Thinking the Unthinkable with Ankit Panda

A bi-weekly podcast featuring in-depth analysis and insight on the perils of a new nuclear age, with Ankit Panda.

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Britain’s Nuclear Question

Thinking the Unthinkable with Ankit Panda
Peter Watkins and Ankit Panda
June 18, 2026

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Episode Notes:

Ankit sits down with Peter Watkins, an associate fellow at Chatham House who spent years steering U.K. nuclear policy inside the Ministry of Defence, to examine Britain's nuclear deterrent. They discuss what the United Kingdom asks of its arsenal, the real meaning of "independent" after decades tied to Washington, and the toll an aging submarine fleet is taking on continuous at-sea patrols. With a defence secretary's resignation in the headlines and the security landscape across Europe shifting fast, the question underneath it all: is a deterrent built for one era still enough for the next?

Image: Aaron Abbott via Wikimedia Commons