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North Korea’s dynasty dictatorship has taken on a new leather clad, second-in-command. Reports from South Korea have suggested that Kim Jong Un’s daughter Kim Ju-ae is now the heir apparent in the totalitarian state. Could she one day be the youngest person to command a nuclear arsenal? Roland chats to The Telegraph’s Lily Shanagher and from the University of Oxford, North Korea watcher, Dr Edward Howell, to unpack what we know from the shadows. Plus, after the Munich Security Conference at the weekend, Europe is facing a new future without Washington’s steadying hand and will have to be less reliant on the Stars and Stripes. But is European defence manufacturing scaling up in line with these new demands? Roland speaks to Philip Lockwood from defence startup Stark to find out just how quickly the ambitions are being realised.  Read Lily's article on Kim Ju-ae: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/16/kim-opens-neighbourhood-families-soldiers-killed-ukraine/ Pic credit: KCNA via Reuters Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year ago, JD Vance gave an explosive speech at the Munich Security Conference. It marked a fundamental shift in the relationship between the US and its European allies that have since been cemented through tariff wars, a new National Security Strategy and threats to take Greenland.   So has Europe risen to the challenge laid down by Donald Trump's administration and started to take care of its own security? Is there any trust left in the trans-Atlantic relationship? And will there be another attack on Europe at this weekend's Munich conference?  Venetia and Roland chat to David Blair, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, and Joe Barnes, Brussels Correspondent to find out.  Read Joe Barnes's story on how Europe ‘must become military superpower’ to survive without US: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/11/europe-must-be-military-superpower-to-survive-without-us/ Read David Blair's analysis: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/d/da-de/david-blair/ Pic credit: Matthias Schrader/AP Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly a year after Donald Trump shuttered USAID, the world is still reckoning with the consequences. But what really happened next? Venetia Rainey examines the fallout and what it means for global health, security, and stability. Joined by Global Health Security Editor, Paul Nuki, she explores how the abrupt withdrawal of America’s largest aid agency sent shockwaves through the global aid system, disrupted lifesaving programmes, and potentially contributed to millions of preventable deaths. They are joined by Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, and Kevin Melton, a former USAID official and now CEO of PAX Strategies, offering insider perspectives on what was lost and what may be emerging in its place. Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan Executive Producer: Louisa Wells Studio Operator: Meghan Searle ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarainey @ascottgeddes Pic credit: Simon Townsley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump has moved the war for critical minerals from the margins of policy to the heart of great power rivalry. In this episode of Battle Lines, we look at Project Vault, America's bid to take back control of the critical minerals and rare earths supply chain from China.  This bid to build a vast new stockpile and industrial strategy was unveiled at the inaugural US Critical Minerals Ministerial Summit last week. Supporters see it as a necessary first step to protect American industry and national security. Critics warn that for middle countries, it may simply shift dependencies rather than break them. Venetia talks to Sibylline Chief Analyst Sam Olsen to unpack what Project Vault really means, why processing matters more than mining, and how China has weaponised its dominance in ways OPEC never could.  Plus, a deep dive on how Greenland fits into the West's rare earths strategy. Greenland Energy, Business and Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen on that Trump deal, Chinese influence and the challenges of mining on the island.  Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was Peter Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the US a national security risk? Should the US and UK bomb Iran to spark regime change? Will Nato survive Trump? And how should European countries deal with the threat of China? British shadow defence secretary and former procurement minister James Cartlidge joins Roland and Venetia to discuss the biggest news stories in British and global defence at the moment, from Russia's Yantar 'spy ship' to the 'poison chalice' and beleaguered Ajax tank program. We want to hear why you enjoy Battle Lines! Email us: [email protected] Read Sophia Yan's story on how China is powering Putin’s deadly new Oreshnik missiles: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/28/china-helping-russia-build-nuclear-capable-missile/ Read Roland's analysis of the Army’s £6bn Ajax disaster: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/23/inside-army-ajax-disaster/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the New START treaty expires, ending the last remaining major nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. With no binding limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals and China rapidly expanding its own, many fear the start of a new and dangerous era of proliferation. On this episode of Battle Lines: Global Health Security, Arthur Scott-Geddes and Sophie O’Sullivan are joined by Darya Dolzikova of the Royal United Services Institute and Matthew Bunn of Harvard Kennedy School to unpack why Donald Trump wants to rebuild America's nuclear stockpile and whether an arms race is already underway. As the Doomsday Clock edges closer to midnight, how worried should we be? Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan Executive Producer: Louisa Wells Studio Operator: Meghan Searle ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarainey @ascottgeddes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States appeared poised for a major military confrontation with Iran after Donald Trump ordered a powerful naval force into the region in response to the killing of thousands of Iranian protesters.  The expected strikes never came. Instead, Washington has shifted towards using military pressure as leverage for a renewed nuclear deal. Does this mark a genuine de-escalation? Or is it merely a pause before conflict? As diplomacy falters, tensions remain high and, inside Iran, the regime faces deepening political fractures as internet blackouts lift and grim details of last month’s massacres begin to emerge. Roland is joined by The Telegraph’s Akhtar Makoii and Sascha Bruchmann from the International Institute For Strategic Studies. Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Xi Jinping is purging again. Generals once seen as untouchable are gone, rivals erased, loyalty enforced through fear. Is this the move of a leader under real threat or the paranoia of a man who has ruled too long and trusts no one? To find out more, Venetia talks to Oriana Skylar Mastro, director of the Indo-Pacific Policy Lab at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been to Beijing, the first British leader to do so in eight years, talking trade, visas and whisky tariffs while security concerns barely made the script. We hear from The Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith, behind the smiles come burner phones, burner laptops, fears of honey traps and even planes being bugged. Economic opportunity versus national security. Values versus power.  Meanwhile Britain faces its own reckoning. Spies in Parliament. Phones hacked inside Downing Street. A vast Chinese mega embassy rising in central London amid warnings from MI5. Venetia is joined in the studio by The Telegraph’s Gareth Corfield and Rozina Sabur to discuss the extent of the national security threat posed by China. Read Rozina Sabur's hacking scoop: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/26/china-hacked-downing-street-phones-for-years/ Read Gareth Corfield's embassy scoop: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/12/revealed-china-embassy-secret-plans-spy-basement/ Read Colin Freeman's analysis: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/27/general-zhang-youxia-chinas-nuclear-secrets/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gaza has entered the next phase of the peace process but is the ceasefire actually bringing peace? This week, Venetia Rainey and Arthur Scott-Geddes speak to Tess Ingram, UNICEF spokesperson who has just returned from four months on the ground. She outlines the humanitarian situation following the ceasefire, from winter shelters and malnutrition to unexploded ordnance, orphaned children, and the daily challenges facing civilians. Plus, The Telegraph’s Global Health Security Editor Paul Nuki examines Donald Trump’s controversial Board of Peace: how it works, why it has divided international allies, and what it could mean for disarming Hamas and the future of the conflict. Read Paul's article on how Northern Ireland can provide a roadmap for Gaza: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/23/how-northern-irelands-peace-can-provide-a-roadmap-for-gaza/ Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan Executive Producer: Louisa Wells Studio Operator: Meghan Searle ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarainey @ascottgeddes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For more than a decade, Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria were America's most trusted ally, spearheading the war against Isis, taking responsibility for guarding thousands of jihadi prisoners of war, and in the process carving out an autonomous statelet that seemed poised to realise the dream of Kurdish independence. Over the past few weeks, that dream as has been crushed. In a sudden offensive, Ahmed Al Sharaa's transitional Syrian government has evicted the Kurds from vast territories including the country's biggest oilfield. Abandoned by their American allies, the Kurds have been forced to cede ground including the sprawling Isis prison camps. What now for the Kurds, for Syria, and for the jihadists Isis veterans? To answer this and more, Roland is joined by The Telegraph's senior foreign correspondent Sophia Yan and Senior Research Fellow, Middle East Security, Dr Burcu Ozcelik from RUSI. Read Dr Burcu's research paper on northern Syria: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27342855  Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump has abruptly backed down over the US takeover of Greenland. From the icy streets of Nuuk our correspondent James Rothwell reports from the centre of an unusual geopolitical spotlight as Greenlanders try to make sense of their island’s sudden importance and the anxiety of being discussed by faraway powers. Greenland itself emerges not as a prize but as a place with its own history identity and quiet resilience. James paints a picture of a small Arctic capital balancing fishing tourism and everyday life while navigating long memories of colonial rule and new questions about sovereignty security and self determination. Back in the studio Venetia and Roland are joined by Chief Foreign Commentator David Blair to unpack what Trump’s partial retreat really means and to explore the wider implications of Mark Carney’s striking Davos speech. Carney argues we are living through a rupture not a transition and urges middle powers to face reality and work together in a world where power politics is once again shaping events. Read James Rothwell's Greenland dispatch: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/24/trump-provokes-a-rare-emotion-in-greenland-blind-rage/ Read David Blair's analysis of the Greenland deal: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/22/predicted-greenland-deal-not-good-one/ Read Roland Oliphant on Trump's Board of Peace: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/22/monarchs-and-pariahs-join-trumps-board-of-peace-parade/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After five years of brutal civil war, Myanmar’s ruling military is holding an election that many say is a sham. But it has a major backer: China. So why is Beijing suddenly interested in democracy in this conflict-stricken country? Venetia Rainey and Arthur Scott-Geddes speak to the Telegraph’s Global Health Security correspondent Sarah Newey about her recent trip to Yangon and Joe Freeman, researcher for Amnesty International. Read Sarah's dispatch: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/why-china-is-forcing-myanmars-junta-to-stage-an-election/ Watch Sarah talking about scam centres in Laos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nRBG037FT0 Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan Executive Producer: Louisa Wells Studio Operator: Meghan Searle ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarainey @ascottgeddes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With tariffs aimed at Europe over Greenland, Nato teetering on the brink and Donald Trump flexing military muscle like never before, this is geopolitics as a personal power play. Venetia and Roland are joined by the Alliance’s former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Philip Breedlove who lays bare the strategic and moral fallout of Mr Trump’s actions and why he would refuse the order to invade Greenland if it came. The retired four star US Air Force general also reflects on the impact of America’s new National Security Strategy and the state of the Pentagon’s fleet of fighter jets.  Plus, US correspondent Connor Stringer on what it’s been like having a front row seat to the president’s second-term storm, sharing what it is really like to cover an administration that is rewriting the international security architecture. Read David Blair on why this is a gift to Putin: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/19/trump-handed-putin-prize-soviet-union-40-years/ Read Tom Sharpe on why the US doesn’t need Greenland militarily: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/18/us-never-needed-greenland-for-military-reasons/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump’s talk of taking Greenland isn’t a joke, that much is now clear. His ambition to "conquer" the autonomous Danish territory is a direct challenge to the EU, Nato, and the post-Cold War security order - so what should Europe do? Roland chats to Rachel Ellehuus, head of British defence and security think tank RUSI and formerly a senior US official in Nato and the Pentagon. She explains why Greenland matters far more than most people realise: from missile defence and Arctic dominance to critical minerals and great-power competition.  They also discuss why Trump’s threats should be taken seriously, how Denmark and Greenland are responding behind the scenes, and why this moment is critical for Europe if it wants to protect its values and way of life.  To watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/96WiO6QE6WQ Archive: PBS News.  Picture credit: OLIVIER HOSLET/EPA/Shutterstock, BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producer: Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected]  @venetiarainey @RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iran is in crisis. The price of bread has more than doubled, the currency has collapsed to record lows, and protests have erupted across the country. As security forces respond with deadly force, doctors inside Iran are being warned not to treat injured protesters and hospitals are buckling under the strain. In this episode of Battle Lines: Global Health Security, we go inside Iran’s overwhelmed healthcare system. We speak to Dr Kayvan Mirhadi, an Iranian-American doctor who has gathered testimonies from doctors across the country.  Venetia and Arthur also speak to Dr Sanam Vakil from Chatham House to examine the deeper forces driving this moment: food insecurity, economic collapse, water shortages, women’s rights, and years of systemic mismanagement. Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan Executive Producer: Louisa Wells Studio Operator: Meghan Searle ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor Contact us with feedback or ideas: [email protected] @venetiarainey @ascottgeddes Picture credit: AP Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.