Switzerland with Tom Switzer
A program about politics, modern history and international relations hosted by Tom Switzer.
Episodes
Elisabeth Kendall | Can the U.S. and Saudis defeat the Houthis? | Tom Switzer
The Houthi rebels of Yemen have become one of the most consequential and disruptive forces in the Middle East. Backed by Iran but pursuing their own political and military objectives, they have survived years of warfare, Saudi-led intervention and an intense American bombing campaign.
In this conversation, Elizabeth Kendall, one of the world’s leading experts on the Houthis and Director of Girton
Mearsheimer & Maté: Iran & Houthis strike back | Tom Switzer
President Donald Trump has turned up the pressure on Ukraine, calling for Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced as president and urging Kyiv to halt its attacks on Russian oil refineries. The intervention raises fresh questions about Washington’s commitment to Ukraine and the direction of Trump’s strategy towards Moscow.
The timing is striking. The Trump administration has also reached an agreement al
Mary Dejevsky: Silencing of dissent over Ukraine war | Tom Switzer
Mary Dejevsky spent decades at the heart of British journalism, including many years as a columnist for The Independent. But in June she stepped down from her weekly column, in part because she had become increasingly frustrated by the shrinking space for dissenting views on Russia and Ukraine in Britain’s mainstream media.
On this episode of Switzerland, she tells Tom Switzer why she believes it
Max Hastings: What History Tells Us About Trump and the West | Tom Switzer
On this episode of Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Sir Max Hastings, one of the world's leading journalists and historians, to ask what a lifetime of studying war and history can tell us about the extraordinarily unsettled world of 2026.
They discuss Donald Trump and the future of the Western alliance, the war in Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East, China, and the significance of the recent US
Trita Parsi | China could break the US-Iran diplomatic deadlock | Tom Switzer
Iran’s economy is under extraordinary pressure. Oil exports are being squeezed, sanctions are expanding and Tehran says it is fighting an “economic war”. Is the regime beginning to crack?
Or does Iran still hold considerable leverage because it can threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz? The latest evidence, documented in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, suggests the recovery in Gulf
Steve Hanke: Is America Heading for Economic Catastrophe?
Steve Hanke, the veteran and acclaimed free-market economist, discusses America’s cost-of-living crisis, persistent inflation, the $40 trillion national debt and the warning signs coming from the bond market.
Professor Hanke also explains why he thinks the AI boom may be a bubble, why Iran could inflict serious economic damage on the US, and why he has broken with Vice President JD Vance over the
Mearsheimer & Cockburn | Trump warns he will resume bombing after midterms
President Trump has rejected Iran’s seven-day plan proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms.
Tehran’s proposal would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz within a week and resumed nuclear talks in return for the US easing oil sanctions and lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, which is causing deep damage to the country’s e
Why Is the Populist Right Rising Across Europe? | Simon Heffer
Right-wing populist parties are surging across Europe -- and Germany is at the centre of the upheaval. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made major gains in recent state elections, challenging the dominance of Germany’s established political parties. What is driving this revolt against the political establishment -- and why is it happening now?
To make sense of the populist ascendancy, Tom Swi
John Mearsheimer: Trump’s Mideast morass deepens
The most revealing development in Donald Trump’s war with Iran may not be taking place in Tehran at all. It is happening hundreds of kilometres away, on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. In the past week, the Iran-backed Houthis have seized strategically important territory across Yemen’s Red Sea coast. From there, they have greater capacity to threaten shipping through the Red Sea and, crucially, Saudi Arab
Is Ukraine winning the war? Lieven
Is Ukraine really turning the tide against Russia? Western media coverage has increasingly focused on Ukraine’s drone strikes, Russia’s economic difficulties and mounting battlefield losses, prompting claims that Vladimir Putin is under growing pressure.
But what is actually happening on the battlefield? Who has the strategic advantage as the war enters its fifth year, and can Russia consolidate
Robert Pape: Iran Is Escalating — Is Trump Losing Leverage?
Iran is escalating its war with the United States — not only through direct attacks, but through its Shia allies and proxies across the Middle East.
The Iran-backed Houthis have seized key territory on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the strategically important Perim Island at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them a growing ability to threaten shipping and Saudi oil exports. At the same time, an
Jeffrey Sachs: 911, Iran & Ukraine
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University.
Subjects include the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks: what did America learn –- and what did it fail to learn? How much of the foreign-policy thinking that emerged from that moment still shapes the Trump administration? When will US leaders recognise limits to military and economic pow
Has Iran lost? Trita Parsi & Stephen Wertheim
It’s been more than six months into the war with Iran, and the question that matters is becoming harder to avoid: who is actually losing this war?
The conventional wisdom has been that Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran was a catastrophic strategic blunder — that Tehran could absorb the punishment, close the Strait of Hormuz and inflict enormous economic costs on America and its allies.
But
Mearsheimer: Has the War Turned Against Iran?
The conventional wisdom holds that the US war on Iran has been a massive strategic blunder. As John Mearsheimer has repeatedly argued, Washington went to war with four principal objectives: regime change, ending Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, destroying its ballistic-missile capabilities, and dismantling its network of militia proxies. None has been achieved. Add to this the damage inflicted o
Iran at six months: Cockburn
Six months after Donald Trump launched his war on Iran, the regime survives, the Strait of Hormuz remains contested, and Washington is struggling to turn military might into a political victory.
Trump and his supporters can make a credible case that Iran has been severely damaged. Its air force and much of its navy have been destroyed; its nuclear program has been set back; senior leadership has
Eberstadt: Trump, Asia & the Koreas
President Donald Trump is seeking to revive his personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while substantially reducing US military exercises with South Korea. What does this mean for the future of the US–South Korean alliance -- and for deterrence on the Korean Peninsula?
But the stakes extend far beyond the Korean Peninsula. The war with Iran has raised fresh questions about whether
Mearsheimer & Kelanic: economic D-day on Iran
Donald Trump has pledged to intensify the U.S. campaign of economic warfare on Tehran, but he faces serious challenges. Iran maintains its ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. And there are growing strains on US naval and munitions stockpiles. Time is not on Trump’s side -- and the war will continue to expose serious limits to America’s ability to sustain its traditional mili
Iran, Syria, Shia update: Joshua Landis
The U.S. naval blockade is costing Iran’s regime dearly in terms of lost economic activity, sky-high inflation, unemployment and a collapsing Iranian currency. President Trump says that the regime “is in very bad shape” economically and unable to pay its troops. Could the Islamic Republic of Iran still collapse?
To what extent does the new Sunni-run, pro-US Syria complicate Tehran’s effort to asse
Tom Switzer: Why WW3 is closer than you think
For decades, the prevailing assumption was that nuclear weapons had made a Third World War almost unthinkable. Yet an increasing number of serious strategists, historians and commentators are now asking whether that confidence is still justified.
While Donald Trump’s temperament has undoubtedly heightened concerns about miscalculation, it is too simplistic to blame one man for the world’s growing
Stephen Walt: Why the US keeps losing wars
It’s become increasingly clear that the Iran war has been a spectacular failure. There is just no plausible military outcome that produces the political result Washington says it wants.
Which raises an important question: If the United States has overwhelming military superiority, why has it become so difficult for Washington to turn military power into political victory?
The sad reality is that t
Mearsheimer, Nasr: What Comes Next in Iran?
Hardly a day goes by without another indication that the international order is in flux. But as the war in Iran enters a new phase, some questions are becoming increasingly urgent.
What do we know about the emerging Iranian-Omani discussions over the Strait of Hormuz? What might they mean for the future control and security of the strait? And what more can Donald Trump do to secure an outcome that
Trump's latest Iran 'deal' | John Mearsheimer & Paul Kelly
Over the past week, the world appeared to be edging towards another dangerous military escalation in the Persian Gulf, with both Washington and Tehran issuing fresh threats.
But this weekend Donald Trump abruptly called off the planned attack on Iran. The President says diplomacy has made further military action unnecessary. But are Washington and Tehran genuinely prepared to reach a meaningful pe
Peter Oborne: “America Is Far More Dangerous Than Iran”
The war against Iran, launched by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on February 28, was meant to last four to six weeks. It is now in its twenty-second week.
Peter Oborne has spent more than two decades arguing against Western military intervention in the Middle East -- he was one of the very few British conservative columnists to oppose the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He argues that this
Is the Cockroach Party India's Arab Spring? | Salvatore Babones
Last weekend, thousands of young Indians took to the streets in support of the Cockroach Junta Party, or CJP -- a satirical movement that became a serious vehicle for growing frustration with India’s education system. After weeks of demonstrations, the Modi government relented, culminating in the resignation of India’s Education Minister.
The political drama comes at a time when India’s democratic
Will Trump chicken out (again)? | Trita Parsi
Follow Trita here: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/
Follow Tom here: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer
This week marks 150 days since US and Israeli air strikes hit Iran. Back then, President Donald Trump predicted the campaign would be over within four to six weeks. The Iranian regime would be humbled, perhaps even overthrown. Its missile and drone capabilities would be shattered. Its nuclear ambi
Trump, Iran and ground troops? | John Mearsheimer
Fighting between the United States and Iran has entered a dangerous new phase. Over the past week, the U.S. military has expanded its campaign, striking a broader range of targets deep inside Iran, including bridges and other critical infrastructure, in an apparent effort to increase pressure on Tehran and force an end to attacks on commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. Iran has responded with
IRAN WAR UPDATE| Stephen Walt & Joshua Landis
The renewed cycle of U.S. and Iranian air strikes has replaced the earlier phases of the confrontation, which began with the U.S. bombing campaign from late February to early April and was followed by the U.S. naval blockade from mid-April to mid-June.
The central question now is whether the Trump administration can compel Tehran to allow commercial shipping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz wi
Escalation (again) | Robert Pape
The past week has shattered whatever faith remained in that Memorandum of Understanding. The United States and Iran have once again exchanged strikes, with the U.S. military saying it hit 90 military targets, though Tehran claims many of those sites were civilian. The Iranian military, meanwhile, says it has retaliated by targeting U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan. What’s now likely
Are we heading back to war? | John Mearsheimer & Doug Bandow
No one expected diplomacy to proceed without setbacks. But there was hope that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the United States and Iran in late June, vague though it was, would create enough political space to allow commercial shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz. The events of the past few days have been a reminder of just how fragile that ceasefire remains.
What kind of ch
Can the US-Iran peace deal hold? | John Mearsheimer & Trita Parsi
Whether the memorandum of understanding ultimately survives political opposition in Tehran, Washington and Jerusalem remains to be seen. What is clear is that the latest tensions over the Strait of Hormuz is a reminder of how fragile the situation remains in the Persian Gulf and how uncertain the prospects are for a durable peace.
Will Donald Trump follow through on his threats that the United Sta
Bolton & Izadi on the US-Iran Memo
President Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran has been hailed by supporters as a diplomatic breakthrough and denounced by critics as a strategic retreat. But what does the agreement actually achieve, and who, if anyone, emerges stronger from months of conflict?
Tom Switzer speaks with two guests with profoundly different perspectives: former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, o
Trump's Iran Deal | Trita Parsi
The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a peace deal on Sunday June 14. Washington will lift the naval blockade while Tehran opens the Strait of Hormuz. Will it hold? Will Israel and Washington hardliners try to sabotage the agreement? Will the Iranian hardliners try to scuttle the deal? Trita Parsi is executive director of the Quincy Institute.
Support Trita Parsi: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/
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John Mearsheimer takes your questions
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Professor John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago who takes questions from viewers during our live chat. Subjects include Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Ukraine as well as other topical current affairs. If Trump does not enter the war, will he be accused of abandoning Israel? But if Trump enters the war, will that mean Israel has an effective veto
Trump and the new Iran-Israel war | Professor Jeffrey Sachs
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University. Subjects include Iran’s military response to Israel’s consistent attacks in Lebanon and the tense relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. If Trump does not enter the war, will he be accused of abandoning Israel? But if Trump enters the war, will that mean Israel has an effective v
The mirage of peace | Professor Robert Pape
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Professor Robert Pape from the University of Chicago for a discussion on the US-Iran negotiations to reach peace. This week U.S. forces conducted new military strikes against Iran after Tehran launched drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz even as both sides are trying to reach a peace deal. What’s going on? Has the crisis exposed ver
A new Iran deal? | John Mearsheimer
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by U.S. political scientist John Mearsheimer for a a discussion on the US-Iran negotiations to reach peace. According to leaks, a peace deal could comprise of a 60-day ceasefire, opening the Strait of Hormuz, easing sanctions and dealing with the nuclear issue later. But is it a done deal?
John Mearsheimer is professor of political science at the Uni
China, Iran, Russia, Cuba | John Mearsheimer
This week on Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by U.S. political scientist John Mearsheimer for a wide-ranging discussion on the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China. From Trump’s dealings with Xi Jinping and the Iran crisis to Taiwan, Russia and the future of American power, the conversation explores whether the world is entering a new era of great-power competition, and whe
Britain in crisis | Simon Heffer
Westminster is once again consumed by speculation about whether the Prime Minister can survive. The turmoil surrounds Labour’s Keir Starmer, the man elected in a landslide less than two years ago on a promise to restore stability after years of chaos.
Today, his leadership is on life support. Dozens of Labour MPs have turned against him, ministers have resigned, enemies are circling and question
The Thomas Massie Primary | Dan McCarthy & James Antle
The war in Iran has exposed visible strains within President Trump’s MAGA coalition. Prominent voices associated with the movement -- including Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Marjorie Taylor Greene -- have sharply criticised Trump’s decision to wage war on Tehran. So, too, has Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Now Massie faces a May 19 primary challenge backed by Presid
Will Trump’s new ploy work? | John Mearsheimer & Trita Parsi
The exchange of missiles and bombs may have paused, at least temporarily, but the struggle between the United States and Iran is not over. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, U.S. sanctions are still in place, the US naval blockade continues, which is aimed to squeeze Iran’s oil output and exacerbate Iran’s deep economic crisis. Bilateral negotiations have made no meaningful headway, and the gap
A watershed moment? Sir Max Hastings and John Mearsheimer
Historians reserve the term “watershed” for those rare moments when events do not merely shock the established order but upend it. Think of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which hastened the end of the Cold War and ushered in an era of American unipolarity. Or the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, which ignited the global war on terror and culminated in the long, costly entanglements of
Has Trump Misread Iran? | Patrick Cockburn & Sahar Razavi
President Trump insists the U.S. naval blockade is working -- that Washington’s pressure will force Tehran to return to the bargaining table, with concessions likely to follow. Will Trump get a peace deal with Iran on US terms? Or, with the Strait of Hormuz closed again, could Tehran emerge from this conflict with a blueprint to keep adversaries at bay -- regardless of any restrictions of its nuc
Will Trump’s Naval Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz Work? | John Mearsheimer and Joshua Landis
In Islamabad, U.S. and Iranian negotiators have failed to reach even the outline of a peace deal. What now? President Trump has announced a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for ships using Iranian ports and could launch a new wave of strikes on Iran. How will Tehran respond? By going up the escalator ladder, is there now a real danger of an all-out regional war and global recession?
At the s
Reopen Strait of Hormuz … or else! | Rosemary Kelanic & Trita Parsi
President Trump threatens to destroy all of Iran’s power plants if the country’s leaders don’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. What if Tehran does not accept a deal on American terms? Why would Tehran negotiate in good faith when Iran was bombed during the last round of negotiations on February 28? Is the Persian Gulf on the cusp of “living hell,” as both the Americans and Iranians make thre
Is Israel Driving the Iran War? | John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt examine Israel’s role in the Iran war and the wider regional crisis -- and revisit their most controversial argument in 2006 about the lobby shaping U.S. foreign policy.
Did President Trump enter this war on his own terms, or under pressure from Israel and its allies in Washington? In a striking resignation letter, former U.S. counterterrorism official
Iran: The Illusion of a Peace Deal | John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt explain why U.S. and Iranian demands are fundamentally irreconcilable -- and why this crisis is far from over.
Instead of bringing Tehran to terms, Washington now finds itself further from a diplomatic settlement than it was in May 2025. Iran has played a weak hand with discipline and patience. The United States, by contrast, risks stumbling into anothe
The Political Cost of the Iran War | Doug Bandow & Henry Olsen
The war in Iran has entered its fourth week. What are the political costs for Donald Trump and the Republican party in the leadup to November’s congressional elections? The GOP was already expected to lose the House of Representatives, but could the Republicans also lose the Senate? Is it likely the President could be the lamest of lame ducks in 2027-28? Doug Bandow, a former adviser to President
IRAN: A war without end? | Professor John Mearsheimer
The war in Iran has entered its third week. Washington insists it is winning. Tehran insists it’s holding firm. But here are the key questions: has the US started a war it does not know how to win? Is the Iran war turning into a strategic debacle for the US? Can President Trump end the Iran war without damaging American credibility?
In today's episode, Professor John Mearsheimer responds to the n
Will the war with Iran defeat the Mullahs and the Islamic Republic? | Bret Stephens
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Bret Stephens joins host Tom Switzer to discuss the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict under President Trump. Drawing on his book "America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder," Stephens argues why confronting Iran is a moral and strategic imperative, countering critics who liken it to another Iraq quagmire.
Read Tom's Substack:
Iran After the Ayatollah: Stephen Walt on the Risks of Regime Collapse
In the wake of U.S. strikes against Iran and reports of senior regime figures killed, what happens if the Islamic Republic collapses? Harvard professor Stephen Walt joins Tom Switzer to assess the most plausible scenarios inside Iran and to explain why history suggests that air campaigns alone rarely produce stable political outcomes.
The conversation ranges widely: divisions within Trump’s MAGA b
John Mearsheimer: Why a U.S. Strike on Iran Could Spiral Out of Control
What are the likely consequences of U.S. military action against Iran. In today's episode, John Mearsheimer argues that even a limited strike could trigger dangerous escalation.
Public opinion, especially among younger Americans, has shifted against Israel. There is very little public support for a war with Iran, and there are deep divisions within Trump’s MAGA base on the issue. Trump’s instincts
Is the Woke Era Over? Brendan O’Neill on the vibe shift
Is the Woke Era Over? Brendan O’Neill on the vibe shift
Is Western culture undergoing a major shift? In recent years, cancel culture, identity politics, and ideological conformity reshaped public debate across universities, media, corporations, and politics. Supporters saw long-overdue social progress. Critics warned of growing intolerance toward dissent. Now, some observers argue the tide is turn
Is War With Iran Looming? Vali Nasr & Joshua Landis
As Washington and Tehran negotiate over Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles and regional militias, the risk of confrontation in the Persian Gulf is once again rising. On Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by two of the world’s leading experts on Iran and Syria -- Vali Nasr and Joshua Landis -- to examine whether diplomacy can avert war, what Iran’s leaders really want, and how weakened prox
The World is Running Out of People | Nicholas Eberstadt
In this episode of Switzerland, Nick Eberstadt, one of the world’s leading demographers, addresses global depopulation and the coming demographic shock. He explains why falling birth rates and ageing populations are becoming one of the defining forces of the 21st century. From East Asia and Europe to the United States, Eberstadt argues that global depopulation will reshape economic growth, labour
Will Trump Trigger a New World War? | Max Hastings
The legendary historian Max Hastings on NATO, China, democracy — and whether today’s world resembles 1914.
In this episode of Switzerland, Tom Switzer is joined by Sir Max Hastings — one of Britain’s most distinguished military historians, journalists, and former newspaper editors — for a wide-ranging conversation about war, power, and the fate of the Western order. They explore whether today’s fr
Does sharp criticism of Israel shade into antisemitism? Mearsheimer & Mahbubani Discuss Bondi terror
Does sharp criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza inevitably shade into antisemitism? In the days after the December 14 Bondi terror attacks, Australian leader Anthony Albanese faced fierce criticism -- from the conservative opposition at home and from Benjamin Netanyahu abroad -- over how his government had responded to rising tensions and Jewish community fears. Those scenes, including the angry
Trump, Greenland and NATO: Heilbrunn, Mahbubani & Mearsheimer
Donald Trump says Greenland must become American -- by consent if possible, by force if necessary. Europe has responded with a flat refusal, warning that any American land grab could trigger the unravelling of NATO itself.
In the third of his new YouTube program, Switzerland, Tom Switzer puts questions to Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest in Washington, and professors Kishore Mahb
Trump’s National Security Statement: has China won? John Mearsheimer & Kishore Mahbubani
In the first of a two-part series of his new YouTube program, Switzerland, Tom Switzer puts questions to two leading intellectual critics of the western foreign-policy consensus: professors Kishore Mahbubani from Singapore and John Mearsheimer from Chicago. Subjects include the Sino-American strategic competition, trade wars, the Trump administration’s National Security Statement, great powers’ sp
Venezuela after Trump’s strike: John Bolton vs John Mearsheimer
Has President Trump made a historic mistake in Venezuela?
On his new program, Switzerland, Tom Switzer challenges John Bolton and John Mearsheimer on the Trump administration’s move to remove Nicolás Maduro from power. Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, argues the operation is justified if it delivers real regime change. Mearsheimer, the University of Chicago political scientist,
