Switzerland with Tom Switzer

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 credentials are under increasing international scrutiny. Global democracy rankings have downgraded the world’s largest democracy, while critics accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP government of eroding liberal institutions. How significant is this moment? Is Modi facing his most serious political challenge in more than a decade in office? Are these protests part of a broader generational revolt sweeping South Asia -- like the student uprising in Bangladesh in 2024 that brought down Sheikh Hasina’s government, or the Gen Z demonstrations in Nepal in 2025 that forced the resignation of that country’s prime minister? Or is India fundamentally different? Salvatore Babones is associate professor of Sociology at the University of Sydney and author of Dharma Democracy: How India Built the Third World’s First Democracy. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 ambitions would be set back for at least a generation. And its regional proxy network -- from Hamas and Hezbollah to the Houthis -- would be gravely weakened. Five months on, the picture looks very different. Tehran has proved far more resilient than many expected. US stockpiles of precision munitions have been depleted. The global economy is under strain. Petrol prices have climbed, America’s Gulf allies are increasingly anxious, and President Trump’s approval ratings have fallen sharply. What now? Washington lacks the appetite to commit the blood and treasure required for a decisive military victory. Yet it cannot simply disengage without risking a major strategic setback. Is there a realistic pathway to ending this war? Why has Trump appeared to halt his recent military escalation which helped end the ceasefire a fortnight ago? Trita Parsi is co-founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran.

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 fresh missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, killing and wounding U.S. service personnel and raising fears of a wider regional conflict. Where does this leave the crisis? Are we witnessing another temporary escalation -- or the beginning of a much larger war? John Mearsheimer is professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001).  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 without requiring the Iranian regime’s permission. Iran has categorically rejected that proposition, insisting that all vessels transiting the Strait must do so with Tehran’s explicit approval. Is there any realistic prospect that Iran will back down? Or does Washington have a credible military strategy capable of changing the Islamic Republic’s position? Guests are Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at Harvard University, and Joshua Landis, Professor of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

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 to happen? Has the renewed fighting vindicated Professor Robert Pape’s escalation trap?  On Ukraine, Professor Pape contends that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s campaign has become a strategic failure and that Ukraine is gaining the upper hand, including in Crimea. We put to Professor Pape the counterarguments advanced by Professors John Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs, both of whom argue that Russia retains the strategic advantage and is likely to prevail in a prolonged ground war of attrition. Robert Pape is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and author of the Substack The Escalation Trap. His forthcoming book is Our Own Worst Enemies: America and the Age of Violent Populism. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 challenge does this pose to efforts to turn that initial memorandum into a more durable peace agreement? To what extent has the U.S. foreign policy establishment been, to coin a neoconservative phrase, mugged by reality? Will the Iran debacle encourage Washington policy elites to place less emphasis on not just the Persian Gulf but also Europe and Asia?   Today’s guests are John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Doug Bandow from the Cato Institute, the leading libertarian think tank in Washington.

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 States could become the “guardian angel” of the Strait of Hormuz? Could recent White House criticism of the Jewish state mark the contours of an effort to de-specialise the US-Israel relationship? Such a stance no doubt causes panic in much of Washington, but will it resonate with Middle America, especially among younger demographics?    Today’s guests are John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Trita Parsi from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

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, one of Washington’s most prominent foreign-policy thinkers, and Professor Foad Izadi, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Tehran and a leading Iranian commentator on U.S.-Iran relations. Together they offer sharply contrasting assessments of the agreement, its implications for the Middle East, and whether it brings the region any closer to a durable peace.

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/ Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 on the negotiations to end the Iran crisis? According to Professor Sachs, Trump should work to extricate the US from the Israeli-Iranian rivalry.

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 veto on the negotiations to end the Iran crisis? According to Professor Sachs, Trump should work to extricate the US from the Israeli-Iranian rivalry.

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 very serious limits on US power in an increasingly more multipolar world? And is America, at home, more polarised and divided than at any point since the Civil War of the 1860s?  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 University of Chicago and author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 whether Washington and Beijing can avoid the “Thucydides Trap” that has historically driven rising and established powers toward conflict.  Other subjects addressed include Iran, Russia and Ukraine and Cuba. John Mearsheimer is professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 questions are growing about the future of a government — and a country — confronting deep political divisions and serious economic headwinds. Simon Heffer is professor of modern history at the University of Buckingham, a columnist at the UK Daily and Sunday Telegraph and the author of numerous acclaimed books on British politics and history.

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 President Trump as well as pro-Israel and Trump-aligned Super PACs. The contest has become a test case for the future of the Republican Party: is MAGA a coherent foreign-policy worldview rooted in restraint and “America First” principles -- or is it ultimately a coalition held together by loyalty to Trump himself? What does the Massie fight reveal about the future of Republican foreign policy, the politics of the U.S.-Israel alliance, and the balance of power inside the conservative movement? Guests: Dan McCarthy, distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation. James Antle, executive editor of the Washington Examiner magazine. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 between them remains wide. What if the U.S. resumes military strikes against Iran? Could they bring Tehran to heel?  Will Trump's plan to guide stranded strips through the Strait of Hormuz work? Guests are Trita Parsi, co-founder and vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and John Mearsheimer, professor of political science from the University of Chicago.  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 the so-called forever wars.   In each case, those living through the moment could sense they were witnessing events whose consequences would extend far beyond the immediate crisis. The question now is whether the Iran war belongs in that category. On the world stage, many allies and partners increasingly worry that the United States as a friend is shrinking with extraordinary rapidity. If this is true, what does this mean for international affairs after the Iran war?   Guests are Sir Max Hastings, the British military historian, columnist and former newspaper editor, and John Mearsheimer, professor of political science from the University of Chicago.  

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 nuclear program? Is the US debacle in Iran akin to a “Suez moment” in 1956, that the crisis leads to the end of empire. Is Trump in deep trouble? Guests are Patrick Cockburn, veteran Middle East commentator for The Independent in Britain, and associate professor Sahar Razavi, director of Persian and Middle Eastern Studies at California State University, Sacramento. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 same time, widening differences between Israel and Washington may force Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back his ambitions -- whether to crush Hezbollah in Lebanon or to bring down Iran’s battered clerical regime -- in order to preserve relations with the White House. Guests are John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Joshua Landis from the University of Oklahoma. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 threats? Does the Iran war mark a watershed moment in world history where we are witnessing the end of US global hegemony? Rosemary Kelanic from Defense Priorities and Trita Parsi from the Quincy Institute address the risks involved in an escalation of the Iran conflict.  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 Joe Kent argued that Iran posed no imminent threat, and that the conflict was driven in part by external pressure. This raises a deeper question: if Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helped draw the United States into the conflict, can he prevent Washington from stepping back? And what happens if Israel continues the war alone? At the same time, Israel faces mounting strain at home. With warnings from its own military leadership about manpower shortages, the longer-term sustainability of the war is increasingly in doubt. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 another major strategic failure in the Middle East. At the core of the impasse is a basic reality: both sides are demanding the impossible. Washington insists on the full dismantling of Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, while Tehran seeks sanctions relief, reparations, and long-term security guarantees. Neither side is prepared to yield. The result is not a pathway to peace, but a deepening stalemate -- with escalation, not resolution, the more likely outcome. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 Ronald Reagan, is a veteran scholar at the Washington-based Cato Institute. Henry Olsen is a leading expert on US public opinion.    Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 new consensus that the heavy US bombardment of the crucial island of Kharg will be a game-changer. Will it force the Iranians to open the Straits of Hormuz?  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 base, the legality and strategic logic of the intervention, Iran’s capacity to retaliate, the regional consequences of regime change, and whether Washington’s approach reflects what Walt calls a strategy of “predatory hegemony.” They also discuss Israel’s role, shifting American public opinion, China and Russia’s stake in the conflict, and whether U.S. focus on Iran risks distracting from the larger strategic challenge posed by Beijing. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 are to avoid dangerous escalation and forever wars. And U.S. Sunni allies, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states, oppose a U.S. war with Iran. And yet we are heading into another U.S. war on Iran. Why?  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 turning. In this episode of Switzerland, Tom Switzer speaks with British writer Brendan O’Neill -- one of the most prominent critics of cancel culture and identity politics -- about whether a genuine “vibe shift” is underway, what’s driving it, and what it means for free speech, democracy, and intellectual pluralism.  Brendan O’Neill’s new book is called Vibe Shift: The Revolt Against Wokeness, Greenism and Technocracy (Spiked publications). Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world. #woke #transrights #lgbtiq

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 proxy networks, such as Hezbollah, are reshaping the region. They explore the legacy of Sunni–Shia rivalry, the collapse of the Assad regime’s rule, America’s military posture in the Gulf, and how Donald Trump's MAGA movement may help avert a new Middle East conflict.  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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 markets, welfare states, military power, and the balance between nations -- often in ways policymakers are unprepared for. The Chinese authorities enforced a one-child policy for three to four decades, and now the country faces massive depopulation. Could the CCP enforce a two-child policy? Could AI, robotics, and automation solve China’s demographic problem? Could slashed immigration to the US make America’s depopulation problem worse? And could falling maths and literacy scores threaten to topple America’s status as a global superpower? Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer

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 fractured international system bears dangerous similarities to 1914, the impact of Donald Trump on U.S. foreign policy, Europe’s strategic vulnerability, NATO’s future, the rise of authoritarianism, and the challenges posed by Russia and China. Drawing on decades of scholarship and reportage, Hastings reflects on nationalism, Brexit, technology’s growing political power, and the enduring strengths — and vulnerabilities — of democratic societies in an age of renewed great-power rivalry. Join the Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read the Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer The discussion ranges across Israel’s war in Gaza, the wave of protests in Western cities, debates over free speech and community relations, and Australia’s own tensions following the Bondi attacks and the political controversy surrounding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s response. Future episodes feature Nicholas Eberstadt on global depopulation and Sir Max Hastings on global disorder

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 public reception the Prime Minister received at Bondi, have become emblematic of how raw and polarised the atmosphere has become. All of this is unfolding alongside a conflict in Gaza that generated mass protests across cities from London to New York to Sydney -- demonstrations that supporters describe as humanitarian, and critics fear can blur into hostility toward Jews. These matters are put to Professor John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and former Singaporean diplomat and policy maker Kishore Mahbubani. Future episodes feature Nicholas Eberstadt on global depopulation and Max Hastings on global disorder.  Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.  Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer

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 Mahbubani from Singapore and John Mearsheimer from Chicago. Subjects include the future of NATO, the decline of Europe and French President de Gaulle’s prediction that the US would withdraw its military forces from the continent. Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer ORNW1Y2XRJZJOUHA

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’ spheres of influence, the Russia-China “axis,” and the subject of Kishore’s important 2020 book, Has China Won? The second part, forthcoming, will concentrate on US-Europe affairs and the resurgence of antisemitism in the wake of the Bondi massacres. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer  Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Watch the show live: https://www.youtube.com/@TomSwitzerMedia  Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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, warns the intervention makes no strategic sense and risks dangerous precedents.  Is President Trump willing to settle for Maduro 2.0? Does Venezuela mark a break from the post-war liberal order? Will Beijing and Moscow draw lessons for Taiwan and Ukraine? Can Washington control Venezuela’s oil without nation-building? And how does this intervention square with Trump’s promise to avoid foreign entanglements?  Subscribe to Switzerland (for free) and join the conversation. Join Tom's Exclusive Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cff5e11f69a3/switzerland-with-tom-switzer  Read Tom's Substack: https://substack.com/@tomswitzer Watch the show live: https://youtu.be/QWUPMZXZwpE?si=4ajFijNCk5HCVvbI  Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.