Independent Thinking

A tumultuous week for Britain's faltering rearmament plans sees Defence Secretary John Healey resign from Keir Starmer's cabinet, saying the prime minister and the Treasury lack the will to properly fund the defence of the nation.
Al Carns, the armed forces minister, also resigned saying the government's long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) was 'not built for the threat we face'.
The departures raise further questions over whether the DIP can address the costs and trade-offs involved in strengthening UK defence.
Meanwhile, European leaders struggle to coordinate their own rearmament amid concerns that America will withdraw from the defence of the continent.
Bronwen Maddox looks at the defence predicament in the UK and Europe, with UK in the World Programme director Olivia O'Sullivan, and International Security Programme director Marion Messmer.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.
 
Read Chatham House's latest:
Comment | The FCAS fighter jet looks like it's dead. Could that be a good thing?
Comment | Will the UK's Defence Investment Plan finally be honest about Britain's defence? 
Comment | John Healey's resignation highlights profound strategic failure in the UK government's approach to defence
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Would the world benefit from a new economic alliance to stop China and the US from undermining the global rules we all depend on – a new 'third pole'? 
That's the conclusion of a new Chatham House report published this week. How would an economic bloc like this work? Who could build it? And how would China and the US – even post-Trump – react to such a challenge to their power?
Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America Programme, talks over an audacious plan for a new world order with the report's author and director of our Global Economy and Finance Programme, Creon Butler. They are joined by director of our Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes, Grégoire Roos.
 
Read our report: Saving global economic governance from the 'Trump shock'. 
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.
Read Chatham House's latest:
Comment | Global trade imbalances have changed since the 2008 financial crisis. Now they reflect new risks
Comment | Global cooperation on nuclear disarmament looks even further away
Comment | In the face of growing AI cyber threats, do middle powers have agency?
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
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The major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast is not just a public health emergency in an already impoverished and violence-beset region. Armed rebellion, fragile government and a collapse in public trust are combining to make outbreaks more frequent – and fostering dangerous disinformation that makes the virus harder to fight.
How dangerous is the Ebola virus? Could it spread to the rest of the world? And is America's withdrawal from global health leadership at least partly to blame for its return?
Bronwen Maddox finds out from director of our Africa Programme Tighisti Amare, and director of our Global Health Programme Emma Ross.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.
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Comment | The flow of arms and money feeding the war in Sudan can be cut. What is missing is the will
Upcoming event | Targeting medics on the battlefield: addressing the crisis through law and practice
Comment | Ethiopia needs more than an election to calm internal and regional conflict
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
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Almost exactly ten years since Britain's seismic vote to leave the EU, the debate reopens thanks to early skirmishes in the fight for leadership of the Labour Party and thus the prime ministership. Could a credible bid to rejoin make its way onto Britain's political agenda? Are the drastically changed economic and defence environments making the case for re-entry unanswerable? And under what terms would European leaders consider the return of their often-troublesome former partner?
Bronwen Maddox talks over a major potential shift for the entire continent with Chatham House visiting fellow Ben Judah, director of our UK in the World programme Olivia O'Sullivan, and associate fellow and Financial Times international trade specialist Alan Beattie. 
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House.
Read Chatham House's latest:
Comment | A 2026 'super El Niño' could expose gaps in UK preparedness
Comment | China and Russia's strategic duo endures – but its limits are clear
Research paper | Avoiding a new nuclear arms race
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
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President Donald Trump brings a band of senior US business executives seeking trade deals to China for what is possibly the biggest bilateral summit of 2026. But what does the US hope to achieve? More sales of Boeings, beef and soybeans; an off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran; a sense of world pre-eminence; or all three? Our experts discuss whether Taiwan will end up paying the price for Chinese help in ending the Iran war, and whether the success of the summit really boils down to the chemistry between Trump and the world's other most powerful man, Xi Jinping.
Host Bronwen Maddox discusses the visit and what it means with Dr Yu Jie, senior research fellow with our Asia-Pacific Programme, and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America Programme. 
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell.
Chatham House's latest:
Comment | Trump–Xi summit will be about managing US–China rivalry, not resolving it
Comment | Rare earths are on Trump's agenda in China. But US electronic waste offers an untapped source at home
Comment | Xi and Trump won't discuss China's growing nuclear arsenal
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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