The Interview

Oscar winning actor, activist and fitness guru Jane Fonda is a special guest on Hardtalk as it celebrates 20 years of being on air. In a career spanning six decades she has never shied away from speaking her mind. This is a trait that has not always been welcome in the movie business, where sexism and abusive behaviour are currently in the spotlight as never before. How dark is the reality behind Hollywood's glitz?(Photo: Actor Jane Fonda attends the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater, California. Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Seventy years ago, the leader Mustafa Barzani made a declaration of Kurdish independence which was ignored. Last month, his son -Masoud, won a referendum in Iraq intended to achieve it. However, Baghdad says it will impose its rule instead. If the Kurds are to succeed, Masrour, grandson of one Barzani, son of the other, will need all the clout he's acquired waging war on the group that calls itself Islamic State. He believes that has earned Kurds the right to a state of their own. But with Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria and much of the world against them, could this referendum end up delivering the Kurds even less than the autonomy that they enjoy now?

We're all familiar with rock music's living legends, but perhaps more intriguing are rock and roll’s cult heros - the artists who've inspired other artists without getting massive rewards. Wilko Johnson fits that bill. His raw guitar sound in the band Dr Feelgood paved the way for punk, and he kept on rocking through cancer, depression and changing musical tastes. In 2017, he spoke to Stephen Sackur about what kept him going.(Photo: Wilko Johnson in the Hardtalk studio)

What difference will the Alternative for Germany party make to the country? Nearly six million people voted for AfD in last week's election, making it the third biggest party in the Bundestag. But within days of its stunning electoral success, its co-leader declared she was out. She said that the party was too anarchic, too focused on Russia, discrediting its moderate members and would be ineffective in opposition. Sarah Montague talks to the AfD's deputy leader, Beatrix Von Storch.

Can President Macron fix awkward realities in France and elsewhere in Europe? Stephen Sackur speaks to France’s Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, about the young president's vision for a reformed France, leading Europe on a march to deeper integration and greater global influence.(Photo: Foreign Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau leaves a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, Paris, 2017. Credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP)

Is Pakistan at risk of losing allies over its inability or unwillingness to control militants? Sarah Montague speaks to Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khawaja Asif. President Trump has accused his country of "housing the very terrorists" that the United States is fighting. He says that will have to change "immediately". He has also questioned why the United States is giving Pakistan billions in aid and military support. It is an argument that has been made before. But now other countries are also pointing to what they see as Pakistan's seeming double-speak on terrorism. Even China has signed a declaration including Pakistan-based groups on a terror list.(Photo: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif speaks at a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, 2017. Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Relations between the US and Russia are at a post-Cold War low point, filled with mistrust, unpredictability and potential danger. In Washington, there's a President whose mixed messages tie his own staff in knots. Meanwhile, in Moscow is a President who seems intent on exploiting Western division. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Russian Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee and an influential Russian voice on foreign affairs. Does Russia see opportunity in diplomatic chaos?(Photo: Konstantin Kosachev)

Are reports of the EU’s resurgence premature? After a bleak decade of economic stagnation, internal dysfunction and public disaffection in the EU, officials in Brussels claim the tide has turned. But is there really a renewed appetite for deeper European integration, while Britain is still searching for an exit strategy? Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to former Italian Prime Minister, EU Commissioner and ardent integrationist, Mario Monti.

In this age of the internet, the world has come to expect instant access to knowledge. But real, deep understanding takes longer to acquire and to share. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to one of the world’s most acclaimed novelists- Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk. He has lived almost all of his life in Istanbul, writing stories about Turkey which have over decades painted a vivid picture of a country and society pulled between east and west, past and future. What is the key to understanding Orhan Pamuk's Turkey?

As demands to relocate migrants across Europe continue to grow, Hungary seems more and more at odds with the EU's policy on migration. After losing a legal challenge at the European Court of Justice which overruled its objections to the compulsory fixed-quota scheme, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has accused the court of playing politics. He tells Zeinab Badawi that the EU's migration policy is the most serious threat to security in Europe and the real battle is only just beginning.(Photo: Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto of Hungary attends a press conference, Budapest, 2017. Credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)

Does the UN have the moral clout and authority to handle pressing world crises? Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is presiding over his first UN General Assembly since he took up the post in January this year. Hardtalk speaks to him at the UN headquarters in New York.(Photo: António Guterres, UN Secretary General, attends the London Conference on Somalia, 2017, London. Credit: Jack Hill/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Is the African National Congress- the iconic movement of South Africa's liberation struggle, close to the end of its productive life? If so, will its demise be quick, or slow and painful? At the end of this year, the ANC’s current party leader- Jacob Zuma, will quit as party chief, with a host of candidates including his ex-wife vying to replace him. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the former President of South Africa and ANC stalwart, Kgalema Motlanthe. Are the most respected ANC members ready to contemplate a new political home?

How will Africa cope with an impending population explosion? Over the next thirty years Africa's population is projected to double, requiring delivery of jobs, housing and infrastructure to enable two billion people to thrive. It is an unprecedented leadership challenge. Does governance in Olusegun Obasanjo's Nigeria inspire confidence or scepticism?(Photo: Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria speaks at the London Global African Investment Summit, 2015. Credit: Anthony Devlinl/Getty Images)

Is social media bad for public discourse? Man Booker prize-winning author Howard Jacobson thinks the internet is changing the way we use words, and not for the better. But is he an artist swimming against an irresistible cultural tide?(Photo: Howard Jacobson author of The Finkler Question, poses after winning the 2010 Man Booker Prize. Credit: Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)

Donald Trump embraces disruption and unpredictability, but what does that mean for America's national security and foreign policy? At first glance it seems to herald a new era of confrontation, from the Korean peninsula to the Mexican border, but are there limits to the President's break with convention? Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to veteran US diplomat and adviser to a host of Republican presidents - John Negroponte. Does this presidency mark a permanent shift in America's global role?(Photo: John Negroponte speaks at the 2016 Concordia Summit, New York. Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

Is it easy to lose sight of what matters most to business success? We speak to one of Asia's best-know businessmen, Tony Fernandes. He is the boss of Air Asia, football club owner, one-time Formula One investor, and dabbler in reality television. But is a flamboyant style and diversification into sports or media necessarily good for the bottom line?(Photo: CEO AirAsia Tony Fernandes at the World Economic Forum, Jakarta, 2015. Credit: Adek Berry/AFP)

US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to Hardtalk about the foreign and domestic impact of President Trump. Senator Graham made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but remains an influential voice inside the party. He has been openly critical of President Trump but has also praised him on some aspects of foreign policy. Where does America go from here as tensions with North Korea escalate?(Photo: Senator Lindsey Graham holds a press conference, Washington DC, 2017. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How do you survive the North Korean labour camp system? Kenneth Bae is an American Christian missionary who was arrested inside North Korea and spent two years in a Pyongyang prison.(Photo: Kenneth Bae speaks at a briefing on North Korea 2016. Credit: Getty Images)

Neo-Nazism, and race hatred are alive and kicking in the United States. The violence in Charlottesville was shocking not just because a life was taken, but also because of the polarising impact of President Trumps response. Stephen Sackur speaks to Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, a group devoted to civil rights activism. How fanciful is the notion of a 21st century American civil war?(Photo: Richard Cohen on Hardtalk)

Politicians and civil servants usually abandon their offices in the dog days of August, but not this year in London, where Brexit is now an overwhelming political priority. Theresa May's Government has issued a raft of proposals on what trade, border and legal arrangements might look like post Brexit, with a striking focus on continuity rather than change. Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to one of the Conservative Party's staunchest 'Brexiteers', MEP Daniel Hannan. If Brexit is not a clean break, then what is the point?(Photo: MEP Daniel Hannan in the Hardtalk studio)

In the age of Donald Trump maybe the world is getting used to international politics delivering the unexpected. Stephen Sackur speaks to Mikheil Saakashvili who served two terms as President of Georgia. He then abandoned his home country to take citizenship in Ukraine, serving as a regional governor until he fell out spectacularly with the Ukrainian President. Now he's been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship and is stateless. So Is this the end of Mikhail Saakashvili’s political career?

For more than two decades the ANC has been South Africa's impregnable political structure, but now cracks are appearing. At least 30 ANC MPs defied the party whip and supported a no confidence motion against party leader and national President, Jacob Zuma. Stephen Sackur speaks to Pravin Gordhan, the man President Zuma sacked as Finance Minister in controversial circumstances earlier this year. Does the ANC need to be broken up to enable South Africa to thrive?

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of Al Jazeera. The news network was launched in Qatar in 1996 it had a seismic impact on the media landscape in the Middle East. Here was an Arab broadcaster refusing to play by local rules: ambitious, punchy and provocative in its coverage of the region and the world. Two decades on, it seems that patience is wearing thin in much of the Arab world. Saudi Arabia and its closest allies recently demanded Qatar close the network down. Does Al Jazeera have a future?

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Isaias Medina, former Venezuelan diplomat at the UN and now an anti-Maduro dissident. Venezuela's political and economic crisis is precariously poised - the Maduro regime is determined to re-write the constitution to strengthen its grip on power - the opposition is intent on using mass protest to bring the Government down. The current standoff isn’t sustainable, but which side will prevail? Can Maduro outlast his enemies?

Is Poland, a country that was held up as a model of post-Soviet transition, turning away from liberal democracy? In July the EU announced that it would launch legal action against Poland over plans to give politicians more power to sack and appoint judges. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Poland's foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski and asks what this latest dispute means for Poland's place in Europe.

Zeinab Badawi speaks to one of the most influential voices in global finance today. He was made honorary Governor of the Central Bank of France, following a period as Governor for twelve years. Prior to that he was a Vice President of the European Central Bank and has worked for various leading international financial institutions. Christian Noyer has been tasked with making the case for Paris as a financial hub following Brexit. Is he making too tough a sell and potentially damaging ties with the UK?

This summer, Iraqis can perhaps see a glimmer of light amid the darkness that's enveloped their country for so long. The country's second city, Mosul, is no longer in the hands of jihadist fanatics, with the so-called Islamic State caliphate shrinking fast. But will any semblance of stability and unity follow? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to one of the great survivors of Iraqi politics, Vice President Ayad Allawi. Does he think Iraq has a viable future?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Nicola Benyahia, the mother of a deceased ‘IS’ fighter. After terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the UK is preoccupied with questions about how best to counter the Jihadist threat. For politicians the focus is on policing, intelligence, and detention powers. Nicola Benyahia's son Rasheed was radicalised in Birmingham, went to fight with the so called Islamic State group in Syria and was killed aged just 19. She now offers support to other families facing the dangers of radicalisation at home. How best to close the door on the Jihadis?

Few issues are as controversial as abortion when it comes to discussing women's rights. Pro-life campaigners believe a woman's right to control her fertility does not extend to abortion on demand. In January, President Trump blocked US federal funding to groups who provide or promote abortions. One such organisation is the IPPF - the International Planned Parenthood Federation - which will lose millions of dollars as a result. Zeinab Badawi speaks to its Ethiopian-born director-general Tewodros Melesse. Does he accept that the IPPF's support of abortion means it is right that it forfeit US government funding?

Shaun Ley speaks to Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani. A quarter of the country's population are Syrian refugees which is putting Lebanon’s infrastructure and resources under increasing strain. Some leading political figures in the country are now calling for the refugees to be sent home. But since some in the government have ruled out talking directly to President Assad, how can they be sure any returning refugees would be safe?(Photo: Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani)

What does the UAE hope to achieve by isolating Qatar? The four Arab nations that cut all ties with Qatar have replaced a list of 13 specific demands with six principles including combating extremism and terrorism.Sarah Montague asks top Emirati diplomat Omar Saif Ghobash if this move will resolve the crisis that has gripped the Gulf.(Photo: Omar Saif Ghobash in the Hardtalk studio)

Mohammed Fairouz is a US-Emirati composer - a youthful artist who has spent much of his creative life defying boundaries and stereotypes. His work ranges from symphonies to opera, to unique fusions of music and poetry. He's an Arab educated and resident in the West; an outspoken advocate for creative freedom who nonetheless rails against western cultural imperialism. His aim is to foster cultural crossover rather than confrontation; but can this artist avoid taking sides?

Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe drought that has left a third of its fifteen million people dependent on food aid. The state is running out of dollars, workers go unpaid and unemployment is very high - a dire situation that presents the opposition in the country with an opportunity in nationwide elections next year. HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to Welshman Ncube who leads his own faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change - known as MDC-N. The main opposition parties have now formed an alliance, but can they put aside their differences and focus on defeating President Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF?

In a special edition of the programme, Zeinab Badawi is in Istanbul to speak to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is a year since coup plotters tried to remove him from office in a series of events that were condemned by the international community and Turks from all backgrounds and political persuasions. But now hundreds of thousands of Turks have been on the march protesting at what they say is President Erdogan's purge of all opposition forces - not just the coup plotters. Is President Erdogan a danger to democracy in Turkey?

Are radical policies needed to address the current ills of the US? Zeinab Badawi speaks to the progressive Canadian-American writer and activist Naomi Klein, who is calling for mass protests against President Trump. She says that his rise to power amounts to a corporate takeover of the US by brand Trump.(Photo: Canadian author Naomi Klein talks to the media at a press conference at Sydney Opera House, 2015. Credit: Cole Bennetts/Getty Images)

Is the Nigerian army effective in securing the country? As the stability and unity of West African nation is threatened by internal tensions, conflict and corruption, Stephen Sackur speaks to Nigeria’s Army Chief, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda. The recent release of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi by the Libyan group holding him has led the ICC in The Hague to demand his arrest. He has been indicted by the Court for alleged crimes against humanity, murder and persecution. The ICC was set up in 2002 as a court of last resort to try such individuals. But it has met a barrage of criticisms, principally that it has an anti-African bias, because only Africans have been convicted and nearly all the cases before it are from the continent. What does Fatou Bensouda, a lawyer from Gambia, say in the Court's defence?

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the former US Senator, Joe Lieberman. A generation ago the first President Bush proclaimed a new world order, in which the United States would lead by example. Twenty-five years on, Donald Trump is in the White House - so what kind of example is the United States setting now? Joe Lieberman was former US Senator, Al Gore’s Vice Presidential running mate in 2000, and has recently been touted as a contender for FBI Director under the current president. Is Donald Trump fundamentally changing America's global role?

Moshe Ya'alon served in the Israel Defence Force for 38 years including as Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2005. He then entered politics and served as Minister of Defence for three years until his resignation in May 2016. At the time warned that Israel had been taken over by "dangerous and extreme elements." He wants to run for prime minister at Israel's next election and he tells HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur "I found too many politicians generating hatred against someone, against the Arabs, against leftists, against the media, against the Supreme Court, which is a challenge".

Stephen Sackur speaks to the American film-maker and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for the film Milk and has just completed a major series on the struggle for gay rights. It’s fifty years since homosexuality was decriminalised in much of Britain. Since then, the campaign for LGBTQ rights has won landmark victories in many parts of the world. Has the time come to declare a famous victory?(Photo: Director Dustin Lance Black 2017. Credit: Andrew Toth/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Philippines Senator, Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes. When it comes to populist politics delivered with robust action no-one does it quite like Rodrigo Duterte, elected President of the Philippines a year ago. Since he came to power, around 7000 people have been killed in his war on drugs crime. Human rights groups are aghast, but a majority of Filipinos seem to admire his iron fist policy. Is President Duterte taking the Philippines and the region in a new direction?(Photo: Senator Antonio Trillanes attends a senate hearing in Manila, 2016. Credit: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Thuli Madonsela, South Africa's Public Protector until late 2016. President Zuma's grip on power in South Africa appears to be weakened. He will relinquish leadership of the ANC at the end of 2017. Whether he will complete his term as South Africa's President is uncertain as allegations of cronyism and corruption pile up around his government. Thuli Madonsela exposed a web of worrying connections between the state and big business interests; but are her concerns about to be brushed off?(Photo: Former South African public protector Thuli Madonsela is presented with the Mahatma Gandhi Satyagraha Peace Award 2016. Credit: Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to the former head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin. For the past 17 years Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia - as President or Prime Minister. But he hasn't done it alone. He has been backed by a coterie of trusted associates, connected through past ties in St. Petersburg, or in the KGB or in business. Yakunin was part of President Putin's inner circle, so much so the US made him a target of sanctions after the invasion of Crimea. Are cracks showing in the Putin project?(Photo: Vladimir Yakunin at the BRICS/SCO Summit. Credit: Ria Novosti/Getty Images)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo. The recent UK General Election was supposed to strengthen the British Government’s hand in the looming Brexit negotiations. Instead, it has backfired with Theresa May a weakened Prime Minister at the head of a minority government ill-prepared for the complex, difficult talks that lie ahead. Does Europe view Britain's travails with sympathy or relish?

Stephen King was the chief economist at HSBC from 1998 to 2015. He now says 'Western led globalization is in big trouble. We may be witnessing the collapse of the post-war international economic and political order'. Stephen Sackur asks him why he thinks globalisation could go into reverse and what damage could be done to economies across Europe and the United States.(Photo: Stephen King on Hardtalk)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Nicola Benyahia, the mother of a deceased ‘IS’ fighter. After terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the UK is preoccupied with questions about how best to counter the Jihadist threat. For politicians the focus is on policing, intelligence, and detention powers. Nicola Benyahia's son Rasheed was radicalised in Birmingham, went to fight with the so called ‘Islamic State’ group in Syria and was killed aged just 19. She now offers support to other families facing the dangers of radicalisation at home. How best to close the door on the Jihadis?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to US Democratic Party insider Jake Sullivan, a key adviser to senior Democrats, including Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State as well as on the campaign trail last year. President Trump has attracted a lot of criticism at home and abroad over his rhetoric and style of leadership. But is he not proving more effective in important foreign policy issues, like the fight against extremists than the previous Democratic administration?(Photo: Jake Sullivan)

Stephen Sackur talks to Rachel Dolezal, the ostensibly black American human rights activist whose life unravelled in 2015 when it turned out that she was the daughter of white parents. So what gives us our sense of who we are? Our upbringing and our communities both have a huge impact, but what about the most basic pillars of identity that we tend to regard as immutable? Is our racial identity something we can define for ourselves?(Photo: Rachel Dolezal talks to Stephen Sackur as part of BBC Identity season)

Stephen Sackur is at the 2017 Hay Literary Festival to speak to the US Senator Bernie Sanders - the longest serving independent in US congressional history. He was credited with injecting passion and belief into the race for 2016’s Democratic presidential nomination - a race that was eventually won by Hillary Clinton. But did he plant the seeds of a political revolution in the United States?(Photo: Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) react during a news conference on release of the president"s FY2018 budget proposal, 2017. Yuri Gripas /Reuters)

What hope is there for the people of South Sudan? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan, David Shearer. South Sudan's lethal cocktail of civil war, ethnic division, failed governance, widespread hunger and disease threatens millions of lives. It represents a tragic failure on the part of the rulers of Africa's newest country, and on the part of the United Nations mission there which has brought neither peace nor protection.(Photo: David Shearer, Head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan)