Power Play

After weeks of relative calm, Russian forces ushered in the New Year by pounding Ukrainian cities. While global attention has been gripped by the war in Gaza, it’s a reminder that there is no end in sight to the conflict in Ukraine.  This week, NATO ambassadors met in Brussels to reinforce their commitments to help Ukraine’s air defences fend off devastating Russian air strikes, which have killed...

As we enter a mammoth election year on either side of the Atlantic, Power Play looks back on the highlights from our interviews in 2023 to set the scene for the big geopolitical stories of 2024.  In this week's bumper New Year edition, host Anne McElvoy takes a tour through the best of Power Play since the podcast launched last September, talking to some of the most influential figures in the Unit...

In Taiwan, political parties are entering the final stint of a lively campaign as voters prepare to go to the polls in a presidential election on 13 January. With a population of 23 million, Taiwan is at the precarious juncture of the South and East China seas, buffeted by geo-strategic gusts as China maintains its claim on sovereignty.  In this special edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy tal...

As negotiators from nearly 200 countries enter the final week of climate talks at COP28 in Dubai, all eyes will be on the big players and who moves first. In this week’s special edition of Power Play from Dubai, host Anne McElvoy talks to one of the most influential figures in the talks — John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate. A close ally of President Joe Biden and veteran o...

The diplomatic caravan is rolling into Dubai for this year’s COP — the United Nations' round of global climate talks. Scores of world leaders and luminaries — including King Charles and the pope — from nearly 200 countries are due to attend, alongside an estimated 70,000 delegates. What are the chances of a meaningful agreement emerging at COP28? In this week’s edition of Power Play, host Anne McE...

Thomas Heatherwick’s designs have become icons in his home city of London, including the eye-catching cauldron at the 2012 Olympic Games and the reimagined Routemaster bus. The British designer's projects have popped up around the world — and not without controversy. In this week’s edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to Heatherwick about his mission to change the way our cities and urba...

Israel’s most senior diplomat – Michael Herzog, the ambassador to the U.S. – is in the eye of a diplomatic storm in the country that is Israel’s most vital ally. He insists that a ceasefire "would invite the next war." In this week's edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to Ambassador Herzog about Israel's raid on Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, how long the conflict is likely to last and the U...

One month after war broke out between Israel and Hamas, the solidarity of European leaders is being tested. Nowhere more so than in Greece, on the EU's southern border, which has traditional ties to Israel and Arab states. On this week’s edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy speaks to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his concerns about the war in the Middle East, Greece's proximity t...

Over 100 leading figures from the biggest tech companies and governments across the globe have assembled for Britain’s two-day AI Safety summit. The UK hopes the event will galvanize power players into agreeing common aims to regulate the growth of artificial intelligence. In this early edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the risks and opportu...

As the Middle East crisis deepens, how should the West react to a growing sense of unease about the world order? On this week's edition of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy speaks to Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Europe's leading digital publisher, Axel Springer (POLITICO's parent company). His new book, "Trade Trap," calls for a new approach to free trade between democracies. He believes we are experiencin...

The carnage on the streets of Gaza and mounting tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbours presented a bleak and chaotic backdrop for President Biden’s impromptu visit to Tel Aviv. Is this a conflict on the brink of exploding across the region?  In this week’s episode of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA and four-star general who led coaliti...

The horrific events unfolding in Israel have sent shockwaves around the world. As the death toll mounts from Hamas' deadly attacks and Israel's retaliatory strikes on Gaza, how will the ensuing conflict alter the power balance of the Middle East and its alliances? In this week’s episode of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Germany. Prosor has also served as...

The crisis in the U.S. House of Representatives is resonating far beyond Washington, not least in Ukraine, where the durability of America's commitment to the war effort has been thrown into doubt after future funding was omitted from its recent stopgap funding deal. Can Ukraine and its allies in Europe go it alone without agreement on further aid from Congress? And is America’s foreign policy shi...

The exit of the most powerful player at News Corp has made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. At 92, Rupert Murdoch has decided to step down as executive chairman, making way for his son Lachlan. But will much change, given Rupert Murdoch's reputation for being close to the action? In this week's episode of Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to Michael Wolff, long-time chronicler of the Mur...

In this inaugural episode of POLITICO's new global podcast Power Play, host Anne McElvoy talks to the man who hopes to be Britain's next prime minister, Keir Starmer. In a wide-ranging interview on global affairs, the Labour leader reveals his concerns about China. He warns that the U.K. needs to “wean itself off” China “when it comes to trade, commerce and technology.” Starmer also tells Anne wha...

POLITICO's new weekly transatlantic podcast Power Play is officially coming to your podcast feed on Thursday, September 21! Hosted by renowned British journalist Anne McElvoy, Power Play takes listeners inside the minds of those who wield power to better understand the choices they face. The show features guests at the top of their fields in government, business, civil society and more — accompani...

In an exclusive interview for POLITICO's forthcoming podcast Power Play, Richard Moore, chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service — MI6 — speaks to Anne McElvoy about how the culture of agencies like MI6 is changing. Recorded in Prague, a city that shaped the outcome of the Cold War, Moore shares revealing insights into MI6's approach to Russia, China and other threats to the West. Britain's c...