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Financial Times

Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist talks to the decision-makers and thinkers who are shaping world affairs.
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The Rachman Review

The longheld US position to defend Taiwan’s independent status in the face of Chinese aggression is looking shaky under the Trump administration, in spite of Taiwanese efforts to court the American president. This week, Gideon talks to analyst and author James Crabtree - former director of the Asia office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies - about why the US now seems more interested in doing a deal with China than showing support for Taiwan. They also discuss the broader implications that this, and other issues, might have for US alliances across the Indo-Pacific region, including relations with South Korea, Japan, Australia and India.

Clips: 

Amazon Prime

Follow Gideon on Bluesky @gideonrachman.bsky.social or X @gideonrachman

More on this topic:

Taiwan raises defence spending by 23% under US pressure to counter China threat

Donald Trump blocks Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te from New York stopover

US cancelled military talks with Taiwan

Trump is the gift that keeps giving to China

The geopolitics of chips: Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner. The executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taiwan’s Trump problem

Gideon discusses the outcome of the recent Alaska and Washington summits with Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Has Russia emerged as a clear winner? What can be achieved without more pressure on Vladimir Putin? How effective would western security guarantees be to prevent future Russian aggression?

Clip: Sky News

Free links to read more on this topic:

Ukraine talks expose Trump’s dreadful attention to detail

Donald Trump says US could play role ‘by air’ in Ukraine security guarantee

Donald Trump says US to ‘co-ordinate’ Ukraine’s security with Europe

‘Stab in the back’: Kyiv reels as Trump embraces Putin’s terms

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design by Breen Turner. The executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump ‘plays into Putin’s hands’

The Trump administration has hit India with 50% tariffs. And just after a short military conflict between India and Pakistan, President Trump played host to Pakistan’s army chief of staff at the White House. Gideon discusses what this means for India and for the region with Tanvi Madan, author of a noted history of the US-India relationship. Clip: WION. Weekend Festival link

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump tariffs threaten Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ drive

How Pakistan wooed Trump — and rattled India

Narendra Modi tells Indian farmers he will ‘never compromise’ in face of 50% US tariffs

India’s Russian oil conundrum: yield to Donald Trump or face tariff backlash

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Manuela Saragosa.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What next for India as Trump-Modi friendship sours?

Zbigniew Brzeziński was one of the most influential statesmen of the cold war. But many of the geopolitical problems he wrestled with in Russia, China and the Middle East, have returned with a vengeance. Among his many prescient ideas, ‘Zbig’ as he was known, predicted that American hubris might lead to an ‘alliance of the aggrieved’ between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Gideon discusses his life and legacy with FT colleague Ed Luce, who has written an acclaimed biography of the Polish-born strategist. Clip: Voice of America

Free links to read more on this topic:

A new cold war with China won’t help the US

The World of the Cold War — timely reading in an age of US, Russia and China tensions

The last grand strategists: what Brzezinski and Kissinger could teach Trump

King of Kings — the 1979 revolution that changed Iran and the world

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Jean-Marc Eck and the executive producer is Manuela Saragosa.

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cold war guru whose warnings on Russia still stand

Israel has demonstrated its capacity to strike at its enemies far and wide since the Hamas attacks of October 7 2023. But what will it do with this military dominance? The FT’s Charles Clover puts this question to Palestinian historian Yezid Sayigh. They discuss the weakness and instability of neighbouring Arab states and how the Netanyahu government’s moves to prevent Palestinian statehood represent the biggest threat to peaceful coexistence in the region. Clips: France 24; Channel 4 News

Free links to read more on this topic:

Has Gaza tested the limits of Donald Trump’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu?

UK to recognise Palestinian state unless Israel ends Gaza crisis

Israel’s quiet war in the West Bank

The world is failing the Palestinian people

Gaza: a war without end?

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Charles Clover. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Israel translate power into peace?

Humans have never been healthier or better fed. We’re living longer, but having fewer children - and many countries’ populations are now shrinking. Gideon discusses these trends with demographer Nicholas Eberstadt. Have smartphones played a role in our declining fertility? How will we look after our elderly people? Is migration the answer? Clip: CBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

The fight to revive Europe’s shrinking rural areas

Population undercounting threatens public policy, scientists warn

Japan urged to use gloomier population forecasts after plunge in births

The unspoken truth about the baby bust

Brain ageing is the best predictor of longevity, scientists find

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our shrinking and ageing world

Israel’s military victories have brought little comfort to Israelis who are focused on the fate of those hostages still in Gaza. Sasha Polakow-Suransky, FT executive opinion editor, talks with Dahlia Scheindlin, Israeli pollster and author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise Unfulfilled about what Israelis want. Why has widespread opposition to many of the Netanyahu government’s policies so far failed to translate into political change? And why do Israelis seem unable to sympathise with the plight of the Palestinians who are also caught up in the conflict? Clips: Reuters; France 24

Free links to read more on this topic:

Israel strikes Syrian military headquarters in Damascus

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government teeters as ultra-Orthodox party quits coalition

EU weighs sanctions on Israel as concerns mount over Gaza aid deal

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’

Israel’s quiet war in the West Bank

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Sasha Polakow-Suransky. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The war in Gaza - what do Israelis want?

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine are escalating, both on the front lines and across urban centres. Ben Hall, the FT’s Europe editor, talks to military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady about Ukraine’s battle to hold onto territory until a ceasefire can be agreed. Clips: Channel 4; ABC

Free links to read more on this topic:

Russia attacks Ukraine’s draft offices

Russia hits Ukraine with biggest air attack of the war

Nato’s summit cannot disguise Ukraine’s plight

Kyiv’s sleepless nights under fire

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Ben Hall. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Putin steps up summer offensive against Ukraine

Gideon talks to Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund and author of a new book: How Countries Go Broke. They discuss the size of the US debt and what history tells us about identifying warning signs. Clip: CBS

Free links to read more on this topic: 

Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?

Fears over US debt load and inflation ignite exodus from long-term bonds

Donald Trump’s big, beautiful act of self-harm

The fall in the dollar is not scary

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the US heading for a debt crisis?

Gideon discusses whether the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran can hold with Vali Nasr, Professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Can anyone claim victory from the war? Where does this leave the battered regime in Tehran and its nuclear ambitions? And what will the US need to do to ensure that intense fighting doesn’t break out again? Clips: Channel 4 News; BBC

 

Free links to read more on this topic:

Best summer books of 2025: Politics

How Donald Trump brokered a shaky Israel-Iran ceasefire

Gulf expat bubble punctured by missiles

Where is Iran’s uranium? Search continues for 400kg stockpile

Iran’s supreme leader faces his defining moment

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Simon Panayi and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Too soon to celebrate peace between Iran and Israel?

Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal tells Gideon why he believes Israel is on course for a full-blown constitutional crisis. The Netanyahu government’s plan to curtail the power of the judiciary, he says, will remove democratic checks and balances that are crucial for the survival of a liberal democracy. Opponents include business, the military and the country's intellectual elite, as well as many middle-class Israelis who will not accept the proposed changes.

Clips: Anadolu Agency; NBC

Protests by Israeli reservists raise stakes in battle over judicial changes

Illiberal democracy comes to Israel

US defence secretary cuts short trip to Israel ahead of mass protests

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israeli democracy at a crossroads

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