Former US Secretary of State John Kerry: We face a special challenge in America

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry: We face a special challenge in America

We face a special challenge in America.

James Naughtie speaks to veteran US politician John Kerry about the state of American politics and his long career at the top of global affairs.

As well as standing for president himself as the Democratic candidate in 2004, he served as Secretary of State in the Obama administration and as Joe Biden’s climate envoy.

Secretary Kerry was at the centre of some of the most significant global crises in recent history from Iraq to Iran and Syria. He still believes one of America’s greatest foreign policy mistakes was invading Iraq in 2003 without first seeking formal approval from the US Congress.

He is forthright in his views on America today, saying he has never seen anything like what the country is living through. He describes politics as defined by greed and insensitivity, and guided by the lowest aspirations. For his Democratic party to return to power once more, he challenges them to face and address the issues the American people care about, including immigration.

Thank you to the Politically team for its help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: James Naughtie Producers: Lucy Sheppard, Giles Edwards Editor: Nick Holland

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: John Kerry. Credit: Reuters)

Episoder(1827)

Jason Jones: How can you change cultural attitudes?

Jason Jones: How can you change cultural attitudes?

Allan Little speaks to the Trinidadian human rights activist Jason Jones. He is campaigning to legalise consensual sex for homosexuals on his native island, and hopes that the case will have repercussions for similar laws in other countries. But will it be enough to change cultural attitudes?

8 Nov 202422min

Andrei Kelin: Is Vladimir Putin reshaping geopolitics?

Andrei Kelin: Is Vladimir Putin reshaping geopolitics?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Russia’s ambassador in London, Andrei Kelin. Thanks to the war in Ukraine and allegations of Russian hybrid warfare in Europe and beyond, diplomatic relations between Moscow and the West are poisonous. Is Vladimir Putin right to think he’s reshaping geopolitics?

4 Nov 202422min

Fred Fleitz: What would Donald Trump's foreign policy look like?

Fred Fleitz: What would Donald Trump's foreign policy look like?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Fred Fleitz, a national security official in Donald Trump’s first administration, tipped for a new foreign policy role if Trump returns to power. If Vice President Kamala Harris represents foreign policy continuity, what would the world get from Trump 2.0?

1 Nov 202422min

Diane Foley: Bringing detained Americans home

Diane Foley: Bringing detained Americans home

Stephen Sackur talks to Diane Foley, whose son James was kidnapped by the Islamic State group and murdered in 2014. She’s spent a decade coming to terms with that and campaigning to get other detained Americans home.

30 Okt 202422min

Chris Murphy: Is Kamala Harris a candidate for change?

Chris Murphy: Is Kamala Harris a candidate for change?

Stephen Sackur is in Washington DC to speak to Democratic Party Senator Chris Murphy. In the final days of an eye-wateringly close presidential election campaign, how can Vice President Kamala Harris convince Americans that she and the Democrats stand for change rather than business as usual?

28 Okt 202422min

John Bolton: Is America too divided to offer global leadership?

John Bolton: Is America too divided to offer global leadership?

Stephen Sackur is in Washington DC to speak to Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton. With the election looming, Bolton calls his former boss a danger to America. But he won’t back Kamala Harris either. Is America too divided to offer global leadership?

23 Okt 202422min

Frank Skinner: What unites his many sides?

Frank Skinner: What unites his many sides?

Stephen Sackur speaks to stand-up comedian, and broadcaster Frank Skinner, who also happens to be a writer on poetry, religion and much more. Football and sex were, and are, the staples of much of his humour, but he’s never been a one-trick pony. What unites his many facets?

21 Okt 202422min

Seyed Hossein Mousavian: How vulnerable is Iran?

Seyed Hossein Mousavian: How vulnerable is Iran?

Stephen Sackur speaks to former Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian. Now in exile in the US, he is an advocate for dialogue between Iran and the West. With Israel poised to strike, having already delivered severe blows to Tehran, how vulnerable is Iran?

17 Okt 202422min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
popradet
aftenpodden-usa
stopp-verden
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
det-store-bildet
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-ness
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
aftenbla-bla
e24-podden
bt-dokumentar-2
rss-gukild-johaug
unitedno
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene