Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files

Saudi Arabia wants to take the fight to the Houthis, so why is Washington so reluctant to help? Christiane and Jamie unpack what's holding the US back, and what it means for the relationship if America is no longer willing to act as Saudi Arabia's security guarantor. Could Riyadh start looking to Europe, or even China, for better protection from Iran and its proxies?They also tackle a challenge from a listener who asks why Jamie is so focused on the threat from China and Russia - when the US and Israel stand accused of devastating actions...

How do you negotiate with a government you can't predict? That's the question preoccupying presidents and prime ministers this week, as leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly with every major global crisis in the same building at the same time. Christiane and Jamie ask whether wars are solvable and alliances can be strengthened while the world's superpower keeps moving the goalposts.Christiane brings the view from the very top. Fresh from interviewing Brazil's President Lula, and with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney building a political reputation for standing up to Trump, she and...

Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei has called the US–China AI race his "toughest dilemma", Christiane and Jamie ask – how worried should we be that artificial intelligence is becoming the next arms race?Plus, they look at Russia's reported strike on a train near Ukraine's border with Poland, shortly after European security officials had travelled through. Is it a warning to Europe, and could it mark a new escalation in the war?And, 25 years after 9/11, Christiane reflects on Gander’s heartfelt welcome to stranded passengers and the bond it created between the US and Canada. Can that r...

Is Trump's war with Iran making America weaker? Christiane and Jamie examine what the conflict is costing the US – from military resources and its position in Europe and Asia to the risk of spreading America's power too thinly.They also examine how the war is affecting Iran, as pressure mounts on its economy and the battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz intensifies. With the US reportedly running down its stocks of defensive missiles, could the conflict give Iran greater leverage?Plus, two crucial elections are coming up. Christiane and Jamie discuss what the US...

The AfD has won the Saxony-Anhalt state election - the first far-right win in a German election of this kind since the Nazi era. Christiane explains why it's so dangerous, and why Germany's "firewall" against the far right is now the thing to watch.Plus, has Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Moscow and Kyiv achieved anything? Jamie doubts they're the right negotiators, and explains what would actually bring Russia to the table. The hosts also tackle the foiled Russian plot at Leipzig airport, and Ratko Mladić's burial in Serbia with full military honours, which Christiane calls a...

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Christiane and Jamie dedicate a special episode to their memories of the day the world changed forever.Christiane becomes emotional as she recalls the first time she saw the images of planes hitting the Twin Towers. She also reveals how it took her so long to hear about the attack in the first place, given she was thousands of miles away on assignment in Sierra Leone, cut off from phones and pictures. She describes the scramble to get word to her, the long journey back to London to broadcast, and her fear that Jamie...

The CIA director has just been to Moscow, just as his predecessor did weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That warning was ignored. Will this one be? Channel 4 & LBC Presenter Matt Frei joins Christiane to explain why Putin might try to test NATO in the Baltics, and why European leaders aren't sure Trump would come to their defence.Then: Estonia's spy chief says Putin could face a coup from his own inner circle. Christiane looks at the growing signs of unease around the Kremlin, and why what happened to Yevgeny Prigozhin is a warning to anyone who...

Why have Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both surrounded themselves with advisers who tell them only what they want to hear? And is this same fatal flaw the reason that both the Ukraine War and America's conflict with Iran are both still dragging on with no end in sight? Christiane is joined by Matt Frei - a foreign correspondent with three decades covering the world's biggest stories - to discuss the cost of the Presidents' major blind spots.They also dig into the resignation of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and ask whether Trump's administration is beginning...

Five years after the Taliban swept back into Kabul, just how devastating has the impact been on the lives of Afghanistan's women and girls? And is the world simply choosing to look away?Christiane is joined by the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, who has just returned from reporting in Kabul. Having covered Afghanistan for decades, Lyse tells Christiane what she found on her latest visit, describes the systematic erasure of women and girls from public life, and answers the hardest question of all: is Afghanistan any better off now than it was before the allied...

Tens of thousands of people breached Spain's North African border and Europe is reliving the nightmare of 2015. Christiane and Jamie unpack why this moment has rattled European leaders, why Spain's carefully managed immigration model is suddenly on the defensive, and whether the far right will exploit the crisis all over again.Netanyahu has publicly rejected Trump's Gaza peace plan. But with Israel's election and the US midterms falling within a week of each other, could defeats for both Netanyahu and the Republicans finally shift the balance of power in the Middle East?Plus: AOC is...

Maggie Haberman is one of the few journalists to have been granted behind-the-scenes access to Trump's second term. This week, she joins Christiane to talk in depth about what she found.Drawing on her new book Regime Change, Maggie reveals what day-to-day life in this White House is really like: the chaos, the confusion, and what it tells us about the man at the centre of it all. What actually motivates Donald Trump: is it money, fame, power, or some combination of all three? Is there any genuine strategy behind his decisions, or is it simply governance...

A leaked US intelligence assessment suggests Putin is considering an attack on a NATO country and America's weapons stockpile is dangerously depleted after the Iran war. Christiane and Jamie assess whether the threat is real and why Russia's hybrid warfare is already testing NATO's limits.After Netanyahu has publicly rejected Trump's Gaza peace plan, Jamie explains why Hamas likely agreed to it knowing Israel would say no and why this pattern of rejection stretches all the way back to the 1990s.Plus: should Ukraine be allowed to bomb Russian cities in self-defence? The strategic attacks...

Did the capture of President Maduro give Trump the confidence to start a war with Iran? Christiane and Jamie trace how January's Venezuela gamble led directly to a disastrous conflict - and ask whether 'might makes right' has become the defining doctrine of this Presidency.They examine whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio is effectively running Venezuela as America's 'Viceroy', whether the US has colonised a sovereign nation and what that means for how it is viewed around the world.Plus, Christiane explains how Obama succeeded in making a deal with Iran where every other...

How do you challenge a president who calls you fake news and walks out? Christiane reflects on the futility of confrontational questioning, and why she'd rather ask Trump how he became who he is.Jamie argues the Iran war is the most unpopular US military conflict he can remember, with no rally-around-the-flag effect and no stated objective successfully achieved. Could it lead to an uprising or ‘Arab Spring’ in the US, with Trump’s actions driving a potential midterm reckoning?Plus, Hamas has signalled willingness to disarm as part of a Gaza deal, but is this a...

Imran Khan - the legendary cricketer and former Prime Minister - has now spent three years in a Pakistani prison. The UN says he is being held in solitary confinement in 'inhumane' conditions, something the Pakistani government denies. His supporters insist the charges are politically motivated.In this episode, Christiane speaks to Khan's son, Kasim, about what it's like to go months without hearing from a father known to be suffering serious health problems. She and Jamie are also joined by Zulfikar Bukhari, a former Minister in Khan's government, on the geopolitics of his imprisonment and why...

A 22-year-old international student launched India's "Cockroach Party" and has successfully forced the education minister to resign. Christiane and Jamie unpack how a tongue-in-cheek protest movement exposed widespread exam corruption, won government reparations, and may signal the beginning of the end of Modi's unchallenged power.They also explore whether Putin's apparent weakness makes NATO membership for Ukraine more realistic. Jamie explains why the answer is still no, but why Kazakhstan's president telling Putin to "freeze the war now" matters more than people realise.Plus, Trump wore a "Trump 2028" cap to the White House Correspondents' Dinner...

Has Trump fired the starting gun on a nuclear arms race in the Middle East? His controversial deal with Saudi Arabia has sparked alarm - but is it already on the brink of collapse, after the President said it hinges on the Gulf nation normalising relations with Israel?Christiane and Jamie unpick the agreement and its long-term consequences for the region and the world. They highlight how Iran will weaponise the deal for propaganda - asking why Riyadh should be allowed to enrich uranium while Tehran cannot - and look at whether Trump's standoff with Iran risks...

The ICC is in crisis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to dismantle the International Criminal Court 'brick by brick', and with Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan now facing sexual misconduct allegations and a vote on his future, the institution has never looked more vulnerable. Christiane and Jamie discuss whether the Trump administration really might try to destroy the court, and what that would mean for international justice.They also tackle Pete Hegseth's decision to introduce testosterone screening for all US servicemen. Is there an irony in policing hormone levels when transgender troops were forced out of...

Ukrainian President Zelensky has shocked allies by sacking his Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, just as his country seemed to be gaining momentum in its grinding war with Russia. Christiane and Jamie discuss whether this is a reckless gamble that could fracture Ukraine's war effort at the worst possible time, and what it signals both to Kyiv's Western backers and to Moscow.Meanwhile, Donald Trump has delivered a speech heavy with accusations of historic election interference ahead of the Midterms. Christiane and Jamie ask whether the President is already building a 'rigged election' narrative to explain away a...

With the death of Lindsey Graham, Christiane and Jamie examine what's been lost - and what his career revealed about the bargain so many Republicans have made: suppress what you believe to stay relevant, and hope it's worth it. On the Iran war, they discuss that promise made by the US and Israel for Iranian liberation - so why is the regime now more entrenched than ever?Plus, as Andy Burnham prepares to become Britain's seventh Prime Minister in ten years, what kind of relationship can he realistically have with Trump? Christiane and Jamie also discuss Reform...