The Interview

The Scottish people voted 'No' to independence, but they may just have changed British politics forever. More powers are to be handed to the Scottish parliament and now English MPs want their own form of self-determination. Right across this supposedly united kingdom, alienation from the Westminster status quo is fuelling calls for reform. Hardtalk speaks to former Conservative cabinet minister, Lord Heseltine. Is the UK in the throes of a dangerous identity crisis?Picture: Michael Hestletine, Credit: Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images

The size and capacity of the human brain distinguishes us from all other forms of life on earth, but how well do we really understand the functioning of our brains? Hardtalk speaks to Susan Greenfield, who carved out a reputation as a leader in the study of degenerative brain diseases. Lately though she has focused her attention on the impact of 21st Century digital technologies on brain development. She believes our screen habits could be doing us damage, but is her warning based on sound science?(Photo: Professor Susan Greenfield. BBC copyright)

Twelve years ago the International Criminal Court was set up to be the scourge of war criminals and mass killers everywhere - there would be no more impunity for the worst of crimes. How does the court's record stack up against that grand ambition? Thus far all of its cases have come from Africa, and just two convictions have been handed down from the Hague. Hardtalk speaks to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who was the ICC's chief prosecutor for a decade. Why has the court failed to deliver on its promise?Picture: Luis Moreno Ocampo, Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Is the Eurozone economy turning Japanese? Flat-lining growth, depressed prices and a general air of economic despondency are surely warning signs of a Japanese-style prolonged stagnation. Can Europe's economic policymakers turn things around? Hardtalk speaks to Peter Bofinger, who sits on Germany’s Council of Economic Experts - is the dominance of Germany's economic model now Europe's biggest problem?(Photo: Peter Bofinger, German economist. Credit: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

Can we afford the world's super-rich and what have they ever done for us? Hardtalk speaks to a leading British social thinker - professor Danny Dorling of Oxford University. He argues for a slow revolution against the top 1%, whom he claims are impoverishing the rest of us. If 99% of us are becoming more equal, does it really matter if a tiny minority are getting richer?

Chrissie Hynde, who has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music and a record of success going back to the 1980s. Her band, The Pretenders, found global success during the era of punk; 30 years on she's still making music, but is she still in love with rock n roll?Picture: Chrissie Hynde, Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

The European Union confronts a host of problems from an economic slowdown inside the Eurozone to the crisis in Ukraine. Jose Manuel Barroso has been president of the European Commission for ten years, but has only two months left in the job. Hardtalk’s Zeinab Badawi talks to him by Lake Como in Italy and asks, how much of a mess is he leaving behind for his successor?(Photo: Jose Manuel Barroso. Credit: Getty Images)

There is a consensus view that the crisis in eastern Ukraine represents the most serious threat to Europe's security and stability since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ukraine and Russia are just a few steps away from all-out war, but right now there are hopes of a ceasefire. So, is there a path back from the brink?(Photo: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (C) during the 2014 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

This week's Nato Summit in Wales comes against a background of escalating tensions between Russia and Nato over the conflict in Ukraine, with calls for tougher action against Moscow. How far should Nato go in protecting countries that are not members of the Alliance like Ukraine? HARDtalk speaks to President Giorgi Margvelashvili of Georgia, a country that was at war with Moscow six years ago. What's his advice to Nato?

Vladimir Putin is reported to have said he could take the Ukrainian capital Kiev in two weeks if he wanted to. As he offers increasingly brazen support to the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, his message to the West is clear - don't mess with Russia. Hardtalk speaks to senior Ukrainian diplomat Olexander Scherba. Can Kiev afford to risk all-out war with Moscow?

Hardtalk speaks to Francis Fukuyama, one of America's leading political scientists who, 25 years ago, watched the Communist bloc unravel and concluded that history had delivered a conclusive verdict - liberal democracy had vanquished its ideological rivals. How wise does that proposition sound today in Ukraine, Syria, China, or even in credit-crunched Greece? Has a quarter century of global tumult changed his mind about the end of history?(Photo: Francis Fukuyama)

Hardtalk is in the West Bank to talk to Yasser Abed Rabbo, who was a senior member of the Palestinian negotiating team in the years after the Oslo Peace Accords were signed with Israel. In wake of 50 day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, where does the Palestinian quest for statehood stand?

It's 25 years since the Tianamen Square Massacre in Beijing that saw hundreds killed and many more detained. One award-winning British-Chinese writer and film-maker Xiaolu Guo was a teenager at the time. Decades earlier during the Cultural Revolution her fisherman father had spent more than ten years in correctional labour camps for painting a picture that had angered the authorities. What should the role of the artist or writer be in China today?

Do Christians have a future in the Arab world? It's a question raised with a new sense of urgency as an extraordinarily violent brand of jihadi extremism sweeps through Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands of Christians, along with other minorities, have been forced from their homes, hundreds murdered. Right across the region Christians are fearful. Hardtalk speaks to Bishop Angaelos of the Egyptian Coptic Church about what can be done to protect the Arab Christian tradition.

American warplanes are once again attacking targets in Iraq, ordered into action by a President who made it his business to end US military involvement in the country. To his critics it's one more piece of evidence pointing to an incoherence of Barack Obama's strategy in a region becoming ever more unstable and dangerous. Hardtalk speaks to Ali Khedery, a former adviser to a number of US ambassadors in Baghdad.

With a ceasefire now in place in Gaza, the Israeli government faces a simple question: what exactly did Operation Protective Edge achieve? For all the death and destruction in Gaza, has Israel's position been strengthened or weakened? Stephen Sackur speaks to Israel's Minister of Intelligence, Yuval Steinitz. Does Israel need a strategic rethink?Picture: Yuval Steinitz talks to Stephen Sackur, Credit: BBC

Afghanistan's presidential election was supposed to mark the country's progress, instead it threatens to inflict new wounds. The long drawn out process appeared to deliver a second round victory to Ashraf Ghani; but his rival Abdullah Abdullah alleged massive fraud and the vote count is under review. The Americans are urging the two rivals to share power. Is Abdullah Abdullah currently acting in Afghanistan’s interest, or his own?Picture: Abdullah Abdullah, Credit: BBC

The Hamas/Israeli ceasefire in Gaza has allowed Palestinians time to assess the cost of the Israeli offensive both in human lives and damage to buildings and facilities. Hardtalk speaks to Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor just back from Gaza where he works as a volunteer at the main Al-Shifa Hospital. He is also an outspoken political activist on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Does this interfere with his work as a medic and humanitarian?

The United Nations has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as a humanitarian crisis follows the rapid advance of Islamic State militants. There have been eye-witness accounts of people beheaded, of whole families buried alive, and there are an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis internally displaced. Hardtalk speaks to Masrour Barzani head of intelligence and security in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Is it the Kurds who can rescue the state of Iraq and how much outside help do they need to defeat the jihadists of the so called Islamic State?Picture: Masrour Barzani, Credit: BBC

In August 1914, 100 years ago, the five great powers of Europe declared war on one another. For countries like Britain, Germany and France the significance of World War One is regularly debated and commemorated. But what of that other great power, Russia? It also fought against Germany, but by the end of the war Tsar Nicholas II and his family had been murdered and the Bolshevik Revolution had brought Lenin to power. How far does what was happening in Russia then, help explain what is going on today? Zeinab Badawi talks to the renowned Russian theatre and film director Andrei Konchalovsky.Image: Andrei Konchalovsky. Credit: Getty

NATO is 65 years old – does it lack the vigour, resources and political will to be an effective military force on the world stage at a time when conflicts across continents in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and West Africa present ever greater dangers to global security? Hardtalk speaks to NATO’s Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Can NATO make the world a safer place and, if not, is it time the alliance went into retirement?Picture: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Credit: Clemens Bilan/AFP/Getty Images

Hardtalk is in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, to mark the centenary of the start of World War One. Stephen Sackur talks to Karl von Habsburg - the grandson of the last Habsburg Emperor. It was the assassination of his great uncle Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914 that set in motion the Great War. Are similar tensions once again on the rise in Europe?

Hardtalk is on location in Chisinau, capital of Moldova where the stage is set for another tug of war between Russia and the European Union. With the backing of the majority Romanian speaking population, Moldova’s government is vigorously pursuing membership of the European Union, despite strong objections from the country’s Russian speaking minority. Stephen Sackur asks Iurie Leanca, Prime Minister of Moldova, if his country can avoid the fate of neighbouring Ukraine?

Hardtalk speaks to the acclaimed Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo who has arguably done more than any other writer to depict and celebrate the condition of women in Africa, in books such as The Dilemma of a Ghost, and Changes. She is opposed to what she has described as a 'Western perception that the African female is a downtrodden wretch'. But when you look around the African continent today - girls abducted in Nigeria, polygamy reintroduced in Kenya, child marriages and the prevalence of gender based violence, how much is there really to celebrate about being female in Africa?(Photo: Ama Ata Aidoo)

Israel says its current campaign in Gaza is in response to rocket strikes from Hamas militants and is aimed at destroying illicit tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle arms. In more than two weeks of conflict around 600 Palestinians - mostly civilians - have been killed and nearly 4000 wounded. The UN Human Rights Commissioner says Israel may have committed war crimes. About 30 Israelis have died - nearly all of them soldiers. Hardtalk speaks to Danny Danon a member of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. He was dismissed as deputy defence minister earlier this month for accusing the Prime Minister of being too weak in his Gaza campaign. How does he justify the high Palestinian death toll?(Photo: Danny Danon, Former Deputy Defence Minister, Israel)

A few months ago international attention was fixed on the remote forests of north-eastern Nigeria - believed to be where 200 kidnapped schoolgirls were being held by Boko Haram militants. The girls have now been missing for 100 days, Boko Haram's terror campaign continues, but the media focus has shifted elsewhere. Hardtalk speaks to Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian minister and one of the leaders of the Bring Back our Girls campaign. Has their country failed these girls and their families?(Photo: Obiageli Ezekwesili addresses a sit-in demonstration organized by Abuja's Bring Back Our Girls. Credit: Reuters)

Hardtalk is in the heart of the English countryside, a habitat that is rich in wildlife but for how much longer? The impact of human beings here, as in so much of the world, is putting enormous pressure on natural ecosystems. Stephen Sackur speaks to Chris Packham, one of Britain’s best known naturalists and campaigners for wildlife protection. Is it time to radically rethink man’s relationship with the natural world?(Photo: Chris Packham)

Just a handful of countries allow assisted dying or euthanasia or both - most notably Switzerland and the Netherlands. It is a difficult and contentious area for policymakers. This week in the UK, the highly controversial Assisted Dying Bill has its second reading in parliament. Hardtalk speaks to Labour peer and former Attorney-General Lord Falconer, who has introduced the bill, and asks how he defends the right to die in the face of staunch opposition from the medical establishment, politicians and religious leaders?(Photo: Labour peer and former Attorney-General Lord Falconer. Credit: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images)

Just occasionally a big idea makes waves across the world. Hardtalk speaks to French economist Thomas Piketty whose book Capital in the 21st Century, has become an unlikely international bestseller. His thesis carries echoes of Karl Marx - modern capitalism, he believes, works in favour of entrenched wealth and exacerbates inequality. His research and conclusions have come under intense fire - has Thomas Piketty emerged unscathed?

The European Parliament are selecting a new set of officials including the key post of commission president. The choice of EU insider Jean-Claude Juncker has led to a bitter and public row between the UK and other member states. How far has this damaged the reputation of the EU and what does it tell us about the future direction of the European Union? Hardtalk speaks to one of the EU's most experienced politicians, Sweden's Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt.Picture: Carl Bildt, Credit: Marko Mumm/AFP/Getty Images

The kidnap and murder of four teenagers - three Israeli and then one Palestinian - has triggered protests and violent clashes in both Israel and the Occupied Territories and unleashed the heaviest rocket fire between Israel and Hamas for nearly two years. Israel blames Hamas for the abduction and killings of the Israelis. The tensions flared over the past week after the bodies of the Israeli boys were found on the West Bank. Two days later a 16-year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed Abu Khdair was killed in Jerusalem. Jewish suspects have been arrested for his murder. This latest crisis has exposed the abyss between the two communities - could it escalate into a wider conflict? Hardtalk speaks to Dore Gold - adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.(Photo: Dore Gold, Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Most of us probably don't associate local government with racing pulses and grave danger. But few local government jobs are like the Mayor of Mogadishu's. Hardtalk speaks to Mohamoud Nur who had that post for more than three years, trying to improve life in one of the most violent, most corrupt, most rundown capital cities in the world. So what persuaded him to leave home life in London to take up the post? And, with the benefit of distance now, what hope does he hold out for Somalia?(Photo: Mohamoud Nur)

Is rising inequality the sickness that could yet kill capitalism? It's a debate currently raging in politics as well as economics. President Obama says income inequality is the defining challenge of our time. The influential American economist Deirdre McCloskey thinks that is to misunderstand 300 years of global growth and enrichment. She focuses on the enduring power of innovation, rather than wealth distribution. So is it ok for the rich to enjoy a party to which no one else is invited?(Photo: American economist Deirdre McCloskey)

The extremist group Isis is expanding its foothold in Syria, after its recent gains in neighbouring Iraq. The first town it seized was Raqqa in northern Syria a year ago; it holds parts of Aleppo province in the north as well as more territory on the border with Iraq. Isis is now engaging in battles with other rebel groups in Syria, splintering efforts by the opposition who now find themselves battling both Isis forces and government troops. What does the advance of Isis mean for moderate secular opposition groups inside Syria? Hardtalk speaks to Salih Muslim Mohammed, leader of the Syrian Kurdish Party, the PYD, which is part of the National Co-ordination Body for Democratic Change, a secular, pro-democracy coalition inside Syria.(Photo: Salih Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) receives condolences after his son is killed. Credit: Fabio Bucciarelli/AFP/Getty Images)

More than 60 journalists have been killed in Syria's civil war. Across the world journalists have become targets as never before, murdered, kidnapped and, in the case of three Al-Jazeera journalists in Egypt, locked up by the state for doing their jobs. Hardtalk speaks to Anthony Loyd, the award winning war correspondent of The Times newspaper, who was shot and seriously injured in Syria last month. Is the fear factor forcing journalists to retreat from the frontline?(Photo: Anthony Loyd - war correspondent, The Times newspaper)

Three years ago Ireland was a basket case economy - hollowed out by broken banks, bad debts and a property crash. What about now? Ireland was the first of the Eurozone bail out countries to emerge from the economic emergency room. Hardtalk speaks to Patrick Honohan, Governor of Ireland’s Central Bank. Growth has returned, optimism is on the rise, but is it justified?(Photo: Patrick Honohan, Governor of Ireland’s Central Bank)

Imagine life without ageing. You could live for hundreds of years with the mental and physical attributes of your 25-year-old self. Would you be tempted? Hardtalk speaks to a scientist and futurologist who believes it is a proposition that 21st Century biotechnology will soon be able to deliver. Aubrey de Grey's Californian research foundation is spending millions of dollars in a bid to conquer the ageing process. Is his vision inspiring, daft, or downright dangerous?

Low cost airlines have revolutionised the European aviation business over the past 25 years - offering cheap flights, no frills and a service sometimes to be endured rather than enjoyed. How much further can the budget airlines grow? Hardtalk speaks to Carolyn McCall, the CEO of easyJet, which carries more international passengers than Lufthansa, British Airways or Emirates. Is flying always going to be this affordable and accessible?(Photo: Chief Executive Officer of easyJet Carolyn McCall. Credit: Reuters)

Hardtalk is in the gallery district of London’s West End to meet one of the most successful and controversial fashion and celebrity photographers of the last 30 years - David LaChapelle. His story revolves around sex, drugs and provocative pictures. He has the ability to shock and offend, but does his work go deeper?

The UK Independence Party topped the UK polls in the recent European elections putting pressure on the Conservative and Labour Parties to reconsider their position on immigration and the UK’s relationship with the EU ahead of the 2015 general election. Hardtalk speaks to veteran Labour MP, Jack Straw, who held successive senior positions in government between 1997 and 2010. Is the Labour Party under Ed Miliband in tune with voters and capable of winning next year’s general election?(Photo: Veteran Labour MP Jack Straw)

How should we make sense of Nigeria's 21st Century identity? Newly anointed as Africa's number one economy, it is an oil-rich emerging power. But it is also beset by corruption, poor governance and a wave of internal conflict that could threaten the very unity of the state. Hardtalk speaks to the highly acclaimed Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her fiction explores her country's troubled past and current challenges. How does this writer see Nigeria's story unfolding?(Photo: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian author shortlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction 2014. Credit: AP)

It took the abduction of more than 200 school girls to focus international attention on the appalling level of violence and insecurity in north-eastern Nigeria. The brutal conflict between the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and government security forces has killed thousands. Hardtalk speaks to Doyin Okupe, a senior adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan. Are Nigeria's leaders capable of rescuing their country?(Photo: Doyin Okupe)

Dr Kizza Besigye is a former ally of Uganda’s President Museveni who has become his biggest critic and the country’s best known opposition figure. As the former leader of the main opposition party – the Forum for Democratic Change – he has run three times against President Museveni in elections and lost each time. He has called for popular protests in Uganda like the ones that lead to the uprisings of the Arab Spring. So why has he failed to mobilise public opinion behind him?(Photo: Ugandan opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye. Credit: Marc Hofer/AFP/Getty Images)

How far can Vladimir Putin push his iron-fist foreign policy? Crimea is his, but Russia's next move in eastern Ukraine is much less clear cut, as is the extent of the Kremlin's neo-imperialist ambition. Hardtalk speaks to Sergei Karaganov - one of Russia's most influential foreign policy thinkers and until recently, an advisor to President Putin. Is restoring Russian greatness a coherent strategy?Picture: Professor Sergey Karaganov, Credit: BBC

Hardtalk speaks to award-winning film star, Viggo Mortensen. Known to many for his starring role in The Lord of the Rings, he is not your average Hollywood leading man. Fluent in four languages and of mixed American and Danish background, he spent his childhood in three continents – so, what is his response to critics who say the American movie industry has contributed to the ‘Hollywoodisation’ of global culture and killed diversity?Picture: Viggo Mortensen, Credit: Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images

The crisis in Ukraine has put the spotlight on the relationship between Russia and the EU. How much carrot and how much stick should the EU wield when it comes to dealing with Moscow? The Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were once part of the Soviet Union and all share a border with the Russian Federation. Hardtalk speaks to Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister of Estonia. Why does Estonia think that getting tough with President Putin is the most effective way to contain Russia?Picture: Urmas Paet, Credit: Ilmars Znotins/AFP/Getty Images

In December 2013 South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could lead to genocide. A fragile ceasefire was agreed just over a week ago between the government of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who has led the rebel forces, but will it hold? In a Hardtalk exclusive, Stephen Sackur talks to President Salva Kiir in Juba.(Photo: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir sits after he signed a peace agreement with rebel leader Riek Machar. Credit: Reuters)

What can Western nations like the US do to stop Ukraine from breaking up or falling into civil conflict? Hardtalk is at the US Embassy in London to speak to Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State. Now that pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine claim they have voted for independence, is Washington powerless to prevent further disintegration?

Zimbabwe's fortunes have for three decades been tied to one man - President Robert Mugabe. Now, once again, Zimbabwe is staring economic catastrophe in the face, less than a year after the ruling Zanu PF won another term in power. State coffers are virtually empty and potential investors are being scared away by seizures of land and foreign owned assets. Hardtalk speaks to Supa Mandiwanzira, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister. How does he justify being part of a government that is accused of cronyism, rigging elections and of squandering public funds for the benefit of an elite, whilst impoverishing the many?

In December 2013 South Sudan became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could lead to genocide. A ceasefire has been agreed between the government of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who has led the rebel forces, but the agreement is already looking shaky. Stephen Sackur talks to Riek Machar in Addis Ababa.(Photo: Riek Machar. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)