The General & The Journalist

Following the NATO summit in Ankara, American allies face an uncomfortable question – can they still rely on Washington to lead? Donald Trump is demanding more from Europe, NATO is trying to adapt and countries like Britain must decide whether to step up or become spectators in a world shaped by others.  This week, John Bew joins The General & The Journalist to discuss NATO, Donald Trump...

Britain says its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan will strengthen its role in NATO. But after months of delays, funding rows and warnings from allies, does the money go far enough?  Admiral Sir Keith Blount, the former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe at NATO, joins Tom and Patrick to assess what the plan gets right, where it falls short and why Britain risks losing influence in the...

For The General & The Journalist’s first anniversary, Tom and Patrick return to the question at the heart of the podcast – is the world becoming more dangerous? Recorded live at the Nevill Holt Festival, they look at Ukraine’s fightback, Putin’s next moves, the Iran ceasefire, China’s advantage, the threat to Taiwan and the crisis in Britain’s defences. Patrick warns that we may be entering a...

H.R. McMaster served as Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser and saw firsthand how he makes decisions about war, peace and American power. As his former boss is tested by crises from Iran to Ukraine, China, NATO and Venezuela, he explains how the president really thinks. Does Trump have a grand strategy, or is he driven by instincts, deals and the search for a quick win? And will fragile US-Ir...

Cuba is running out of power, fuel and patience. As blackouts spread and anger grows, Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on Havana, blaming the regime for the island’s collapse while Cuba points to decades of US sanctions.  The historic US indictment of former president Raúl Castro has raised the stakes and a bigger question – is Trump trying to use his Venezuela playbook on Cuba? With U...

Nearly four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine is trying to change the course of the war with drones, AI and battlefield innovation. What began as improvised technology has become central to Kyiv’s strategy, helping Ukraine defend the front line and strike deeper into Russia. But can drones really help Ukraine break the deadlock? And what does this mean for the future of war? Patrick...

Two weeks after British paratroopers landed on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands, the rescue team are finally heading home. Their mission was extraordinary – reach a critically ill Briton on a tiny British Overseas Territory with no runway, no quick route by sea, and no easy way in. Within hours, 16 Air Assault Brigade was mobilised, sending paratroopers, military...

Nearly three months after the Iran war began, there is a ceasefire, but no settlement. The Strait of Hormuz remains a global pressure point, Iran’s nuclear programme is unresolved, and Donald Trump is still demanding progress. But the biggest question may be inside Tehran. After war, assassinations and stalled diplomacy, power appears to be shifting away from the clerics and towards the Revolution...

As President Trump lands in Beijing for his summit with Xi, Patrick and Tom are joined by China analyst, Sam Olsen, to discuss whether Iran has flipped the balance of power between the rivals. Sam argues the war has degraded America's weapons stockpile, recast China as the reliable global partner, and given Beijing a ringside seat on the US military playbook - gifting China with the strategic...

Estonia's foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, says Putin will flood Europe with the criminals he recruited to fight in Ukraine once the war ends. With Russia unable to reintegrate thousands of 'psychologically crazy' ex-combatants, they will be used for Wagner-style sabotage operations on a scale European governments have yet to grapple with. In Patrick's words, 'the moment of maximum danger could b...

General Christopher Cavoli was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) until July 2025. He was responsible for the defence and security of 981 million people across 32 countries. Ooph. While on a flying visit to London, he dropped into the General and the Journalist studio to see his old friend Patrick and get grilled by Tom on the UK's parlous defence expenditure. But, mostly, he was here...

Dr Fiona Hill is a former deputy assistant to President Trump and served as director for Russian Affairs on the US National Security Council from 2017-19. She joins Tom and Patrick to chew over the lessons from the Iran war - that the US is no longer a reliable partner, other alliances must urgently be formed, and the world economy can be held to ransom at will. But it's in her capacity as one of...

From Russia's nuclear threat to satellites, the prospect of a permanent lunar station, and the hopes of Artemis, Patrick and Tom could barely contain their space-geek excitement at speaking with General Whiting, head of US Space Command. 'There cannot be anybody on the planet who has more power in space than that man', gushed Patrick. And for good reason; war is now essentially a space d...

Having first demanded that Iran 'open the fucking strait', President Trump followed up with a post vowing 'an entire civilisation will die tonight' if it did not do so.  But could any such order ever be legal, and would the American military even agree to carry it out? Patrick and Tom chew over these and other questions, including whether it's time for America's long-standing allies to bail o...

For their Easter special, Tom and Patrick turn the entire show over to you. They answer as many listener questions as possible that have landed in the General & Journalist inbox since Christmas. Among them: whether Europe could defend itself in the events of an immediate Russian incursion, and whether the Iran war has changed Xi's calculus over taking Taiwan - and many more.  Hosts:...

The Kremlin's treasury runneth-over with oil revenues, Moscow's military is being treated to a lesson in the latest US warfare in real time , and the world's eyes are averted from Ukraine.  Trump's war with Iran has been a boon for President Putin. And yet rumours of paranoia, deserting elites, and strange defections abound.  To decipher what exactly is going on in Moscow, Patrick and To...

World-renowned historian Peter Frankopan joins Tom and Patrick to dissect the escalating conflict in Iran through the lens of ancient history and shifting civilisations.  The Silk Roads author argues the war is less a standalone event and more the continuation of a century-long struggle for control over the "spine of the world" and its vital resources, namely oil. Upending international law,...

We are in the second week of a war that was supposed to be over by now. Yet the world is facing soaring oil prices, rising inflation and a regime which doesn't seem ready to capitulate.  While President Trump continues to threaten Iran, he faces the limits of what air power, alone, can achieve and increasing pressure at home.  Recording on Day 12 of the conflict, Patrick and Tom are join...

President Trump has given numerous reasons for America's war on Iran. But if a clear objective cannot be defined, can that war be won? Admiral James 'Sandy' Winnefeld is a former vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Until last year he headed the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, overseeing planning for American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. He joins Tom and Patrick to tal...

Two years ago, Al Carns was a colonel in the Royal Marines and, though he can never confirm or deny it, had also commanded the Special Boat Service.  He pivoted to politics when he realised that the country's military leadership did not fully grasp the seismic shift in warfare brought about by drones and AI - but he did. Having risen at breakneck speed to become armed forces minister, Al talk...

Beginning with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but accelerated by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has super-charged its military to become the third largest in Nato, behind only Turkey and the US. It spends more on defence as a proportion of national wealth than even America and is soon to have more large tanks than the UK, Germany and France combined. So how did this happen,...

If the UK is to present a credible deterrence to any adversary, its armed forces need to be sufficiently large. They are not. And the fastest, most economical, way of plugging the gap is by growing the reserves. The Chief of the defence staff recently called for an 'all in mentality', urging civilians to step up to the very real threat posed by Russia. Not 'weekend warriors', but pe...

In the space race and the arms race, only a human could determine an outcome. But what happens in war when AI, and not a human, takes the decision to pull the trigger? If AI can equal human capabilities, Artificial 'superintelligence' is smarter, potentially putting ASI beyond human control. Jon Wolfsthal worked in the Obama White House on nuclear non-proliferation. He, like scores of others in de...

Our colleagues at The Times this week launched an American edition of their superb UK politics pod, The State of It . We thought you might want to hear the fabulous first episode. Welcome to the first ever episode of  The State of It: USA . An attack on Iran looks imminent: we reveal what senior military and political figures are saying about it. Also, is Donald Trump taking a softer line on...

Xi Jinping has effectively removed his last remaining rival power-base in Beijing. Until last weekend, Zhang Youxia was the highest ranking general in the Chinese armed forces and second only to Xi in the military's hierarchy. But having now carried out an almost-total purge of the PLA's leadership, has Xi consolidated his power or, ultimately, undermined it? And what does it mean for a prospectiv...