One Decision

Debora Cahn, the writer behind The Diplomat, Homeland, The West Wing, and Grey's Anatomy, joins Kate McCann and Sir Richard Dearlove to talk about writing political drama in an era when reality keeps outpacing fiction. Debora explains how "spy camp" research trips with real diplomats, spies, and generals shape her scripts, why she resists making her stories too close to current events, and what she learned about the strange double life of foreign service officers: the loneliness of constant relocation, the jockeying for a seat in the room, and the quiet patriotism that keeps them showing up. Sir Richard, a former head of MI6, adds his own view from the other side of the table, including a story about deliberately keeping a British ambassador out of the room in Washington.

In this episode:

00:00 Cold Open

02:58 Russia Story Rewritten

04:11 Borgen Inspiration

06:15 Spy Camp Research

08:22 Diplomacy In The Dirt

09:35 Ambassadors Real And Fake

18:39 CIA And Embassy Dynamics

21:24 From West Wing To Diplomat

23:14 No Evil Characters

24:29 MI6 Reality Check

29:59 Demystifying Government Work

31:12 Female President Choice

33:51 Future Of Ambassadors

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio).
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Part Two of our two-part series marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 reunites former leaders of the US and UK intelligence services, both of whom were in high office on September 11, 2001. Former deputy director of the CIA John McLaughlin joins former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host Kate McCann to give the insider’s perspective on the intelligence world’s response to the attacks. McLaughlin details what the CIA knew beforehand, the immediate aftermath inside CIA headquarters, and the rapid attribution to al-Qaeda. He also discusses the power of the US-UK "special relationship," the surge in CIA resources after 9/11, the Bush administration's push toward the Iraq War, the effects of the global war on terror on American civil liberties, and why the war in Ukraine is the single most important geopolitical issue today.

In this episode:
(00:00) Emotion is a Luxury in Intelligence
(01:53) John McLaughlin Introduction
(03:03) Pre-9/11 Threats
(07:17) Why Was 9/11 A Surprise?
(14:13) Considering the "What Ifs"
(15:52) M16 Rushes to DC
(22:46) CIA on 9/11
(25:12) Post-9/11 Intelligence Overhaul
(34:16) Origins of the Iraq Focus
(47:17) Legacy of 9/11 in America
(57:42) One Decision: Importance of the Ukraine Conflict
(01:03:00) Takeaways and Wrap Up

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and co-host Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio).
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In 1997, Peter Bergen found himself in the mountains of Afghanistan, face-to-face with al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. During the ensuing landmark interview, bin Laden foreshadowed the terrorist attacks of September 11.

In Part One of our two-part series commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, journalist and author Peter Bergen sits down with former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host John Raine to discuss the legacy of the 9/11 attacks, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bergen talks about why negotiating with Osama bin Laden would have been a nonstarter and why the attacks bin Laden orchestrated generated shock, not surprise, within government intelligence agencies. Bergen and the hosts also discuss decisions after the attacks that Dearlove witnessesed firsthand, the proper relationship between intelligence and policy, how the war on terror reshaped the US view of coalitions and allies, and how the conflict in Ukraine points to the future of warfare.

In this episode:

(00:00) Lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

(03:23) Would Negotiating with Osama bin Laden Have Worked?

(06:21) Feeling in US Immediately Post-9/11

(11:29) Origins of Iraq War

(15:55) Policy and Intelligence

(17:08) Imperial Power of the Presidency

(21:16) Why Were There No Major Attacks After 9/11?

(25:13) Role of Coalitions and Allies

(34:31) Legacy of Fighting Global War on Terror

(41:10) Importance of Tribalism

(46:54) Scale of Troop Presence and Outcome

(50:41) Ukraine as Laboratory for Modern Warfare

(54:38) One Decision: Why Trump Should Declare Victory in Iran

(56:41) Takeaways and Wrap Up

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host John Raine (International Institute for Strategic Studies)
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It has been five years since the US withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, accepting defeat after a 20-year presence in the country. Was this ever a winnable war? War correspondent Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker walks former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host John Raine through the Taliban resurgence. Anderson discusses why it was a strategic error to not allow Hamid Karzai to actually govern, and how that blunder facilitated both the return of opium production and the Taliban comeback. He also talks about what happened to the Northern Alliance, the complexities of Afghan allegiances and loyalties, lessons in counterinsurgency, the importance of winning the hearts and minds of a people, and what diplomatic relations with a Taliban-led Afghanistan could look like.

In this episode:

(00:00) Ceding an Aura of Invincibility

(03:15) Was Afghanistan Ever a Winnable War?

(07:26) Karzai and State Building

(11:12) Opium Production and Taliban

(18:43) Shadow Taliban Government

(27:09) What Happened to the Northern Alliance?

(33:39) Navigating US-Afghani Cultural Differences

(39:14) Afghanistan’s Geography

(42:45) Lessons in Counterinsurgency

(48:26) Legacy of Afghanistan War

(50:09) Persistence of Taliban Government

(51:58) Diplomatic Relations with Taliban

(55:28) One Decision: The West Must Engage Afghanistan

(56:41) Takeaways and Wrap Up

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host John Raine (International Institute for Strategic Studies)
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How did a Holocaust-denying, hardline former president of Iran become the centerpiece of an Israeli plan to topple the regime in Tehran? Former head of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host John Raine sit down with New York Times investigative journalists Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman to detail the high-stakes intelligence mission that preceded Operation Epic Fury. They explain how Israel’s Mossad groomed former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into an intelligence asset, and how Mossad director David Barnea Ahmadinejad to the White House in February 2026 as part of a plan for rapid regime change in Iran. They also discuss the plan’s collapse within days of the decapitation strikes, why the plan to use Kurdish forces as a ground proxy was a non-starter, how the political fallout from the war may forever change US-Israel relations, and the electoral implications for both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this fall.

(00:00) Legacy of the Iran War

(02:30) Origins of Ahmadinejad Plot

(05:10) Planning Iranian Regime Change

(08:08) Was Ahmadinejad a Double Agent?

(12:45) Why Recruit Ahmadinejad?

(15:34) Selling Trump on Regime Change

(25:12) Credibility of Kurdish Option

(33:27) War Planning vs. Reality

(35:32) Legacy of Ahmadinejad Plot

(38:55) Did Israel Manipulate the US?

(41:44) Mood of Iranian People

(43:58) Deal Prospects

(46:18) Maximum Pressure on Iran

(48:05) Impact of Israel’s Coming Elections

(49:03) Takeaways, Audience Comments, and Wrap Up

Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host John Raine (International Institute for Strategic Studies)
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