One Decision

Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu’s place in history is now secure. He may not always be the longest-serving PM, but he will always be the first sitting PM to be indicted on criminal charges. It’s those corruption charges that many of his critics are saying are the motivation for his new judicial reforms - which aim to limit the power and independence of the Supreme Court, and make it harder for a Prime Minister to be ruled unfit for office. While Netanyahu may be motivated by self-preservation, it is also a bit more complicated than that - he also has to keep together a fragile coalition of the most right-wing, religious, and nationalist governments in Israel’s history, with partners who have their own reasons for disempowering the judiciary. Netanyahu may have postponed pushing through the controversial legislation - but the debate will return later this month. One Decision speaks to Shalom Lipner, who spent 26 years as an adviser in the PM’s office. He’s served under seven Prime Ministers including Netanyahu. 

The man who once led British intelligence, Sir Richard Dearlove weighs in on the mass protests we have witnessed in response to major reforms proposed by both President Emanuel Macron and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their countries. Will these leaders and their proposals survive? We offer a special short analysis on the situations & scenarios for the deep public discontent on display at the moment in Israel, as well as France.

Ukraine welcomed the first arrival this week of sophisticated tanks, as well as armed personnel carriers from the United Kingdom and the United States. They arrive on the battlefield just in time for a long-anticipated counteroffensive by Kyiv. As heavier military support begins to trickle in from western allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin weighs another political calculation of his own - if and when is the time to deploy tactical nuclear weapons. He set off alarms abroad when he announced in recent days that some nuclear weapons would be moved to Belarus. CNN's Clarissa Ward recently returned from Ukraine and sits down with One Decision to discuss these latest developments, her conversations with Ukrainian officials, and what Putin might be thinking of doing next. 

Republicans in the United States are divided on how much support to provide Ukraine in the fight against Russia's invasion of its territory. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has courted controversy by pursuing Trump’s base, arguing that supporting Kyiv is not in America’s national security interests. He’s been deeply criticized by senior figures within his own party for doing so. What is driving this divide in the party? What are the politics of transitions when it comes to important foreign policy commitments? We speak to Stephen Hadley, former National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush, about the division developing in the Republican party, what remains of bipartisan American values, and how he feels about the war in Iraq, 20 years since its beginning. Interested in hearing more about the decisions behind the Iraq War? Tune in to hear our interview with former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar: pod.fo/e/1620f0

A veteran diplomat and one of the leading experts on China, Charlie Parton, joins his old friend Sir Richard Dearlove to discuss the increasing and personally invasive threat posed by the tiny chips present in everything from your smart fridge to your Fitbit. It’s a remarkable conversation that will change the way we look at the modern technology that now fills our homes. They also delve into how China’s monopoly in the production of these chips has put the world in a very vulnerable position and what we can do to extract ourselves from this dangerous dependency.

When WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner was jailed and sent to a penal colony in Moscow last year, the US government got to work on securing her release. But, a few days after she was detained by Russian authorities, Putin invaded Ukraine. Suddenly, it became complicated for the Americans to talk to the Russians in an official capacity. But luckily for Griner, they weren’t the only ones on the case. One Decision sits down with former American Ambassador Cameron Hume, who worked on the small team that traveled to Moscow to directly deal with the Kremlin themselves, on behalf of Griner’s and other detained Americans’ families.

When Richard Haass became the head of the influential policy think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, twenty years ago, the world was very different from where we are now. Dominated by a post-9/11 reality, the American-led international order was in little doubt. In 2003, China had only just joined the World Trade Organization and had yet to become the rising power and economic behemoth it is today. The new Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the European Union was Russia’s "natural, most important partner". War fatigue was far on the distant horizon, even if opposition to what was to become the ‘forever wars’ was there from the start. Richard Haass sits down with One Decision to reflect on the past 20 years of observing global events and why the next decade may be even more dangerous.

The day before Putin's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden emerged in dramatic fashion beneath Ukraine's glimmering golden domes. A secret operation got him on the ground to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital. Air raid sirens blared out as Biden strolled the streets of Kyiv with Zelensky - the first time in modern US history a serving president visited a warzone without the aegis of an American military presence. The former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove talks about the significance of such a visit and what it portends for enduring American support. Plus, the NATO Secretary General is publicly floating the idea of Finland being fast-tracked to membership in the alliance without their neighbor Sweden, with whom they presented a joint bid. Sweden’s Foreign Minister joins us to discuss how worried his country is about Turkey’s intransigence on the issue.

Mike Pompeo is the only American to have served as both CIA Director and Secretary of State. A bullish defender of the legacy of the Trump era, in a new autobiography on his time during office, he argues that ‘peace through strength’ is the only way to ensure that America’s foes like Putin and Xi will not actualize the threat they currently pose to Western interests. As speculation mounts over whether he will become the latest Republican to announce a bid for the Presidency in 2024, Pompeo makes it clear that - even if he doesn’t decide to run - he has some pretty strong opinions on what the United State’s foreign policy objectives must be and will continue to play a prominent role in shaping his party's foreign policy. One Decision’s Julia Macfarlane and former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove join him for a robust chat about his time in office and his thoughts on the current global security outlook.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is particularly observant when it comes to anniversaries. This month he marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in the battle of Stalingrad. Given he is an enthusiastic student of history - albeit, his own versions of history - watchers of the war in Ukraine have raised the question: what will Putin do when his invasion reaches the ‘one-year’ mark? Max Seddon is the Bureau Chief in Moscow for the Financial Times. He will share the view from Moscow, and as the war enters a new phase. It's one that is likely to increasingly hinge on political will from Washington, where we are joined by Fox News’ White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich. She discusses what support remains among Republicans for arming Ukraine, one year from the invasion.