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The world is closer to war than it has been for decades. As the US and China square up to each other, any of the flashpoints in the Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan and the South China Sea could erupt at any time. All it would take is one rash act. World War 1 began with a Bosnian separatist, Gavrilo Princip, shooting and killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife in 1914. It turned out the world then was ripe for war, South African Institute for International Affairs chief Elizabeth Sidiropoulos tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge. And it may be ripe again now.

Technology is dramatically speeding up change. The first meeting this week of the Cabinet of President Cyril Ramaphosa's new coalition Cabinet must quickly come to grips with the ferocity of the revolution rushing towards South Africa. In all probability they will ignore it. But as futurist Neil Jacobsohn tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge, we. are already behind the curve. Artificial Intelligence will change almost every aspect of our lives and while renewable energy will kill off almost 3m jobs in the coal and oil and gas industries, the International Energy Agency reckons it'll create another 13m in their place. Time to get on the bus.

Former DA leader Tony Leon has emerged mightily relieved to get his life back after two weeks spent in the political cauldron he left behind more than a decade ago. He tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge that DA ministers in President Cyril Ramaphosa's are not going to be hogtied and will be able to make their presence felt. Though dominant, the ANC nevertheless has "negative power" in the GNU in that while it can stop policy initiatives it doesn't agree with, it can't stop alternatives surfacing.

Former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has harsh words for the Independent Electoral Commission and praise for ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa and ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula following last week’s tumultuous election results. As he heads off to join the DA’s post-election negotiating team he tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge that the Constitution wasn’t designed to deal with a collapse in the ruling party vote that occurred last week. It gives political leaders precious little time to stitch together a government of different parties that can guarantee stability for a long period. The Germans take months. The Belgians once took more than a year. We have two weeks.

Trade specialist and CEO of XA Global Trade Advisory Donald MacKay is unimpressed with the good press trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel has been getting (and giving himself) lately. At his lyrical best in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge he tells Peter Bruce that far from kick starting a re-industrialisation of SA, Patel's industry master plans have created a subsidised elite trading at the expense of the public and smaller competitors who can't afford to join the club.

The sun will rise after the May 29 election, an ANC/EFF coalition is highly unlikely and there are real signs that some of President Cyril Ramaphosa's reforms are beginning to find traction, economist and analyst Peter Attard Montalto tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts From the Edge. A big problem on both sides of the election though is the continuing failure of industrial policy to even begin to re-industrialise the economy, Attard Montalto says and repeats the description of ANC industrial policy he used in his Business Day column on Monday. It is he says, "a smouldering radioactive waste pile".