One Decision

Twenty years after the invasion of Iraq, the decision to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power continues to shape the Middle East and the world. In this episode, guest host Helena Humphrey speaks to former Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar, about his decision to support the war despite widespread opposition in his own country. He joined American President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to launch the war from the Azores islands in 2003. We explore his central role in one of the most important events of the 21st century and what lessons can be learned as Europe once again grapples with how far it should dive into a conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Seldom do you get this level of access. The former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency General Michael Hayden sits down with One Decision. In one of his rare recent interviews, he shares an unvarnished view of the risks posed by Xi Jinping's ambitions and the lessons we should have learned from the War on Terror. In a remarkable exchange, he speaks with co-host and former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove about how intelligence gathering has changed and how it should work to better address emerging threats. They cover decisions made and ongoing in Europe, the Middle East, India, and Russia. Hayden, who also led the National Security Agency, lets us in on his conversations with the current Director of the CIA William J. Burns, and where he thinks the world is headed.

Christo Grozev once humorously described himself as an ‘internet nerd’ who hunted Russian trolls in his spare time. Well, his hobby has now made him an internationally celebrated journalist - and earned him a place on Russia’s most wanted list. As Lead Russia Investigator for the open-source investigative website Bellingcat, Grozev is one of the best people to talk to if you want to learn more about the war of information being fought by Moscow, and how data trails from some of the GRU’s more clumsy spies are giving canny investigators and journalists the chance to expose some of Russia’s activities it would rather you not know about. Sir Richard Dearlove and Julia Macfarlane sit down with him to find out more.

2022 was a crazy year. And our Sir Richard Dearlove says 2023 won't be any less eventful. The former head of MI6 sits down with host Julia Macfarlane to discuss what the future might hold for the war in Ukraine, the burgeoning protest movement in China, and the United States presidential race.

Rory Stewart caused a buzz when he challenged Boris Johnson for leadership of the Conservative Party. He did not win the leadership, but he won widespread support for his ‘Rory Walks’ campaign across the United Kingdom, from Brits of all political stripes. He is also known for his walks across Afghanistan, where he was hunted by the Taliban in the mountains between Herat and Kabul at the height of the United States occupation in 2001. Stewart has been a diplomat, a politician, a soldier and - some say - a spy. But you’ll find him today championing one of his biggest passions - international aid, as the head of GiveDirectly, one of the biggest international charities in the world. One Decision’s Julia Macfarlane and Sir Richard Dearlove talk with Stewart and discuss whether the United Kingdom’s handling of its aid and soft power has seen better days, and what it means for Britain’s place in the world.

As part of our end-of-year review looking into the biggest decisions of 2022, we look at how Putin's invasion of Ukraine plunged Europe into its biggest security crisis since the Second World War. Just a few days after Putin ordered troops to cross the border into Ukraine, German Chancellor Scholz declared a historic reversal of decades-old policy and a 100 billion euro fund to bolster Germany's armed forces. After leading the UK out of the EU, Boris Johnson suddenly became one of the continent's biggest advocates for defense, spearheading much of the response to Ukraine. And old attitudes to Russia and the West were suddenly reevaluated around the world. The Economist's Anne McElvoy, Prashant Rao of Semafor, and BloombergTV's Maria Tadeo joined One Decision for a look at how the Ukraine war has changed the political map for Europe. 

For our end-of-year review, we analyzed the big events and decisions made in 2022 - the headline blockbusters that dominated the headlines: Putin’s war in Ukraine, Xi’s third term, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the surprising United States midterm elections. But what about the choices made that flew under the radar? Or the choices that needed to be made in 2022, but were ignored? One Decision is joined by a panel of leading journalists to discuss a momentous year and the stories that you may have missed.One Decision has been selected as a finalist for the 1st Annual Signal Listener’s Choice Award for Best Conversation Starter. Please follow this link to vote now: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2022/individual-episodes/general/best-conversation-starter

2022 started with the White House warning that Putin planned to invade Ukraine. Many were skeptical. But in this year's most significant decision survey of more than 100 journalists, the consensus is in: Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was the biggest decision of 2022. Some of the other decisions will surprise you and might end up having more impact in 2023. In this roundup of the biggest stories of the year, we examine them all as we end one year and move on to the next. One Decision is joined in London by The Economist's Anne McElvoy, Semafor's Prashant Rao, and Bloomberg's Maria Tadeo. 

Jeremy Bowen, International Editor at the BBC sits down with One Decision shortly after returning from the Ukrainian frontline, having been embedded with troops as government forces retook control of the occupied city of Kherson last month. A huge victory for Kyiv and a humiliating setback for Putin, who has this week admitted on television that his 'special operation' is likely to take a long time to complete, and tried to downplay rumors swirling of a second mobilization for more soldiers to join his invasion. Meanwhile, United States intelligence says that the Russians and Ukrainians are likely to pause the fighting over the bitter winter period - though aerial bombardment on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities is causing devastation for civilians facing freezing temperatures with no heating, water, or electricity. The United Kingdom's Defence Ministry says that the Russians may be preparing to attack more cities close to the areas they control in the east of Ukraine. As always, we will have an analysis by One Decision's Sir Richard Dearlove, the former chief of MI6.

The United States' last legislative elections surprised many political onlookers in the country. Unlike long-standing precedent, where the president's party usually suffers severe losses during these midterm elections, the Democrats actually held control of the Senate and narrowly lost the House of Representatives. We bring together President Donald Trump's former Communications Director Alyssa Farrah Griffin together with Johanna Maska, a veteran of President Obama's Director of Press Advance. They offer a special post-mortem on the gains, losses, and the challenging roads that lie ahead for both parties over the next two years. These prominent pundits for their parties provide unvarnished and at times unexpected analysis of who may stand for the presidency in 2024, along with the international implications of these historic elections.