The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Suella Braverman’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda has been described as inhuman. But what is the country actually like? And what does the nation’s Government get out of the deal? Award winning journalist Anjan Sundaram joins Arthur Snell on a deep-dive into a country few of us know, but is rarely out of headlines. Anjan describes life after the genocide, the Western blind-spot to present human rights abuses and the political coercion at the heart of the present regime. Anjan wrote about the persecution of journalists in Rwanda in his book ‘Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship’. His forthcoming book Breakup on the war in the Central African Republic will be published in May.  “Rwanda is a surveillance state of the highest degree.” “Kagame has ruled over Rwanda for 30 years, and he has positioned himself as a global postcolonial leader.” “Partnering with the UK paints Rwanda as a safe haven instead of the dictatorship it is.”  “During the genocide, the West did very little to intervene and Kagame has used that for his own political agenda.” https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Arthur Snell. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UK is “muddling towards extinction”, says the Irish thinker and journalist Fintan O’Toole. Neglected by a Westminster political class that’s preoccupied by Brexit, the things that once held it together are disappearing. He tells Ros Taylor how England is embracing a nationalism it can’t articulate, why the SNP has failed to get what it wants, and why the UK is not the natural union that its supporters believe it to be. “The UK was not a natural occurrence.” “Englishness knows what it is not, but not what it is.” “With Brexit, this is always where it was going to end up — and no one in Britain cared.” “The English reluctantly accepted Scots, but only through an unequal relationship.” Fintan O’Toole’s latest book is We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland since 1958.https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NATO’s power has been thrown into sharp focus amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. How does it operate – and what has it got right and wrong of late? Alex Andreou is joined by Mark Webber, a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham who is co-authoring the book What’s Wrong with NATO and How to Fix It, to discuss the military alliance. “Whenever NATO acts it is acting as the aggregate of its members, that is its great strength.” “What NATO has done very well is it has strengthened its own defences.”  “NATO enlargement is not a project that was anti-Russian, but where things failed is that project was not successful in bringing in Russia as a partner.”  “The US is still the dominant power in Europe after the Cold War.” “There is moral clarity around the current support for Ukraine – but that longer thought is important.”  www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Alex Andreou. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: … Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Iraq War began 20 years ago – what lessons have been, and what must still be, learned from this invasion? Arthur Snell, the host of Doomsday Watch who served as a diplomat in Iraq, joins Alex Andreou to discuss the mistakes that were made, the human and cultural costs of the conflict, and the arguments surrounding a conflict which fundamentally reshaped global politics. “There was a lot of groupthink and clustering around a set of predetermined conclusions.”  “The human losses, the cultural losses, the rise of Isis, there are so many long term effects of this war – to keep saying it was worth it to get rid of Saddam, you have to ask ‘What level of loss overwrites that argument?’” “There is a fundamental loss in confidence… people lost confidence that the Government was telling the truth.”  “This intelligence should have never gotten that far… the people best placed to examine this were not shown it.”  www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Alex Andreou. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are in hot water – how will each try to wriggle their way out of trouble? The former PM faces the privileges committee for a grilling, while the ex-President has said he could be arrested this week. It’s also the twenty year anniversary of the second Iraq war, while bank Credit Suisse has been bought by UBS, and the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin. Alex Andreou is joined by Gavin Esler to give you the stories to look out for this week. “We’re not talking about one lapse of judgement from Boris Johnson, we’re talking about a pattern.”  “I mean this as a compliment, Sunak and Biden are quite boring – and that gives me optimism I don’t usually have.”  “With Trump and Johnson, politics was like a transatlantic reality TV show. Hopefully it is over now.”  Support us on Patreon:www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Alex Andreou with Gavin Esler. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most people consider themselves reasonable. But are they? And what rules is that notion defined by? Siân Pattenden is joined by Kirsty Sedgman, author of On Being Unreasonable, to discuss what the response to breastfeeding in public, noisy theatre audiences, neighbourhood watch indiscretions and Edward Coulston show about society today – and whether our collective rules might be wrong.  ““Being ‘reasonable’ has usually meant being a man.” “The NextDoor app shows us the dangers of thinking you are reasonable – when really you aren’t.” “We need to take acting ‘reasonably’ seriously because it involves policing and power.” “Who are the rules of ‘being unreasonable’ harming?” www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and Presented by Siân Pattenden. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Republicans play chicken with the debt ceiling, could America suffer a Liz Truss-esque financial meltdown? Alex Andreou speaks to Neil Malhotra, a professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, to discuss this financial showdown being played out by Congress.  “Republicans see it as part of a game – this is an opportunity to extract concessions.”  “It’s like Liz Truss’ financial plans, it’s hard to know what might happen.”  “As you found in the UK – what happens first is that the markets anticipate everything.”  “If you’re willing to let the country go down, you’re in a much stronger negotiating position than if you’re not. Republicans are in a stronger position because they’re viewed as though they’d tank the whole thing.”  Support us on Patreon:www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Alex Andreou. Music and Audio Production by Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tax breaks for the 1%, business giveaways that won’t make a difference, free child care that turns out to be a fraction of what’s needed, and nothing for public services. Does Jeremy Hunt’s Budget make sense? Is he loading the pain onto the next government because he knows it won’t be Conservative one? And can he put the post-Truss tax-cutting headbangers back in their box? New Economics Foundation chief exec and Bunker regular Miatta Fahnbulleh takes the Budget apart for Andrew Harrison. Support us on Patreon:www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The unexpected “accidental” deaths of prominent Russians have become a dark joke in the West. But the truth about ‘Sudden Russian Death’ syndrome is even darker.Bill Browder campaigned for the Magnitsky Acts against Russian corruption and wrote Freezing Order: A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath. He tells Andrew Harrison about the chaos within wartime Russia; what turned Putin from a reformer into a despot; and why Ukraine must win this war. You can get Bill's book here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freezing-Order-Laundering-Surviving-Vladimir-ebook/dp/B09RKQFJXZ “As the Russian economy grinds to a halt, anyone with assets is caught in the crossfire.” “In Russia, when money is scarce it is more important than human life.” “Oligarchs are not independently rich. They are dependent on Putin’s favour. He can take everything away in a second.” “Either Ukraine wins or Russia wins. And if Russia wins they won’t stop at Ukraine.” Support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tomas Rojas. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The war in Syria began twelve years ago today. But who are the key players in this complex conflict? And how have changes of leadership in neighbouring countries and the recent earthquake changed how the war is being fought? Alex Andreou is joined by Christopher Phillips, professor of international politics at the Queen Mary University of London and author of The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East, to discuss the current status of the conflict. “Things have settled into a familiar if miserable pattern.”  “Iran and Russia propped up Assad through money and foreign mercenaries.” www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and Presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionInstagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices