Independent Thinking

President Donald Trump brings a band of senior US business executives seeking trade deals to China for what is possibly the biggest bilateral summit of 2026. But what does the US hope to achieve? More sales of Boeings, beef and soybeans; an off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran; a sense of world pre-eminence; or all three? Our experts discuss whether Taiwan will end up paying the price for Chinese help in ending the Iran war, and whether the success of the summit really boils down to the chemistry between Trump and the world's other most powerful man, Xi Jinping.
Host Bronwen Maddox discusses the visit and what it means with Dr Yu Jie, senior research fellow with our Asia-Pacific Programme, and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America Programme. 
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell.
Chatham House's latest:
Comment | Trump–Xi summit will be about managing US–China rivalry, not resolving it
Comment | Rare earths are on Trump's agenda in China. But US electronic waste offers an untapped source at home
Comment | Xi and Trump won't discuss China's growing nuclear arsenal
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
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Is the initiative on the Ukraine war slipping out of Russian president Vladimir Putin's hands? And how has the US-Israel war on Iran affected Moscow?
The economic crisis is tightening, and Moscow and St Petersburg are increasingly subject to lengthy internet and mobile blackouts.
Fearing Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia has vastly scaled down its traditional celebration of military power – the Victory Day parade – while Putin is reported to be increasingly isolated, micromanaging the war from an assortment of bunkers.
Bronwen Maddox talks to Grégoire Roos, director of Chatham House's Europe and Russia and Eurasia programmes, and associate fellow John Lough.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell.
 
Chatham House's latest:
Comment | China will benefit from the Iran war, regardless of any deal between Trump and Tehran
Comment | Germany rearms – but can it lead? Europe's hesitant superpower in waiting
Comment | A naval coalition in the Strait of Hormuz should learn these lessons
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧
Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts.

King Charles III's state visit to the US won acclaim as the monarch charmed President Donald Trump. But can it really rescue US-UK relations from their current dire state? The 'special relationship' – a term first voiced by Chatham House before becoming widely popularized by Winston Churchill – now seems not so special.
Our experts discuss what Britain and Europe should do now that the US wants to bear less of the burden of European defence, whether Prime Minister Starmer is right to stand up to President Trump on Iran, and where all of this leaves the NATO alliance.
On this week's panel, host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America Programme at Chatham House. And by General Sir Richard Barrons, a former Commander Joint Forces Command who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was one of the leaders of the UK's Strategic Defence Review 2025. He is now a senior consulting fellow with the International Security Programme.
Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell.
Read Chatham House's latest:
AI export controls are not the best bargaining chip
Mali attacks show security cannot be delivered by military means alone
Norway can teach the UK about energy security – but the lesson is not more North Sea drilling
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EU expansion, energy shocks, and uneasy alliances: will the conflict in the Gulf – and other crises – force a more unified European strategy?
 
This week's episode comes from the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, where host Bronwen Maddox is joined by Grégoire Roos, director of our Europe, Russia and Eurasia programmes.
 
As the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran ripples through global markets, Europe finds itself under renewed pressure.
 
Recorded on location amid the activity and discussions of the forum, they explore how Europe is responding to an increasingly unpredictable United States, reconsidering its own economic and security priorities, and navigating its relationship with Russia. Is this a moment of fragmentation – or the beginning of a more coherent European stance?
Produced by Stephen Farrell.
 
Chatham House's latest:
Comment | A Taiwan crisis would cause far more global economic damage than Strait of Hormuz disruption
News release | Lord Robertson: UK's 'naïve belief' the US 'will always be there' has diminished its defence capabilities
Comment | Israel's accelerating de facto annexation of the West Bank has dangerous implications
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧
Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts.

From Hormuz to Hungary and the Vatican to the Federal Reserve, it has been an unusually contentious week for the White House, even by the standards of President Trump's second administration.
This week's podcast comes from the US, where our analysts assess the political and economic state of the US as it begins gearing up for the midterm elections.
 
From New York, Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox and Director of the US and North America Programme, Laurel Rapp, are joined by David Lubin, Senior Research Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance Programme, who is in Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's annual Spring Meetings to discuss the global economy and financial markets.
 
The panel discuss the Iran ceasefire, nuclear negotiations, the Strait of Hormuz blockade, the health of the global economy, a setback for one Trump ally in Budapest and domestic criticism for President Trump over tensions between the White House and Pope Leo.
For further reading, see David Lubin's commentary 'Dollar dominance is surviving the Iran war - just about'  
Produced by Stephen Farrell.
 
Chatham House's latest:
Comment | How to keep the Strait of Hormuz open in the long term
Comment | Lebanon–Israel talks must be given a chance
Comment | Hungary election: Orbán has been defeated – but will Orbánism survive?
Magazine issue | Spring issue of The World Today
Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧
Audio | Listen to Africa Aware podcast 🎧
Subscribe to Independent Thinking wherever you find your podcasts.