This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters
Podmasters
  • 4.6 (133)
  • Politics
  • Weekly

Exploring threats to global stability from Ukraine to China to the Middle East with host Gavin Esler – former BBC News presenter, Washington correspondent and host of Newsnight – plus Ukraine-based war reporter Oz Katerji and independent conflict analyst Emma Beals. This Is Not A Drill dives deep into the dangers, corruption, conflicts, disinformation, rivalries and ruthless realpolitik that are making our world ever more dangerous. Support This Is Not A Drill on Patreon from just £3 per month to get each episode early plus bonus material and exclusive merchandise. From Podmasters, the team behind Oh God, What Now?, Paper Cuts and The Bunker.

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  1. 16h ago

    America, China and Russia all face crises. What does that mean for everyone else?

    A new age of Great Power competition is threatening to reshape the world, as America, China and Russia each seek to assert their dominance and spheres of influence. Yet as the era of Pax Americana recedes - and as those three countries face challenges of their own - can a new international order emerge? In the new book After America: The End of the Old Order and the Rise of the Middle Powers, Sir Robin Niblett, renowned expert on international affairs and Warden of New College, Oxford, puts the case for a new consensus, between those ‘middle powers’ reliant on trade and co-operation to look after their own, and all of our collective interests. In today’s episode, Gavin Esler joins Sir Robin to discuss the shape of things to come. • Buy Sir Robin’s After America from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. 20h ago · Subscribers Only

    America, China and Russia all face crises. What does that mean for everyone else?

    A new age of Great Power competition is threatening to reshape the world, as America, China and Russia each seek to assert their dominance and spheres of influence. Yet as the era of Pax Americana recedes - and as those three countries face challenges of their own - can a new international order emerge? In the new book After America: The End of the Old Order and the Rise of the Middle Powers, Sir Robin Niblett, renowned expert on international affairs and Warden of New College, Oxford, puts the case for a new consensus, between those ‘middle powers’ reliant on trade and co-operation to look after their own, and all of our collective interests. In today’s episode, Gavin Esler joins Sir Robin to discuss the shape of things to come. • Buy Sir Robin’s After America from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

  3. 6d ago

    What Trump’s midterm humiliation means for global conflict

    How will Trump and the GOP’s monumental defeats in the midterms impact US foreign policy? Will the resounding rebuke of Trumpism and Democratic control of both Houses of Congress force Trump to change course? In today’s episode: how will America’s domestic political turmoil affect the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, and US relationships in a divided world? Gavin Esler is joined by Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, to analyse the potential foreign policy consequences of the midterms, and discuss Trump’s legacy.  • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What Trump’s midterm humiliation means for global conflict

  4. Oct 29

    How Putin is playing Trump’s chaotic Ukraine “diplomacy” – with Oz Katerji

    Trump’s erratic actions around Ukraine look less and less like sincere bids to end the war and more like attempts to cosy up to Putin, sell out Ukraine and save himself in the midterms. And Putin is using his increased impunity. Within hours of any meeting between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russians there’s another devastating Russian missile attack on Ukraine. Is the Trump Administration just chasing its tail on Ukraine? Does any of it matter when Putin flatly refuses to accept that Ukraine deserves to exist at all? And might Witkoff’s many failures actually give the Administration’s pro-Ukraine faction more oxygen after the midterms? Oz Katerji has reported on the Ukraine War on the ground since 2022. He talks to Michael Kimmage – history professor at Catholic University of America and author of The Abandonment of the West – about the Trumpist factions driving the President’s policies and the future for Ukraine when Trump becomes a lame duck president. • Support This Is Not A Drill on Patreon and get early, ad-free episodes, merchandise and more. • Buy The Abandonment of the West through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    How Putin is playing Trump’s chaotic Ukraine “diplomacy” – with Oz Katerji

  5. Oct 28 · Subscribers Only

    How Putin is playing Trump’s chaotic Ukraine “diplomacy” – with Oz Katerji

    Trump’s erratic actions around Ukraine look less and less like sincere bids to end the war and more like attempts to cosy up to Putin, sell out Ukraine and save himself in the midterms. And Putin is making good use of his increased impunity. Within hours of any meeting between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russians, there’s another devastating Russian missile attack on Ukraine. Is the Trump Administration just chasing its tail on Ukraine? Does any of it matter when Putin flatly refuses to accept that Ukraine deserves to exist at all? And might Witkoff’s many failures actually give the Administration’s pro-Ukraine faction more oxygen after the midterms? Oz Katerji has reported on the Ukraine War on the ground since 2022. He talks to Michael Kimmage – history professor at Catholic University of America and author of The Abandonment of the West – about the Trumpist factions driving the President’s policies and the future for Ukraine when Trump becomes a lame duck president. Written and presented by Oz Katerji. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

    How Putin is playing Trump’s chaotic Ukraine “diplomacy” – with Oz Katerji

  6. Oct 22

    Cold War – The new battle for the Arctic

    A new Great Game is under way. As the frozen poles start to melt, a new “ice silk road” is emerging in the newly-navigable Arctic Ocean – and it’s subject of intense commercial and military competition between China, Europe, the US and Russia. Trump’s on-off threats to Greenland are still causing consternation across Europe and NATO, China sees a new opportunity for dominance, and to Russia the Arctic is the next military arena.  Will the next major standoff happen at the top of the world? Gavin Esler is talk to journalist and author Rana Foroohar about her book Sea Change: America’s Great Game in the Arctic Circle and how global warming and great power competition are coming to a head in the Far North. • Buy Sea Change through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Cold War – The new battle for the Arctic

  7. Oct 15

    What Trump’s latest gift to Putin means for Ukraine

    Trump’s sanction-busting diesel deal with Vladimir Putin has sent shockwaves across the world. As Ukraine braces for a Russian winter offensive, have US threats to withhold intelligence and access to weapons sold out the Ukrainian people? Gavin Esler is joined by Steven Pifer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe and a former US ambassador to Ukraine, to discuss why Trump has struck a deal with the Kremlin, the US reaction ahead of the November’s midterms, and a deepening rift in the transatlantic alliance. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What Trump’s latest gift to Putin means for Ukraine

  8. Oct 8

    Russia’s Drone War on Europe has begun

    On August 4th a drone strapped with explosives failed to detonate when it struck a Ukrainian plane at Leipzig Airport. German security services investigating the device pointed the blame at Russia’s GRU. Putin is ramping up his hybrid warfare against NATO allies, including cyber attacks, arson, sabotage and drone incursion. Just how far is he willing to go to test Europe? Gavin Esler talks to Dr Ulrike Franke, senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about the dangers of Russian drones in NATO airspace and how Europe might counter the threat.   • Read Ulrike’s ECFR report ‘Buzzkill: How to defend Europe against drones’ here. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Russia’s Drone War on Europe has begun
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Hosts & Guests

4.6
out of 5
133 Ratings

About

Exploring threats to global stability from Ukraine to China to the Middle East with host Gavin Esler – former BBC News presenter, Washington correspondent and host of Newsnight – plus Ukraine-based war reporter Oz Katerji and independent conflict analyst Emma Beals. This Is Not A Drill dives deep into the dangers, corruption, conflicts, disinformation, rivalries and ruthless realpolitik that are making our world ever more dangerous. Support This Is Not A Drill on Patreon from just £3 per month to get each episode early plus bonus material and exclusive merchandise. From Podmasters, the team behind Oh God, What Now?, Paper Cuts and The Bunker.

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