World Questions

The deep divisions of Brexit Britain are explored with a raucous London audience and an expert panel. A further referendum? The Prime Minister's withdrawal deal? How has voting to leave the European Union affected Britain’s standing in the world? BBC World Questions is in the capital to debate some of the contentious issues that are still dividing the UK.

Following a popular and peaceful uprising last year, the country’s new Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, won over 70% of the vote at recent elections. He says his political bloc will now lead an economic revolution that will help pull many of its people out of poverty. How will the new government deliver this transformation? Will it balance growth and investment with environmental concerns? And what will drive Armenia’s foreign policy goals?

Some believe Europe is more divided than ever. After years of austerity and migration, populists are on the rise in countries like Italy, framing politics as a battle between ordinary voters and a corrupt European ‘establishment’. But the continent is also divided over how to move forward in a world where rising economic powerhouses threaten to dominate. Zeinab Badawi and her panel - Hugh Bronson from Germany’s AFD party, Marta Grande from Italy’s 5Star Movement, Anna Maria Corazza Bildt from the European People’s Party and Pauline Bock, a French journalist and political commentator - take questions from an audience in Rome about the future of the continent.

The cannabis industry, reparations for slavery, how to tackle the fourth highest murder rate in the world: World Questions is in Jamaica to debate the big issues of a country which despite its problems has a host of successes in fields as diverse as academia, athletics, literature and reggae music.

Brazil’s burning issues are discussed with an audience of Brazilians at the Cultura Inglesa in São Paulo. Jonny Dymond and a panel of leading politicians and commentators tackle the recent election of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, the environment, racism and crime.

India’s key issues are hotly debated with a Delhi audience at the British Council’s HQ. Anu Anand and a panel of leading politicians and commentators tackle jobs, pollution, fake news and the controversy over spending $430m building the world’s tallest statue.

Following a swing to the right in elections last year, Austria is governed by a coalition between the ruling Conservative People’s Party and the far-right Freedom Party. It has taken over the presidency of the Council of the European Union with the motto, “A Europe that protects”, with a focus on efforts to prevent illegal immigration into the EU. Jonathan Dimbleby chairs a public debate on Austria’s political and economic future at the Theatre Museum in Vienna.

After 70 years of independence Global Questions travels to New Delhi to assess India today, where it stands on the international stage, and its fast growing economic strength, which some say could help it rival China as a global powerhouse. Join Zeinab Badawi at Bikaner House in the heart of New Delhi as she brings together an audience drawn from across India, with a high profile panel of political and public figures, to find out if India is set to become the next superpower.On the panel:Meenakshi Lekhi – MP and spokesperson BJP Chhavi Rajawat – Sarpanch, Soda Village Rajasthan Manu Joseph – Writer and journalist Binny Bansal – Co-founder and CEO Flipkart Aditi Mittal – Comedian, writer and actressProducer: Ben Carter

Can engineering solve the world’s problems? Three of the world’s greatest bio engineers discuss climate change, crop failure and infertility at a special event staged in partnership with the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Professor Madeleine Van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science is developing heat resistant corals; the Ethiopian agronomist Gebisa Ejeta from Purdue University, USA is engineering drought and pest resistant crops; and Kathy Niakin leads a team at the Crick Institute, UK and is the first scientist worldwide to get national level approval to use CRISPR to edit the DNA of human embryos. They join Razia Iqbal and a public audience at the Natural History Museum in London to discuss important and ground-breaking work.

BBC World Questions is in Copenhagen to host a debate on Denmark's future. It has a reputation for being one of the happiest places on the planet but for many that has always felt like a bit of a myth. Increasingly the challenges of immigration, integration, and high taxes are causing some Danes to question whether their country can still afford a generous welfare state. Others feel that new laws to 'ban the burka' and cuts to welfare have put the character of their nation on the line. Jonathan Dimbleby is joined by an influential panel to debate the state of the nation and its role in the world: Martin Henriksen, MP – Spokesperson on Immigration and Integration for the Danish People’s Party; Knud Romer – Author and social commentator; Uzma Ahmed – Integration Advisor and founder of the Brown Feminists Network; Pernille Skipper, MP – Political Spokesperson for the Red Green Alliance. BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.