Hardtalk

HARDtalk speaks to award winning film star, Viggo Mortensen. Known to many for his starring role in The Lord of the Rings, he is not your average Hollywood leading man. Fluent in four languages and of mixed American and Danish background, he spent his childhood in three continents – so, what is his response to critics who say the American movie industry has contributed to the ‘Hollywoodisation’ of global culture and killed diversity?

The crisis in Ukraine has put the spotlight on the relationship between Russia and the EU. How much carrot and how much stick should the EU wield when it comes to dealing with Moscow? The Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were once part of the Soviet Union and all share a border with the Russian Federation. HARDtalk speaks to Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister of Estonia. Why does it think that getting tough with President Putin is the most effective way to contain Russia?

In December 2013 South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could lead to genocide. A ceasefire was agreed just over a week ago between the government of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who has led the rebel forces, but fighting has continued. In a HARDtalk exlusive, Stephen Sackur talks to Salva Kiir in Juba.

What can Western nations like the US do to stop Ukraine from breaking up or falling into civil conflict? HARDtalk is at the US Embassy in London to speak to Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State. Now that pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine claim they’ve voted for independence, is Washington powerless to prevent further disintegration?

Zimbabwe's fortunes have for three decades been tied to one man - President Robert Mugabe. Now, once again, Zimbabwe is staring economic catastrophe in the face, less than a year after the ruling Zanu PF won another term in power. State coffers are virtually empty and potential investors are being scared away by seizures of land and foreign owned assets. HARDtalk speaks to Supa Mandiwanzira, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Information Minister. How does he justify being part of a government that is accused of cronyism, rigging elections and of squandering public funds for the benefit of an elite, whilst impoverishing the many?

In December 2013 South Sudan became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could lead to genocide. A ceasefire has been agreed between the government of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who has led the rebel forces, but the agreement is already looking shaky. Stephen Sackur talks to Riek Machar in Addis Ababa.

Belarus is Europe's last old-fashioned dictatorship - a country where political dissent gets you beaten up and locked up. HARDtalk speaks to one Belarussian who has refused to be cowed by President Lukashenko's iron fist. Natalia Kaliada co-founded the Belarus Free Theatre almost a decade ago. Directors, actors, even the audience have all faced arrest and imprisonment, but still their shows go on. Is drama an effective tool of resistance?

Nigeria's century has been assessed as "100 years of trauma". No more apparent than in the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by a militant Islamist group that perceives learning as an alien imposition by Christians and Europeans. Wole Soyinka is Nigeria's most prominent writer, the first African to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature. Persecuted by past governments for his commitment to democracy, what does he make of how Nigeria has stood up to the pressures of insurgency, the temptations of oil wealth and the corruption critics say is endemic. Does a state that cannot even guarantee the safety of its children have a future?

Whoever dubbed Australia the lucky country was on to something - this vast, resource-rich nation has outperformed other rich world economies over the past decade. But Australia doesn't seem entirely at ease with itself or its Asian neighbours. Why? HARDtalk speaks to Malcolm Turnbull, communications minister in Tony Abbott’s right of centre Australian Government. Is Australia in danger of alienating friends and partners?

What if we lived in a radically different world? An internet driven, smart world where individuals and communities generate their own free energy, produce and share the things they need and build an economy defined by collaboration, not competition. HARDtalk speaks to economist and author, Jeremy Rifkin. For him, this is no utopian fantasy, it's the unfolding story of the next century. Are we really entering the post-capitalist age?

Yemen is the Arab world’s slow motion car crash; a humanitarian, economic, and security disaster that makes few headlines in the outside world. The Yemeni government is supposed to be in the middle of a major programme of political and economic reform, but right now its focus appears to be a major military assault on local Al Qaeda strongholds. HARDtalk speaks to Yemen’s veteran foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi - if Yemen is a failing state, who is to blame?

HARDtalk speaks to Rime Allaf,Presidential Adviser to the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces. Assad is so confident that he’s now running for re-election, the coalition’s forces are enduring defeats on the ground and important Western allies are getting nervous – seemingly more worried about the hard-line Islamists gaining a foothold in Syria than they are about Assad himself. Is time running out, not for the President, but for the opposition?

HARDtalk speaks to Ahmed Kathrada, one of the big names of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. He was sentenced to life in prison alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, spending 26 years of his life locked up. On their release, Nelson Mandela persuaded him to join him in government - an experience he didn’t like. But he has never stopped campaigning for the ideals of freedom on which the anti-apartheid movement was based. So has South Africa lived up to those ideals?

HARDtalk speaks to the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier who was known as the enfant terrible of the fashion world for his witty and daring designs. Now in his sixties is he still as iconoclastic as ever? And as an exhibition of his best known works continues at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, how does he answer criticisms that some of his designs, like corset dresses and cone bras, contribute to the sexual objectification of women?

In this special programme from Brazil HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur talks to one of the country’s most successful and controversial film makers - José Padilha. His movies focus on violence and corruption in the favelas of Rio. But is it a message Brazilians want to hear?