Hardtalk

Six weeks into the American led airstrikes on so called Islamic State militants in Syria, serious questions are being asked about the wisdom of the US strategy. Worryingly for President Obama many of these questions are coming from the moderate Syrian rebels who are supposed to be Washington's partner of choice. Stephen Sackur speaks to Hadi al Bahra, the president of the Syrian National Coalition. Is America's strategy playing into the hands of the Assad regime?

HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur talks to Francis Rossi, guitarist, singer and founder of the band Status Quo,€“ one of the most popular and durable acts in the history of rock and roll. He's turned the old mantra alive fast, die young on its head: he'€™s lived fast and just kept on going. The music business has changed beyond all recognition in the last 40 years - how come Status Quo are still rocking all over the world?

Days ago the Nigerian Government announced a ceasefire deal with the militant group Boko Haram - officials predicted the imminent release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by the extremists last April. Now those words look depressingly premature. What is going on with Nigeria's insurgency? HARDtalk speaks to Shehu Sani, a Nigerian human rights activist and sometime mediator with Boko Haram. How can the conflict which has cost thousands of Nigerian lives be ended?

Many of us who use the internet for work and leisure come to feel that we couldn't live without it. The web opens up the world, but does it also harbour fundamental threats to our privacy, security and autonomy? Can we trust the tech companies who shape our relationship with the internet? Hardtalk speaks to Mitchell Baker, a Silicon Valley pioneer, and boss of the not-for-profit Mozilla Corporation, best known for the Firefox web browser. Is her open-source collaborative model of web innovation being overwhelmed by the power of the profit motive?

National governments and security organisations are becoming increasingly preoccupied with the threat posed by the extremist group Islamic State and what their response should be. Hardtalk travels to Brussels to speak to Turkey’s ambassador to NATO, Mehmet Fatih Ceylan. Turkey has been criticised for its failure to act against Islamic State, so is Ankara finally ready to confront the threat they pose?

President Obama is just where he didn't want to be - fighting another war in the Middle East. He promises that American troops will not be dragged back into Iraq, yet he portrays the confrontation with the group calling itself Islamic State as a generational struggle that has to be won. Hardtalk speaks to James Jeffrey, a former US ambassador in Turkey and Iraq. Is the Obama administration making the right calls in the Middle East?

Is there a new brand of violent extremism that is identifiably different from all forms of militancy that have gone before? The question is prompted by the shocking and self-publicised brutality of the group calling itself Islamic State. Boko Haram in Nigeria deserves mention in the same breath. These groups provoke worldwide revulsion, but is force the only possible response? Hardtalk speaks to Giandomenico Picco, the former UN envoy who risked his life to negotiate the release of western hostages in Lebanon.

Twenty five years after the world’s most notorious wall came crashing down, Germany is Europe’s dominant nation. This is a reflection of its economic power and its media power. HARDtalk is in Berlin to talk to Mathias Dopfner, CEO of one of Europe’s most powerful publishing companies – Axel Springer. How does a traditional company thrive in the age of the internet?

Next month the international club of rich nations, the G20, will meet in Australia. For much of the past decade the host nation boasted one of the strongest economies in the developed world, but not anymore. Australia has been badly hit by falling commodity prices and China's economic slowdown. HARDtalk speaks to the country's Treasury minister, Joe Hockey. Should Australians brace themselves for a prolonged period of economic pain?

A sense of gloom is hanging over Europe. Years of economic stagnation are at the heart of it, but there are other factors too - for example, the security challenge posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and also a rising tide of scepticism about the European Union itself amongst many on the continent. HARDtalk speaks to Alexander Stubb, the Prime Minister of Finland and one of the EU’s new young leaders. How does Europe rescue itself?

The Middle East is in turmoil, beset by ethnic, religious and sectarian conflicts that together have created one of the gravest global humanitarian crises since World War Two. And once again a US-led military coalition is dropping bombs in the region. HARDtalk speaks to David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary, now head of the US-based, International Rescue Committee. Given recent history, is there any reason to believe western intervention to end the killing and the suffering can work?

The US led military operation against the so-called Islamic State organisation has raised a host of awkward questions. Is the makeshift coalition fighting a war, or mounting an anti-terror operation? What will victory look like, and how long will it take? HARDtalk speaks to General Lord Richards, who recently retired as Britain's top military chief. He has led military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone. What does he make of this latest one?

The warnings about Ebola have been apocalyptic: Liberia's defence minister says it threatens his country's existence, while the US president says it threatens "global security". Three thousand people have already died from the disease and the World Health Organisation warns the number of cases is likely to exceed 20,000 within weeks. And it's spreading: America has diagnosed the first case outside Africa. HARDtalk speaks to Professor Peter Piot, the man who first identified the disease back in the 70s. Forty years on and we still don't have a cure. So, what should be done to stop it?

How serious a threat to western security is the extremist group that calls itself Islamic State? According to those governments now backing military action against the jihadis the danger is very real - not least from foreign fighters, battle hardened in Syria and Iraq, who return to homes in the west. HARDtalk speaks to the EU counter-terror coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove - does the EU have a coherent response to the Islamic State challenge?

World leaders gathered at a UN climate summit in New York recently and pledged again to tackle global warming. Yet again this year global greenhouse emissions have risen, partly because many politicians and citizens don't want more expensive renewable energy if it costs economic growth and prosperity. HARDtalk speaks to the British climate economist, Lord Nicholas Stern, who has just co-chaired a new report on the climate and economy. He says, it's not an either or situation. But what evidence is there that we can have it both ways and are governments listening?