Independent Thinking

The United States marks its 250th birthday at a moment of intense division and international uncertainty. At home, President Donald Trump is aggressively remodelling America's governance around expanded White House power and burning through firewalls intended to prevent presidential overreach and self-enrichment. Internationally, his capricious mix of transactional diplomacy, coercive tariffs and naked hard power has left American allies shell-shocked – and opened the door for China to spread its influence.
Former US ambassador to Qatar Tim Davis joins host Bronwen Maddox and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America programme, to discuss the future of the United States in the world – and whether, for ordinary citizens, the American dream still exists. 
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.
 
Explore Chatham House's latest:
Comment | On its 250th birthday, the US is still defined by its fault lines
Comment | Europe watches the next American revolution take shape
Comment | The US government's latest U-turn on Anthropic's Mythos sends mixed signals on AI governance
Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves No.10 a decade since the Brexit referendum that began the UK's cycle of chaos, and Andy Burnham seems set to take over unopposed. Our experts discuss what the new regime will mean for Britain's future and its role in the world.
Will attempts to bring the UK closer to Europe without actually rejoining the EU continue? Will Burnham want to increase Britain's defence budget, or will his priorities lie elsewhere? And why can't Britain hold on to its prime ministers?
Bronwen Maddox reflects on a historic week with Ben Judah, former adviser to David Lammy and visiting fellow at Chatham House, and Olivia O'Sullivan, director of our UK in the World Programme.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.
Explore Chatham House's latest:
Comment | Britain's next prime minister faces deep foreign policy challenges – whether Burnham or another
Comment | Macron's Evian summit shows the limits Trump places on the G7
Research paper | Three foreign policy priorities for the next UK government
Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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Can Labour's prized plans to decarbonize power generation by 2050 withstand growing demands for extra defence spending – an acrimonious argument that has already claimed two senior defence ministers? Or pressure to preserve and extend welfare benefits from the party's left and the unions, many of whom see net zero as a job killer? Plus: China's colossal subsidization of green technology has created a surplus of cheap equipment for clean power. Would Britain be wise to take advantage?  
 
Bronwen Maddox is joined by Pelin Zorlu and Chris Aylett of Chatham House's Climate and Energy team, plus special guest Archie Hall, acting economics editor of The Economist.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.
Explore Chatham House's latest: 
Comment | Even Hormuz reopening will not resolve Europe's key energy vulnerability
Comment | The next Strait of Hormuz crisis could be even worse
Research paper | Why renewables and electrification hold the keys to EU energy security
Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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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
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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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
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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