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Ten Minutes On...
What to know what's going on? Ten Minutes On... offers context and a concise analysis of major events and news stories from Guy Burton, a politics and international relations scholar.
Guy draws on his knowledge and experience as a politics and international relations researcher, writer, educator and commentator while working in several universities around the world.
Episodes
96 episodes
Ten Minutes On... Iraq Wants More Oil While Europe Endures a Heatwave Future
Two headlines. One global crisis. As Iraq pushes to pump more oil and Europe endures another deadly heatwave, these stories might seem unrelated. In fact, they're connected by a single paradox: countries are racing to extract more fossil fuels ...
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Ten Minutes On... Ukraine, Russia and the Illusion of Resolution
Following Ukraine's long range drone strikes against Russia last week, this episode examines the shifting narrative around the Russia–Ukraine war, where recent commentary has begun to suggest Ukraine is gaining momentum while Russia is weakenin...
Ten Minutes On... Switzerland Votes, Northern Ireland Riots
Migration sits at the centre of political tension in two very different European contexts this week. In Northern Ireland, a violent incident acted as a catalyst for a rapid and fragmented response, combining peaceful protest and grievances arou...
Ten Minutes On... The World Cup Effect
With the World Cup kicking off this week, attention is fixed on goals, drama and national glory—but behind the spectacle lies a harder question: what does hosting the world’s biggest sporting event actually deliver? This episode cuts through th...
Ten Minutes On... Ebola's Return: A Virus, A War Zone & A Funding Crisis
Ebola has returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with hundreds of suspected cases reported and transmission now reaching across borders into Uganda. But this episode is not just about a virus — it is about what happens when outbreaks...
Ten Minutes On... Why Pakistan Became the Middle East's Unlikely Mediator
Pakistan was never supposed to be at the centre of negotiations between the United States and Iran. Yet, as ceasefire talks repeatedly collapse into threats, contradictions and diplomatic theatre, Islamabad has emerged as the unlikely middleman...
Ten Minutes On... Cuba: Too Weak to Survive, Too Dangerous to Collapse
In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines the deepening crisis in Cuba and the growing contradiction at the heart of US policy towards Havana. As fuel shortages, blackouts and protests push Cuba towards its worst humanita...
Ten Minutes On... What Britain's Local Elections Reveal About Electoral Systems
Britain’s local elections have exposed something bigger than a bad night for Labour or the Conservatives: the collapse of the old two-party system itself. In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton explores why Britain now looks mo...
Ten Minutes On… The Return of El Niño—and Why It Matters Now
This episode of Ten Minutes On… examines the growing likelihood of an El Niño event in 2026–27 and why it matters far beyond weather forecasts. It explains what El Niño is, how it intensifies extreme climate patterns and why its effect...
Ten Minutes On... After Berlin: Why Humanitarian Aid is Falling Short
Last week’s Berlin conference on Sudan brought together major donors—the United States, Germany, the European Union and others—to rally support for a humanitarian crisis that has displaced 11 million people and left nearly 29 million facing acu...
Ten Minutes On... The IMF Confronts the Iran War Oil Shock
In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines how the US–Israel war with Iran is feeding into a global economic shock, just as the IMF and World Bank convene in Washington. With oil prices surging, energy supplies disrupted a...
Ten Minutes On... Smoking Guns? Big Tech's Tobacco Moment
This week on Ten Minutes On…, we investigate why Big Tech is facing a reckoning reminiscent of Big Tobacco. From last week's $375 million verdict against Meta in New Mexico and $6 million ruling in Los Angeles, courts are challenging h...
Ten Minutes On… The Orbán Model: How Leaders Win, Keep—and Lose Power
This week, Viktor Orbán made headlines by blocking a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine, sparking outrage across Europe. But this is more than a single diplomatic row—it’s a window into how Orbán has built a political system that allows him to bend...
Ten Minutes On… When Hormuz and Global Trade’s Chokepoints Close
This week’s episode looks at the growing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and what it reveals about the fragile geography of global trade. Following US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February and Tehran’s decision to block the Strait, one of t...
Ten Minutes On... The Hidden Costs of the Iran War
In this week’s Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines the growing pressure the war involving Iran is placing on US weapons stockpiles. Modern conflicts consume missiles and interceptors such as Patriot and THAAD far faster than they can ...
Ten Minutes On... War at Home: US and Israeli Politics in the Iran Conflict
This week's episode of Ten Minutes On… examines the domestic political landscapes of the United States and Israel amid the latest US–Israeli military actions against Iran, including the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.&nb...
Ten Minutes On... Trump and the Politics of UFO Disclosure
In this week's episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines Donald Trump’s recent announcement to declassify government UFO files and explores what it really means. We unpack the political motivations behind the move, from deflectio...
Ten Minutes On... Munich, Media and the Multipolar Shift
In this week's episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines how the 2026 Munich Security Conference (MSC) was reported and interpreted across the world. While Western media framed Munich as a test of the transatlantic alliance and E...
Ten Minutes On... Iran, Ukraine and America's Search for Peace
In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton examines the United States’ parallel attempts to shape outcomes in two very different conflicts: negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Although ...
Ten Minutes On... AI Anxiety: Power, Chips and the Limits of Intelligence
In this week's episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton explores two seemingly separate AI stories that reveal a shared and unsettling pattern. On one side is the intensifying geopolitical battle over advanced semiconductors, as the Unit...
Ten Minutes On... The End of the Liberal Illusion
In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton explores how the liberal order is unraveling both internationally and within the United States. He begins with Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum, highlighting the erosion of the libe...
Ten Minutes On... Promises, Projections and Precarious Growth
In this episode of Ten Minutes On, podcast creator and host Guy Burton examines the International Monetary Fund’s latest global growth forecast and asks how much confidence we should place in it. While the headline figures suggest stea...
Ten Minutes On... Grok, X and the Politics Football Chooses to Ignore
This week on Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton uses the Grok controversy on X as a lens to examine football’s online choices. He asks why Premier League clubs remain active on a platform whose design amplifies abuse and misogyny, despite the...
Ten Minutes On... Venezuela and a World Without Rules
In this episode of Ten Minutes On, Guy Burton examines the US operation against Venezuela and what it reveals about a world in which rules increasingly no longer hold. Using the removal of Nicolás Maduro as a starting point, the episod...
Ten Minutes On… Europe’s Freeze on Russian Assets — What It Means, and What Happens Next
Can frozen Russian assets really be used to rebuild Ukraine — or is this more leverage than solution? In this episode of Ten Minutes On…, Guy Burton unpacks the European Union’s decision to indefinitely freeze around €210 billion in Ru...