Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell

The actual end of the Western Alliance, the departure of the United States from European Security and the need for a new Euro-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (EATO) is the subject of this fascinating and urgent discussion with Mike Martin, MP for Tunbridge Wells, member of the defence select committee and military expert.

In November 2023, I spoke to John Sweeney, veteran war correspondent, about the pressures on Ukraine as the world's attention turned towards the Middle East in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and Israel's assault on Gaza. What he said at the time now sounds both poignant and prescient in the light of the unfolding betrayal of Ukraine by Donald Trump, something which was both predictable and widely predicted.

Gaia Vince is a writer, journalist and fascinating thinker on issues relating to the crossover between humanity and the planet we inhabit. Her book Nomad Century looks at how climate change affects the liveability of large areas of the planet and the likely impact that will have.You can find her work here https://wanderinggaia.com/ and on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/wanderinggaia.bsky.social

The idea that people can change weather has a long history - both as part of mythology and as part of modern day conspiracy theory. But the science of geoengineering is one that some scientists think could be an important opportunity to give the world space to make progress on reducing CO2 emissions. But geoengineering, including stratospheric aerosol injection, remains very controversial and little understood. Alistair Duffey is a scientist at University College London and one of a small number of researchers looking into solar geoengineering. He spoke about his work, the risks and potentialities that go with it, and whether it might be something we can expect in the near future.Alistair Duffey mentions a novel about this subject, Termination Shock.

How would the Gulf countries transition to a post oil economy? Could they do so and what happens if they don't? I spoke to Dr David Roberts, author of Security Politics in the Gulf Monarchies about this complex future.

This is a co-host with the Disorder Podcast. You can find their details here: https://tr.ee/ksicr-3Wty

Since 2011, war crimes investigator Bill Wiley has been on the trail of the criminal elements of the Assad regime who have carried out extraordinary amounts of killings, torture and other crimes. His organisation https://cijaonline.org/ has been collecting evidence and documenting these crimes since the start of the civil war. Now that Assad's regime has fallen, it was a good opportunity to understand the current status and likely trajectory of attempts to bring justice to Syrians.

How does a society like France grapple with the challenge of populist politics? I spoke to Thom Reilly, former British Ambassador to Morocco who was a candidate in the European parliamentary elections for Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance political party.

Marika Mariashvili returns for a special bonus episode as Georgia faces a constitutional crisis - the existing president refusing to cede power after a stolen election, and a new puppet in place taking his order from Moscow.