Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

In this over-stimulated moment in international affairs, observers have set a low bar for success for the summit this week scheduled between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.A lack of fireworks would be nice, they say.  In the Asia Pacific, there's hope for a summit where President Trump doesn't rile Beijing's emotions, and that instead ushers in a period of stability. What are the chances?Guest: Kirsty Needham, Australia and Pacific correspondent, AFP and former SMH Beijing correspondent

The UK's local council elections last week saw Labor lose Wales for the first time in 100 years. Reform UK and the Greens also made big strides in traditional Tory and Labor heartland. Old loyalties are breaking down, and with it Britain's traditional political system.What does this mean for the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system? What foundation does this lay for Scottish and Welsh independence? And if the UK isn't safe from populism, is Australia?Guest: Krishnan Guru-Murthy, British journalist and Channel 4 News presenter.-------Get in touch:We'd love...

Indonesia is one of Australia's nearest neighbours but the nature of its people, art and culture remain a mystery to many.In the fourth instalment of Global Roaming's Indonesia Rising, hosts Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue leave the politics behind for a deeply personal insight into Indonesian identity and the country's rich history of literature, poetry and art.Guest: Laksmi Pamuntiak, Indonesian poet and novelist.Reading recommendations:Hamish: The Question of Red by Laksmi Pamuntiak.Geraldine: The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher KochLaksmi: Indonesia, Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani, Race, Islam and P...

From Ukraine to Iran, the rapid advancement of cheap and mass-produced drones is reshaping battlefields around the world.Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, only four militaries around the world were using small drones. Now, according to today's guest on Global Roaming, there are more than 40.Host Hamish Macdonald visits a counter-drone technology factory in an undisclosed location in Sydney to find out more.Guest: Terry Van Haren, vice president of DroneShield, an Australian military technology companyMentions: Global Roaming with Peter Pomerantsev: Is Russia's time as a dominant power...

The war with Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil and gas prices through the roof.As countries scramble to secure energy supplies, sales of rooftop solar and electric vehicle sales are soaring. Is the war forcing the world to break its fossil fuel addiction? And how viable are alternative low-emissions fuels?   Guest: Dani Alexander, the chief executive of the University of New South Wales Energy InstituteGet in touch:We’d love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the...

On the frontline with Russia, Poland is now spending a massive $90 billion on defence, bolstered by a loan from the EU and multinational forces from Europe and the US stationed in the country. In Warsaw, the view is that the only way to stop Russia is deterrence.Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has condemned what he calls the disintegration of NATO from within, declaring the greatest threat is not its external enemies. And asked whether Poland can rely on US President Donald Trump to intervene if Russia attacks, Poland's deputy foreign minister suggests the a...

Russia has crossed the threshold of losing more soldiers than it's able to mobilise. Some troops are paying their commanders to get a spot at the back of the Russian forces. Others are deserting entirely. And when soldiers do return home, they often bring the violence with them.President Putin controls a powerful pro-war narrative, which helped rationalise this war of choice to his people. But are the effects of this propaganda beginning to wane? And after a harsh winter, what has changed within Ukraine?As Russia fails to bring this war to a close...

Indonesia declared independence from Dutch rule in 1945, sparking a violent revolution. It was the first country to do so in the wake of World War II and a move that quietly shaped the Global South into what it is today. How did the revolution start? What effect did it have internationally? And why is it not marked as a significant moment of global history?Guest: David Van Reybrouck, Belgian historian and author of Revolusi.Mentioned: Geraldine and Hamish spoke about the Indonesia Calling (1946) documentary, at the end of the episode. It's a part o...

There’s an important meeting in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s diary.On Monday, Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, will touch down in Australia for high‑level talks with the Albanese government, following Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s trip to Tokyo to shore up fuel and fertiliser supplies.So, are friends in need friends indeed? Australia wants fuel from our friends in the north, but what will Japan’s new prime minister want in return?Takaichi has been called the world’s most powerful woman. So, how will Anthony Albanese approach the m...

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth denies Trump's war on Iran has hit a "quagmire", but the reality on the ground tells a different story. With an ongoing stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts yielding little progress, the war appears to have hit a stalemate. So what or who decides how this ends? And what does the United Arab Emirates' split from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) say about fracturing relations in the Middle East?Guest: Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder and chief executive of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think tank<p...

On Saturday evening a gunman attempted to storm the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC. The act of political violence -  the third assassination attempt of US President Donald Trump - occurred just three days before the 30th anniversary of Australia's deadliest mass shooting, the Port Arthur massacre, which prompted sweeping gun reform.So why has one country been able to respond to gun violence decisively while another hasn't? And what comes next, an increasingly violent and polarised United States?On this episode of Global Roaming, hosts Geraldine Doogue and La...

Artificial intelligence is reshaping power, cyber security and geopolitics, but can anyone really control it? From the US-China AI arms race to Taiwan's chip power, hosts Kylie Morris and Waleed Aly dive into the rapidly changing world of AI and the limits of democratic powers to regulate it. What can we make of Anthropic's decision not to release its powerful Mythos model? And do we truly understand what we're building and who will control it?Guest: Rohit Krishnan, AI investor and operator and Substack essayist, The Strange Loop Canon.Get in touch: ...

On this episode of Global Roaming's mini-series, Indonesia Rising, Hamish returns to Jakarta to speak to Indonesian communications minister Meutya Hafid.How effective has Indonesia's social media ban for children under 16 been? What can Australia learn from its approach? And does the minister support President Prabowo's plan for "bottom-up" economic growth?Meutya has a strong connection to Australia. She spent her university years in Sydney, working in a takeaway chicken shop while studying engineering. Guest: Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's Minister of Communications and Digital Affairs.Get in touch: We'd love to...

On the eve of Anzac Day, the Global Roaming team comes together to discuss war, peace and what Australia's national day of remembrance means as conflict rages around the globe.  What's missing from daily coverage of conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Europe? Does the way we talk about war need to change? And where are the peacemakers? Hosts: Latika Bourke, Kylie Morris, Hamish Macdonald, Geraldine DoogueRecommendations: Geraldine - Why Great Powers Sleepwalk to War — A Masterclass with Hugh WhiteGet in touch: We'd love to hear...

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. But since then, he's visited the US and Hungary and news of the ICC case has grown quiet. So what's happened to the proceedings? What plays are being made behind the scenes? And is the "breakdown" of multilateral organisations like the United Nations having a impact?Guest: Kenneth Roth, former federal prosecutor for New York and the Iran-Contra investigation; former executive director of Human Rights Watch; author of Righting Wrongs.Get in t...

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is sending shock waves through the global economy. Supply chains are in disarray, inflation is surging and oil prices remain high. With no end in sight to the US-Iran war, is a global recession inevitable? And does that metric even matter?  On this episode of Global Roaming, Latika and Geraldine examine how the US economy is holding up and what it could mean for Australia.  Guest: Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan. Get...

Trump's AI-generated image of himself as the Pope has drawn harsh criticism. He also called the Pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” in a Truth Social post. What does Trump gain from these bizarre allusions to Christianity?Are MAGA’s Christian nationalists tearing open long held wounds between the Catholic and Protestant faith in the United States?Hamish Macdonald and guest presenter Waleed Aly dive into whether Trump's antics are driving away Catholics as the the mid-term elections approach.Guest: Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic.------------Get...

Australia's close neighbour is changing before our eyes. By mid-century, Indonesia is forecast to become the world’s fourth largest economy – imagine that!So how is Indonesia's economy really performing? Is democracy making a difference? And how will President Prabowo Subianto tackle the challenge of building infrastructure across an archipelago?In the first episode of Global Roaming's Indonesia Rising series, Hamish speaks with economist Dr Mari Pangestu to learn how the country is weathering global economic shocks and what's at stake in its partnership with Australia.Guest: Dr Mari Pangestu, economist, Indonesia's former Minister of...

Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting global headwinds and now the war in the Middle East have hit the British hard. So with some of the world's highest energy costs and a stretched defence force,  what does the future hold? Can Britain's deeply unpopular prime minister, Keir Starmer, survive the upcoming elections? And will this fallen empire ever rise again? On this episode of Global Roaming, Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke (The Nightly) go the London. Guest: James Crabtree, geopolitical analyst and author.Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email...

Péter Magyar has beaten Viktor Orbán in Hungary's election, ending 16 years of autocratic rule. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians celebrated in the streets of Budapest as the results were announced.Maygar won in a landslide, meaning his government has the power to enact significant reform, including bringing Hungary back into the EU fold.Hungarians voted for change of government and they got it. Does this signal the end of strongman politics? And what will America and Russia do now they've lost their man in Europe?Guest: Gergő Papp, Hungarian political campaigns con...