The General & the Journalist

We are in the second week of a war that was supposed to be over by now. Yet the world is facing soaring oil prices, rising inflation and a regime which doesn't seem ready to capitulate.

While President Trump continues to threaten Iran, he faces the limits of what air power, alone, can achieve and increasing pressure at home.

Recording on Day 12 of the conflict, Patrick and Tom are joined by Sir Simon Gass, former Ambassador to Tehran and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, to dissect the rise of a new Iranian dynasty and the high-stakes search for an off-ramp that no one seems able to find.

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Sir Simon Gass
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Image: Getty
Clips: War.gov
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump has given numerous reasons for America's war on Iran. But if a clear objective cannot be defined, can that war be won?

Admiral James 'Sandy' Winnefeld is a former vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Until last year he headed the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, overseeing planning for American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

He joins Tom and Patrick to talk US tactics, Iranian response and a possible end-game.

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Admiral James 'Sandy' Winnefeld
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Image: Getty
Clips: Whitehouse.gov, Reuters, USA Today, @WION.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two years ago, Al Carns was a colonel in the Royal Marines and, though he can never confirm or deny it, had also commanded the Special Boat Service.

He pivoted to politics when he realised that the country's military leadership did not fully grasp the seismic shift in warfare brought about by drones and AI - but he did.

Having risen at breakneck speed to become armed forces minister, Al talks candidly to Patrick and Tom about the need for the country to prepare for war with Russia in "three to five years."

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Image: courtesy of Al Carns
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beginning with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but accelerated by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has super-charged its military to become the third largest in Nato, behind only Turkey and the US.

It spends more on defence as a proportion of national wealth than even America and is soon to have more large tanks than the UK, Germany and France combined.

So how did this happen, what are the implications, and are there lessons to be learned for the UK?

Host:Tom Newton Dunn
Guests: Oliver Moody and Bartosz Kielak
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Photo: Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If the UK is to present a credible deterrence to any adversary, its armed forces need to be sufficiently large. They are not. And the fastest, most economical, way of plugging the gap is by growing the reserves.

The Chief of the defence staff recently called for an 'all in mentality', urging civilians to step up to the very real threat posed by Russia.

Not 'weekend warriors', but people from high-tech industries and professions, skills the regular army lacks. He meant all of us. So, who could join the reserves, how quickly, and what would they get out of it?

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guests: Elisabeth Braw and Peter Apps
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Photo: Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.