One Decision

The Cuba Conundrum (ft. Ricardo Zúñiga), US-Iran Deal, UK Defense Secretary Quits, Armenia Looks West

The man who secretly negotiated with Cuba for the Obama Administration says it plainly: the risk of military intervention is quite high. Ricardo Zúniga breaks down why the U.S. and Cuba are headed toward conflict, why the Cuban regime would rather fight than negotiate, and why Cuba is not Venezuela, no matter what the White House says. Also this week: the Iran-U.S. ceasefire deal, the resignation of UK Defense Secretary John Healey, and what Armenia's election means for Putin. In this episode: (02:07) Iran Deal (07:32) UK Defense Shakeup (09:39) Armenia Votes West (12:14) Cuba Interview Begins (15:04) Life Inside Cuba (18:31) Cuba Versus Venezuela (20:22) Russia China Backing (24:01) Collapse Crime Risks (28:28) Will US Strike Cuba? (33:04) Reform Not Bombs (36:51) CIA Channel Talks( 44:00) Intermediaries Options (46:34) One Decision to Change Cuba’s Fate  Show Notes:  The Day After in Cuba | Foreign Affairs https://www.foreignaffairs.com/cuba/day-after-cuba  Is Cuba About to Fall? A 35-Year CIA Analyst on What Comes Next | One Decision https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlk1Wxy8To  Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Critical Minerals Race (ft. CSIS Expert Gracelin Baskaran), Poland's Defense Surge, and Hungary After Orbán

The minerals inside your phone, your car, and U.S. fighter jets almost all pass through one country: China. Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, founding director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS, joins Sir Richard Dearlove and Rosanna Lockwood to explain how China built a stranglehold on rare earth production, and what it will actually take to break it. Critical Minerals are this century's defining supply chain vulnerability: it's a demand problem, a democracy problem, and, for the West, a race against a country that isn’t swayed by elections. Also: Israel's espionage escalation against US officials, Poland's rise as Europe's top defense power, and the fall of Orbán's Hungary. In this episode: (00:00) Intro: China's Rare Earth Minerals Takeover (01:43) World Cup 2026 Preview (03:50) Middle East Conflict Updates (06:57) Israel Spying on US Officials? (08:43) Bill Pulte Named Intelligence Director (10:27) US APAC Strategy Shifts (14:41) Poland Becomes Europe's Defense Power (16:44) Hungary After Orbán's Fall (19:57) China's Critical Minerals Chokehold (27:12) Western Mining Supply Chain Crisis (38:28) Frontier Markets: Africa's Mineral Race (57:32) Taiwan Crisis and Mineral Shortages Show Notes:  The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/us/politics/pentagon-sees-growing-espionage-threat-from-israel.html Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bellingcat Founder Eliot Higgins on the War for Truth in the Age of Slopaganda

The Iran conflict contains dueling narratives. Iran says it repelled the attack. Israel says it decimated the nuclear program. The US says it brokered peace. So, how do you find out what actually happened? That’s where Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) can provide valuable information to the public.  Eliot Higgins built Bellingcat from a Leicester living room blog into the world's most influential open source intelligence organization. Sir Richard Dearlove and Rosanna Lockwood sit down with him to find out how OSINT cuts through the war of narratives on Iran, Ukraine, and the fronts nobody's covering. Plus: why AI is making the truth harder to find, not easier, and why Higgins won't set foot in the United States right now. Show Notes:  bellingcat.com  The al-Qaeda offshoot looking to Syria as a blueprint | The Financial Times Senior State Department official sought internal communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics | MIT Technology Review Why these Irish cartel bosses are still free | Search Party   In this episode: 03:21 Iran Ceasefire 06:39 Israel Strategy Explained 08:53 EU Gets Tough on China 12:30 Mali The Next Syria 16:21 CIA Gold Bar Scandal 20:12 Meet Eliot Higgins 23:37 What Is Bellingcat 25:41 AI Slopaganda Threat 29:20 Dark Web Data Trails 31:13 Russia Adapts Tradecraft 32:54 UAE Image Manipulation 34:07 Rapid OSINT Response 35:57 Blackouts and Radar Tools 37:17 Iran Narrative War 39:17 Tomahawk Strike Verification 41:50 Prediction Versus Proof 43:19 Spies Versus OSINT 46:19 Threats and Harassment 50:56 Ukraine OSINT Evolution 54:50 Why China Is Hard for OSINT 01:00:31 Funding and Partnerships Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Losing Sight of Iran's Revolutionary Character Has Cost the West, ft. IISS Expert John Raine

With Ayatollah Khamenei’s demise occurring hours into the war, the West anticipated a collapse of the Iranian regime and a popular uprising that never came to be. Is a ‘memorandum of understanding’ the only thing preventing total escalation in the region? In this episode of One Decision, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove and co-host journalist Kate McCann sit down with John Raine, Senior Adviser for Geopolitical Due Diligence for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), to analyze the ripple effects of the war in Iran and what it will take to stabilize the Middle East. What is keeping a comprehensive peace deal off the table? How did Western intelligence miscalculate the IRGC’s resilience? And where does this leave the rest of the Middle East? We also break down China’s pledge to support Cuba’s sovereignty, the 75th anniversary of the Cambridge Five espionage scandal, and the latest in the war in Ukraine, including China’s role in training Russian soldiers and the opening of a museum in North Korea that memorializes the North Korean losses in the war.   In this episode: 1:07 – Iran, Israel & Trump: The Middle East Crisis Explained 2:52 – Cuba, China, and US Spheres of Influence 6:23 – Cambridge Five: Cold War Spy Scandal Revisited 9:51 – Russia, North Korea, and Ukraine War Shifting 13:26 – Iran War: MOU vs. Formal Peace Deal Explained 16:55 – Why a Comprehensive Iran Deal Remains Out of Reach 22:41 – IRGC Resilience: How Iran's Regime Survived 29:08 – Who Has Influence Over Iran's IRGC? 33:51 – Israel's Military Objectives and Netanyahu's Agenda 39:36 – Gulf States' Vulnerability and Abraham Accords Future 45:26 – How Does the Iran Conflict End? Three Scenarios 49:47 – Sir Richard and Kate Discussion Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and journalist Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Undersea Contest for Control of the Global Economy, ft. Journalist Samanth Subramanian

95 percent of global internet traffic travels through underwater fiber optic cables. They've never been more vulnerable. In this episode of One Decision, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood are joined by journalist and author Samanth Subramanian. His latest book,  The Web Beneath the Waves, is an investigation into the hidden infrastructure holding the world's economy together, and the growing threats to it. Subramanian’s book, The Web Beneath the Waves, is an investigation  Iran is threatening to levy tolls on cables running through the Strait of Hormuz. China is cutting cables in Taiwan's territorial waters using "fishing boats." Russia has been probing European undersea networks for years. And yet there's virtually no international legal framework to stop any of it. Links:  The Web Beneath the Waves | Columbia Global Reports  In this episode: 1:05 — Iran Nuclear Deal: Trump's Strategy 3:44 — US-China Summit: What Really Happened 6:10 — Putin Visits Xi: Russia's Anxiety 8:13 — CIA in Cuba: Economic Takeover Begins 11:17 — Israel's New Mossad Chief Explained 13:22 — Germany's BND Gets New Powers 17:52 — Undersea Cable Vulnerability Exposed 18:48 — How 95% of Internet Data Travels 32:58 — Can Cables Be Tapped Underwater? 38:54 — Deliberate Cable Attacks: Gray Zone War 45:04 — South China Sea: The Biggest Chokepoint 54:53 — One Decision: Future of the Internet 55:55 — Sir Richard and Rosanna Discussion Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and journalist Kate McCann (Political Editor at Times Radio).  Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices