One Decision

Senator Chris Murphy, who sits on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has called for a conversation on American aid to Israel—and what kind of conditions should be a part of it. He, along with other Democratic colleagues, has spoken out against the high death toll in Gaza, which Murphy now calls “unsustainable.” A mammoth aid package is working its way through Congress for both Israel and Ukraine—but Republicans have demanded that border security restrictions and funding be tacked on to the final bill. The race is now on for Congress to work out the details to move forward on a vote before the holidays. Senator Murphy discusses this and the latest on the war in Ukraine with One Decision’s Julia Macfarlane and Sir Richard Dearlove. 

The team behind the top global affairs podcast, One Decision, brings you "Power Decisions," a new energy series that explores the world's energy sources and the politics and power behind the clean transition. As the COP28 climate conference kicks off this week in the United Arab Emirates, we examine the growth and development of emerging clean energy technologies with guest host Marie Harf, who served as State Department Spokesperson in the Obama Administration, and her former colleague United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. They discuss the latest trends and emerging clean technologies, the emerging nuclear energy innovations, and how prepared we are for a transition from fossil fuels.

Twenty-four hostages were released by Hamas following their capture during the October 7th invasion of Israel. But how do the two warring sides find common ground and arrive at an agreement in the midst of a war? Gershon Baskin, a writer and activist from Israel, has carried back-channel messages to and from Hamas for seventeen years and was deeply involved with the prisoner exchange for former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit ten years ago. In this special episode of One Decision, Baskin tells us what it takes to secure such a complicated, multi-layered agreement, as well as how the latest hostage deal and temporary ceasefire has been received by the public in Israel.

Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu of Moldova sits down with One Decision in New York to talk about the various efforts that Russia is allegedly committing to destabilizing the tiny and young European nation, preventing it from joining the European Union. Russian soldiers and separatists already occupy a large part of the country, and it's an area that is very close to the strategic Ukrainian port city of Odesa, which Moscow has long coveted for its key position on the Black Sea. Fears that the occupied parts of Moldova could be used as a launchpad to attack Odesa may have waned but not disappeared entirely. Plus, One Decision's resident spymaster Sir Richard Dearlove gives his verdict on a leaked FSB document that purportedly revealed a plot to destabilize the country. 

President Xi and President Biden meet face-to-face for the first time since tensions frayed over a visit to Taiwan by the United States Speaker of the House of Representatives and the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon enraged Washington. America’s allies in the South China Sea are watching closely—will Biden and Xi patch things up, and what does that mean for Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints? Also, One Decision’s Sir Richard Dearlove reacts to the news that former Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been promoting projects for China’s Belt and Road Initiative has made a sudden comeback as the new Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom.

This week, we sit down with Dr. Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States and former member of the Knesset, and Salam Fayyad, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. We hear from both perspectives on the main roadblocks to peace and what needs to happen going forward. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a U.S. television interview, saying that Israel must be responsible for security in Gaza. One Decision's resident spymaster, Sir Richard Dearlove shares his thoughts on how the international community needs to get involved in the future of Gaza's security.

The new President of the Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador Michael Froman, joins One Decision to talk about the China challenge as President Joe Biden prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month in California. Froman was a key player in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations while serving as U.S. Trade Representative under President Obama—a massive trade deal which Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of in 2017— something that Froman says will go down as one of the most "significant strategic blunders in American history." One Decision's resident spymaster Sir Richard Dealove shares his thoughts on the latest news on the Israel-Hamas war.

The team behind the top global affairs podcast, One Decision, introduces "Power Decisions," a new energy series that explores the world's energy sources and the politics and power behind the clean transition. This debut episode hosted by CNBC's Mandy Drury examines the globe's next energy conference—COP28 which has been plagued by controversy surrounding the appointment of UAE oil executive Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber to lead the summit and the conference leadership's attempts to sweep undesirable narratives under the carpet including accusations of greenwashing Al Jaber's image and record through Wikipedia and hundreds of fake social media accounts. Drury is joined by journalists Damian Carrington, Environmental Editor for The Guardian, Zack Colman, Climate reporter for POLITICO and Amy Harder, Executive Editor for Cipher News, a publication supported by Breakthrough Energy to discuss what to expect, whether the summit can succeed as a forum to effectively address climate change and if an oil-rich nation should lead the climate change fight.

Robin Wright from The New Yorker has, on more than one occasion, been granted an audience with the reclusive but fiery leader of the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group in the United States and most of the Western world. Having spent years observing and reporting on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and its spinoffs in Lebanon and the wider Arab world, how does she view the events of this month, following Hamas’s unprecedented attacks on October 7th, and the shockwaves that have emanated from it? Sir Richard Dearlove argues that while Iran stands to benefit from chaos in the region and a stalling of Saudi-Israel normalization talks, Tehran may be less invested in the Palestinian cause than many might have thought.

After the divisive and controversial storm surrounding an explosion at a hospital in Gaza, President Joe Biden flew on Wednesday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Cabinet, and families touched by the October 7th massacre last week. As protests and riots spread like wildfire around not just Arab and Muslim capitals and cities worldwide, but in London, Paris, New York, and Berlin—the diplomatic stakes could not be higher. A four-way summit Biden planned to attend with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and King Abdullah II of Jordan was abruptly called off. However, all was not lost—before returning to the United States, Biden announced that Israel had agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and Egypt acceded to let the convoys across the Rafah crossing. Gaza has been without electricity, food, water, and medicine for nearly a week. One Decision speaks to former State Department official and CIA Middle East Analyst Marie Harf, who was in office during the intense Israel-Hamas war of 2014.