Israel votes on 27 October: what happens next?

Israel goes to the polls on 27 October. Is this the most consequential election in the country's history? Analysts from Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme discuss what is at stake. Is the election a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu's long tenure in power? Is the war with Iran on the ballot? Is Israeli policy towards Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank a key consideration at the polls? They also discuss how a government will actually be formed once the votes are counted, and if and how Israel's domestic and foreign policy would change under new leadership.

Chatham House analysts Laurel Rapp and Dr Christopher Sabatini returned from New York saying they saw signs of optimism and the renewal of 'shoe-leather diplomacy' behind the scenes at the United Nations annual General Assembly.  The UNGA meeting was held as US President Donald Trump heads towards midterm elections, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres nears the end of his term on 31 December 2026. Laurel Rapp, a former US State Department diplomat, is director of the US and North America Programme and Dr Christopher Sabatini is director of the Latin America Programme. They were talking to Head of News and Comment Stephen Farrell in the first of a new Chatham House video interview series.

'Washington would compel its allies in Europe and in Asia and everywhere apart from China to get on board with its regulatory regime [for AI],' says Sebastian Mallaby, author of 'The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence' and the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations.   He explains that regulation of AI is urgently needed, why America is likely to set the pace and that job losses of 5-10 per cent to AI will prove a huge economic challenge for governments.     Sebastian Mallaby speaks with Mike Higgins, editor of The World Today, in a wide-ranging conversation that also considers the recent hacks by 'rogue' AI models and how China might be better approached on issues of AI safety.  📖 Read the interview based on this podcast published in the autumn issue of The World Today here:   

'Europe is like faith: when you have it, nothing can shake it,' says Grégoire Roos, director of the Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes at Chatham House. He explains why he believes Europe should stop defining itself in relation to the United States and China, reject narratives of civilizational decline, and instead build a more confident, open and inclusive vision for its role in the world.  Grégoire Roos speaks with Mike Higgins, editor of The World Today, in a wide-ranging conversation based on his essay, 'The Open Centre: Reimagining Europe' s Offer to a Fractured World', published in the summer issue of The World Today. Read the full article: The Open Centre: Reimagining Europe's offer to a fractured world

Why did the German-French-Spanish fighter project – the Future Combat Air System – fail? Has Germany's rise to become Europe's leading defence investor profoundly shifted the balance of power on the continent? In a wide-ranging discussion about European defence ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara on 7-8 July, Dr Marion Messmer, Director of Chatham House's International Security Programme, and Grégoire Roos, Director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Programmes take a deep dive into these questions with Stephen Farrell, head of News and Comment.

Lawrence Freedman, author and international relations authority, reflects on the 'utter chaos' of the Trump administration, America's 'catastrophic' foreign policy, the likelihood of an international shock to Britain's politics, the impact of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in his time working at Chatham House, his meetings with KGB agents, and much more, in a wide-ranging conversation with Olivia O'Sullivan, director of the UK in the World Programme, Chatham House.   For an edited version of this conversation, read the summer issue of The World Today, including:    Article | Can the deal between the US and Iran become a lasting settlement?    Article | 'Happy vassal' or 'strategic hedging'? Europe's hard choices as NATO crumbles   Article | The Open Centre: Reimagining Europe's offer to a fractured world    Lawrence Freedman's latest book is 'On Strategists and Strategy: Collected Essays 2014-2024' (Oxford University Press) and he contributed a chapter to the recently published 'Chatham House: The First Hundred Years' (Oxford University Press). He also co-authors 'Comment is Freed', a Substack newsletter.

With the publication of the recent Chatham House research paper 'A roadmap for security and governance reform in Haiti', Christopher Sabatini and Laurel Rapp discuss how the international community can help Haiti.

The last episode of Reflections at 100, marking the centenary of International Affairs, looks at women's contributions to international thought, and how they have been erased from the discipline of International Relations. Isabel and Krisztina speak to Dr Katharina Rietzler about women's contributions to the journal and international relations, especially in the UK. Then, Krisztina speaks to Professor Barbara Savage about Black women's contributions to international relations in the US. To wrap up this episode, Leah de Haan sheds light on Chatham House's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiative and Jo Hills shares their thoughts about putting together the archive collections.    Reflections at 100 is a mini-series accompanying the journal's centenary Archive Collections. The collections bring together articles from our archive which speak to the past, present and future of current affairs issues. In each podcast episode, we speak to contributors from a specific collection and explore what the research tells us about policy-making today.  Explore the Archive Collection freely until the end of December 2022, including Katharina's introduction: 100 years of women in International Affairs. International Affairs was started at Chatham House in 1922 to communicate research to members who could not attend in person. Over the last 100 years it has transformed into a journal that publishes academically rigorous and policy relevant research. It is published for Chatham House by Oxford University Press. Read the latest issue here.  Credits:  Speakers: Barbara D. Savage, Katharina Rietzler, Leah de Haan and Jo Hills Hosts: Isabel Muttreja and Krisztina Csortea Editor: Jamie Reed Sound Services  Recorded and produced by Chatham House.

This episode of Reflections at 100, marking the centenary of International Affairs, the journal of Chatham House, looks at how empire and decolonization have been discussed in the journal. Isabel and Krisztina speak to Meera Sabaratnam about how thinkers and policy-makers from the 1920s to 1970s understood both empire and then decolonization. Meera highlights four tensions present within the discussions, and how these may impact the international order today. Inderjeet Parmar delves deeper into the influence of Chatham House at the time and situates these discussions in the broader thinktank and global context. Reflections at 100 is a mini-series accompanying the journal's centenary Archive Collections. The collections bring together articles from our archive which speak to the past, present and future of current affairs issues. In each podcast episode we speak to editors and contributors to the collection and explore what the research tells us about policy-making today.  Explore the Archive Collection, free to access until mid-November 2022, including Meera's introduction: 100 years of empire and decolonization. International Affairs was started at Chatham House in 1922 to communicate research to members who could not attend in person. Over the last 100 years it has transformed into a journal that publishes academically rigorous and policy relevant research. It is published for Chatham House by Oxford University Press. Read the latest issue here.  Credits:  Speakers: Meera Sabaratnam and Inderjeet Parmar Hosts: Isabel Muttreja and Krisztina Csortea Editor: Jamie Reed Sound Services  Recorded and produced by Chatham House.

What drives refugee movements and how should policies manage them? This episode of Reflections at 100, marking the centenary of International Affairs, the journal of Chatham House, looks at refugees and migration. Isabel speaks to Emily Venturi about the movement of refugees, the development of global humanitarian systems and the change in thinking on refugees over time. Then she interviews Ali Bilgic on how populism has impacted refugee policy in Britain, and women's experiences of the detention system. Reflections at 100 is a mini-series accompanying the journal's centenary Archive Collections. The collections bring together articles from our archive which speak to the past, present and future of current affairs issues. In each podcast episode we speak to contributors from the issue and explore what the research tells us about policy-making today.  International Affairs was started at Chatham House in 1922 to communicate research to members who could not attend in person. Over the last 100 years it has transformed into a journal that publishes academically rigorous and policy relevant research. It is published for Chatham House by Oxford University Press. Read the latest issue here.  Explore the Archive Collection freely until the end of August 2022, including Emily's introduction:  100 years of refugees and migration Read Ali Bilgic and Athina Gkouti's article: Who is entitled to feel in the age of populism? Women's resistance to migrant detention in Britain  Credits:  Speakers: Emily Venturi and Ali Bilgic Hosts: Isabel Muttreja Editor: Jamie Reed Sound Services  Recorded and produced by Chatham House.