Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand. Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time from startups to scale ups online, in person and on the go. Shopify's made for

entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.

What if your bank did more than just bank? With HSBC Premier, it's like carrying your own entourage

in your wallet. Premier wealth management, check. Premier health perks, all clear. Premier travel benefits, you're covered. And Premier International Banking, see, we, yo, yeah. In fact, everything's Premier when your bank account is. Search HSBC Premier, HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. Apply with £100,000 annual income or £100,000 savings or investments with HSBC UK or Premier status abroad.

Hello and welcome to the Battleground Ukraine, big interview with me, Patrick Bishop and Saul David.

Well, our guest today is Karen von Hippel, Dr. Karen von Hippel, who is the Director General of the Royal United Services Institute, Rousie,

which is the world's oldest and the UK's leading defence and security think tank.

Karen ranged over a wide array of subjects, all fascinating. Her insights are really very thought-provoking.

We started off by asking her whether the world was now a more dangerous place or how much more dangerous it was than before the big Russian

invasion just over a year ago. Karen, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on.

You've got a vast array of knowledge and experience, so we're very lucky to have you.

I'm going to start off by asking you how much more dangerous is the world we live in today

compared to the one we knew before February 2022?

It's a great question.

I think in many ways we're still understanding how dangerous the world is.

I think the war in Ukraine exposed an enormous cleavage at the global level that I think many people hadn't focused on enough,

and that is the Russia-China alliance versus the West versus the so-called

rest. And we can talk about that a bit later, because the rest is in several different places.

But the Russia-China alliance, as we know from this past week, with President Xi in Moscow,

is only solidifying stronger.

And the ramifications are still unknown.

They don't want to call it an alliance for several reasons.

...