The General & the Journalist

The Kremlin's treasury runneth-over with oil revenues, Moscow's military is being treated to a lesson in the latest US warfare in real time, and the world's eyes are averted from Ukraine. Trump's war with Iran has been a boon for President Putin. And yet rumours of paranoia, deserting elites, and strange defections abound. To decipher what exactly is going on in Moscow, Patrick and Tom are joined by Russia-watcher extraordinaire, Mark Galeotti. Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnGuest: Mark GaleottiProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachImage: GettyListen here to Mark's podcast, In Moscow's Shadows

World-renowned historian Peter Frankopan joins Tom and Patrick to dissect the escalating conflict in Iran through the lens of ancient history and shifting civilisations. The Silk Roads author argues the war is less a standalone event and more the continuation of a century-long struggle for control over the "spine of the world" and its vital resources, namely oil.Upending international law, decades-long alliances, and the norms of democracy, Frankopan posits that the war has buried multilateralism for good, and is as consequential for geopolitics as either the fall of the Berlin Wall or 9/11. Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnGuest: Peter FrankopanProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachImage: Getty

We are in the second week of a war that was supposed to be over by now. Yet the world is facing soaring oil prices, rising inflation and a regime which doesn't seem ready to capitulate.  While President Trump continues to threaten Iran, he faces the limits of what air power, alone, can achieve and increasing pressure at home. Recording on Day 12 of the conflict, Patrick and Tom are joined by Sir Simon Gass, former Ambassador to Tehran and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, to dissect the rise of a new Iranian dynasty and the high-stakes search for an off-ramp that no one seems able to find.Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnGuest: Sir Simon GassProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachImage: GettyClips: War.gov

President Trump has given numerous reasons for America's war on Iran. But if a clear objective cannot be defined, can that war be won?Admiral James 'Sandy' Winnefeld is a former vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Until last year he headed the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, overseeing planning for American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.He joins Tom and Patrick to talk US tactics, Iranian response and a possible end-game.Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnGuest: Admiral James 'Sandy' WinnefeldProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachImage: GettyClips: Whitehouse.gov, Reuters, USA Today, @WION.

Two years ago, Al Carns was a colonel in the Royal Marines and, though he can never confirm or deny it, had also commanded the Special Boat Service. He pivoted to politics when he realised that the country's military leadership did not fully grasp the seismic shift in warfare brought about by drones and AI - but he did.Having risen at breakneck speed to become armed forces minister, Al talks candidly to Patrick and Tom about the need for the country to prepare for war with Russia in "three to five years."Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnGuest: Al Carns DSO OBE MC MPProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachImage: courtesy of Al Carns

Beginning with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but accelerated by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has super-charged its military to become the third largest in Nato, behind only Turkey and the US.It spends more on defence as a proportion of national wealth than even America and is soon to have more large tanks than the UK, Germany and France combined.So how did this happen, what are the implications, and are there lessons to be learned for the UK? Host:Tom Newton DunnGuests: Oliver Moody and Bartosz KielakProducer: Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Fiona LeachPhoto: Getty Images