Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

Mark Leonard  is joined by  Lea Ypi , ECFR council member and professor in political theory at the London School of Economics, to discuss her latest book  Indignity: A Life Reimagined , which asks how   individuals can maintain their dignity in a totalitarian system. Mark and Lea delve into def...

Mark Leonard is joined by Africa experts Nathalie Delapalme, CEO of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and ECFR council member, Carlos Lopes , honourary professor at the University of Cape Town who has occupied prominent positions in the UN and African Union and Alex Vines , director of ECFR’s Africa programme. Together, they explore how the European policies on critical raw minerals and energy should...

In an emergency podcast episode, Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree , ECFR distinguished visiting fellow and former Mumbai bureau chief for the Financial Times , to discuss the long-awaited EU-India trade deal.   The agreement, nearly 20 years in the making, was signed in New Delhi by Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Narendra Modi, and has been dubbed the “mother of all deals”. It ai...

In this episode,  Mark Leonard  sits down with Finnish president,  Alexander Stubb , in Davos for a conversation about Donald Trump’s view of Ukraine, Greenland, the world and Europe’s place in it. They explore the clash between advocates of multipolarity and those resisting it, and how this battle is reshaping global power...

Protests across Iran have entered their third week and Donald Trump is said to be considering a military intervention against the Khamenei regime. According to human rights organisations, its brutal crackdown against demonstrators has led to at least 2,500 deaths, as well as an internet blackout and mass arrests. This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Ellie Geranmayeh , deputy director of ECFR’s Middle...

Following on from January 2nd’s prediction episode, Mark Leonard hosts Julien Barnes-Dacey , ECFR’s Middle East programme director, Alex Vines , ECFR’s Africa programme director, Andrew Small , ECFR’s Asia programme director, and Jana Kobzová , co-director of ECFR’s European Security programme, to discuss what challenges Europe should focus on in 2026.   How will global politics shift in 2026...

On January 3rd, the US military struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro. Trump has declared that America will now “run” the country, shifting from a narrative which had focused on the US fighting a war against drug traffickers to a narrative which sees the US assert control over Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.   Mark Leonard is joined by Jeremy Shapiro , ECFR research di...

This week Mark Leonard is joined by Jeremy Shapiro, research director at ECFR, for their annual end-of-year tradition: marking last year’s predictions and making ten bold forecasts for the year ahead. They look at how their 2025 calls stacked up—from Trump to German politics to Ukraine, China and migration—before turning their attention to 2026.   Will the European far right continue its adva...

China’s tightening of export controls on rare earths and related technologies across 2025 marked a turning point in Europe’s economic security. Even with Beijing’s partial and momentary rollback after talks with Washington, a Damocles sword still hangs over Europe’s industrial base—from defence to semiconductors and clean tech.   And with China’s upcoming 15...

This week,  Mark Leonard  welcomes  Ellie Geranmayeh , senior policy fellow and deputy head of ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, and  Hugh Lovatt , senior policy fellow with ECFR’s MENA programme and chairman of the Brussels-based European Middle East Project (EuMEP).    Together, they...

America has published its new National Security Strategy (NSS)—and it contains worrying rhetoric about the EU, European values and the transatlantic relationship. Russia, however, is never described as a threat or competitor. In fact, Moscow has welcomed the document as being “largely consistent with Russia’s vision”. In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Gladden Pappin , president of the...

China’s rise has long fascinated policymakers, economists and technologists. But few observers have studied the country’s technological ambitions as closely as  Dan Wang , research fellow at the Hoover History Lab at Stanford University and author of  Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future . This week,  Mark  welcomes  Dan  to discuss the ideas behind his boo...

The European Council on Foreign Relations turned 18 in November 2025. This milestone offers a unique moment to reflect on the world in which ECFR was founded—and how dramatically it has changed. In 2007, Europe had the world’s confidence: democracy seemed secure, globalisation was a force for opportunity, EU enlargement was reshaping the continent, and peace felt almost guaranteed. So how did Euro...

In this emergency podcast episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Jana Kobzova , co-director of ECFR’s European Security Programme, and Jim O’Brien , former US assistant secretary of state for Europe and ECFR distinguished policy fellow, to dissect the leaked 28-point US-Russia framework for ending the Ukraine war.   Kyiv has rejected the proposal as a capitulation and Europeans are insisting on a sea...

Europe’s most ambitious defence project is in deep trouble. Europe’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), presented as the crown jewel of Franco-German cooperation, was meant to deliver a next-generation defence system ready to meet the demands of an increasingly dangerous world. Instead, the FCAS showcases diverging visions of European air power and raises questions about the continent’s strategic au...

Across Europe, immigration and integration have become pressing political issues. The far right is surging in national polls, and debates over borders and national identity are reshaping party systems and public life. This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Sunder Katwala , director of the think-tank British Future and author of How to Be a Patriot , and Lawen Redar , spokesperson for integration for...

In recent years, military juntas have replaced democratically elected governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. These have expelled European forces and welcomed Russian mercenaries—yet stability in these countries remains elusive. This week, Mark is joined by Will Brown , senior policy fellow in ECFR’s Africa programme and author of the recent policy brief “The Bear and the Bot Farm: Countering...

This week, Mark Leonard returns to the World in 30 Minutes to unpack the latest development in US foreign policy: America’s military buildup off the coast of Venezuela. The US has deployed troops in the Caribbean and an aircraft strike group has joined the operation—but the Trump administration’s aims in the region remain unclear. Mark is joined by Jeremy Shapiro , ECFR’s research director and hea...

Donald Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine have largely taken a backseat to events in Gaza. But a recent call with Vladimir Putin, followed by a tense meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, has reignited America’s engagement. Washington has announced new sanctions against two Russian oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, just as European leaders advance plans to tap frozen Russian asset...

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Eran Etzion, former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council, and Jamal Nusseibeh, Palestinian legal scholar and political analyst, to discuss what comes next after a landmark ceasefire in Gaza. Two years after the attacks on October 7th, the agreement has brought hostages home and Israeli forces have pulled back from parts of the Gaza Strip. But, with Tru...

EU enlargement is back at the top of the EU’s political agenda as Russia’s war against Ukraine has transformed it from a bureaucratic process into a matter of European security. This episode marks the launch of ECFR’s new RE-ENGAGE podcast series: The Neighbourhood , which will unpack how countries hoping to join the EU navigate political change and outside pressure, and what that means for Europe...

This week Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin , senior policy fellow and head of ECFR’s Paris office, to discuss the unprecedented political turmoil in France. Just weeks after his appointment, Sébastien Lecornu became the fourth prime minister to resign in a year—leaving Macron to choose between naming yet another leader, dissolving the National Assembly, or answering the mounting calls for his res...

Mark Leonard welcomes Hugh Lovatt to unpack Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and what it means for Israel, Hamas, and Europe.   This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Hugh Lovatt, Senior Policy Fellow at ECFR and expert on Israel–Palestine, to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump’s proposed Gaza peace deal.   What does the plan actually contain, and how did it come about? Can...

In the United States, the political right is undergoing a significant transformation. Once dominated by Reagan economics—characterised by free trade and deregulation—the movement has increasingly adopted policies focusing on the working class, opposing globalisation, pursuing protectionism and imposing tariffs on foreign trade. At the heart of this shift is Oren Cass , chief economist at the Ameri...

Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree and Suhasini Haidar to explore India’s foreign policy and its emerging relations with Europe. For decades, India-Europe relations did not fulfil their potential. Now transactional American foreign policy has seen Donald Trump impose severe tariffs on India and push New Delhi to adopt a strategy of multi-alignment. This allows the EU to deepen their own economic...