Global Power Shifts

If Trump's framework with Iran lands, Tehran's enriched uranium has to go somewhere. Kazakhstan keeps coming up as the credible candidate, with an IAEA uranium bank already on its soil and nearly 40% of the world's uranium production.Around that question sits a wider shift. Kazakhstan and its Central Asian neighbours are quietly reducing their dependence on Russia, hedging between Moscow and Beijing, and pulling in Gulf and Western capital at scale.Jim Stenman sits down with Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum, former US Ambassador to Kazakhstan, on uranium, oil routes, Russian leverage and the regional repositioning the West has been slow to notice.

Cameron Hudson has worked the Horn of Africa file from inside three branches of the U.S. government, as a CIA Africa analyst, NSC Director for African Affairs, and Chief of Staff to successive U.S. Special Envoys for Sudan. He now runs 54 Advisors, a political and investment risk firm focused on Africa, and is a non-resident senior associate at the CSIS Africa Program.He joins Jim Stenman to unpack the most consequential and least understood story in geopolitics right now: the scramble for influence over the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.The conversation covers the Trump administration's quiet move to normalise relations with Eritrea, the collapse of the Pretoria peace agreement and the risk of a new Tigray war, the contradictions inside U.S. policy toward Ethiopia, the rivalry between the UAE and Saudi Arabia playing out across African states, Israel's recognition of Somaliland, the strategic reordering triggered by the Iran war, and the absence of any coherent American strategy for one of the most contested regions on the planet.Hudson predicted the U.S.-Eritrea reset before it broke in the Wall Street Journal in April. His Foreign Policy essay, "Washington's One-Dimensional Chess in the Horn of Africa," lays out the risks of a decision being made without a clear strategy behind it.Essential listening for anyone trying to understand where U.S. foreign policy, Gulf competition and African statecraft are converging, and where the next conflict in the region is most likely to start.Recorded May 18, 2026.

Israel says it has weakened Hamas, pushed back Hezbollah, and left the Iranian regime more exposed than at any point in 47 years. So why does it feel like the country is losing ground everywhere else?Jonathan Conricus, the former IDF International Spokesperson and now Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, joins Suzanne Kianpour and Jim Stenman on Global Power Shifts.He makes the Israeli case directly. Iran's ring of fire is no longer what it was. Hezbollah is on the back foot. Hamas is degraded but still standing. The regime in Tehran is the weakest it has been in decades. None of the enemies, in his view, have been finished off.Suzanne and Jim push on what the case leaves out. Has Israel won the military rounds while losing a generation across the West? What does the Gulf actually think now that Iranian missiles, Houthi drones, and shipping disruption have become a regional cost rather than an Israeli one? Why are young Jews in London and New York genuinely afraid for their physical safety? And how does any of this end with Iran, where Suzanne's own family is on the receiving end of a regime under more pressure than at any point since 1979?Conricus also concedes something many Israeli officials will not say in public: reckless rhetoric from parts of the Israeli political class is making the country's job abroad much harder.The conversation moves across Gaza, Lebanon, the Gulf, Europe, the United States, and the future of the Iranian regime. Serious, sometimes uncomfortable, and aimed at an audience that wants more than headlines.

Mauritius tends to get filed under "luxury travel destination." That framing misses almost everything that matters about it right now.The Indian Ocean is becoming one of the most contested strategic spaces on the planet. Chinese naval assets, French military presence, the US base at Diego Garcia, Indian positioning, and the fallout from the Iran war are all converging in waters that run through some of the world's most critical trade corridors. Mauritius sits in the middle of it.Ameenah Gurib-Fakim was Mauritius's first female president, a scientist and academic who came to power without going through traditional party politics. She joined Jim Stenman and Suzanne Kianpour on April 1 to talk about what Mauritius actually represents at this moment: a small state with serious strategic weight, caught between great powers and trying to use that position deliberately.The conversation covers the long-running dispute over the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia, including the ICJ ruling, the unresolved deal with Britain, and what it means that Iran attempted to strike the base with two ballistic missiles on 20 March, in an unsuccessful attack confirmed by the UK's Ministry of Defence. Since that interview, the United States, Israel, and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, effective early Wednesday, April 8, making this conversation a sharp record of where things stood at the edge of that shift. It gets into Africa's debt burden, the $1.3 trillion that keeps the continent borrowing at 15% while the West borrows at 2%, and why that matters more than most Africa coverage admits. Gurib-Fakim is direct about what the African Continental Free Trade Agreement could unlock, where the real development pockets are, and why Africa still does not have a media voice that speaks from its own vantage point.She also pushes back on the information disorder problem in a way that goes beyond the usual hand-wringing: who controls the algorithm, whose agenda it serves, and what it would actually take to build something credible enough to compete.A sharper conversation about the Indian Ocean, African agency, and the real stakes of a world in which data, minerals, and maritime access are becoming the currencies of power.

When Rouzy Vafaie tried to cross the border into Armenia during the war with the United States, he was looking for a way out. Instead, he was intercepted by the IRGC. In this episode of Global Power Shifts, Suzanne Kianpour speaks with Rouzy about the reality of his detention, the beatings, the threats, and the unexpected reason he was finally let go. It turns out his release came with a price. He was expected to carry out a “service to the motherland” by spying for the regime while living abroad.This is a first-hand account of the physical reality of escaping Iran and the psychological pressure that follows a person long after they have crossed the border.

Sir Bill Browder joins Global Power Shifts to discuss what his experience inside the Kremlin teaches us about the current state of global instability. Once the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia, Browder has undergone a profound transformation. Following the death of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Moscow prison, he abandoned his career in finance to become a leading human rights activist and a persistent critic of Vladimir Putin.A central part of this episode focuses on the Magnitsky Act. This landmark legislation, which Browder pioneered, fundamentally changed international diplomacy by allowing governments to freeze the assets and ban the visas of specific individuals responsible for corruption or human rights abuses. Rather than sanctioning entire nations, this "follow the money" approach targets the personal wealth of autocrats and their enablers.The conversation explores how Putin consolidated power through chaos, why Russia benefits from the current war in Iran, and what Ukraine’s drone expertise means for the future of the Gulf. Browder also shares his perspective on Donald Trump’s posture toward Russia, the breaking point of international law, and the precarious balance between global business and human rights.Topics include: Putin’s Russia, Sergei Magnitsky, the Magnitsky Act, human rights activism, Ukraine, Iran, the Gulf, sanctions, corruption, Trump, NATO, and global power shifts.

In a special edition of Global Power Shifts, Jim Stenman and Suzanne Kianpour unpack the fast-moving crisis around Iran, one week after the latest U.S. and Israeli strikes. Suzanne, an Iranian-American journalist who has covered Iran for most of her career, reflects on the deeply personal reality of watching her two countries move closer to open conflict. Together, they examine the fallout across the Gulf, the confusion around Trump’s endgame, the future of the Iranian regime, and why Iran cannot be understood through easy comparisons with other countries in the Middle East.

In our first episode of 2026, Jim Stenman speaks with Dr. Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland’s Presidential Advisor on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, days after Israel became the first country to formally recognize Somaliland. Hagi argues recognition changes the operating reality of diplomacy, from trade and finance to security cooperation. We discuss what Somaliland says it wants from Israel, what Israel may gain in return, and how this recognition reverberates across the Red Sea corridor, from Yemen to the Horn of Africa. The conversation also covers Berbera port and the UAE’s footprint there, Ethiopia’s long-running push for sea access, and why Hagi says U.S. recognition remains the holy grail, including the roles of Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.In this episode:What recognition unlocks in practiceIsrael–Somaliland: interests on both sidesRed Sea security and regional backlashEthiopia, Berbera, and sea-access politicsThe Washington angle and diaspora politics

In this episode, we welcome Charles Myers, Chairman and Founder of Signum Global Advisors, to discuss the potential implications of Donald Trump’s return as U.S. president and how it could reshape America’s foreign relations. With over 25 years of political and electoral experience, Myers brings unparalleled expertise to this critical conversation.Key topics include:Trump 2.0 foreign policy: How would a second Trump presidency differ from his first term, and what would it mean for global diplomacy?Biden’s legacy: Analyzing Biden’s foreign policy achievements, from the Israel-Gaza ceasefire to his handling of international alliances.Ukraine and NATO: Can the war in Ukraine be resolved, and what are the implications for NATO and European defense?China and Taiwan: Exploring Beijing’s economic struggles, looming tariffs, and Taiwan’s central role in global geopolitics.Geopolitical rhetoric: Trump’s controversial statements about Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal — are they bold strategies or political bluster?Iran’s changing role: How recent events have weakened Iran’s proxy networks and reshaped its regional influence.Domestic oligarchy: Biden’s critiques of big tech and influential billionaires like Elon Musk as he nears the end of his term.Join us for an insightful discussion on the future of American foreign policy and its ripple effects on global stability. Don’t miss this episode filled with expert analysis and thought-provoking perspectives.