World Cup Geopolitics (ft. Simon Kuper), Trump’s Spy List, Burnham’s Devolution, Nord Stream Case

Football can be geopolitics by other means. Financial Times Journalist Simon Kuper has covered every World Cup since 1990. This week, he joins Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika to unpack how football and geopolitics collide. 

Kuper explains why he thinks FIFA president Gianni Infantino runs the organization like an autocrat, how U.S. President Donald Trump's red card intervention echoes historical precedents set by Mussolini and Brazil's military government, and why hosting a World Cup brings prestige but rarely economic benefit. The conversation also covers the KGB's use of Soviet football clubs for cover during the Cold War, football's role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, why China's investment in football hasn't paid off, and how France's multicultural national team has become a flashpoint in its domestic politics.

Plus, in Brief: Russian strikes on Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit, German prosecutors' Nord Stream allegations against Ukraine, deepening Russia-China military cooperation, and reports of Trump pushing for a "master list" of intelligence assets.

In this episode:

(00:00) World Cup Geopolitics Football & Global Power

(00:45) England's Surprising World Cup Victory

(03:05) Football As Geopolitics Explained

(03:24) Russia-Ukraine War Intelligence Analysis

(11:12) Trump CIA Spy List Dangers Exposed

(14:25) Andy Burnham Northern Devolution Power Shift

(19:10) Simon Kuper On The Geopolitics Of Football

(23:07) FIFA Corruption Infantino's Autocratic Control