 5% of GDP. But with the Americans wavering on the alliance as a whole, and these unrealistic spending targets: Can NATO survive? To find out, Arthur Snell speaks with Sten Rynning, profes...

I spoke to Dr Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells and former soldier about the Strategic Defence Review. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RUSI, the...

I spoke to Iran expert Charlie Gammell in the light of the recent developments in the Iran nuclear negotiations. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RU...

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza descends to unimaginable levels, and the war of words between Benjamin Netanyahu and the West escalates, I spoke to Michael Stephens of RAND Europe and RUSI about the situation. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can so...

On this episode I discuss recent allegations of war crimes committed by UK Special Forces in Afghanistan. These featured in a recent BBC Panorama episode which can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ykkf/panorama-special-forces-i-saw-war-crimes My guest on this episode is Professor Matthew Ford, a military expert based at the Swedish Defence University. We covered these alleg...

On this episode I speak to Iona Craig, the veteran Yemen expert and journalist about recent events, including the UK's decision to join the US in carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis. Iona mentioned an earlier episode of this podcast with Laura Cretney, which is worth listening to if you are interested in Yemen. You can find it here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/behind-the-lines-wit...

I spoke to Romeo Kokriatski, presenter of the Ukraine without the Hype podcast about recent events in his country, including the Trump betrayal. We mentioned Operation Sky Shield, a plan which you can read about here. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can...

What does the climate crisis mean for sovereignty in a world where certain countries face existential risk? I spoke to Taukiei Kitara, a native of Tuvalu, about the case of low-lying Pacific Islands, including his native Tuvalu. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.socia...

Read RUSI piece The Rise of Ransomware as a National Security Threat: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/organised-cybercrime-rise-ransomware-national-security-threat   Read RUSI piece Beyond the Bottom Line: The Societal Impact of Ransomware: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/beyond-bottom-line-societal-impact-ransomware   Check out our Books...

The impact on Central and Eastern Europe, with Jonathan TerraCheck out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, the world's...

The Transatlantic Alliance is coming to an end. I discuss this with academic and journalist Jonathan Terra. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RUSI, t...

Every year, tens of thousands of labourers in the wealth countries of the Gulf, most of them migrants from South Asia, die in unsafe working conditions on construction sites. As the GCC states pour enormous resources into developing their infrastructure, little attention is paid to the plight of the people doing the actual building work. I spoke to James Lynch of FairSquare, a UK-based non-profit...

For the past 4 years, Myanmar has experienced an ever more serious civil war, which now threatens the ruling military junta in Naypyitaw. I spoke to Ronan Lee about this little-reported conflict. You can find Ronan's work here: https://ronanlee.com/ And my writing here: arthursnell.substack.com Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursne...

Samir Puri of Chatham House is the author of Westlessness, a book about the post-Western world. The book came out last year but the geopolitical setting that he examines is one that is rapidly emerging in front of our eyes, as the chaotic actions of the Trump presidency bring an end to the Western Liberal Order. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my sub...

The role of disinformation in our current world, whether feeding the false allegations put out by Trump, the lies spread online by Elon Musk, or the over-reliance on social media for news coverage, is feeding the rise of extremism and dysfunction in democratic systems, to the detriment of liberal and progressive political movements. To help us understand this better, I was delighted to be joined b...

I spoke to the man in the lucky orange hat, everyone's favourite war correspondent John Sweeney about the latest developments from Kyiv in this week of extraordinary events relating to Ukraine. Find John's work at x.com/johnsweeneyroar Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsk...

The actual end of the Western Alliance, the departure of the United States from European Security and the need for a new Euro-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (EATO) is the subject of this fascinating and urgent discussion with Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells, member of the defence select committee and military expert. Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for...

In November 2023, I spoke to John Sweeney, veteran war correspondent, about the pressures on Ukraine as the world's attention turned towards the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and Israel's assault on Gaza. What he said at the time now sounds both poignant and prescient in the light of the unfolding betrayal of Ukraine by Donald Trump, something which was both predictable an...

Gaia Vince is a writer, journalist and fascinating thinker on issues relating to the crossover between humanity and the planet we inhabit. Her book Nomad Century looks at how climate change affects the liveability of large areas of the planet and the likely impact that will have. You can find her work here https://wanderinggaia.com/ and on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/wanderinggaia.bsky.soc...

The idea that people can change weather has a long history - both as part of mythology and as part of modern day conspiracy theory. But the science of geoengineering is one that some scientists think could be an important opportunity to give the world space to make progress on reducing CO2 emissions. But geoengineering, including stratospheric aerosol injection, remains very controversial and litt...