Arthur Snell
Project Lead, Climate Change & Geopolitics
After graduating from Oxford with a first class degree in history, Arthur Snell joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. A fluent Arabic speaker, he served in Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Yemen, and Iraq. He headed the international strand of the UK Government’s Prevent counterterrorism programme. He is currently a geopolitical consultant and host of the hit podcast Doomsday Watch and the author of How Britain Broke the World: War, Greed and Blunders from Kosovo to Afghanistan, 1997-2021 (Simon & Schuster, 2022).
Latest Analysis:
Storm Daniel passed through the Mediterranean in early September, one of a bewildering number of extreme weather events in recent months. When it hit Libya on 10 September, torrential rainfall led to catastrophic floods in the Town of Derna. At the time of recording as many as 20,000 people are missing, feared dead. It was an example of the terrifying new reality of the climate crisis where entire cities can be wiped out by wildfires or floods, literally in a matter of hours… Arthur Snell and Jason Pack discuss, on Behind the Lines.
Breathless accounts of MBS's vaunting ambition don't take account of what is really happening in Saudi Arabia. Is NEOM nothing more than a fantasy? Arthur Snell explores.
The coming election season in America means there are already starting to be limits placed on its support to Ukraine. Arthur Snell explores in Not All Doom.
In Kyiv, defiance is tempered with the depressing reality that the west might not be prepared to let Ukraine win. Arthur Snell dives deeper in the New European.
Erdoğan was held up as the example of pragmatic Islamism. That was before he became a corrupt autocrat, Islamic State facilitator and enabler of global disorder. Arthur Snell explains, in Not All Doom.
Britain's allies in the war in Yemen were the paymasters of the genocidal group now laying waste to Khartoum. Perhaps the paymasters should seek to end the fighting? Arthur Snell explores in Not All Doom.
Arthur Snell reflects on the extensive shifts in the international order that have taken place over the last two years, suggesting that the UK should recognise its own contribution to the current state of disorder and that the recent Integrated Review Refresh represents a good starting point.
After turbulent years of aligning along sectarian divisions, the Middle East is getting back to its comfort zone: authoritarian nationalism. But this time, the US isn't in the centre picture. Arthur Snell explores in Not all Doom.
Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive could be its last chance to retake Russian-occupied territory. Is this the crucial year for Ukraine? Arthur Snell explores.
Arthur Snell reflects on the Iraq war and its legacy of inflicting suffering and chaos throughout the world for Not All Doom.
Arthur Snell is interviewed by Dave Harriers for the Stroud Times’ ‘Meet the Author’ podcasts to discuss his book, How Britain Broke The World.
Peyman Kia, a Swedish intelligence officer, spied for Russia for ten years. He will have caused untold damage to one of Europe's most admired intelligence communities. Arthur Snell for Not All Doom.
We might be only six weeks from a political earthquake in Nigeria. Time to pay attention? Arthur Snell examines for his new SubStack, Not All Doom.
Why do key military sites in Russia have an unfortunate habit of bursting into flames? On Doomsday Watch, Arthur Snell speaks to Journalist and former US special forces operative Jack Murphy to pull back the curtain on a campaign of sleeper agent sabotage on Russian soil.
With Western democracies shocked into unity, does the Ukraine War provide an opportunity to make a new, more secure free world? Arthur Snell (Project Lead, Climate Change & Geopolitics) explores on the season finale of Doomsday Watch.
Arthur Snell examines the mounting threat of new zoonotic diseases and how COVID conspiracism is undermining efforts against future pandemics on Doomsday Watch.
On Doomsday Watch, Arthur Snell charts a vast and game-changing development where climate change could upend the global balance of maritime power. Could the struggle to control a newly-navigable Arctic Ocean become the Great Game of the 21st Century?
On Doomsday Watch, Arthur Snell talks to veteran intelligence officers to find out how the CIA’s ‘golden age’ of fixing elections and fomenting coups gave way to a post-9/11 world where technology enables new threats – and Putin and the Chinese have the advantage.
The NCUSLR’s webinar marked the first anniversary of Jason Pack's Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder, featuring Arthur Snell and a panel of experts discussing the geopolitical situation in Libya as it pertains to disorder.
Civil wars and climate change rendering vast areas of the Sahel uninhabitable have created a refugee crisis which European demagogues can feast upon. And now Putin’s proxies are involved. Arthur Snell explores on his podcast, Doomsday Watch.
On Doomsday Watch, Arthur Snell takes us from the 1991 Gulf War and the Highway of Death to 9/11 and the rise of asymmetric warfare – to discover how we opened a Pandora’s Box of new and lethal technology.
One great rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran drives our world, rather than us shaping theirs. Arthur Snell explores uncovers the hidden conflict that shapes everything on Doomsday Watch.
The nuclear nightmare is back – and just one man gave unstable states across the world access to weapons that could bring down the apocalypse. Arthur Snell examines the story of Abdul Qadeer Khan on Doomsday Watch.
Bitterly divided and reeling from the Jan 6 attacks, the USA stands on the brink of another Trump presidency. Will it become a democracy in name only? Arthur Snell explores on Doomsday Watch.
In Doomsday Watch, Arthur Snell talks to Brian Klaas and Jason Pack, exploring the state and future of the already teetering global order amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Arthur Snell discusses the Iraq war, the Green Deal and electoral reform in an interview with The New Statesman.
As war continues in Ukraine, how did the collapse of neoliberalism get us to the point of conflict in Europe? Arthur Snell and Gary Gerstle discuss for Doomsday Watch.
Of all the countries playing a part in the Ukraine crisis, Turkey is perhaps the most difficult to read. Aslı Aydıntaşbaş speaks to Arthur Snell on Doomsday Watch to discuss what Turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are trying to achieve.
As Sweden and Finland apply to join NATO, ending decades of military neutrality, how has Putin's invasion revived an alliance described as 'Braindead' by Emmanuel Macron two years ago? Lord Peter Ricketts joins Arthur Snell to discuss for Doomsday Watch.
Russian dark money has infiltrated Western politics for years, leading to increased support for the Kremlin and their actions in capitals across the developed world. Iain Campbell joins Arthur Snell on Doomsday Watch to discuss.