The Rachman Review

Gideon talks to Venezuelan economist Moisés Naím about the reasons for the collapse of the political centre in Latin America, and about the tactics used by populist politicians to rise to power in the region and beyond. Clips: Euronews; AP; Al Jazeera; NBC; Andrés Manuel López Obrador channel Want to read more? How the Colombia election could change Latin America Colombia’s Rodolfo Hernández goes...

Russia’s blockade of the port of Odesa is preventing Ukraine from exporting vital supplies of grain to a hungry world. A failure to resolve the problem will lead to food price rises and starvation, resulting in more migration and global unrest, according to David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Programme. He talks to Gideon about what needs to be done to avert catastrophe. Clips: NewsNation, AB...

The roots of Ukrainian nationalism go back to the second world war, when one prominent group sided briefly with Hitler against the Soviet Union. Gideon talks to Princeton academic Kim Lane Scheppele about the legacy of this group and whether any remnants of its ideology still have influence over the country’s politics and military. Clips: NBC, Open Ukraine, Eurovision Song Contest More on this top...

Why do some countries stay poor while others find a rapid path towards growth and development? Economist Stefan Dercon thinks it’s all about the willingness of those in power to prioritise development over protecting their own interests. He explains how he came to this view in conversation with the FT’s Africa editor, David Pilling. Clips: IMF, Africa News More on this topic:   Gambling...

When Russia invaded Ukraine, a group of countries in the global south, including India and South Africa, held back from the chorus of condemnation led by Europe and the US. Gideon discusses why they have adopted a neutral stance with Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution and Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, chief executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs. Clips: Reuters; Republic...

Russia raised the spectre of nuclear war this week as it struggles to make headway in Ukraine. How seriously should this threat be taken and can Vladimir Putin rely on his friendship with China’s Xi Jinping? Gideon discusses these questions with US political scientist Graham Allison, author of the classic study of the Cuban missile crisis, ‘Essence of Decision’, and of a book on US-China relations...

Gideon talks to former World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy about the French election and what political trends in France tell us about nationalism and anti-globalist movements around the world. Clips: France 24 Want to read more? ‘She’s radiant’: what French voters like about Le Pen this time Patriots vs globalists replaces the left-right divide French election polls: the race for the presi...

In a country besieged by war, Ukrainian politicians continued to meet in their parliamentary building, despite the clear threat of attack from Russian troops. Ukrainian MP Dmytro Natalukha shares his experiences of keeping parliament running while Kyiv was under siege. As chairman of Ukraine’s economic affairs committee, Natalukha tells how the country’s economy has been ravaged, and how he expect...

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has put in an unexpectedly strong showing and looks set to go head to head with Emmanuel Macron in the second round of France’s presidential election. Gideon talks to the FT’s Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Bruno Cautrès of Sciences Po about the issues French voters care about and what happens next. Clips: Reuters, HuffPost, France inter   www.ft.com/rachman-review...

Gideon talks to Catherine Belton, author of the bestselling book Putin’s People , about who is likely to be influencing the Russian president as he decides whether to step back or press on with the war in Ukraine. Clips: Reuters, BBC Want to read more? Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Turned on the West Germany and Austria plan for gas rationing over payment stand-off with Rus...

Europe has been united by opposition to Putin’s war in Ukraine, but will this new found unity last and will Russia be permanently isolated? Gideon talks to Alexander Stubb, former prime minister of Finland, about how the conflict is reshaping Europe’s alliances with the rest of the world. Clips: British Pathé Want to read more?   Nato to discuss extending Jens Stoltenberg’s term as secretary-...

Ben Hall talks to Rose Gottemoeller, an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of Nato from 2016 to 2019, about the kind of deal Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are working towards. Will Ukraine agree to give up its ambitions for Nato membership and pledge neutrality instead? How might the west guarantee its security and could Vladimir Putin tolerate an independent Ukraine? Clips: Sk...

How long can the Ukrainians hold out? Will Vladimir Putin be stuck in a never-ending war and how would Russians tolerate that? Might western powers be dragged in? Ben Hall, the FT’s Europe editor, discusses these questions with John Paul Rathbone, defence and security correspondent, and Henry Foy, European diplomatic correspondent and former Moscow bureau chief.  Clips: BBC, Nato News Want to...

Putin’s war in Ukraine is not going to plan, but it’s as yet unclear how the Russian leader will react to these failures. Gideon talks to strategic expert Lawrence Freedman about what the Russian military can realistically achieve and, in particular, how worried Nato should be about Russia’s decision to put its nuclear weapons on standby. Clips: BBC, CNN   Want to read more? Another Stalingra...

Russia has confirmed what western powers had long predicted and invaded Ukraine. On the eve of war, Gideon spoke to Sabine Fischer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, a Russian specialist recently back from Moscow, and to Polina Ivanova, FT correspondent in Kyiv, about the mood in the two capitals. Clips: RT, The White House Want to read more? EU hits Putin’s defen...

After a week of frenetic diplomacy, the Ukraine crisis has yet to be resolved. But it has had a significant impact on reshaping western alliances. Gideon talks to Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, about the impact of the Russian threat on US ties with Europe, and on Nato and the EU. Clips: The White House, Sky News Want to read more? Poland prepares...

Governments and militias around the world, from Ukraine to Ethiopia, have a new and powerful weapon at their disposal: armed drones. Gideon talks to Ulrike Franke of the European Council on Foreign Relations about how this is changing the balance of power and causing growing concern about civilian casualties. Clips: WSJ, CBS,Sky News Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See...

Gideon talks to Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay about his chances of overcoming the powerful political machine created by Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party in April's elections. Clips: Fox News, Reuters Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia’s military build-up on its border with Ukraine has set off alarm bells and led to a flurry of transatlantic diplomacy. Gideon talks to Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, about what President Vladimir Putin is seeking to achieve, and whether he can realise these goals without launching an attack on Ukraine. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See...

Diplomacy has so far failed to defuse the crisis in Ukraine and many fear that war is imminent. Gideon discusses the remaining diplomatic possibilities and, if they fail, what a war might look like, with Samuel Charap, a political scientist at the Rand Corporation think-tank in Washington. Clips: Sky News, CBS News Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Gideon talks to David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, about the organisation’s 2022 watchlist, which reveals that people in 20 countries, representing 10 per cent of the world’s population, are at risk or in dire need of humanitarian aid, and the situation is getting worse. What has gone wrong and are there any solutions? Clips: DW, Live Aid, Reuters IRC’s 2022 Emer...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/c2a23023-df6b-49ed-af06-149bb0b35237 Three years of demonstrations have proved the Sudanese people’s strong desire for democratic change after decades of military rule. But this week the latest attempt to secure a peaceful transition foundered with the resignation of Abdalla Hamdok, interim prime minister. Gideon Rachman discus...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/03234d8d-0548-4e84-b7c9-5ed87b2b7a57 For the last podcast of 2021 and to review the year, Gideon Rachman is joined by his FT colleagues Martin Wolf and Gillian Tett. We’re coming to the end of a tumultuous year, which began with the unprecedented storming of the US capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. And which ends with a pa...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/ce91ffd7-0549-4187-8dda-61b20548d2c8 Gideon talks to Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, about the ways in which global powers try to exert influence over others in an interconnected world. Mark Leonard is author of The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict. Clips: Reuters, BBC Hosted...

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com https://www.ft.com/content/402578f3-6ad6-45f8-8340-cb1e809fe95b In this special interview, Sir Jeremy Fleming, head of the UK signals intelligence agency GCHQ, talks to FT editor Roula Khalaf and FT correspondent Helen Warrell about cyber threats from China and other state actors, the global competition for data and the "Snowden effect" on spy agenc...