How can the UK and Europe face global challenges?

In recent years, there has been no shortage of crises for Europe to face. From the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, the climate crisis, the migration crisis, it now must add an increasingly unreliable and unpredictable leader in the White House and the consequences of the conflict in Iran.   On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Director Anand Menon is joined by Mark Leonard, co-founder and Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. The pair discuss the end of the transatlantic alliance as we know it and how Europe can strenghten its resilience outside of NATO structures, whether European responses to different crises have met the moment, as well as the problems that the structural changes that China is driving will present for Europe looking forward.

The freedom to regulate (or deregulate) independently from the EU was at the heart of the Eurosceptic vision of Brexit. However, very little meaningful divergence was achieved under successive Conservative governments and closer alignment with EU rules is now seen as central to the current government's EU reset and growth agendas. On this episode of the UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Anand Menon is joined by our dynamic duo of regulation experts Jill Rutter and Joël Reland to unpack what has driven this marked change. Tune in to find out more about why the Conservatives made so little use of 'Brexit freedoms' to diverge when they had the chance, what regulations actually do and why the public tend to back them, how divergence and alignment impact trade and businesses, as well as why the government's negotiations with the EU, and its overall ambition to align more closely, are proving more difficult than anticipated.

There have always been supporters and sceptics when it comes to the UK's relationship with its European neighbours. On the latest episode of the UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Anand Menon takes a walk through the history of the UK's uncomfortable relationship with Europe with historian, journalist and Editor in Chief of the New Statesman Tom McTague. They discuss Tom's new book Between the Waves that tells the story of the clashing characters and ideals that have influenced how the UK has navigated its relationship with Europe. Drawing parallels with today, they discuss the lack of openness when it comes to the trade-offs involved in being a part of the European project, the tensions between the UK's relationship with the US and the EU and the current Labour government's approach to UK-EU relations. Listen now for some invaluable historical context and useful insight into the UK's relationship with the EU.

Upon entering office, the Labour government embarked on a reset in its relationship with the European Union.  In this episode of the UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Anand Menon is joined by Marina Wheeler KC, author of A more perfect union, for a discussion on how the UK should manage its relationship with the EU . A self-proclaimed supporter of the European project turned Brexiter, Marina puts forward her case that closer ties with the EU and making Brexit a success are not mutually exclusive. Tune in to hear her reflections on the impact of global turmoil on the relationship and the, the shared values and issues that bring together the UK and the EU, as well as how the EU might feel about it all.

This year has seen the inauguration of Donald Trump, the first ever UK-EU summit, continued conflict in Ukraine and other parts of the world, severe domestic and foreign policy challenges, as well as a changing political landscape in the UK. As 2025 draws to a close, Anand Menon is joined by UKICE stalwarts Catherine Barnard and Rob Ford for a discussion on the year gone by. They reflect on Trump 2.0 the Labour party's remarkable slump in the polls and the rise of its challengers, how Brexit dividing lines still influence how people vote, how the government's much-vaunted UK-EU reset has really gone, and, of course, some predictions for 2026.

Lord Neil Kinnock on that party conference speech by The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast

Since Donald Trump entered office six months ago, he has cast doubt on the US commitment to the NATO alliance and applied pressure on European countries to increase their defence spending. This dominated June's NATO summit in the Hague which took place during a time of acute global security challenges, from Russia's war in Ukraine to escalating conflict in the Middle East. To explore the complexities of American politics and foreign policy and how it affects Europe, Anand Menon is joined by Constanze Stelzenmüller, a leading expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy and Director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. They reflect on the NATO summit and its remarkably brief summit declaration, the transformation of Article V to 'Article 5%', and whether Europeans can both reach the new 5% spending target and spend the money efficiently. They also discuss whether Europe can rely on the US as a security partner, Trump's foreign policy agenda, and the connection between the MAGA right and populist right parties in Europe and ask whether the UK-US relationship is really all that special.

The first post-Brexit UK-EU summit on Monday 19 May was heralded as a key milestone in UK-EU relations. But what exactly did it achieve? To analyse this in-depth, director Anand Menon is joined by Sir Ivan Rogers, former UK Permanent Representative to the EU, who, in Anand's words, "knows more about the EU than anyone in the world." They discuss what it is like negotiating these deals behind the scenes, why the Defence and Security Pact is important for the UK but a little lacking in substance, the overreaction of parts of the media and political right, what the agreements signed actually mean in terms of dynamic alignment, why energy negotiations were a surprising win, and, crucially, what comes next now that leaders have paved the way to what are likely to be highly difficult and technical negotiations with our European partners. Listen now for everything you need to know about the UK-EU summit and the future of the UK-EU relationship..

The first three months of Donald Trump's presidency have been remarkable. But what are the key differences between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0? How have the Democrats and other Republicans responded? As Trump and his team hollow out the US state, why have Congress and the courts not been able to slow his agenda? And what does his willingness to flout judicial orders mean for the checks and balances of democracy in the US? On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, director Anand Menon speaks to Scott Lucas, Professor of American Studies at the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin to find out more about the impact Trump is having on the US state and the US. Listen in to hear his expert analysis.

On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, leading German journalist and television presenter Theo Koll joins our host Jill Rutter to discuss the upcoming election in Germany that has seen one of the most volatile election campaigns the country has experienced. What can we expect from Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats, currently the frontrunners to win? How much of an impact is the far-right party 'Alternative for Germany' having? And what is the most important issue for German voters? Listen in for all of this and more.