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Intelligence and Security Chief, Kurdistan Regional Government - Masrour Barzani Aug 14, 2014

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The United Nations has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as a humanitarian crisis follows the rapid advance of Islamic State militants. There have been eye-witness accounts of people beheaded, of whole families buried alive, and there are an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis internally displaced. Hardtalk speaks to Masrour Barzani head of intelligence and security in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. Is it the Kurds who can rescue the state of Iraq and how much outside help do they need to defeat the jihadists of the so called Islamic State?

Picture: Masrour Barzani, Credit: BBC

Andrei Konchalovsky – Russian Film Director Aug 14, 2014

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In August 1914, 100 years ago, the five great powers of Europe declared war on one another. For countries like Britain, Germany and France the significance of World War One is regularly debated and commemorated. But what of that other great power, Russia? It also fought against Germany, but by the end of the war Tsar Nicholas II and his family had been murdered and the Bolshevik Revolution had brought Lenin to power.

How far does what was happening in Russia then, help explain what is going on today? Zeinab Badawi talks to the renowned Russian theatre and film director Andrei Konchalovsky.

Image: Andrei Konchalovsky. Credit: Getty

Secretary General of NATO - Anders Fogh Rasmussen Aug 13, 2014

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NATO is 65 years old – does it lack the vigour, resources and political will to be an effective military force on the world stage at a time when conflicts across continents in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and West Africa present ever greater dangers to global security?

Hardtalk speaks to NATO’s Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Can NATO make the world a safer place and, if not, is it time the alliance went into retirement?

Picture: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Credit: Clemens Bilan/AFP/Getty Images

Karl von Habsburg Aug 04, 2014

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Hardtalk is in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, to mark the centenary of the start of World War One. Stephen Sackur talks to Karl von Habsburg - the grandson of the last Habsburg Emperor. It was the assassination of his great uncle Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914 that set in motion the Great War. Are similar tensions once again on the rise in Europe?

Prime Minister, Moldova - Iurie Leanca Jul 30, 2014

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Hardtalk is on location in Chisinau, capital of Moldova where the stage is set for another tug of war between Russia and the European Union. With the backing of the majority Romanian speaking population, Moldova’s government is vigorously pursuing membership of the European Union, despite strong objections from the country’s Russian speaking minority. Stephen Sackur asks Iurie Leanca, Prime Minister of Moldova, if his country can avoid the fate of neighbouring Ukraine?

Ama Ata Aidoo - Author Jul 28, 2014

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Hardtalk speaks to the acclaimed Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo who has arguably done more than any other writer to depict and celebrate the condition of women in Africa, in books such as The Dilemma of a Ghost, and Changes. She is opposed to what she has described as a 'Western perception that the African female is a downtrodden wretch'. But when you look around the African continent today - girls abducted in Nigeria, polygamy reintroduced in Kenya, child marriages and the prevalence of gender based violence, how much is there really to celebrate about being female in Africa?

(Photo: Ama Ata Aidoo)

Former Deputy Defence Minister, Israel - Danny Danon Jul 25, 2014

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Israel says its current campaign in Gaza is in response to rocket strikes from Hamas militants and is aimed at destroying illicit tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle arms. In more than two weeks of conflict around 600 Palestinians - mostly civilians - have been killed and nearly 4000 wounded. The UN Human Rights Commissioner says Israel may have committed war crimes. About 30 Israelis have died - nearly all of them soldiers.

Hardtalk speaks to Danny Danon a member of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. He was dismissed as deputy defence minister earlier this month for accusing the Prime Minister of being too weak in his Gaza campaign. How does he justify the high Palestinian death toll?

(Photo: Danny Danon, Former Deputy Defence Minister, Israel)

Former Education Minister, Nigeria - Obiageli Ezekwesili Jul 23, 2014

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A few months ago international attention was fixed on the remote forests of north-eastern Nigeria - believed to be where 200 kidnapped schoolgirls were being held by Boko Haram militants. The girls have now been missing for 100 days, Boko Haram's terror campaign continues, but the media focus has shifted elsewhere. Hardtalk speaks to Obiageli Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian minister and one of the leaders of the Bring Back our Girls campaign. Has their country failed these girls and their families?

(Photo: Obiageli Ezekwesili addresses a sit-in demonstration organized by Abuja's Bring Back Our Girls. Credit: Reuters)

Naturalist and Wildlife Film-maker - Chris Packham Jul 21, 2014

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Hardtalk is in the heart of the English countryside, a habitat that is rich in wildlife but for how much longer? The impact of human beings here, as in so much of the world, is putting enormous pressure on natural ecosystems. Stephen Sackur speaks to Chris Packham, one of Britain’s best known naturalists and campaigners for wildlife protection. Is it time to radically rethink man’s relationship with the natural world?

(Photo: Chris Packham)

Lord High Chancellor, 2003 – 2007 - Lord Falconer Jul 15, 2014

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Just a handful of countries allow assisted dying or euthanasia or both - most notably Switzerland and the Netherlands. It is a difficult and contentious area for policymakers. This week in the UK, the highly controversial Assisted Dying Bill has its second reading in parliament. Hardtalk speaks to Labour peer and former Attorney-General Lord Falconer, who has introduced the bill, and asks how he defends the right to die in the face of staunch opposition from the medical establishment, politicians and religious leaders?

(Photo: Labour peer and former Attorney-General Lord Falconer. Credit: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images)

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