Series
The Rachman Review
The Rachman Review

The Rachman Review

door Financial Times

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

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

Afleveringen

Too soon to celebrate peace between Iran and Israel?

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

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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.

24 juni 2025


Israel goes to war with Iran

Israel has launched an aerial bombardment of Iran, with the aim, it says,of ending Iran’snuclear ambitions. Gideon talks toPhilip Gordon,who wasnational security adviserto former US vice-presidentKamala Harris, about how realistic Israel’s aims are, Iran’s capacity to fight back, and whether the US is about to be drawn into another conflict in the MiddleEast. Clips: Channel 4 News, The Independent

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War on Iran is splitting Trump’s Maga movement

Can an American bunker-buster destroy Iran’s nuclear mountain?

Could strikes on Iran cause a nuclear disaster?

Let them kill us’: millions of Iranians refuse to leave Tehran

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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.

18 juni 2025


Nato’s moment of truth

Gideon talks to Oana Lungescu, Nato's former and longest-serving spokesperson, about what to expect from this month’s summit and what's at stake?Can Europe convince the Trump administration that Russia is a risk they need to take seriously, and will an agreement to increase defence spending be enough to satisfy the US president? Clips: Sky; Channel 4, Aljazeera

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Europe, the US and the question of values

Europe confronts Trump’s triple threat on Ukraine, Nato and trade

Europe has a weaker hand than it thinks on Ukraine

Nato defence ministers to discuss path to 5% military spending

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.

12 juni 2025


What drives China’s strongman?

Gideon Rachman and China historian Rana Mitter discuss the evolution of Xi Jinping from internal exile, to party apparatchik, to strongman leader. What motivates Xi and what’s behind his friendship with the Russian leader? This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London late last month. Clip: CGTN

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump says China’s Xi Jinping is ‘hard to make a deal with’

Xi’s history shapes China’s diplomatic strategy

Chinese defence minister set to skip security forum in Singapore

China’s Xi Jinping likens ‘US hegemony’ to ‘fascist forces’ ahead of Vladimir Putin summit

Xi and Putin are the greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s chaos

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.

5 juni 2025


Coming soon: The Wolf-Krugman Exchange

In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election.

Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.

If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com

Read Martin’s FT column here

Subscribe to Paul’s substack here

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4 juni 2025


A foreign policy debrief with Jake Sullivan

President Biden’s time in office was a momentous period in world affairs and American foreign policy. The Taliban returned to rule Afghanistan, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas attacked Israel all on the watch of National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Gideon talks to Sullivan about the Biden legacy and hears how and why events unfolded and what the Trump administration is doing now.

Clips: BBC, CBS, Sky News, The Guardian, Radio Free Europe, CGTN

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

More on this topic:

Europe needs to keep up the pressure on Netanyahu

Putin thinks that time is on his side

Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan: ‘The core engines of American power are humming

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. 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.

29 mei 2025


Is Trump a threat or an opportunity for the EU?

The EU is in Donald Trump’s cross hairs. So how should it respond? In this week’s episode, Paschal Donohoe, Ireland’s finance minister and president of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, discusses whether the euro can challenge the dollar. He tells Gideon that European integration should go even further - and makes the case for immigration and a new relationship between the EU and the UK.

Clips: Euronews,PBS Newshour

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

More on this topic:

Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal

How the UK and EU thrashed out a post-Brexit reset in relations

Donald Trump says US will ‘100%’ strike trade deal with EU

Euro has ‘clear path’ towards greater reserve currency use, says Eurogroup president

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 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.

22 mei 2025


India and Pakistan: what now?

After a short but intense clash, a ceasefire is holding between India and Pakistan, but tensions remain high. Both sides claim victory, but the rapid escalation in the conflict bodes ill for future diplomacy between the two countries. Gideon talks to Professor Sushant Singh, lecturer in south Asian Studies at Yale University, about the conflict and what’s at stake if tensions escalate again. Clips: Times of India, Fox News

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

More on this topic:

How India and Pakistan pulled back from brink of war

India and Pakistan’s fragile ceasefire holds after alleged breaches

​​Narendra Modi says India has proved ‘superiority’ over Pakistan in clashes

India and Pakistan: a conflict in the hands of two religious strongmen

Military briefing: India and Pakistan test red lines of nuclear rivalry

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 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.

15 mei 2025


How can Democrats combat Donald Trump?

Donald Trump continues to issue a blizzard of controversial statements and executive orders. His political opponents often seem confused, even stunned. So how should the Democratic party take on the US president? Gideon talks to Senator Andy Kim, a new Democrat from New Jersey, on the merits of different approaches to opposition and what is needed to win back voters.

Clips: KTVU Fox

This is Gavin Newsom

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

More on this topic:

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

‘Nadir for the party’: US Democrats edge towards civil war

Lessons from Russia, Turkey and India for Trump’s America

Traders made $100mn from buying Melania Trump memecoin before launch

Trump’s assault on the rule of law: ‘the speed and intent is remarkable’

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

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips and the 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.

8 mei 2025


Are we any closer to peace in Ukraine?

US efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine have so far not yielded anything close to a peace deal. Both Russia and Ukraine have objected to some aspects of the Trump administration’s plan. What – if anything – might make a lasting peace possible? Gideon Rachman speaks to Sir Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London, about what each party wants from a peace deal.

Free links to read more on this topic:

Podcast: Future weapons: Ukraine’s army of drone: https://on.ft.com/3GKlW00

US and Ukraine sign natural resources deal https://on.ft.com/4iRd4mY

Steve Witkoff, the Trump loyalist disrupting diplomacy https://on.ft.com/3EKE89q

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. 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.

1 mei 2025


El Salvador’s ‘jailer for hire’

Gideon talks to the FT’s Michael Stott about Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, whose friendship with Donald Trump has been in the spotlight over his willingness to imprison US deportees, notably Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Clip: The White House

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

Free links to read more on this topic:

Nayib Bukele: the TikTok authoritarian feted across Latin America

El Salvador’s Bukele refuses to repatriate man wrongly deported from US

How El Salvador became a model for the global far right

Trump is halfway to making America a police state

El Salvador offers to swap Venezuelan US deportees for political prisoners

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.

24 april 2025


Iran’s nuclear talks could reshape the Middle East

Nuclear talks between the US and Iran began last weekend in Oman, and are set to continue in the coming weeks. President Trump has warned that if the talks fail the US could take military action against the Islamic republic – an idea that Israel's government is pressing for. What might a new nuclear deal with Iran look like – and how might it change the geopolitical picture in the Middle East? Clip: The Express Tribune

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

Free links to read more on this topic:

The false promise of regime change in Iran

US and Iran agree to follow-up talks over nuclear crisis

Is Iran on a collision course with the west?

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. 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.

17 april 2025


The end of globalisation as we know it

Gideon talks to the economic historian Harold James about the economic and political implications of Donald Trump's tariffs. What are the similarities with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930? What kind of forces will his decision to smash the global economic order unleash? Clip: CBC

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

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It falls to Congress to unravel Trump’s reckless tariffs

Trump’s ‘reshoring’ ambitions threatened by tariff chaos

Market turmoil strains bro-sphere’s bromance with Donald Trump

Trump and the mob boss approach to global markets

Markets could get a lot worse — and quickly

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.

10 april 2025


China in the age of Trump 2.0

German businessman Joerg Wuttke has been an observer of China since the 1980s, watching it evolve from backwater to superpower.He talks to Gideon about US-China rivalry and how Europe can find its place as a trading partner to both powers. Clip: CNBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

China launches large-scale military exercises around Taiwan

China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade

China is suffering its own ‘China shock’

BASF’s Joerg Wuttke: ‘The essence of China is this warrior’

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

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.

3 april 2025


The making of Vladimir Putin

Gideon talks to Russia experts Catherine Belton and Arkady Ostrovsky about Vladimir Putin’s goals. They discuss his early ambition to restore Russia’s status as a global superpower. And they go on to analyse why, after a quarter of a century in power, Putin may see his best chance yet of achieving that goal - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London earlier this month.

Free links to read more on this topic:

The age of the strongman

Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire

US agrees maritime ceasefire deal with Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine ceasefire: what is Vladimir Putin’s game?

Russia trained officers for attacks on Japan and South Korea

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.

27 maart 2025


Mexico hopes to stave off Trump tariffs

Thirty years ago Mexico made a fateful decision to open its economy and engage with the US.Now that decision is being tested by Donald Trump’s tariff threat.Gideon talks to Mexican economist Luis de la Calle about the impact this could have on his country's economy and that of the US. Clips: ABC News; Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo

Free links to read more on this topic:

How Trump could destroy his own political movement

Half of Mexico’s exports to US risk steep tariffs

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is riding high on Donald Trump’s trade war

China delays approval of BYD’s Mexico plant amid fears tech could leak to US

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.

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

20 maart 2025


Europe's response to the threat from Trump

Europe is facing its biggest defence challenge since the second world war. This is compounded by the destabilising impact of US tariffs. So how is it measuring up? Gideon puts this question to Arancha González Laya, dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Science Po and a former foreign minister of Spain. Clip: Emmanuel Macron

Free links to read more on this topic:

EU retaliates after Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs take effect

Trump is making Europe great again

How Europe can take up America’s mantle

Sweden to expand arms and space capabilities without US

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.

13 maart 2025


How should Canada react to Trump’s threats?

Canada’s Liberal party will elect a new leader this weekend and Chrystia Freeland is running to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Donald Trump’s belligerence towards his northern neighbour seems to have restored the party’s popularity ahead of a general election this year. Chrystia tells host Gideon Rachman that Canadians are sticking together and that they have some strong cards to play.

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

Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here.

Want more? Free links:

Donald Trump’s tariffs loom suddenly through the fog of trade war

Europe has bought Zelenskyy some time

Donald Trump warns tariffs will cause ‘a little disturbance’ in defiant speech

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.

6 maart 2025


Ukraine weathers new geopolitical climate

Gideon tests the mood in Kiev three years after the Russian invasion as the Trump presidency upends previous tenets of international politics. He talks to Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko and Oleksandr Khomiak, director of Drone Space Labs, a defence start-up. Clip: European Commission

Free links to read more on this topic:

Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US

US drives Ukraine war measure through UN with Russian backing

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s toughest battle begins

Now is the time for Europe really to step up on Ukraine

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.

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

27 februari 2025


Mathias Döpfner: Transatlantic alliance in danger

Gideon dissects US vice-president JD Vance’s incendiary speech at the MunichSecurity Conferencewith German businessman Mathias Döpfner. They discuss the state of the transatlantic relationship and howDonaldTrump’s actions towards Russia and Ukraine could mark a turning point. They are then joined by FT colleague Laura Pitel to talk about Döpfner’s media empireAxel Springerand the cancellation of federal government subscriptions to the Politico Pro news service. Clip: The White House

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump calls Volodymyr Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ as US rift with Ukraine deepens

Vance’s real warning to Europe

How Europe can defend itself without US help

Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness

Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin’s grandest ambitions

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.

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

20 februari 2025


US systems unravel under Trump

Gideon talks to Daniel Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in the US, about why it’s no longer possible to trust America and what the rest of the world can expect from the Trump presidency. Clip: CBC

Free links to read more on this topic:

Tariffs won’t bring back America’s unipolar moment

'Cost and chaos’: Donald Trump’s metal tariffs sweep across corporate America

Trump is giving a green light to corporate corruption abroad

Trump is forcing Europe to a reckoning on Ukraine

Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire

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.

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

13 februari 2025