Independent Thinking: Will Trump deliver for Ukraine?

Jaroslava Barbieri, John Lough and Samir Puri join the podcast to discuss whether Donald Trump is shifting his views on Ukraine and Russia.

In this episode, Dr Jean Kaseya discusses how Africa CDC public health initiatives strengthen the capacity of health institutions across the African continent to deal with growing disease threats.

Anna Åberg and Ruth Townend speak to Joe Thwaites and Tom Evans to explore the most important questions and issues around climate finance.

Optimism over Trump’s talk of Patriots for Ukraine and punishment for Moscow may be premature. A generous deadline for Putin, and lack of detail, leave many questions unanswered.

Allies like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia have no choice but to try and meet the president’s conditions for alliance.

A regional peace deal is an attractive prospect but will remain elusive without a durable ceasefire in Gaza and progress towards a Palestinian state.

Summits create expectations. But a meeting between President Donald Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu – the third since Trump’s return to the White House – yielded very little.

The agreement announced by the US president is unlikely to signal a major shift in Vietnam’s foreign policy.

Stephen Farrell, Yossi Mekelberg, Sanam Vakil and Max Yoeli join the podcast to discuss whether a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza is possible.

The Lebanese government must stop shirking its responsibilities and push Hezbollah to disarm – taking advantage of the historic momentum in the region.

Not all BRICS members are interested in the bloc being used by Russia and China to reshape the global order.

The UK cannot avoid deepening bilateral links with China, but policymakers must go much further to mitigate the risks of closer engagement while also insulating the relationship from Sino-US tensions.

A lunch at the White House with an unexpected group of African leaders shows Trump’s policy on Africa is active, opportunistic and shaped by personal relationships.

Using the 2025 Chatham House survey of Ukrainian civil society organizations, this research paper explores how the state, communities, citizens and external donors can cooperate in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

India’s balancing act between the West and the Global South demonstrates the agility of its foreign policy. But this act is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain in a fragmented global order.

Olivia Sullivan, Stephen Millard and Joe Twyman join the podcast to discuss the state of the UK one year on from Keir Starmer’s election win.

The government should invest R&D funding strategically in discovery science, connect regional R&D hubs into a national innovation ecosystem and collaborate with partners abroad.

The event discussed online harms faced by LGBTIQ+ communities and what they mean for democracies worldwide.

Brazil wants to pursue an important multilateral agenda. But an expanded membership’s reaction to the war may tilt the group away from Rio’s long-standing goals.

Anna Åberg and Ruth Townend are joined by Alden Meyer and Catherine Abreu to assess the outcomes of the June climate meetings in Bonn.

Britain needs a better plan to prepare for a world of Chinese dominance. And it must be subjected to public scrutiny.

The US will hit three self-imposed deadlines this summer: on tariffs, international organizations and the debt ceiling. Administration choices will make it clearer how President Trump sees the global order – and harder to argue that the fundamentals of US strength are undamaged.

Trump intervened to help Israel’s military in Iran. Will he continue to let it operate freely in Gaza?

China will be forced to continue hedging its bets as it adjusts to a fundamentally changed Middle Eastern security outlook.

Bronwen Maddox is in Jordan this week, speaking to regional experts about the US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme. Joining her on the podcast to assess the consequences are Lina Khatib and Marion Messmer in London.

‘Solidarity Levies’ are unlikely to generate substantial climate finance imminently but have potential in the long term. The political context is difficult, but there is scope for progress on the agenda in the run-up to COP30. 

After an unambitious summit, NATO allies must return with laser focus to the key issues that were left off the agenda.

The aircraft will add redundancy to NATO’s DCA mission but will not improve UK deterrence – and come at the cost of other urgently needed systems.

The region’s balance of power is being violently upended. It will be difficult for Iraq to avoid being drawn into the upheaval. 

As the alliance moves to boost its defence spending and capabilities, its European members should champion a NATO-wide approach to data sharing that serves their strategic interests.