The Great British Foreign Affairs Podcast

What’s the world look like through a global defence lens today? On this special episode, we team up with the Facing Coming Storms podcast, brought to you by the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, in partnership with the Project for the Study of the 21st Century. Peter Apps, host of Facing Coming Storms, takes the hot seat, quizzed by Anna-Joy on massive global shi...

Day Four training to accompany the free 5-day challenge running from 31st March to 4th April to kickstart our Quarter 2 of 2025. Last chance to sign up at www.worldshapingleadership.com as Day Five's training is exclusively for those signed up to the challenge so won't be here on the podcast.

Day Three training to accompany the free 5-day challenge running from 31st March to 4th April to kickstart our Quarter 2 of 2025. Sign up now (it’s ok if it’s mid-week) to download the strategic weekly planner that the challenge revolves around at www.worldshapingleadership.com

Day One training to accompany the free 5-day challenge running from 31st March to 4th April to kickstart our Quarter 2 of 2025. Sign up now (it’s ok if it’s mid-week) to download the strategic weekly planner that the challenge revolves around at www.worldshapingleadership.com Summary - You being you! Anna-Joy Rickard guides participants through the importance of aligning with one's true self to en...

Day One training to accompany the free 5-day challenge running from 31st March to 4th April to kickstart our Quarter 2 of 2025. Sign up now (it’s ok if it’s mid-week) to download the strategic weekly planner that the challenge revolves around at www.worldshapingleadership.com SHOW NOTES In this session, Anna-Joy Rickard introduces a five-day challenge aimed at transforming ordinary weeks into extr...

Exciting announcement for my regular podcast listeners! Alongside foreign affairs and travel episodes, this podcast is going to start to house World-shaping Leadership episodes and I’ve got something exciting happening next week for you. As many of you know, I coach and run leadership training alongside and within my foreign affairs work, and I want to bring some of that inspiration, those strateg...

In this episode I talk to Dr. Guy Kioni, a British-Congolese geostrategic advisor on international diplomacy, critical minerals, and digital transformation. He is the CEO of London-based advisory and management consultancy firm Missang Ltd.

This episode I talk about 2025 with Matt Patterson, political communications specialist and former Secretary General's Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Continuing my notes and reflections from my Autumn round-the-world trip with my kids - this time from East Asia covering South Korea, Japan and Taiwan plus a footnote on our time in Sri Lanka

Continuing to share my journey across the world this Autumn with my kids - this time capturing thoughts ad reflections on Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE and Oman

From my around-the-world trip with my 3 children I bring notes from different sections of our trip. This first one covers our travels in Europe section from late August to September....

As we come into land at the end of Series 3, in this episode I talk about Turkey with Sami Kent, journalist and radio producer and author of a new book on Turkey 'The Endless Country: A personal journey through Turkey's first hundred years'

In this episode I continue my cinversation with Aline Burni, this time focusing on her home country of Brazil. We dive into Brazil's unique foreign policy and how the country is a country of contrasts

In this episode we talk about the first foreign policy moments of the new UK Labour government against the backdrop of the NATO summit in Washington and ahead of hosting the 4th European Political Community summit. Plus an update on the Ukraine war, French elections, China-Taiwan and what UK leadership on the world stage looks like. Peter Apps brings us his in-depth insights on these topics as wel...

In this episode I talk to Ari Ratner, a former state department official and founder of strategic comms and policy advisory firm Danari Global

In this episode I have two conversations - firstly getting an update from Aline Burni in Brussels on the state of play in Europe following the EU Parliament elections and then onto Mike Buckley in Sheffield looking at UK-EU relations

In this episode I talk to Daniela Luque about Colombia catching up on the political developments in the country, where the peace process is up to and a surprising discovery about how much we can learn from the Colombia-UK relationship 

In this inaugural podcast fireside chat, Matt Godwin and our host, Anna-Joy Rickard share some of their thinking on how the UK finds a confident identity and optimistic way forward in the changing world of today

To kick off Series 3, I speak to writer and journalist Jonn Elledge on his new book 'A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps'. We delve into the stories you should know about but probably don't, the history that never happened, the optimistic stories and of course - how Britain looks at its history.

In this episode I chat to Hannah Methven, a sustainability specialist at Explore, the adventure travel company, about falling in love again with train travel. The episode is packed full of inspiration, tricks and tips for exploring the world by train.

In this episode I discuss Argentina with Emmanuel Artusa-Barrell, an Argentinian living in London. Manu has a background in political risk management and is a former advisor to embassies in Argentina and the UK. Summary Emmanuel Artusa-Barrell discusses Argentina's food, culture, and geography, highlighting its melting pot of communities who immigrated from Europe and its diverse wildlife. He...

In this episode I talk to Emma Ruiters, an economist from South Africa, and we hear about the elections this year, how South Africa’s history shapes the country it is today and about the role it is playing on the world stage

In this episode I’m welcoming back author and Reuters foreign affairs columnist, Peter Apps to talk about his new book 'Deterring Armageddon: A biography of NATO'. On the second year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and with a potential return of Trump to the White House this year, it is all eyes on NATO. Here we discuss its history, stories and lessons alongside its current debates...

This podcast episode is Part Two of my conversation with David Lawrence. If you haven’t listened to the previous episode on China yet, that’s definitely one to listen to! Here in this episode we discuss the geopolitics of artificial intelligence drawing on his work at Chatham House and wider thought leadership on this issue.

In this episode I talk to David Lawrence about China, drawing on his professional work at Chatham House but also his experience growing up as a child there. This is part 1 of our conversation and in Part 2 - coming up in our next podcast episode - we focus on an equally meaty topic of the geopolitics of AI, so look out for that one too.