Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell

Syria: Is the new government in league with Jihadists?

Tue, 12 May 2026 16:10:00 -0000

The new government of Syria, led since last year by former Al-Qaida commander Ahmad Al-Shara'a is allegedly a pragmatic, multifaith movement righting the wrongs of the Assad era. But might it be a front for more extreme jihadist elements? The escape of thousands of Islamic State militants under the noses of Al-Shara'a's forces points to a lack of concern at the very least. To discuss this I was delighted to be joined by Syria expert Kelly Kassis.

If you would like to support this podcast please consider taking out a paid subscription to my Substack arthursnell.substack.com or if you don't want the hassle of a subscription you can buy me a coffee! ko-fi.com/snellarthur

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The Iran War - the Impact on the Gulf Countries

Wed, 06 May 2026 09:29:00 -0000

Why did the UAE announce its departure from OPEC? What does this have to do with the Iran war, relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel and the role of the United States? To answer these questions and more, I spoke to Michael Stephens, RUSI Middle East expert and Gulf affairs specialist.

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Iran and the West - from Crassus to crass US

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0000

As an ancient imperial civilisation, Iran (or, to use an earlier name, Persia) has had a complex relationship with the West from the Roman era to the present day. I spoke to historian James Barr about this long and winding road.

You can find James on Bluesky and his website, with details of his books, is here: https://historythatmatters.org

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Cuba - will Trump have the "honor" of taking it?

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 03:21:00 -0000

Away from the war with Iran, Trump and many of his associates have been talking about bringing an end to the communist regime in Cuba. To discuss this further I spoke to Nicolas Forsans who is author of the excellent Substack sinfiltroya.substack.com which focuses on Latin America.

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Ukraine, solidarity and the war to stop Europe from burning

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 03:43:00 -0000

Please follow my guest Sian Norris's work at https://sianushka.substack.com⁠ and on Bluesky. She mentioned Save Ukraine and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign.

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Fantastic Kingdom: Dr Helene von Bismarck on her latest book, and Britain

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:00:00 -0000

Helene von Bismarck is a writer, historian and political commentator who has become a familiar face and voice for those that follow British politics. After an academic career as a historian of late British colonial history, she has now published Fantastic Kingdom: A Stranger's Notes on a Contrary Country. I spoke to her about her new book and what it tells us.

You can pre-order Helen's book at this link which will help support both this podcast and independent bookshops.

If you want to buy any of the books talked about in this show, please support independent bookshops by using Bookshop.org with this link:

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FILL YOUR TANK! PREPAY YOUR GAS BILL! IT REALLY IS AN ENERGY EMERGENCY

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:30:00 -0000

I decided to talk to Thom Reilly, former head of UK govt international energy policy and also with experience from one of the world's largest energy firms about the realities of what the Iran crisis means for energy markets. No exaggeration: it's scary stuff.

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THE SANCTUARY SCHOLARS Meet the displaced academics rewriting the future

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0000

As a special partnership with Somerville College Oxford, it was my huge pleasure to be able to interview three of their Sanctuary Scholars - young academics displaced by conflict now pursuing their studies in Oxford, but at the same time making change in their own countries - rewriting the future.

Dr. Hadeel Abdelseid

Hadeel was still a medical student in Sudan when the civil war broke out again in 2023. She went straight from attending lectures to treating gunshot wounds in improvised PPE, using tutorials shared via smartphone. Hadeel has since gone on to become a Director of Sudro, a developmental network providing rapid, tech-enabled health programmes to relieve crises in Sudan and across Africa as they occur. The recent projects on which Hadeel has led or contributed include treating gender-based violence during the conflict and training volunteer counsellors working with children orphaned and severely traumatised by the conflict. Despite experiencing acute trauma herself, Hadeel is a beacon of warm humanity, humour and resilience, who somehow manages to organise her directorship of Sudro and managing a network of over 80,000 Sudanese volunteer emergency care-givers all while conducting a full-time MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine!

Nikita Vorobiov

Nikita (Mykyta) Vorobiov is an Oxford-based political writer of Ukrainian-Russian origin, reading for an MSc in Russian and East European Studies as an EAA Qatar Sanctuary Scholar. Nikita has previously studied at the Universities of Zagreb, Tartu and Bard College, Berlin, where he gained a BA in Ethics and Politics and specialised in Russian visual propaganda. Since 2021, Nikita has been working as a political writer, publishing more than fifty op-eds for leading US think tanks, contributing monthly articles to the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and serving from 2023 to 2025 as Senior Editor at JURIST, where he helped launch the Balkan Dispatch and subsequently received the 2025 Wolmuth Award for extraordinary dedication. Nikita’s research focuses on political psychology, nationalism, and military propaganda, where his Russian-Ukrainian background has enabled him to contribute in-depth analysis of highly nuanced topics and to collaborate the European Journalism Observatory (EJO), Amnesty International’s Mnemonics Project and the Tamizdat Project, among others.

Sonita Alizadeh

At the age of 16, Sonita Alizadeh found out that she was to be sold into marriage. Facing the threat of forced marriage for the second time in her life – the first time had been when she was 10 years-old – Sonita felt compelled to do something to publicise her experience and the experiences of other women around her. The young Afghani woman turned to rap music and gained worldwide attention with her 2014 single ‘Daughters for Sale’. Her story was documented in the Sundance award-winning film Sonita, and she was offered a student visa to come and study in the United States by the Strongheart Group. In 2023, Sonita graduated from Bard College and she won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford. Alizadeh is the co-founder of Arezo and The Dreams Book, a secret school for Afghan girls deprived of education under Taliban rule. The first professional Afghan rapper, Sonita uses her music and her convictions to fight for the rights of women and girls all over the world.

Find out about Hadeel's work here: https://sudro.org

Follow Sonita on Instagram: instagram.com/sonitalizadeh/

More of Nikita's work here: cepa.org/author/mykyta-vorobiov/

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Elemental: The New Geography of Climate Change

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:58:00 -0000

Exclusive audiobook clip: this week's episode is a chapter from the Audiobook of Elemental, my book which came out last week.

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Back by popular demand: Charlie Gammell on the latest in Iran

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 -0000

Once again and back by popular demand - I have Charlie Gammell, Iran expert, former diplomat and historian and now author of the brilliant https://onceadiplomat.substack.com on the latest in Iran.

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IRAN EMERGENCY EPISODE WITH CHARLIE GAMMELL

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:39:00 -0000

I spoke to Iran expert Charlie Gammell about the extraordinary events unfolding.

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Ukraine Special Episode: John Sweeney on four years of war and heroism

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 08:14:00 -0000

John Sweeney, veteran war correspondent - the man in the orange hat - spoke to me about four years of Russia's war on Ukraine, the heroism, the tragedy and the importance of it for all of us.

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South Yemen and the reshaping of the Middle East

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:38:00 -0000

With the dramatic events in Yemen leading to a breakdown in relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, I took the chance to speak to Amr Al-Beidh of the STC - the Southern Yemeni separatist movement which has been at the heart of this issue but which has had very little, if any coverage in the world's press. He gave his side of the story and how it illustrates the world of great-power action that we now find ourselves in.

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Cryptocurrency and Political Money Laundering - the threat to the UK with Neil Barnett

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:41:00 -0000

I spoke to Neil Barnett about his recent work researching political money laundering and the role played by cryptocurrency. You can find his report here https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/uk-election-security-threatened-political-money-laundering-cryptocurrency

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Conflict in the Arctic: the reality

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:41:00 -0000

Professor Klaus Dodds has been studying Arctic security for decades, long before it had addled the mind of Donald Trump. He is the author of Unfrozen - the Fight for the Future of the Arctic and he spoke to me about the real situation there, the impacts of climate change, the potential for future conflict and the role of great powers, including Russia, China and the United States.

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The Post Western World and the Trump Regime

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 18:36:00 -0000

Dr Samir Puri works at Chatham House and has written a brilliant book called Westlessness.

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Everything, everywhere all at once: what 2026 might hold, with Dan Kaszeta

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 22:46:00 -0000

I spoke to Dan about many things. Better to have a listen. If you are looking for the chart about AI financing that he mentioned, it's here. You can find Dan on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/dankaszeta.bsky.social

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Iran in Crisis: Charlie Gammell on the protests

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 09:20:00 -0000

Charlie Gammell is one of Britain's leading Iran experts and he joined me in a conversation recorded on 13 January about the rapidly evolving situation in Iran. You can find Charlie's work here on Substack: https://onceadiplomat.substack.com

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EMERGENCY EPISODE: Maduro, Chavez, Delcy Rodriguez and where we're going in Venezuela

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 22:48:00 -0000

Catherine Royle was Britain's Ambassador to Venezuela, making one of very few people to have met and worked with all of Nicolas Maduro, his predecessor Hugo Chavez and Maduro's (perhaps temporary) successor Delcy Rodriguez. She shared her unique experiences and insights for this emergency episode recorded on 4 January 2026.

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A Storm of Princes: Saudi Arabia and the UAE fight over South Yemen

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:05:00 -0000

A struggle over who controls South Yemen might not seem particularly important, but it's a proxy for a far bigger conflict that has been bubbling for years between two of the key countries in Gulf region, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. I was able to speak to Iona Craig about this and what it means for Yemen and the wider region.

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The New Total War: Bob Seely on Russia's Strategy

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 15:20:00 -0000

From the revolutionary use of drones to staged coups, child abduction and psychological warfare, the war in Ukraine is like no other. It is a new form of total war, combining traditional military force with all the non-military tools of the Russian state. The 2022 invasion was just the next stage of a conflict that Russia has been fighting since 2005, using all the tactics at its disposal to control Ukraine’s politics and wreak havoc.

Combining over a decade of research, astute analysis and powerful stories from the front line, and including striking photographs of the people and scenes he encountered along the way, Bob Seely has written the authoritative guide to this new form of conflict. Travelling extensively throughout Ukraine, Seely meets figures such as Panoushka, the sniper who continues to fight despite the loss of her fiancé, and Ksenia, the seventeen-year-old who journeyed through Russia searching for her abducted younger brother. Above all, Seely argues that understanding Moscow’s new total war is critical because Russia considers itself at war with the West as well as Ukraine, directing some of the tactics used there against us.

Find Bob's book here:

https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/the-new-total-war

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America First: A New Era in Foreign Policy with Jonathan Terra

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 20:59:00 -0000

In this episode, Arthur Snell and Dr. Jonathan Terra delve into the Trump administration's National Security Strategy, exploring its ideological underpinnings, rejection of globalism, and implications for America's role in the world. They discuss the document's views on migration, the Monroe Doctrine, and the contrasting approaches to Europe and Asia, highlighting the administration's isolationist tendencies and the potential consequences for international relations.

Have a look at my substack on this subject: https://arthursnell.substack.com/p/americas-weakness-europes-strength

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Crisis in the Sahel: the end of Western intervention and the collapse of Mali

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:08:00 -0000

Mali, a vast country larger than most of Western Europe added together is a country whose central authority has largely collapsed and whose capital city Bamako is surrounded by radical Islamist militants. There seems to be a pattern here, with Syria and Afghanistan having fallen as Western countries lose interest. As with Syria, the corrupt Malian government had allied itself with Russia, apparently to little effect. I spoke to Tessa Devereaux of SOAS about Mali and the wider Sahel, and what it means for all of us.

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Ukraine Crisis: Will Trump Force Moscow's Deal on Zelenskyy?

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 05:30:00 -0000

I spoke to Quiet Riot regular Alex Andreou as well as Iuliia Osmolowska, former senior Ukrainian diplomat now running the GLOBSEC think tank office in Kyiv about the so-called 28-Point Peace Plan as well as Ukraine and Europe's response.

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From Abu Ghraib to the White House - How Ahmad Al-Shara'a is Ruling Syria

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 12:21:00 -0000

I spoke to Orwa Ajjoub about the remarkable rise of Syria's new ruler, Ahmad Al-Shara'a, from wanted terrorist to White House visitor. His ruthless pragmatism is his signature and we discussed this in some detail, including his relations with the Kurdish SDF, with Turkey, Israel and the regional states, as well as with the US.

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Are we living in an age of competitive authoritarianism?

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 12:23:00 -0000

Sara Dorman of Edinburgh University spoke to me about the rising tide of authoritarianism around the world, and particularly the form of competitive authoritarianism.

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Emily Thornberry on British Foreign Policy

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:25:00 -0000

As Behind the Lines formally announces joining the Cooler Heads podcast family, making us now the little brother to the massive success that is Quiet Riot - the brilliant politics podcast with Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Kenny Campbell, I was delighted to have as my guest none other than Emily Thornberry MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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Classic Behind the Lines: Disinformation in the Trump Era with Nina Jankowicz

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:19:00 -0000

Back in January I spoke to Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert, about what the Trump era would portend. Her views proved remarkably prescient and I thought it would be of further interest now.

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Gaza - where are we now? with Michael Stephens

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 08:02:00 -0000

The Trump deal for Gaza, announced with great pomp and ceremony appeared to lead very quickly to a resumption of hostilities. Has Trump or even his administration got a plan for seeing this through, or was this just a quick deal to get the hostages out? I discussed this with regular guest, Middle East expert Michael Stephens.

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Emma Briant on the Age of Disinformation

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 22:35:00 -0000

Professor Emma Briant is a prolific and important researcher on disinformation and information warfare, some of the most things in our age. She has frequent been asked to give evidence to parliaments about the issue including recent evidence to the UK parliament here https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/138542/pdf/ and to the New Zealand parliament here

She can be found online at https://bsky.app/profile/emmalbriant.bsky.social as well as in all the other relevant places.

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Crossing the Line: an Israeli - Palestinian love story

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:51:00 -0000

Two years on from the devastating events of October 7, 2023, Gaza lies in ruins and numerous hostages are still held by Hamas. The destruction and losses, both in human terms and to the idea of peace as a possibility has been devastating. Whilst there are glimmers of hope in the latest ceasefire negotiations, it still feels too early to try to answer huge questions about the future of Israel and Palestine. So, on this difficult anniversary I have chosen to showcase the work of Mya Guarnieri, an American-Israeli writer and academic who married a Palestinian and wrote an account of her life across the lines in a moving book.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Behind the Lines. Please subscribe to avoid missing any episodes and please subscribe to my substack here: https://arthursnell.substack.com

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Migration - the real facts in an age of alarmism

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 09:21:00 -0000

As countries all over the world, but particularly liberal democracies in the West, turn themselves inside out over the issue of migration and in the process empowering the far right, it was my great pleasure to speak to one of the few people who actually is willing to give calm, clear facts on this subject. Zoe Gardner is rightly a prominent figure in media and public debates on migration, but is almost the only person willing to stand up and be counted with some humane, calm and utterly essential facts on the matter. It was such a privilege to get her on the podcast and I hope you get as much from the conversation as I did.

You can find Zoe's work online in all the usual places including https://bsky.app/profile/zoejardiniere.bsky.social

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@snellarthur.bsky.social. You can sometimes find me on other podcasts - most often Disorder which I am involved with in partnership with RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, the world's oldest think tank.

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Can Ukraine Arm Europe?

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 21:44:23 -0000

Check out Olena's work at https://ukrainesarmsmonitor.substack.com/

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Whatever happened to the Tories?

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 21:10:28 -0000

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The War in Sudan, and role of the UAE

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 16:17:09 -0000

I speak to Jan Pospisil of Coventry University about the war in Sudan, its roots and its current trajectory.

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The Baltic States in the Twentieth Century and their security now

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 11:21:48 -0000

Dan Kaszeta is the author of two books on the Baltic States, as well as being world renowned expert on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. He talked to me about the Baltic States in the twentieth century and the risks to them today from a rampantly aggressive Russia.

You can find Dan's books here: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/profile/dan-kaszeta/

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Understanding Trump's authoritarianism

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 22:20:05 -0000

Professor Christina Pagel is responsible for the excellent website https://www.trumpactiontracker.info/? in addition to her work in public health and public policy. Here, she explains how she is tracking increasing authoritarian and anti-democratic tendencies in the Trump administration.

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How Technology is Transforming Warfare, with Matthew Savill

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 22:06:11 -0000

Joint Episode with Disorder and RUSI,

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The Spy and the Devil

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 07:00:00 -0000

Professor Tim Willasey-Wilsey is author of The Spy and the Devil. We spoke about the remarkable subject of his book, Baron Bill de Ropp and the story of Britain's secret operations against Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

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Ukraine, its occupied territories and its future

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 07:42:20 -0000

with Jade McGlynn

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A Moment of Change? France recognises the State of Palestine

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:20:05 -0000

With Michael Stephens

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Is the Islamic regime in Iran fatally wounded?

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:16:24 -0000

with Charlie Gammell

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Russia's Use of Chemical Weapons and a Victory for Dutch Spies

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 08:27:31 -0000

I spoke to Dutch defence journalist and Russia expert Steven Derix about an important new revelation of Russia's use of chemical weapons in the war in Ukraine, happening as part of direct orders and thousands of times. You can find the original report here

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/07/04/nederlandse-inlichtingendiensten-russen-zetten-in-oekraine-op-grote-schaal-chemische-wapens-in-a4899319

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EPISODE 100: Creeping authoritarianism in the United States

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 09:51:59 -0000

This is the 100th episode of Behind the Lines podcast. Thank you all for listening and for supporting this show. It's nothing without the listeners.

In this episode I discussed the creeping authoritarianism in the United States with Jonathan Terra, a US political scientist based in Central Europe.

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Israel - Iran - ceasefire? Or more chaos

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 11:40:42 -0000

As Lenin apparently never said, ‘There Are Decades Where Nothing Happens and Weeks Where Decades Happen’. We are clearly living through the latter. Arthur and Jason attempt to untangle the latest: from the Iranian attack on the US airbase in Qatar to Trump’s declaration of forever peace to end what he is cleverly calling the 12 Day War.

Arthur and Jason rally in violent unity for Mega Ordering -- whether you advocated for Obama’s ‘Iran Deal’ or supported Trump’s tearing it to shreds, whether you love Benjamin Netanyahu or think he is an evil genius, whether you supported Trump’s Beautiful Bunker Busting against Fordow or see it as an illegal and reckless gamble, all sane centrists must now advocate for Western unity in ending the wars in Gaza and Iran. The power balance of the Middle East has been fundamentally reconfigured. It is uniquely favourable for peace. As Arthur and Jason try to Order the Disorder, they discuss if the Europeans can help get us there and why Bibi appears hellbent on spoiling his own achievements.

Producer: George McDonagh

Subscribe to our Substack - https://natoandtheged.substack.com/

Disorder on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DisorderShow

Show Notes Links:

Iran fires missiles at US base in Qatar, Trump calls for peace: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-weighs-retaliation-against-us-strikes-nuclear-sites-2025-06-23/

Watch How The Iran Israel War Could End - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymBJbsBDfI

Arthur’s excellent substack Time to learn about Iran's separatist movements: https://substack.com/home/post/p-166505834

And our Substack, Were the Iranians forewarned? why are the markets so placid? What happens if Hormuz is closed? https://natoandtheged.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/166535764?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fhome

Alia Brahimi on the questionable legality of the strikes https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/23/iran-war-israel-us-trump-preventive/

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War in the Middle East and its wider impacts

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 21:55:33 -0000

I spoke to Chris Coghlan, MP for Dorking and Horley and former diplomat and soldier about the unfolding crisis in the Middle East, the implications for European security and the wider political ramifications.

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Sten Rynning on the Past and the Future of NATO

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 13:14:06 -0000

At different engagements throughout the month, NATO allies will meet in Brussels and the Hague to discuss Ukraine and defense spending – with Trump’s team putting pressure on the Europeans to up their spending to 5% of GDP. But with the Americans wavering on the alliance as a whole, and these unrealistic spending targets: Can NATO survive?

To find out, Arthur Snell speaks with Sten Rynning, professor and director of the Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark, and author of ‘NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance’.

The duo discuss the origins and evolution of NATO, the significance of Article 5, NATO’s complex relationship with France, and the challenges faced during the Afghanistan mission. Plus: the contentious issue of NATO's eastward expansion in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Alliance's role in maintaining Order in the Post-War era. And as they conclude the discussion, they explore the future of European security architecture, the importance of America's role in NATO, and – to Order the Disorder – the need for a cohesive European defense strategy.

Producer: George McDonagh

Subscribe to our Substack - https://natoandtheged.substack.com/

Disorder on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DisorderShow

Show Notes Links:

Get Sten Rynning’s book, NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance - https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/nato-from-cold-war-to-ukraine-a-history-of-the-world-s-most-powerful-alliance-sten-rynning

Watch The Paradox of the Anti-Semitic Boulder attack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7zAO_5CtfE

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Mike Martin MP on the Strategic Defence Review

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:55:05 -0000

I spoke to Dr Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells and former soldier about the Strategic Defence Review.

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Iran and the US: is a new nuclear deal in sight?

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 21:15:14 -0000

I spoke to Iran expert Charlie Gammell in the light of the recent developments in the Iran nuclear negotiations.

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Starvation in Gaza, is the world finally responding?

Sat, 24 May 2025 08:09:55 -0000

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza descends to unimaginable levels, and the war of words between Benjamin Netanyahu and the West escalates, I spoke to Michael Stephens of RAND Europe and RUSI about the situation.

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Murder in Helmand

Sat, 17 May 2025 12:46:30 -0000

On this episode I discuss recent allegations of war crimes committed by UK Special Forces in Afghanistan. These featured in a recent BBC Panorama episode which can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ykkf/panorama-special-forces-i-saw-war-crimes

My guest on this episode is Professor Matthew Ford, a military expert based at the Swedish Defence University. We covered these allegations, wider questions of counter-insurgency and what it means for modern warfare as the western alliance faces existential challenges.

You can find Matthew Ford here https://bsky.app/profile/warmatters.bsky.social

You can find me here https://arthursnell.substack.com

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Yemen, the UK, the US and the transatlantic alliance

Sat, 10 May 2025 12:52:42 -0000

On this episode I speak to Iona Craig, the veteran Yemen expert and journalist about recent events, including the UK's decision to join the US in carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis.

Iona mentioned an earlier episode of this podcast with Laura Cretney, which is worth listening to if you are interested in Yemen. You can find it here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/behind-the-lines-with-arthur-snell/id1704344656?i=1000643933101

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Ukraine and America: the great betrayal

Mon, 05 May 2025 17:32:37 -0000

I spoke to Romeo Kokriatski, presenter of the Ukraine without the Hype podcast about recent events in his country, including the Trump betrayal.

We mentioned Operation Sky Shield, a plan which you can read about here.

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The Geopolitics of Climate: how Tuvalu is thinking about possible extinction

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 07:48:10 -0000

What does the climate crisis mean for sovereignty in a world where certain countries face existential risk? I spoke to Taukiei Kitara, a native of Tuvalu, about the case of low-lying Pacific Islands, including his native Tuvalu.

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RUSI/Disorder Partnership: Ransomware in our Age of Disorder

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:07:54 -0000

Read RUSI piece The Rise of Ransomware as a National Security Threat: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/organised-cybercrime-rise-ransomware-national-security-threat

Read RUSI piece Beyond the Bottom Line: The Societal Impact of Ransomware: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/beyond-bottom-line-societal-impact-ransomware

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The Crisis in The Atlantic Alliance ep 2

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 11:46:24 -0000

The impact on Central and Eastern Europe, with Jonathan Terra

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The Crisis in the Atlantic Alliance

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:27:28 -0000

The Transatlantic Alliance is coming to an end. I discuss this with academic and journalist Jonathan Terra.

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Blood, toil, tears, and sweat: the plight of migrant labourers in the Gulf

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 23:28:32 -0000

Every year, tens of thousands of labourers in the wealth countries of the Gulf, most of them migrants from South Asia, die in unsafe working conditions on construction sites. As the GCC states pour enormous resources into developing their infrastructure, little attention is paid to the plight of the people doing the actual building work. I spoke to James Lynch of FairSquare, a UK-based non-profit that researches and advocates for the rights of labourers in the Gulf.

https://fairsq.org/

Assistant Producer: Japji Oberoi

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Myanmar: the Unfolding Civil War

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:47:40 -0000

For the past 4 years, Myanmar has experienced an ever more serious civil war, which now threatens the ruling military junta in Naypyitaw. I spoke to Ronan Lee about this little-reported conflict.

You can find Ronan's work here: https://ronanlee.com/

And my writing here: arthursnell.substack.com

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What does the collapsing global order mean for the world beyond the West?

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:55:37 -0000

Samir Puri of Chatham House is the author of Westlessness, a book about the post-Western world. The book came out last year but the geopolitical setting that he examines is one that is rapidly emerging in front of our eyes, as the chaotic actions of the Trump presidency bring an end to the Western Liberal Order.

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How the extremism of our age is being fed by disinformation

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:15:24 -0000

The role of disinformation in our current world, whether feeding the false allegations put out by Trump, the lies spread online by Elon Musk, or the over-reliance on social media for news coverage, is feeding the rise of extremism and dysfunction in democratic systems, to the detriment of liberal and progressive political movements. To help us understand this better, I was delighted to be joined by Amil Khan, CEO of Valent Technologies and a disinformation expert.

Many thanks to Assistant Producer Japji Oberoi

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The latest from Kyiv: what does John Sweeney make of what's being going on?

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 22:46:58 -0000

I spoke to the man in the lucky orange hat, everyone's favourite war correspondent John Sweeney about the latest developments from Kyiv in this week of extraordinary events relating to Ukraine. Find John's work at x.com/johnsweeneyroar

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THIS ONE'S A REAL EMERGENCY EPISODE: THE END OF THE WESTERN ALLIANCE

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 20:45:06 -0000

The actual end of the Western Alliance, the departure of the United States from European Security and the need for a new Euro-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (EATO) is the subject of this fascinating and urgent discussion with Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells, member of the defence select committee and military expert.

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UKRAINE, John Sweeney and a betrayal foretold

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:57:23 -0000

In November 2023, I spoke to John Sweeney, veteran war correspondent, about the pressures on Ukraine as the world's attention turned towards the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and Israel's assault on Gaza. What he said at the time now sounds both poignant and prescient in the light of the unfolding betrayal of Ukraine by Donald Trump, something which was both predictable and widely predicted.

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Nomad Century - is climate change going to transform global migration?

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 12:38:25 -0000

Gaia Vince is a writer, journalist and fascinating thinker on issues relating to the crossover between humanity and the planet we inhabit. Her book Nomad Century looks at how climate change affects the liveability of large areas of the planet and the likely impact that will have.

You can find her work here https://wanderinggaia.com/ and on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/wanderinggaia.bsky.social

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Could we change the weather?

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:38:27 -0000

The idea that people can change weather has a long history - both as part of mythology and as part of modern day conspiracy theory. But the science of geoengineering is one that some scientists think could be an important opportunity to give the world space to make progress on reducing CO2 emissions. But geoengineering, including stratospheric aerosol injection, remains very controversial and little understood. Alistair Duffey is a scientist at University College London and one of a small number of researchers looking into solar geoengineering. He spoke about his work, the risks and potentialities that go with it, and whether it might be something we can expect in the near future.

Alistair Duffey mentions a novel about this subject, Termination Shock.

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The Gulf countries and a post-oil future?

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 13:47:46 -0000

How would the Gulf countries transition to a post oil economy? Could they do so and what happens if they don't? I spoke to Dr David Roberts, author of Security Politics in the Gulf Monarchies about this complex future.

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Disinformation in the Trump 2.0 era with Nina Jankowicz

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:11:04 -0000

This is a co-host with the Disorder Podcast. You can find their details here: https://tr.ee/ksicr-3Wty

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Justice in Syria: on the trail of Assad's henchmen

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 11:52:34 -0000

Since 2011, war crimes investigator Bill Wiley has been on the trail of the criminal elements of the Assad regime who have carried out extraordinary amounts of killings, torture and other crimes. His organisation https://cijaonline.org/ has been collecting evidence and documenting these crimes since the start of the civil war. Now that Assad's regime has fallen, it was a good opportunity to understand the current status and likely trajectory of attempts to bring justice to Syrians.

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France in the Age of Populism

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:19:54 -0000

How does a society like France grapple with the challenge of populist politics? I spoke to Thom Reilly, former British Ambassador to Morocco who was a candidate in the European parliamentary elections for Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance political party.

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BONUS EPISODE - CRISIS IN GEORGIA

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 10:06:17 -0000

Marika Mariashvili returns for a special bonus episode as Georgia faces a constitutional crisis - the existing president refusing to cede power after a stolen election, and a new puppet in place taking his order from Moscow.

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Charles Gammell on Iran post-Assad

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 11:23:49 -0000

What does the fall of Assad mean for the mad Mullahs running Iran? I spoke to Charles Gammell.

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Christmassy Episode: Miguel Delaney on the geopolitics of football

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 09:55:19 -0000

Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer at the Independent is the author of states of play, a book about the geopolitics of football. You can find him on Bluesky and Twitter.

migueldelaney

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Inside HTS: what does Al-Jolani want and how will they rule?

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:16:26 -0000

There are literally a tiny number of people in this world who can speak with authority and insight on Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham - or HTS - the militant group that swept into Damascus a week ago. One of those people is Orwa Ajjoub, a Sweden-based academic of Syrian origin who has been studying this group for several years and who has direct contacts inside the group.

I feel incredibly privileged to have had an extensive conversation with Orwa about HTS's origins, their evolving relationship with jihadism, their intentions and ambitions now in power and whether Al-Jolani is genuinely no longer part of a terrorist network. I found the whole discussion absolutely fascinating and I hope that you do too.

You can follow Orwa's work here: https://x.com/OAjjoub and here https://www.mei.edu/profile/orwa-ajjoub and here https://bsky.app/profile/orwaajjoub.bsky.social

If you feel able, please support the work of this podcast by becoming a paid subscriber of my substack arthursnell.substack.com

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The history of Syria, from the Pharaohs to the Pharaonic

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 22:18:05 -0000

I spoke to the brilliant historian James Barr about the history of Syria from the Pharaohs to the present day. You can find James on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/jamesbarr.bsky.social and his books in all the good book places.

Please check out my susbtack and - if you feel like supporting this podcast and are able to - take out a paid subscription which is enormously appreciated. https://arthursnell.substack.com

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Georgia: fighting to be European

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 03:21:12 -0000

With bewildering events unfolding all over the place, I wanted to give some coverage to the Republic of Georgia, where the pro-Western political movement is responding to a rigged election and the decision of the illegitimate Moscow-aligned 'Georgian Dream' to block negotiations to join the EU, in spite of the fervent wish of most Georgians to join the bloc. Huge demonstrations have broken out all over the country, in spite of intimidation and violence from police and security forces, some of whom may be Russian imports.

I was privileged to be able to speak to Marika Mariashvili, a politician and academic who has been active at the heart of the democracy movement in the country. You can (and should!) follow Marika on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/marikamikiashvili.bsky.social or Twitter https://x.com/Mikiashvili_M. This is genuinely a transitional moment in this country's story.

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EMERGENCY EPISODE: The Fall of Aleppo

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 09:41:07 -0000

The extraordinary turn of events in Syria in recent days saw the city of Aleppo, once Syria's largest and a key part of the earlier story of Syria's revolution, fall to Syria's rebels, with the soldiers of the Assad regime in chaotic retreat. I spoke to Thomas van Linge, one of the few journalist who has been covering the story, about what has happened and the reasons why.

You can support Thomas's work here https://ko-fi.com/thomasvlinge and he is active on Twitter and Bluesky.

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Out of the shadows: MI6 Russia expert Christopher Steele on Trump and the new world order

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:56:23 -0000

Christopher Steele needs almost no introduction. But if you are interested in learning more about him you can buy his new book, Unredacted, here https://www.amazon.com/Unredacted-Russia-Trump-Fight-Democracy/dp/0063373432/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VZCQ114PBRZX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qv6Zf5VhmrCD7zu54PyFEawg2dYzrTOT0sYgpY4o3jI.poSf3-HXXCfxlQwgK_vy6Xubh-BXVRLmOA0iPDWXVhc&dib_tag=se&keywords=unredacted+christopher+steele&qid=1732891790&sprefix=unredac%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-1

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What's going on in Iran

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 12:36:32 -0000

Charlie Gammell is a historian and Iran expert. His latest article on Iran can be found here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-winds-of-change-are-blowing-in-iran/

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The age of bilateralism

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 12:55:34 -0000

Dr Jonathan Terra is an American academic and analyst who has been based in Prague for 30+ years. We spoke about the impact of a Trump presidency on Eastern Europe and the wider geopolitical context.

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The New World Order

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 15:25:25 -0000

I spoke to Mike Martin, military expert, writer, former soldier and now Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells about the new world (dis)order that lies before us under a Trump presidency.

Mike can be found here: https://x.com/ThreshedThought and here https://mike-martin.co.uk/ and his book How to Fight a War is available in all the usual places.

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Conspiracies and campaigns - Jason Pack on the 2024 election

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 11:27:18 -0000

In this episode I spoke to Jason Pack of the excellent Disorder podcast (https://x.com/DisorderShow) about conspiracy theories and how they are affecting the 2024 US presidential election. We also spoke about the state of the race which remains on a knife edge.

You’ll be interested to look at Jason’s article in The New European on conspiracy theories here https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/a-lizard-persons-guide-to-us-election-conspiracy-theories/

and also an article Jason mentioned by Jonathan Winer on how Trump’s people might try a coup in this election https://washingtonspectator.org/endgame-the-risk-of-a-trump-coup-and-how-to-prevent-it/

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Russia's dirty money: the Nordic connection

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 08:35:21 -0000

I spoke to the Swedish journalist Axel Gordh Humlesjö about his work investigating Russian dirty money in Sweden, especially in relation to Swedbank, Sweden's largest bank, whose CEO has been imprisoned on money-laundering charges.

https://x.com/axelhumlesjo?lang=en

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Digital war - from Ukraine, to the Sahel

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 08:00:37 -0000

In the chaotic world we inhabit, the smartphone has become a key element of warfare, even in societies where we might imagine that connectivity is limited by reduced technological sophistication. I was privileged to be able to discuss this rapidly evolving landscape with three brilliant scholars:

Professor Mirjam de Bruijn (https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/mirjam-de-bruijn#tab-1)Dr Jethro Norman (https://www.diis.dk/en/experts/jethro-norman)Professor Matthew Ford (https://www.fhs.se/sc/profile-page.html?identity=400.78d9ed61181920a3a625796c

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SPECIAL UKRAINE EPISODE #VPDFO 1

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 10:29:31 -0000

A special episode in support of the Vladimir Putin Do F*ck Off - #VPDFO - festival. This event, held in Kyiv earlier in October brought together soldiers, journalists, activists and politicians with the primary purpose of raising funds for a group of charities doing essential work on the ground in Ukraine. Go to VDPFO.org to find more details of the charities involved and please donate using the link below:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ukraine-can-win-vpdfo-2024

This is a straightforward way to get funds to some incredibly valuable organisations. Everything you donate goes direct to the charities.

The festival ran for two days and there were several sessions. This episode contains highlights of the first day and you'll get to hear from day two in a subsequent episode.

During the recording you'll hear from Mariia Chepa, Vlad Demchenko, Paul Conroy, Caolan Robertson, Paul Niland, Liudmyla Buimister and Dima Kovalchuk . The event was of course moderated by John Sweeney.

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The Red Emperor

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 18:06:01 -0000

Veteran China correspondent Michael Sheridan has published a biography of Xi Jinping, China's leader, entitled The Red Emperor, published by Headline. You can find details of his book here:

https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/michael-sheridan-2/the-red-emperor/9781035413478/

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Iran - where are they headed?

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 09:40:21 -0000

Charlie Gammell is an Iran expert, former British diplomat and historian. I spoke to him about the latest developments with Iran and the war now sweeping across the Middle East.

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The Bangladesh Spring with David Bergman

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 22:15:06 -0000

In July this year, the well entrenched autocratic regime that ruled Bangladesh, a country of nearly 200 million people, was toppled entirely unexpectedly by a student-led democracy movement, ushering in an interim government led by a Nobel prize-winning peace and development activist. How the Bangladesh Spring happened and whether it is likely to succeed is the subject of this episode. I spoke to Dhaka-based expert David Bergman about the extraordinary events and their political background. Bergman also covers the surprising role played by supporters of Bangladesh's ruling party in British politics.

https://www.channel4.com/news/tulip-siddiq-uk-wing-of-bangladeshs-ruling-party-appear-to-be-campaigning-for-labour-candidate

You can find David's work here: thedavidbergman

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What's the point of the UN?

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 14:21:28 -0000

With the UN General Assembly taking place in New York I spoke to the International Crisis Group's UN Director Richard Gowan about the the organisation, its current challenges and where it might be headed.

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EMERGENCY EPISODE: EXPLOSIVE CRISIS IN LEBANON

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:22:29 -0000

I spoke to Charlie Gammell, author, former diplomat and Iran expert on the unfolding crisis in Lebanon after the explosions of Hizbullah communications equipment.

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Rogue Agent - the life of ROBERT BRUCE LOCKHART

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 16:38:02 -0000

I spoke to Professor James Crossland about the extraordinary life of diplomat, secret agent and journalist Robert Bruce Lockhart.

You can find James's book on the subject here: https://eandtbooks.com/books/rogue-agent/

James is on Twitter @drjcrossland

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MBS - Saudi Arabia's ruthless ruler

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 15:21:40 -0000

Veteran foreign correspondent Jonathan Rugman is the author of The Killing in the Consulate about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More recently he has produced a fascinating two-part documentary about MBS and his rise to power. You can find it on BBC Iplayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001zprq/the-kingdom-the-worlds-most-powerful-prince-series-1-1-game-of-thrones and you can find Jonathan's enlightening article about MBS here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz8934wrro

Jonathan is on Twitter at https://x.com/jrug

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Westlessness with Samir Puri

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 18:05:11 -0000

Have we entered a post-Western world? What does that mean and how does it look from the other side of the world? Singapore based academic and former British diplomat has published a new book, Westlessness about this idea and I spoke to him for a wide-ranging discussion on the decline of the west, the rise of Asia and the potential implications.

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The Battle for Soul of Islam

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:23:43 -0000

James Dorsey is a writer and journalist and author of the new book The Battle for

the Soul of Islam - Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century, published by Macmillan.

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The Caucasus: Europe's troubled border

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 15:58:35 -0000

In September last year, an established community in a European country of hundreds of thousands of people was removed in its entirety after a devastating military campaign. This was not Ukraine, but the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has now ceased to exist. To understand this and the dynamics of a little understood region including the complex interplay between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, all under the watchful and interfering Russian eye, it was a great pleasure to speak to Neil Hauer, a Canadian journalist based in the region for several years.

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Back to Ukraine - Away from summitry, what is happening on the ground?

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 14:20:46 -0000

Away from NATO's glitzy summit 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC, the war in Ukraine drags on. Ian Bond, a former British ambassador and now Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank spoke to me about his recent visit to Ukraine and Moldova and what it portends for the war in Ukraine and wider European security.

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The British Elections - an Outsider's perspective with Annette Dittert

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 07:18:56 -0000

In this episode I speak to Annette Dittert, London correspondent of German TV channel ARD since 2008. She has lived here since 2008, but she remains someone who can look dispassionately at our politics, culture and institutions.

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What have they go to show for fourteen years of power? With Nick Cohen

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 08:00:37 -0000

I spoke to Nick Cohen, veteran political journalist and author of the Writing from London substack https://nickcohen.substack.com/ about the record of the past 14 years of Conservative government and what we might expect from a Labour one.

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EMERGENCY EPISODE: Jason Pack on Biden's debate disaster

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 19:41:10 -0000

I spoke to Jason Pack about the fallout from President Joseph Biden's poor debate performance on 27 June. Jason has written about this in his substack and also recorded his own podcast on the subject, both available here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-146086715?source=queue

We covered: does the poor debate even matter? What is the process (if one exists) for replacing Biden as the presidential nominee? Who are the likely candidates? What is at stake if Biden doesn't stand down and Trump wins?

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France's election with Peter Ricketts

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:26:22 -0000

President Macron did something truly unexpected when he called a snap election in the aftermath of the European parliamentary elections. It now looks very likely that France's next legislature will contain a plurality of hard right deputies from Marine Le Pen's National Rally. I spoke to Lord Peter Ricketts, former British Ambassador to France about this unexpected election and what it portends.

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The Meg-election: Modi gets a shock from India's voters

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:04:56 -0000

I was delighted to speak to Akanksha Narain, Indian political analyst and consultant about the unexpected election results in India where Modi's BJP party fell far short of their target of 400 seats in the 542-seat lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha).

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The 'Other' Election: Europe Goes to the Polls

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:00:39 -0000

I spoke to Christina Keßler of the Centre for European Reform (CER) about the current EU elections and the possibility of Europe taking a turn to the right.

You can find Christina's work at the CER here: https://www.cer.eu/personnel/christina-kessler

Separately, I appeared on the new podcast Quiet Riot. Find the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6RGol2iYEkToCCrYjFUwkm?si=4FDTU1NaTgOaRfGf_Y2Qog

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America's political crisis - the historic, structural and ideological roots

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 15:27:32 -0000

With Trump's criminal conviction, the chaos and division of American politics seems set to increase. But this is about much more than what happened in a New York courtroom, with roots in American history, its political structures and the rise of certain ideological movements. I spoke to American political scientist Jonathan Terra about the backdrop to the current events.

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Disinformation and UK politics: will it effect the 2024 election?

Sat, 25 May 2024 21:22:32 -0000

I spoke to disinformation expert Amil Khan about the current state of disinformation in global and UK politics and the risks it could pose to the 2024 UK general election. Amil is Director of Valent projects. His work has been covered in a range of media outlets including Disinformation is on the rise. How does it work?economist.com, and the BBC How some AI developers are combatting malicious bots | BBC Newsyoutu.be.

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Georgia: on the frontlines of the global fight between freedom and authoritarianism

Sun, 19 May 2024 14:49:52 -0000

I had the chance to speak to Marika Mikiashvili of the Droa liberal internationalist party in Georgia about the background to the current protests in her country, Russia's history of interference and military intervention and the importance of Georgia's struggle to the wider question of democracy in Europe.

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A critical friend: Helene von Bismarck on Britain and the World

Thu, 09 May 2024 15:47:22 -0000

It was my huge pleasure to speak to German historian of Britain Helene von Bismarck. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky and also on her website https://www.helenevonbismarck.com/

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What might a Labour government try to do in its relations with the EU?

Fri, 03 May 2024 14:28:13 -0000

Following on from the episode on 22 April, the second part of my conversation with Sydney Nash on the UK's relations with Europe.

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Kharkiv and Ukraine's will to survive with Jade McGlynn

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 17:24:59 -0000

At a time when the unbreakable city of Kharkiv faces untold destruction and sustained bombardment by Russian forces it was a privilege to speak to Dr Jade McGlynn, a scholar of Ukraine and Russia, who is based there. We discussed the situation in Kharkiv and across the wider front and also the vital work she is involved with to raise funding for new technologies to support Ukraine's defence. You can find more details of it here https://uscc.org.ua/en/

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Where is the EU going and what does that mean for the UK?

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:49:36 -0000

As ever, British debates about the EU tend to be debates about Britain. We might hope to rejoin, or at least regain a better-functioning trading relationship with the organisation, but we don't do enough thinking about where the EU is headed in its own development. So I spoke to Europe expert Sydney Nash about this over two episodes. The first of these focuses on the EU's current situation.

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Iran, Israel and the risks of a regional war

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 06:34:14 -0000

Iran and Israel have been on the brink of open conflict, in the light of Iran's barrage of drone and missile strikes on Israel, which in turn followed Israel's strike on Iran's consulate in Damascus. I spoke to Charlie Gammell, Iran expert, historian and former diplomat, about the crisis and what we might learn from it.

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Politics and Money: a Dysfunctional Relationship, with Seth Thevoz

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:10:56 -0000

How do British political parties get funded? What does that money buy? With only a few weeks to go until the local elections and in a year of a general election I spoke to Seth Thevoz, political and investigative journalist, about how parties are funded.

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The tragedy of Haiti and what we can learn from it

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 22:47:34 -0000

Professor Amalendu Misra of the University of Lancaster is an expert in Latin America and the Caribbean, notably Haiti. I spoke to him about the current crisis there and what it tells us about the wider region.

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World War Three? What might it look like?

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 23:36:02 -0000

Mike Martin (who is on Twitter and elsewhere @threshedthought) is one of the most insightful thinkers on conflict and geopolitics active today. He served in the army in Afghanistan with some distinction and subsequently has worked as an academic and adviser on conflict and strategy. He is now running for parliament as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Tunbridge Wells. When we say that parliament needs more people who have actually done things with their lives and fewer professional politicians, it's hard to imagine a better candidate than Mike.

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Is Democracy for Sale? with Peter Geoghegan

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 11:29:12 -0000

Is Democracy for Sale? The degree to which dark money, powerful interests and political power intersects in this country is startling and depressing. One of the most dogged chroniclers of this phenomenon is the investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan whose book, published articles and substack are all essential reading for people that take an interest in this question.

I spoke to Peter about his work and what it means for our politics. You can find Peter's substack here https://democracyforsale.substack.com/ and he is on Twitter here https://twitter.com/PeterKGeoghegan

I'm, as always, at https://twitter.com/SnellArthur and https://arthursnell.substack.com/ as well as on BlueSky for those that celebrate.

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REJOINIACS with Jacob Öberg

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 11:00:51 -0000

Returning to our occasional episodes on Britain's relationships with Europe and the EU, I spoke to EU law professor Jacob Öberg about how Britain could evolve its relationship with the EU in future, the realistic possibilities of joining a customs union, the single market and the EU itself, and the need for future governments to start talking honestly to the British people about the realities of our relations with Europe.

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Ukraine, Russia and the Crisis in Western Militaries

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:11:12 -0000

Frank Ledwidge is a War Studies academic, a former serviceman and an expert on military matters. He made several visits to Ukraine since the start of the current conflict and offers an incisive, clear-eyed account of the challenges faced there, the capacity of the Russian military to learn and the risks the West has brought on itself through chronic underinvestment in its military.

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Chemical Weapons, Poisons and Assassinations, with Dan Kaszeta

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 14:52:02 -0000

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What Does Iran Want?

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 14:41:40 -0000

At the heart of much of the discussion of the multiple crises facing the Middle East is Iran, whose proxies are active across the region. But what is it that Iran itself wants? What is it trying to achieve and and what considerations does it bring to these questions?

To try to answer these complicated questions I was fortunate to be joined by Charlie Gammell, historian, Iran expert and former UK diplomat, to talk through Iran's recent history, it's current preoccupations and its possible futures.

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How to Solve a Problem Like the Houthis

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:25:06 -0000

Repeated airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen do not appear to have dampened their willingness or their ability to continue strikes against shipping. What are the appropriate responses to this determined and dangerous group? To get a better understanding of their role in Yemen, the wider political context and the regional factors in play, I spoke to Laura Cretney, scholar, researcher and social entrepreneur based in the region.

You can find Laura on Instagram:Laura.Cretney and on Twitter @LauraCretney1

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Chainsaw Politics: Argentina's Anarchic President

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 17:01:12 -0000

Argentina's 'anarcho capitalist' president Javier Milei haș a series of policies that are barely believable. I spoke to Leiza Brumat about the political and economic background to his election, his political platform and whether he is likely to get it adopted.

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YEMEN BONUS EPISODE: In conversation with Jason Pack

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:29:13 -0000

BONUS EPISODE

In conversation with Jason Pack of the Disorder Podcast about Yemen. This is a joint episode with Disorder, so if you are already listening to that show, you won't find too much different between these two.

There are some links that were referenced during the show.

https://time.com/6555947/houthi-airstrike-history/

https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/12/houthis-red-sea-british-royal-navy-is-back/

And my substack articles on Yemen can be found here https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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S2Ep2: EMERGENCY EP: Yemen's Houthis with Hannah Porter - What do they want and why do they want it?

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 22:04:30 -0000

EMERGENCY EPISODE

On 11 January US and UK airforces struck targets in Yemen associated with the Huthi militia which has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, purportedly in solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians.

To try to understand the bewildering background to these worrying events I was privileged to be joined by Hannah Porter, Senior Research Officer for Yemen at ARK Group and a particular expert on Yemens Huthis.

Hannah can be followed on Twitter @Hannaheporter

You can find me in the usual places, including a recent Substack piece I wrote about Yemen's Huthis here: https://arthursnell.substack.com/p/what-do-the-houthis-want

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Ukraine's Tough Year with Luke Harding

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 15:17:42 -0000

After a tough year in 2023 and a lack of major progress in regaining territory from the Russians, this year promises to be another challenging one for Ukraine. Looming over all of what Ukraine does is the question of Western support. Will the USA be able to overcome its political turmoil and continue to provide the Ukrainians with the weapons and aid they desperately need? Will Europe be able to step up its weapons production? And perhaps the biggest question of all: will Donald Trump return to the presidency, thereby ending American support to Ukraine?

Luke Harding, Guardian foreign correspondent and author of the book Invasion, has spent most of 2023 in Ukraine, reporting from the frontlines of that conflict. He joined me to discuss the war so far and the war to come.

Thank you for listening to this podcast. Please check out my substack Not All Doom https://arthursnell.substack.com/ and don't forget to give us a positive review if you have enjoyed this episode.

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Holiday Special Ep 20: Shane O'Mara on the science of memory and what that tells us about nationalism

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 23:34:50 -0000

With all the pressure of the Christmas season I held off from putting out a 'geopolitical review of the year' or something like that: there's a lot going on and people need some space. Instead, I wanted to finish the year with an episode that is in some ways completely different, but also relevant to the issues we have covered in the podcast earlier. Shane O'Mara is a professor of experimental brain psychology at Trinity College, Dublin and the author of numerous books and studies. He also has a brilliant Substack called Brain Pizza which I can highly recommend.

Recently, Shane published a book called Talking Heads which explains the unexpected link between human conversation, which of course depends on human memory, and nations. At a time when nationalism in its most pernicious and dangerous form is an increasing phenomenon, understanding that it is a function of human memory, not some inherent feature of Englishness, Germanness, Russianess or whatever, feels like an important insight and worth talking about.

Thank you all for listening to this and other episodes of the podcast. I hope you have enjoyed it and hope that you will continue to listen into 2024.

You can follow me https://twitter.com/SnellArthur also more often on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/snellarthur.bsky.social. I write at https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Ep 19 The Israel Palestine conflict with James Barr, part II - after the Holocaust

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:19:41 -0000

As the Israeli assault on Gaza, immediately preceded by the Hamas-led massacre in Southern Israel, continues, we return to the history of this conflict. This is the second part of my extended interview with the historian James Barr, author of several books on the history of the Middle East including A Line in the Sand and Lords of the Desert, some of the best regarded guides to the region, particularly in the early years of the twentieth century. If you have not yet heard the preceding episode 18, where James starts this story, I recommend that you listen to that first.

In this episode we start at the aftermath of World War II and the horrific events of the Holocaust, as Jews are trying to emigrate to what will become the State of Israel and the British colonial authorities are trying to stop them.

You can follow James via his website https://www.historythatmatters.org/ as well as on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/jamesbarr.bsky.social

I am on Twitter @snellarthur, Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/snellarthur.bsky.social and arthursnell.substack.com

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Also, don't forget to check out the Disorder Podcast https://www.goalhangerpodcasts.com/disorder

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Ep 18 James Barr on the History of the Israel Palestine dispute

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 07:00:01 -0000

The crisis in Israel - Palestine continues, currently unfolding with the Israeli attack on Gaza, immediately preceded by the Hamas-led massacre in Southern Israel. Unpicking the history and origins of these events remains a particularly difficult task, with history used and abused by people with points to prove on all sides. For that reason I was particularly happy to be able to conduct an extended interview with the historian James Barr, whose books on the history of the Middle East, including A Line in the Sand and Lords of the Desert are some of the best regarded guides to the region, particularly in the early years of the twentieth century.

With James, in this first episode, we got to the bottom of famous moments in the Levant region in the early twentieth century, including the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Balfour Declaration, as well as the underlying colonial tensions, notably between Britain and France that drove much of these events. In a subsequent episode we will talk about Jewish militancy in the mid-twentieth century, the events of 1948 including the Nakba and the establishment of the State of Israel.

You can follow James via his website https://www.historythatmatters.org/ as well as on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/jamesbarr.bsky.social

I am on Twitter @snellarthur, Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/snellarthur.bsky.social and arthursnell.substack.com

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast why not subscribe, and give us a positive review.

Also, please check out the podcast Disorder, featuring Jason Pack and Alex Hall Hall

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Ep 17 Can Parliament Take Back Control?

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:22:28 -0000

The sense that our politics isn’t working might be familiar to listeners of this podcast. If you heard last week’s episode you’ll know that I had James O’Brien discussing his book “How they Broke Britain”, which gets to the heart of these questions. But one area that James and I didn’t touch on is our parliament. Britain’s parliament, sometimes self-importantly calling itself the Mother of Parliaments, isn’t working properly. Its members aren’t scrutinising legislation properly, its regulations and procedures are largely broken and it contributes to a wider sense of cynicism around our politics. Two seasoned parliamentarians, Nick Harvey and Paul Tyler, have focused in on the way parliament currently works and how it should work and have produced a short, easily readable book which contains a set of clear proposals, around elections, parliamentary procedure, reform of the upper house and standards in public life. Although it’s just about parliament, this book could be titled How to Fix Britain, because if its recommendations where followed, our national life would be improved immeasurably. It’s actually called Can Parliament Take Back Control ? And comes with strong endorsements from the Institute for Government, the Constitution Unit at University College London and the Former Clerk of the House of Commons, Lord Lisvane.

I was lucky to be able to speak to Paul and Nick and draw on their combined several decades of political experience to hear their recommendations for how to fix our politics. Here they are

You can find Paul and Nick on Twitter and in the usual places. I am @snellarthur on most social media and my Substack is https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Ep 16: James O'Brien on How they Broke Britain

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 13:43:41 -0000

James O'Brien is often described as the voice of liberal England. With this regular radio slot on LBC and his huge online following, he is a reminder that popular doesn’t have to be populism. His patient, forensic but totally accessible unpicking of cynical political dishonsesty, particularly of the Brexist variety, has been a beacon of sanity for literally millions of people - at a time when so many other media outlets, including the BBC, no longer seem prepared to call out deliberately misleading public messaging. O’Brien sometimes feels like a lone voice of reason and that points to a profound change in our society. Politicians have always tried to avoid answering difficult questions and portray their own actions as virtuous and ingenious, but the kind of profound dishonesty characterised by Boris Johnson coupled with the refusal to take responsibility for your own failings, perhaps best epitomised by Liz Truss, feels like a newer phenomenon. This plays into a wider prospect, of a country that now feels broken, its media, its politics and perhaps most importantly its public services, all deeply dysfunctional. The roots and causes of that malaise are the subject of James OBrien’s new book, How they Broke Britain. In the excellent introduction, O’Brien talks of the boiling frog metaphor and succinctly explains the premise of his book: it is “the story of slowly boiled water from which an entire country failed to escape”.

Like anyone who has been profoundly distressed by that boiling water, I have been a big admirer of O’Brien’s work, both on LBC and on Twitter. This was particularly the case as his book has a similar title to my own, How Britain Broke the World. I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest they are companion volumes, but I was to some extent attempting in my work to look at some of the similar effects of Britain’s internal politics on the wider world. So it was a huge pleasure and privilege to have James on the podcast. He is, as you’d expect for a consummate radio presenter, an excellent guest and I really hope you get as much from listening to him as I did from interviewing him.

Thanks for listening and please subscribe to this show if you haven’t already. You can follow my work at https://arthursnell.substack.com/ as well as on Twitter and Bluesky.

Finally, a link to the Disorder Podcast which I mentioned at the top of the show: https://www.goalhangerpodcasts.com/disorder

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Ep 15: Ukraine - Europe's Forgotten War?

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 18:20:02 -0000

After months of fierce fighting, mostly in the Donbas region, Ukraine's attempt to push through Russia occupation zone to reach the Sea of Azov appears to have failed. Russia's incredibly dense minefields, its increasingly sophisticated use of drones, and its willingness to weather extraordinary casualties have all contributed to a lack of Ukrainian progress. But the West's failure to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs, whether artillery, tanks or fighter jets, have all contributed to these setbacks. Now, as winter sets in, Ukrainians are braced for intense Russian aerial bombardment. Alongside this grim prospect, western attention is now more focused on events in Israel and Palestine. According to President Zelensky, this has resulted in fewer artillery shells reaching Ukraine. Underlying all of this is the fact that the US is no longer continuing supplying Ukraine - as a result of congressional gridlock and a Republican Party that appears closer to Moscow than to Kyiv.

Who better to discuss these difficulties with than the man in the lucky orange hat, John Sweeney - joining me from Kyiv. John can be found on Twitter @johnsweeneyroar and also has a very worthwhile Patreon https://www.patreon.com/JohnSweeneyRoar/posts

As ever, you can find me on https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Ep 14: The Gardener of Laskhar Gah - Britain's Afghan Betrayal

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:44:06 -0000

When I worked at the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province, I was largely based at the Forward Operating Base in Lashkar Gah - the main city of Helmand. There, amid the dust and noise of an active military campaign, there was a small, beautifully tended garden inside the base. I’m going to be honest and say that I was too preoccupied with my own job ever to ask myself who was responsible for its upkeep- even as I enjoyed that little slice of tranquility and beauty almost every day.

Had I stopped to find out, I would have learned that the gardener was Shaista Gul, a local Afghan citizen whose hard work created a beautiful garden in the most unlikely place. By talking on this job, Shaista, and the thousands of Afghans, many of them interpreters, that served Britain during its involvement in the NATO mission, became enemies of the Taliban, facing constant threats, and worse, including murder.

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, some lucky Afghans were able to escape on evacuation flights from Kabul. But most were left behind and thousands made their way to Pakistan, including many that had been assured of resettlement in the UK. This month, the government of Pakistan has decided to expel all undocumented Afghans in the country believed to be around 1.5 million people. Of these, around 2,000 have been accepted as eligible to come to Britain in recognition of their past service with our forces. But thanks to a cost-saving policy made by Rishi Sunak last year, these people were kept in Pakistan in preference to bringing them to the UK where the migration system is under acute strain. Now these people, who risked their lives serving our country, find themselves threatened with being returned to Afghanistan by the Pakistani government.

The story of Britain’s treatment of those Afghans that worked with us during our involvement in that country is the subject of Larisa Brown’s book, the Gardener of Lashkar Gah. Larisa is a defence correspondent, currently with The Times and previously working for the Daily Mail. She joined me, just as Pakistan was preparing to start its campaign of expulsions, to talk about Shaista Gul and the wider history of Britain’s betrayal of its Afghan friends.

You can find Larisa’s book here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/gardener-of-lashkar-gah-9781399411028/

I am on https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Behind the Lines Episode 13: The UK's Long March back to Europe?

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 18:25:29 -0000

This week we’re covering arguably the most important question in British foreign policy: our relationship with Europe and, specifically - what the circumstances and process might be for Britain to rejoin the EU.

Nobody thinks this is an easy issue, or something that can be achieved quickly. But it’s something that everyone with any sense of a European identity must see as a fundamental priority that Britain needs to get started with. And it’s something that almost no mainstream national politician wants to talk about.

How would the Long March back into the EU be achieved?
What would be the steps, the obstacles, the challenges?

These are all questions that I want to examine in a series of episodes of Behind the Lines - Rejoiniacs

For The first of these, who better to speak to than the leader of the European Movement itself, Dr Mike Galsworthy - a scientist, campaigner and passionate European. We cover a lot of ground and we started with the impact of Brexit on science - Mike’s professional calling, before moving on to discuss the future and how Britain might think about reversing Brexit and rejoining the EU.

You can follow Mike on Twitter https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy and BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/mikegalsworthy.bsky.social

The European Movement can be found here: https://www.europeanmovement.co.uk/

I'm on https://twitter.com/SnellArthur and https://bsky.app/profile/snellarthur.bsky.social as well as https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Behind the Lines Ep 12: Bella Omnium Contra Omnes?

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:39:03 -0000

Dr Mike Martin, former soldier, military strategist and author of How to Fight a War joined me to discuss how Israel and Hamas are fighting their war. Our discussion took us into a wider exploration of conflict in the modern age and the risk of escalation and agglomeration of individual conflicts into global ones.

Mike can be found on Twitter where he writes fascinating threads on what is happening in Ukraine and wider global conflict issues. He also has a website here: https://www.threshedthought.com/

I am, as ever, on Twitter @snellarthur also more often these days on BlueSky and also on substack https://arthursnell.substack.com/

I hope you get something from this episode. Please subscribe, share and generally spread the word!

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BONUS EPISODE: Avoiding A Regional War

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:31:35 -0000

Understanding the risks of a regional war between Israel and its antagonists feels like the most important issue at the present time. I was able to speak to Michael Stephens, former head of the Middle East programme at RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, about the complex diplomatic and strategic relations that exist across the region. We covered Iran and its proxies, the Arab Gulf states and Egypt, as well as discussing Israel's own policy choices.

Michael is on Twitter here MikeRStephens

You can find me @snellarthur on Twitter and Bluesky.

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Behind The Lines Ep 10 - Trumps Dirty Roubles With Greg Olear

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 11:07:05 -0000

In this episode I wanted to go back to something that Paul Mason said in an earlier episode which struck a chord. He identified that the weakest link in International democratic politics is the world’s greatest democracy, the United States.

Here’s Paul’s line “the key to the international situation is America. we could wake up in November 2024 with Trump as president that is a legitimation of insurrectionary politics.” (Have a listen to that episode - number 7 - if you’ve not yet had the chance)

That challenge led me to this week’s interview. Greg Olear, whose name sounds Irish but is in fact Slovakian in origin is an American novelist, podcaster and commentator on political affairs. He has a substack and his podcast, Prevail, can be found in all the usual places.

Greg has focused heavily on the current crisis in American politics, as well as the complicated history of President Trump’s links to Russia and the degree to which that still matters. I hope you get as much from the discussion as I did.

Arthur Snell (@snellarthur.bsky.social)

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Behind The Lines Ep 9 - Israel’s Gaza challenge

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 11:01:02 -0000

Following Hamas’s horrific assault on Israel, attention turns to Israel’s reaction. Gaza is under siege and Israel has mobilised over 300,000 reservists. Israel claims that it plans to destroy Hamas. What does that mean in practice? And what does it mean for the civilians that live in Gaza? This sits in a wider context of regional relationships, Israel’s support in the West and the impact on the conflict in Ukraine.

To cover such a wide-ranging set of challenges and issues it was a huge privilege to be joined by The Economist’s Defence Editor Shashank Joshi, who is one of the best-informed journalists working in the defence space today. He is a visiting fellow at the department of War Studies at King’s College London and a familiar figure to those that follow the conflict in Ukraine.

You can find Shashank on Twitter @shashj and his work is in the Economist www.economist.com

I Tweet @snellarthur and am increasingly on BlueSky @snellarthur.bsky.social

You can find my susbstack here https://arthursnell.substack.com/

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Behind The Lines Emergency Episode - Hamas' War Against Israel with Jason Pack

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:12:32 -0000

EMERGENCY PODCAST

We’re only 4 days after the stunning horror of Hamas’s attack on Israel. Much remains unclear, but we now know that a major Hamas operation completely blindsided Israel’s defences and nearly 1,000 Israelis, mostly civilians are dead, with several hundred taken as hostages to Gaza. Israel has regained control of the towns that were seized by Hamas fighters, but there remain gunmen at large in what is obviously a chaotic situation.

Israel has responded with a huge mobilisation of forces against Hamas, with 600 killed in Gaza, according to the BBC. Gaza is officially under siege with no access to supplies of water, electricity or food and Hamas are threatening to kill a hostage every time Israel carries out an air strike without warning Palestinian civilians.

To help us come to terms with these extraordinary events, I was joined by Jason Pack. Some of you may have heard him speak on Libya and the disordered world in episode 6 of this podcast. But Jason is very much a Middle East specialist: he lived 7 years in the Middle East, speaks Arabic and Hebrew and lived 3 years in East Jerusalem, 2 years in Syria, and 1 in Egypt... He is of course presenter of the Disorder podcast and Founder & Director, NATO & the Global Enduring Disorder Project.

Some of you might have been surprised to hear Jason say that Israel had a hand in Hamas origins. There are various articles that describe this background, this in The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/30/how-israel-helped-create-hamas/ and particularly this detailed account in the Wall Street Journal (archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20090926212507/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123275572295011847.html). The important point to make here is that Israel encouraged an Islamist charitable entity that was there to act as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of FATAH, also known as the PLO. The Israelis were not trying to create a militant terror group (this is a conspiracy theory that has flourished online), although one of the retired Israeli officers interviewed in the WSJ article acknowledges that he "had no illusions about [Hamas founder] Sheikh Yassin's long-term intentions or the perils of political Islam”. This is, as ever, a complex story.

Thanks for listening to Behind the Lines - please spread the word and give us a positive review if you find these episodes useful.

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Behind The Lines Ep 7 - How to Stop Fascism, with Paul Mason

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:28:02 -0000

In 2021, Paul Mason, a veteran journalist familiar to viewers of Newsnight and Channel 4 News, published a book called How to stop Fascism, History Ideology, Resistance. His book came in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection in Washington DC and the spectre of rising authoritarian nationalism across the world. A year later, Paul found himself in Kyiv just 24 hours before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, as 21st century fascism began to more literally imitate its 20th century forbear.

Since then, Paul has become an urgent advocate of the need to take this conflict seriously - for what it is - an existential threat to the post-Westphalian world order. I spoke to Paul about Fascism in its modern forms, about the need for Western countries to support Ukraine more forcefully and about the failure of some on the left to understand the threat. to Ukraine. It was a fascinating discussion, particularly as Paul is such a well-informed reader of history. His discussion takes a truly global vision and incredibly insightful, from Europe, to North America, to India.

Paul Tweets at https://twitter.com/paulmasonnews. He mentioned a fascinating New York Times investigation which can be found here https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/world/europe/neville-roy-singham-china-propaganda.html

You can find me here on Twitter and BlueSky as well as https://arthursnell.substack.com/.

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Behind The Lines Ep 6 - Still Beautiful? The Cynical World of Globalised Football

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:00:00 -0000

We’re living in an age of the self-confident autocrat: China is rising, President Erdogan coasted to a managed re-election and in the Gulf, the Arab monarchies are riding high on oil prices boosted by Putin’s war in Ukraine. And what do the autocrats do with their money? They use it to buy influence. And one of the ways that they can do this is through football, the most popular sport on the planet.

In 2003 Roman Abramovich, the now-sanctioned Russian billionaire, bought Chelsea football club, setting into a motion a process of flooding the English game with colossal amounts of money. As we know now, and as many suspected for years, Abramovitrch owed his wealth directly to President Putin - so the money that infused English football from this point was effectively looted from the coffers of the Russian state. Russia would not be alone in seeking to use football to burnish its image - in 2008 Abu Dhabi bought Manchester City and Qatar bought Paris Saint Germain three years later. In both cases these small Gulf emirates successfully used football to increase their global reputation and influence. This process appears to have continued, with Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup and the purchase by Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund of Newcastle United as well as the establishment of a new Saudi Pro League, drawing in top players from all over the world. As part of the Newcastle deal, the Premier League appeared to have been given assurances that the Saudi Public Inverstment Fund was separate to the Saudi state, which is patently untrue. What this appears to show is that the English football authorities will believe what they want if it brings in the cash, with little thought for the consequences.

To discuss the geopolitical and sporting implications of these changes I was honoured to be joined by Miguel Delaney, chief football writer at the Independent, who has been researching and writing about the geopolitics of football for several years.

You find Miguel on Twitter @MiguelDelaney and at the Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/author/miguel-delaney

Thank you for listening to this podcast - please subscribe if you haven’t already and give us a positive review if you enjoyed it.

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Behind The Lines Ep 5 - Libya and the Disordered World

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 11:00:00 -0000

Storm Daniel passed through the Mediterranean in early September, one of a bewildering number of extreme weather events in recent months. When it hit Libya on 10 September, torrential rainfall led to catastrophic floods in the Town of Derna. At the time of recording as many as 20,000 people are missing, feared dead. It was an example of the terrifying new reality of the climate crisis where entire cities can be wiped out by wildfires or floods, literally in a matter of hours.

But everything has a context, and the context in Derna is a city that is located in one of the most chaotic countries on earth, where government services barely function and the concept of government itself is contested between different rulers in rival areas of the territory. To get a fuller understanding of the situation in Derna and Libya, I was delighted to be able to speak to Jason Pack, Libya expert and author of the book Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder. As we covered in our discussion, what happens in Libya is in some respects a microcosm of a much bigger global crisis, which is also the subject of a new podcast that Jason is bringing out, called Disorder.

You can find Jason’s book here: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/libya-and-the-global-enduring-disorder/

His new podcast is here: https://linktr.ee/disorderpod

And his website is here: https://www.jasonpack.org/

Thanks for listening to Behind the Lines. We are at https://behindthelineswitharthursnell.buzzsprout.com/

I tweet @snellarthur and am now on BlueSky @snellarthur.bsky.social

And you can read my thoughts on geopolitics at arthursnell.substack.com

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Behind The Lines Ep 4 - The Threats To Global Democracy

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:00:00 -0000

On the 30th August a military coup took place in Gabon in West Africa, dislodging the president Ali Bongo, whose family has controlled the country for nearly 60 years. That military takeover in Gabon followed swiftly on the heels of a coup in Niger, one month earlier. There seems to have been a spate of these in the Sahel region of Africa. Indeed, within a period of just over two years, every country in a 5000km line from Conakry on Africa’s West Coast to Port Sudan on the East, has experienced a military coup.

And there’s a bigger picture here: democracy around the world isn’t doing very well. In the United States, Donald Trump’s chaotic rule ended in rejected election results and a violent insurrection. In Britain, we have had multiple prime ministers without a general election. Across Europe authoritarian populists contest - and sometimes win - elections. In Hungary, Poland, Israel and turkey, we see independent institutions under threat and in some cases entirely circumscribed. And of course in Ukraine, democracy is fighting for its life against a militarised fascist regime.

So this week I wanted to get the big picture, to understand what is the health of global democracy and what are its prospects. And who better to talk to about this than Brian Klaas, who is an expert on African coups, a politics professor at UCL, and author of the brilliant book Corruptible, who gets power and how it changes us. I hope you’ll find our conversation interesting - it was, and this surprised me - a lot more encouraging than I’d expected.

You can find Brian’s book here: https://brianpklaas.com/corruptible He is on Twitter @brianklaas and his Substack https://www.forkingpaths.co/ is also worth a read.

Thanks again for listening to this podcast. Please subscribe and spread the word. You can leave comments and thoughts on my Substack here https://arthursnell.substack.com/ I’m also on Twitter @snellarthur and now on Bluesky @snellarthur.bsky.social

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Behind The Lines Ep 3 - Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Dictatorship

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 10:00:00 -0000

Since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has been controlled by one political movement - ZANU-PF. Outside the country this was often seen as the personal fiefdom of one man, Robert Mugabe. Undoubtedly he was the key figure, but after his removal from power in 2017, the party has continued to control Zimbabwe’s politics and its institutions. So it is a fair question whether there has ever been a legitimate election held in the country.

Last week on 4 September president Emmerson Mnangagwa, formerly seen as one of Mugabe’s most ruthless henchmen, was sworn in for a second presidential term after another election marred by serious allegations of election irregularities, violence and targeting of opposition supporters. But this time there were differences: election monitors from Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries, which have a history of turning a blind eye to such irregularities, on this occasion chose to spell out in highly critical detail the problems with the poll. Another big difference was the way that opposition activists were able to use their smartphones and modern tech to run a highly credible vote tally, clearly demonstrating that the officially declared results were questionable at best.

To discuss these elections I was joined by Dr Sara Dorman (Twitter: @afr_pol), a Zimbabwe specialist from the University of Edinburgh and author of Understanding Zimbabwe, published by Hurst. https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/understanding-zimbabwe/ I also spoke to Makomborero Haruzivishe

(Twitter: @MakomboreroH) who is a Zimbabwean political activist now based in the UK after a year as a political prisoner in Zimbabwe.

If you are enjoying this podcast please subscribe via whichever platform you use and give us a positive review. Thanks for listening!

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Behind The Lines Ep 2 - Ukraine's Radical War

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:00:00 -0000

Ukraine’s Radical War

Thanks to all of you that have listened to the first episode of Behind the Lines and to all of those of you that are joining this new podcast for the first time. We are taking a weekly look at a different aspect of current geopolitics. This week, it’s how the information age has transformed warfare, and particularly how it has transformed warfare in Ukraine.

Russia's war on Ukraine is the most online in history. The smartphone has become the way the war is recorded and transmitted, and it is the way we consume news of the war. But it is also a weapon. The smartphone has become part of the kill-chain, with Ukrainian civilians uploading targeting information via secure servers that are used by Ukrainian military to direct their artillery fires against the Russians. How do we understand this new kind of radical warfare?

Dr Matthew Ford, an Associate Professor of War Studies at the Swedish Defence University, is currently writing the book War in the age of the Smartphone to be published by Hurst in 2024. Matthew is co author with Andrew Hoskins of Glasgow University of the book Radical War about how the digital age has revolutionised modern warfare. He used to be a strategic analyst at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and has recently been undertaking Open Source Intelligence work for the UK government on the Ukraine war. We discussed what is different about the Ukraine war, how the smartphone enlists civilians, both inside and outside Ukraine, and how it shapes how we talk about and understand that war.

Matthew can be found on Twitter @warmatters and his book is available here: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/radical-war/

You can find me on Twitter @snellarthur and you can find my Substack on some of these, and related issues here https://arthursnell.substack.com/

Thanks again for listening to Behind the Lines. If you are enjoying it, please spread the word and give us a positive review. See you next time!

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Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky

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Behind The Lines Ep 1 - Prigozhin's Fall

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 10:00:00 -0000

Behind the Lines with Arthur Snell is a new geopolitics podcast. Every week we give the listener access to the best informed people to help you understand this turbulent world and get a feel for the things that will matter in the future.

This week, for our first episode, we have an emergency podcast in the light of the apparent assassination of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose private jet fell out of the sky on a flight from Moscow to St Petersburg on 23 August 2023. I was delighted to be joined by Owen Matthews, former Moscow bureau chief for Newsweek and author of "Overreach the inside story of Putin's war on Ukraine", just out in paperback. Owen is a native Russian speaker and knows more about the country than almost any other British journalist. Owen now sees Russia as a "failed state”, but this does not mean, in his view, that Putin is at risk of being toppled.

You can follow Owen on Twitter here @owenmatth and see his article on the Prigozhin killing here https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/yevgeny-prigozhin-dead-man-walking/

I am on Twitter @snellarthur and you can read some of my thoughts on world affairs here https://arthursnell.substack.com/

If you enjoyed this podcast please spread the word and give us a positive review - as a brand new title it makes all the difference!"

Vyner Street Productions

Check out our Bookshop.org affiliate site behindthelines and please sign up for my substack at arthursnell.substack.com and/or follow me on Bluesky

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