The Briefing Room

The world’s attention is currently fixed on the US-Israel war with Iran and the effect it’s having on the Gulf region and global energy prices. But it was only six months ago that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was agreed and President Trump launched his 20-point peace plan. Since then we’ve heard little about progress beyond the return of Israeli hostages - the first phase of the plan. David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss what's happening to the citizens of Gaza and what has to happen next if the peace plan is to be followed through.
Guests:
Rushdi Abu Alouf, BBC Gaza Correspondent
Anshel Pfeffer, Israel Correspondent, The Economist
Tahani Mustafa, Lecturer in International Relations, Deptartment of War Studies, King's College, London
Aaron David Miller, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineers: James Beard and Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon

It's a tough time for any young person looking for a job at the moment. While overall unemployment is running at just over 5 percent, there’s particular concern about a large group of 16 to 24 year olds - almost a million of them (12.8%) who are not in employment, education or training. And that includes recent graduates in that age bracket. They’re known as NEETS. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why they're in this situation - is it down to the state of the economy, their own ability to work or that ever present fear - AI?
Guests:
Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist, Indeed Hiring Lab
Lindsay Judge, Research Director, The Resolution Foundation
Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
John Burn-Murdoch, Chief Data Reporter, The Financial Times
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

As contemporary hi-tech wars rage - Russia and Ukraine and the US-Israel war with Iran - The Briefing Room takes a hard look at the UK's armed forces. After telling his allies - including the UK - that he didn’t need them, President Trump called for them to help him open up the Strait of Hormuz, which has raised not just the question of should we, but could the UK do this? David Aaronovitch asks when it comes to big military operations what have we got? In this dangerous 21st century what do we need? Can we get it? And what about closer co-operation with other European countries?
Guests:
General Sir Richard Barrons, Senior Consulting fellow with the International Security Programme, Chatham House.
Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Ruth Harris, Executive Director for National Security and Data Science, RAND Europe
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill and James Beard
Editor Richard Vadon

It could be that the US-Israel war with Iran ends soon. That was the message from Donald Trump this week. But it may not. The longer the war continues the more collateral damage to the world economy. Mostly because of the impact of energy prices. But why are we all so vulnerable still to events in one small part of the world and one tiny channel, the infamous Strait of Hormuz? David Aaronovitch asks what it tells us about the problems of global energy and oil dependency and what could be done to alleviate them.
Guests:
Ben Chu, Policy and Analysis Correspondent, BBC Verify
Duncan Weldon, Economist and author
Bill Farren-Price, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Gas Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon

It's less than a week since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. And it's already spread across the Gulf region as Iran retaliates. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, was killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. The question now is who is in control in Iran and whether the regime in its current form will remain or if this will trigger major change. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss how the US-Israel war with Iran started and what comes next.
Guests:
Anshel Pfeffer, Israel Correspondent, The Economist
Professor Ali Ansari, founding director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University
Dr Burcu Ozcelik, Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal United Services Institute
Laurel Rapp, Director of the US and North America Programme at Chatham House.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Nathan Gower
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon