One Decision Situation Room Studios

Norman Roule served for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing significant programs related to the Middle East, including his role as National Intelligence manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from November 2008 to 2017. Roule joins guest host and journalist Christina Ruffini and One Decision's resident spymaster, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove, to discuss the new security threats in the Middle East after Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel. Roule says Tehran will test the limits of the "new red lines" to keep Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and others under pressure in a quagmire in the region. They also discuss how the crisis will change U.S. Middle East policy, the status of Iran's nuclear program, and predictions on the Islamic Republic's next steps.

Ambassador Laurent Bili has served as his nation's diplomatic eyes and ears on the ground in Washington, D.C. —and across the country—since he began his posting in the spring of 2023. Guest host and journalist Liz Landers and One Decision's resident spymaster Sir Richard Dearlove speak with him about the prospects for Congress to pass a support package for Ukraine and President Macron's comments that Western boots on the ground cannot be ruled out. They also discuss the NATO alliance and the European Union's military commitment to Ukraine, the war in Gaza, and the potential security concerns around the upcoming Paris Olympics. Plus, Sir Richard talks with Bili about his previous posting in Beijing, where he arrived as the ambassador in September 2019, and navigated several years of diplomacy during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Greece's Special Envoy to Ukraine, Ambassador Spiros Lambridis, knows firsthand what Ukrainians have been experiencing since Russia's full-scale invasion of their country. He tells One Decision's resident spymaster Sir Richard Dearlove and guest host, BBC anchor Kasia Madera, how a Russian ballistic missile struck just a few hundred meters from where he and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were meeting Ukriane's President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a wide-ranging interview, Ambassador Lambridis shares strong words about Russia. He also speaks of his heartache over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, a region he knows well, having served as Greece's Ambassador to Israel. Ambassador Lambridis also discusses his government's enthusiasm for building closer relations with China at a time when Western nations are issuing sanctions in attempts to stop widespread Chinese state-sponsored cyber attacks. Plus, Sir Richard discusses coordination and intelligence methods on the ground in Gaza after seven international aid workers from Chef José Andrés World Central Kitchen charity were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas serves as the chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversees the State Department and shapes the United States foreign policy. Guest host and correspondent Christina Ruffini sat down with McCaul for a wide-ranging interview about the stalled $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, Middle East security, and whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza could damage Israel's standing on the global stage. McCaul discusses his work leading the oversight investigation into the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Kabul and says that U.S. foreign policy has been "abysmal," starting with the fall of Afghanistan in 2021. Plus, One Decision's resident spymaster, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove, discusses the current state of intelligence-sharing with Russia after the deadly mass shooting in Moscow and whether the Kremlin failed to heed the West's warning of a terrorist attack.

The United Kingdom and the United States are two leading governments working on transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050. Both the Sunak and Biden administrations have set ambitious goals for the next several decades, and in some ways, they are going about it similarly with sweeping legislation—like the Inflation Reduction Act—that is setting new standards. Guest host and journalist Liz Landers spoke with two top officials overseeing this work for their respective countries: UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, and United States Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk. Coutinho's a rising star in the conservative government who was first elected in 2019—and has the ear of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a close advisor. We asked her about nuclear power, using oil and gas drilling licenses to stabilize energy sources during the transition, and how the war between Ukraine and Russia has impacted energy policy. Across the pond in the United States, Turk has decades of experience in government, including working in President Biden's senate office, and more recently was the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. We spoke with Turk about the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive piece of legislation signed in 2022 that invests in clean and domestic energy projects—and why there aren't more electric vehicle charging stations around the country.

This week, Vladimir Putin hailed a landslide win for a fifth term in an election with no real opposition, whose result was never in question. In a victory speech extending his iron grip on power, Putin warned that World War III between Russia and the West is not out of the question. Guest host and foreign affairs journalist Indira Lakshmanan and One Decision’s resident spymaster, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove speak with Sir Laurie Bristow, who served two tours in Putin’s Russia as Britain’s ambassador to Moscow and as deputy chief of mission, about what to expect in the next six years from the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin. Bristow says that relations between Russia and NATO are at their most fragile point since the Cold War. Indira also spoke with Putin expert Dr. Angela Stent for her readout of the election results. Stent, a former U.S. national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia says the reelection of Donald Trump could be a victory for Putin, and warned of Russia’s attempts to meddle in the U.S. election.