90 Seconds to Midnight

Look around you, if you can’t see the flames, you can certainly smell the smoke. They say it’s darkest before dawn, but what if dawn or help isn’t coming?  January 6th 2021’s attack on the Capitol felt like a fever dream at the time, now a ghoulish forewarning of what was to come. Current American policy,, has sent seismic shockwaves throughout the world. You only have to glance at the TV to see a grim-faced Trump, holding yet another executive order, or a vice president in a very public, televised spat with a world leader.  Tariffs are in place, a US trade war is underway, while the said same vice president is undermining British fighting forces in an administration that’s cosying up to Putin’s war machine while pausing military aid to Ukraine. No wonder it’s so easy to forget the rise of the far right with our European neighbours. Or that Israel’s prime minister has threatened Hamas with “consequences you can’t imagine” if the Palestinian group does not release the remaining hostages held in Gaza. That sort of language barely registers now, let alone shocks anyone. In Syria, the country’s new leader faces a power struggle as the country’s fragile alliances – born after the fall of Assad – begin to fray and rival factions vie for a seat at the table. In Serbia, the opening day of the spring Parliament saw MPs light flares and discharge teargas, before scuffling with security guards. PMQs is positively sedate in comparison. But this is serious. How did we get here? To help us answer that question and more is David Patrikarakos, best selling author and the Daily Mail’s Special Correspondent, and a host of guests who have stared into the abyss or been on the frontline of the geopolitical world as it threatens to spin off its axis.  Each episode, we’ll go on the ground to try and understand what forces and adversity each territory faces and how that might eventually, almost inexorably, impact us all. One world used to be a term of hope and defiance, now it simply sounds like the first domino falling… To get in touch, email: [email protected]