After three years of sanctions, women's lives in Afghanistan are highly restricted and hunger is widespread. So if sanctions have failed, is it time for the outside world to change its approach and re-engage with the country's Taliban rulers? Gideon discusses this question with Saad Mohseni, chair of Afghanistan’s largest television station and co-author of a new book Radio Free Afghanistan, and Afghan women's rights activist Fatima Gailani. Clip: CBS News

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Free links to read more on this topic:

Leaving Kabul: what happened when the Taliban returned

Taliban’s closer ties with UAE signal global divide over Afghan regime

How the Taliban’s return made Afghanistan a hub for global jihadis

Singer Elaha Soroor on her anthem for Afghan women

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gideon talks to Norbert Röttgen, a CDU member of the foreign affairs committee of the German parliament and author of a new book called Democracy and War. Röttgen criticises Chancellor Olaf Scholz for failing to live up to his early pledges of support for Ukraine. He laments the country's 'deplorable' divide on the Ukraine war, but says he is convinced that most Germans recognise that a victory for Russia would be disastrous for Europe. Clips: SPD; Info fur die Welt

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Free links to read more on this topic:

Germany, political extremism and the risks to Ukraine

Victory for the AfD raises difficult questions about east Germany

Germany to launch limited military service in push to be ‘war ready’

Ukraine’s shifting war aims

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gideon talks to Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East programme at Chatham House in London, about what Israel and Iran may be planning for their next move as the region slides towards all-out war. Clips: The Telegraph; BBC

Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman

Free links to read more on this topic:

Middle East at war: 12 key moments

Oil prices climb as Iran missile attack prompts supply fears

Israel steps up offensive against Hizbollah as region braces for retaliation

How Israeli spies penetrated Hizbollah

Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.