The Interview

Does the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House along with Brexit mark a shift in power away from Europe and spell the start of a new world order? Zeinab Badawi speaks to Ursula Von Der Leyen, Germany’s Defence Minister from the World Economic Forum in Davos. She is also deputy chairman of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU Party. (Photo: Ursula Von Der Leyen. Credit: Markus Hibbele/Getty Images

Stephen Sackur is in Moscow to speak to President Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. US intelligence chiefs have accused the Kremlin of authorising a covert effort to influence the presidential election in favour of Donald Trump but what is the truth behind the swirl of allegations? And, what can we expect from Russia-US relations now?(Photo: Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends the opening of the Central House of Chess Player. Credit: Sergei Savostyanov/Getty Images)

Despite intimidation, harassment and legal challenges, Russia's most prominent opposition leader Alexey Navalny says that he will fight Vladmir Putin with 'People Power' in Presidential elections which are scheduled for 2018. How risky is it to challenge Vladimir Putin?Image: Alexey Navalny, Credit: Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty Images

Stephen Sackur speaks to Akram Khan - globally renowned as one of the great contemporary dancers and choreographers. In every culture on earth dance is a physical, joyful form of expression and communication. It is, in a way, the world's most basic common language. Khan epitomises the ability of dance to cross borders of time and space - he is British by birth, Bangladeshi by family heritage. His performances weave together influences from East and West, past and present. How would he define his dance?(Photo: Akram Khan (R) and Tamara Rojo (L) perform during a dress rehearsal of English National Ballet's Lest We Forget, 2014. Credit: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Taken hostage in Syria and held by the Nusra Front, which is allied to al-Qaeda, American journalist Theo Padnos was beaten and abused for nearly two years. He says the most bitter moment of his captivity was the realisation that it was he himself who was mostly responsible for his ordeal.(Photo: Theo Padnos in the Hardtalk studio)

Zeinab Badawi speaks to, Angelina Teny, from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in-Opposition. The people of South Sudan have known little peace for many decades and independence in 2011 has brought them nothing but war, increasing poverty, starvation and suffering. The UN says the current spate of fighting amounts to ethnic cleansing and could spiral into genocide. The main rebel group is headed by former Vice-President Riek Machar, who is now in exile. His wife Angelina Teny is a senior member of the movement. How much responsibility do they bear for the suffering?(Photo: Angelina Teny in the Hardtalk studio)

We are about to see what kind of impact Donald Trump's presidency will have on the US and the world beyond. From big power diplomacy with Russia and China, to global trade and climate policy, how different and unpredictable is Trump going to be?(Photo: President for Council on Foreign Relations Richard Hass, 2015. Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Zeinab Badawi speaks to psychologist Jan Kizilhan who has helped bring over a thousand Yazidi females from camps in Iraq to Germany to start a new life. The so-called Islamic State may be coming under pressure in both Syria and Iraq but still accounts emerge of atrocities carried out by them. The minority Yazidi community has been amongst one of the most persecuted groups of people; living mostly in northern Iraq, they have been killed, forced to convert to Islam and the women and girls have been held in sexual slavery. How does he decide who should stay and who should go?(Photo: Psychologist Jan Kizilhan, 2016. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Bassma Kodmani, member of the negotiating team of the Syrian opposition. After six years of terrible bloodshed could 2017 dramatically shift the dynamic of the Syria conflict? Change is certainly in the air. Aleppo has fallen to the Assad regime and a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey is just about holding. Moscow's dominant role in the diplomatic endgame is now undisputed, with Ankara also playing a pivotal role. Is it time for the moderate rebels to accept their de facto defeat?

Stephen Sackur speaks to General Sir Richard Barrons who led the UK’s Joint Forces Command and fought in wars from the Balkans to the Middle East and Afghanistan. How vulnerable is the West in the new balance of global military power?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Egyptian film director, Mohamed Diab. His new film, Eshtebak, or Clash, paints a remarkable picture of the tumult in Egypt which led to the military takeover in 2013. What has happened to the spirit of the Tahrir revolution?(Photo: Egyptian director Mohamed Diab (R) poses after receiving the silver Tanit award for his film Clash at the 27th Carthage Film Festival, 2016, Tunisia. Credit: Fethi Belaid/AFP)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian- Iranian academic recently released after 112 days imprisoned in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. Why did a respected anthropologist become an enemy of the Iranian state? Reading the political mood inside Iran is notoriously difficult. Since last year’s nuclear deal it seemed the relatively moderate President Rouhani was in the ascendancy. But Homa Hoodfar has reason to see things differently.

Paul Beatty's novel The Sellout won a Man Booker prize. It deploys biting satire to unpick the black American experience. After eight years of a black president, amid a swirl of demographic and social change, black Americans still feel the bite of discrimination and prejudice. How best to respond?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to the South African comedian Trevor Noah. How did a poor boy who grew up with a black mother and white father under apartheid, become the presenter of one of America’s most influential TV programmes - The Daily Show?(Photo: Trevor Noah attends the Paramount Pictures with The Cinema Society. 2016, New York. (Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

HARDtalk is in Oslo to speak to Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to secure peace with Colombia's Farc rebel group. President Santos tells HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur that the prize was a 'gift from heaven' and says ‘this came like a big wind that pushed the whole country, and me, and the whole process to the port of destiny which was a peace agreement.’

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Kurds are key fighters in the war against so-called Islamic State. But does their ambition for independence threaten even more instability in Iraq?(Photo: Qubad Talabani. Image: Getty Images)

How will the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland be managed once the UK has left the EU? Sarah Montague asks Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, how she will make sure Brexit does not mean a return to the divisions of the past.(Photo: First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster arrives for a meeting at 10 Downing St, London, 2016 in , England. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

What impact will the election of Donald Trump have on global geopolitics? Judging from the expressions of alarm coming from eastern Europe it could tilt the balance of power decisively in favour of Russia as regional tensions rise. But is that just scaremongering? Stephen Sackur talks to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius who recently described himself as "very afraid" of Russia's intentions in the region.(Photo: Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius at the Baltic and Nordic Foreign Ministers meeting in Riga, Latvia, 2016. Credit: Ilmars Znotins/AFP/Getty Images)

What are Team Trump’s priorities for the United States? Wherever you live in the world, the election of Donald Trump as America's next President matters. The next leader of the world's most powerful nation promises to take the US, and by extension global politics and economics, in a very different direction. Stephen Sackur speaks to Anthony Scaramucci - a New York hedge fund boss, a Trump ally, and right now a member of the President-elect’s transition team.

How exactly does Donald Trump propose to make the American economy great again? By junking the economic orthodoxies of the recent past, it seems. He wants to slash taxes, spend big on public projects and renege on trade deals that he claims rip America off. Stephen Sackur talks to one of America's most respected economic analysts, Mohamed El-Erian, formerly CEO of PIMCO investments. What will Trump's brand of interventionism do for the US and world economies?

Victoria Nyanjura endured eight years as a captive of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. In 1996 she was only 14 years old when she, along with more than 100 other schoolgirls, were taken captive by the LRA. Over the next eight years she was beaten, raped and had two children before eventually escaping in 2004. Now she still lives in Uganda as an advocate for women and children affected by war. She speaks to HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur about the hardships she endured and her view of the former LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen. He is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and is due to go on trial in December 2016 at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

What impact will Donald Trump have on President Barack Obama's policies? At the end of January 2017 Trump will move in to the White House and has promised to undo much of President Obama's legacy. More than that, the new president promises to break the liberal capitalist consensus which has underpinned globalisation. Did Donald Trump win because Barack Obama failed America's working class?Stephen Sackur speaks to Jason Furman, President Obama’s top economic advisor.Picture: Jason Furman, Credit: BBC

Stephen Sackur speaks to Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy charged with trying to find a way out of the conflict in Syria. He has spent four decades trying to stem bloodshed by way of diplomacy but is Syria mission impossible?(Photo: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attends a conference held by Catholic at the Vatican, 2016. Credit: Andrew Medichini/AP)

Stephen Sackur is in Paris for an exclusive interview with the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. His premiership has been turbulent, defined by economic and political woes, Europe's migration crisis and an unprecedented wave of terror on French soil. Exactly a year ago, so-called Islamic State launched a co-ordinated attack on Paris which killed 130 people. One year on, is France united and stronger, or divided and weaker?(Photo: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls leaves the Elysee Palace after the weekly cabinet meeting, Paris, 2015. Credit: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images)

Shaun Ley speaks to India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has visited Delhi to pave the way for the UK's first post-Brexit trade deal. India is the world's fastest growing economy and a deal with Delhi could ease the UK’s transition out of the European Union. India, though, has troubles of its own - a 20 month run of declining exports, its imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and the capital is engulfed in a choking smog. So against this backdrop, is India ready to be the next big global player?(Photo: Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, 2016. Credit: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to journalist Mikhail Zygar, who has written a book about the powerful groups of people around Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and their influence on decision making. President Putin has been criticised in the West as a ruthless authoritarian ruler determined to revive imperialist ambitions. But is it a mistake to invest him with such transformative power and strategic vision?

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Roberto Azevêdo, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, an institution dedicated to banning protectionism and freeing up global trade. But maybe the WTO is out of step with the spirit of the age. From Donald Trump’s protectionist messages to the Brexit vote in Britain. There seems to be a backlash against economic globalisation. So, is the WTO swimming against a powerful tide?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Kieran Conway, the former director of intelligence for the IRA. He joined the group in 1970 and was part of a unit in England which engaged in armed robbery to help fund the organisation. He spent time in prison in Northern Ireland and soon after his release in 1974 was put in charge of IRA intelligence. Just weeks later bombs planted by the IRA killed 21 people in two pubs in Birmingham, England. What does he know about those responsible for the bombings and how does he justify his past?(Photo: Kieran Conway)

There is a select group of fiction writers whose next book is eagerly anticipated by legions of fans around the world. Presenter Stephen Sackur speaks to a writer who has been in that club for two decades. Patricia Cornwell can lay claim to have invented the whole genre of crime scene, forensic detective fiction. Her investigator Kay Scarpetta has featured in two dozen novels, and inspired a host of imitators. The author herself talks of her determination to confront and control her fears - do her books tell us what she's frightened of?(Photo: Patricia Cornwell in the Hardtalk studio)

Stephen Sackur talks to Steven Ciobo Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Australia is having pre Brexit talks with the UK while negotiating a big free trade deal with the European Union. But with the recent demonstrations against similar deals with the United States and Canada, Stephen Sackur asks if the public tiring of globalisation and big trade deals. Could Australia feel the fall out from growing disillusion with globalisation?(Photo: Steven Ciobo speaks at a press conference in Sydney, 2016. Credit: William West/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Bulgaria's foreign minister, Daniel Mitov. If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then the European Union has reason to worry about Bulgaria. Once a redoubt of the Soviet Empire, Bulgaria is by many measures the poorest, most corrupt member of the European Union. It also happens to be a key player in two of the great challenges facing the EU, the migration crisis and the hostile relationship with Russia. Can Brussels rely on Bulgaria?

Stephen Sackur speaks to one of Ireland’s most successful businessmen Michael O’Leary – the chief executive of the low cost, no frills airline, Ryanair. In terms of passenger numbers it is Europe's biggest airline, carrying more than a hundred million passengers per year. But what impact will the UK's looming departure from the European Union have on Ryanair and the Irish economy?(Photo: Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, holds a press conference with Boeing, 2014, New York. Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Brexit isn't the only threat to the coherence of the European Union. Think about Hungary for a second. The populist Government of Victor Orban rejected the EU's agreed response to the external migration challenge. The prime minister held a referendum in a bid to assert Hungary's right to ignore EU rules. Other EU member states have accused Hungary of threatening the Union's future. Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Hungarian foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó. Why won’t Hungary play by Europe’s rules?(Photo: Hungary's Minister of External Economy and Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijjarto. Credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Riek Machar, former South Sudanese Vice President turned rebel leader. For the people of South Sudan five years of independent nationhood have brought little more than impoverishment, violence and suffering. The world's newest nation is again racked by internal conflict. More than a million people have been forced from their homes and the country's president Salva Kiir, and his nemesis Riek Machar are again at each other’s throats. Has South Sudan been betrayed by its leaders?(Photo: South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar gestures as he holds a press conference in Kampala, 2016. Credit: Isaac Kasamani/AFP,Getty Images)

With voters from around the world are expressing their disgust with politics, she is going to be a key player in next year’s French presidential elections. Could Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front party send shockwaves around the world and actually win the French presidency? Picture: Marine Le Pen, Credit: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images

There are writers of world renown whose reputation rests on one great book. There are others who write more prolifically but always in the same territory. And then there's Margaret Atwood whose output fizzes with energy, diversity and experimentation. She is best known for her novels, the Handmaids Tale, the Blind Assassin, Oryx and crake. But she has also written poetry, blog fiction and this year a superhero comic book. She has a worldwide legion of fans. So what keeps her creative juices flowing?(Photo: Author Margaret Atwood at the 18th Annual LA Times Festival Of Books 2013. Credit: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)

The Influential Conservative tax campaigner Grover Norquist talks to Stephen Sackur. Why does he think Donald Trump's policies will help him win the race for the White House?

Stephen Sackur speaks to South African satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys. Leaders who routinely abuse their power cannot stand to be laughed at. Satire is a potent political weapon. That is a truth Pieter-Dirk Uys has exploited for 40 years. He styles himself as "the most famous white woman in South Africa." Thanks to his alter ego Auntie Evita - a character he created to poke fun at the white Afrikaner establishment during the apartheid era, and which he now uses to lampoon Jacob Zuma and the ANC. But are there dangers in playing South Africa's recent history for laughs?(Photo: South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys in the Hardtalk studio)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Avi Dichter, Chair of Israel's Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee. Think of Israel's turbulent history since the 1967 war and you might think first of the political leaders, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other crucial figures in Israel's story spent more time in the shadows, like Avi Dichter, who was head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service from 2000 to 2005. Only later did he enter politics and is now a parliamentary ally of prime minister Netanyahu. How does this gatekeeper of Israel’s security see his country's future?

Shaun Ley speaks to Okechukwu Enelamah, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment. Nigeria's economy is contracting for the first time in 25 years. The north-east is threatened by famine and President Buhari has promised renewed efforts to tackle the 'cancer' of corruption. Okechukwu Enelamah wants to break his country's dependence on oil. But with foreign investors pulling out and blaming hostile policies, has Nigeria left it all too late?(Photo: Okechukwu Enelamah, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment)

In an interview recorded in 2016, Stephen Sackur speaks to Meat Loaf, a rock'n'roll legend who broke the rules of the music business. He was never cool, never a pin-up, but his songs and performances have always been much larger than life. Meat Loaf shot to fame four decades ago with Bat out of Hell, an album which became one of the biggest sellers of all time. Since then his career - in music and acting - has been a crazy mix of highs and lows. How close did he get to self-destruction?(Photo: Musician and actor Meat Loaf. Credit: Getty Images)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Turkish author, Ece Temelkuran. Two months ago Turkey's elected Government managed to survive a botched military coup. A triumph for democracy? Not necessarily - not if you regard freedom of expression and an independent judiciary as prerequisites of a genuine democracy. Thousands of judges, journalists and civil servants have been locked up or sacked since the coup. Ece Temelkuran is a prominent author and journalist who knows how difficult it can be to speak out in Erdogan's Turkey. Is silence the only option?

Sarah Montague speaks to the President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, Sam Rainsy. The UN, US and Europe all say they are worried about what is going on in Cambodia. More than a dozen opposition figures are in prison, the party's vice president has not left their headquarters in four months for fear of being arrested, and the opposition leader Sam Rainsy fled the country to avoid jail. They want to replace Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for more than 30 years and whom they claim has rigged past elections. They have threatened mass demonstrations if the intimidation continues. But can their leader make a difference to life in Cambodia when he is in self-imposed exile in Europe?(Photo: Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy, 2014. Credit: Tang Chin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images)

Manfred Weber is an MEP for Germany's Christian Social Union and leader of the largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP. German voters have made it clear they are unhappy with their Chancellor Angela Merkel. In two regional elections this month her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union, suffered a humiliating defeat. The EPP isn't happy with her either, warning of a split unless she changes policy on immigration. Is this the end for Angela Merkel? And what effect has her refugee policy had on the way Germany will be governed?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party. For the foreseeable future British politics is going to be dominated by one issue - Brexit. What will our future relationship with the EU look like and how will it affect Britain's political and economic future?(Photo: Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), 2015, London. Credit: Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister. Elected Politicians tend to lose their grip on power and prestige with brutal speed. For Five years Nick Clegg was Britain's Deputy Prime minister, the Liberal Democrat who entered a coalition with the conservatives and gave his party its first real taste of power in generations. And then came the 2015 general election. His party was annihilated. He took much of the blame. His brand of liberal, pro-European politics now looks like badly damaged goods. Is there anyone to blame but himself?(Photo: Former leader Nick Clegg speaks at the Liberal Democrats annual conference 2015, Bournemouth, England. Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Remember the pro-democracy umbrella protests in Hong Kong a couple of years ago? They ended up as something of a damp squib, but the young leaders of the movement haven’t disappeared. Nathan Law has just won a seat in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and he's at the head of a so-called localist movement demanding a referendum on self-determination for the territory. Will Beijing try to silence Nathan Law?

Dubbed the biggest rogue trader in British history, Kweku Adoboli ran up $2.3bn of losses for the Swiss bank UBS. He has spent four years in prison for fraud and now faces possible deportation from Britain back to Ghana. He maintains he was not motivated by greed but that the system put unbearable pressures on him to make big returns. He warns that the culture of the banking industry has not changed very much which means it could easily happen again.(Photo: Kweku Adoboli arrives at Southwark Crown Court on 20 September 2012 in London. Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Ed Balls, former Labour MP and UK cabinet minister. When elected politicians are booted out by the voters there's no safety net to soften their fall. And Ed Balls has the bruises to prove it. He was one of the key players of the UK Labour Party's era of political dominance under those partners and rivals Blair and Brown. He was a formidable political operator whose ambition was to lead his party. He failed in that, and last year lost his seat as the unravelling of the Labour Party began in earnest. How does a political heavyweight make sense of failure?

For years Poland has been the poster child of the European Union but not anymore. Its new government has made sweeping changes to its constitution and laws, changes that Brussels says are a threat to Poland's democracy. In return Poland has said its economy is too dependent on foreigners. Is his country set on turning inwards and away from the European Union?(Photo: Pawel Szalamacha at the annual Ambrosetti Forum in Lake Como, Italy)