Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell

In July this year, the well entrenched autocratic regime that ruled Bangladesh, a country of nearly 200 million people, was toppled entirely unexpectedly by a student-led democracy movement, ushering in an interim government led by a Nobel prize-winning peace and development activist. How the Bangladesh Spring happened and whether it is likely to succeed is the subject of this episode. I spoke to Dhaka-based expert David Bergman about the extraordinary events and their political background. Bergman also covers the surprising role played by supporters of Bangladesh's ruling party in British politics.https://www.channel4.com/news/tulip-siddiq-uk-wing-of-bangladeshs-ruling-party-appear-to-be-campaigning-for-labour-candidateYou can find David's work here: thedavidbergman

With the UN General Assembly taking place in New York I spoke to the International Crisis Group's UN Director Richard Gowan about the the organisation, its current challenges and where it might be headed.

I spoke to Charlie Gammell, author, former diplomat and Iran expert on the unfolding crisis in Lebanon after the explosions of Hizbullah communications equipment.

I spoke to Professor James Crossland about the extraordinary life of diplomat, secret agent and journalist Robert Bruce Lockhart.You can find James's book on the subject here: https://eandtbooks.com/books/rogue-agent/James is on Twitter @drjcrossland

Veteran foreign correspondent Jonathan Rugman is the author of The Killing in the Consulate about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. More recently he has produced a fascinating two-part documentary about MBS and his rise to power. You can find it on BBC Iplayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001zprq/the-kingdom-the-worlds-most-powerful-prince-series-1-1-game-of-thrones and you can find Jonathan's enlightening article about MBS here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz8934wrroJonathan is on Twitter at https://x.com/jrug

Have we entered a post-Western world? What does that mean and how does it look from the other side of the world? Singapore based academic and former British diplomat has published a new book, Westlessness about this idea and I spoke to him for a wide-ranging discussion on the decline of the west, the rise of Asia and the potential implications.

James Dorsey is a writer and journalist and author of the new book The Battle forthe Soul of Islam - Defining the Muslim Faith in the 21st Century, published by Macmillan.

In September last year, an established community in a European country of hundreds of thousands of people was removed in its entirety after a devastating military campaign. This was not Ukraine, but the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has now ceased to exist. To understand this and the dynamics of a little understood region including the complex interplay between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, all under the watchful and interfering Russian eye, it was a great pleasure to speak to Neil Hauer, a Canadian journalist based in the region for several years.

Away from NATO's glitzy summit 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC, the war in Ukraine drags on. Ian Bond, a former British ambassador and now Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank spoke to me about his recent visit to Ukraine and Moldova and what it portends for the war in Ukraine and wider European security.