Cult of personality and performance politics

Fiona Hill is one of the most authoritative voices on the forces reshaping global politics today. Born in County Durham, from 2017 to 2019 she was a senior adviser on European and Russian Affairs at the White House and in October 2019 she was a key witness in President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry. In 2024 and 2025 she co-led the British Government’s Strategic Defence Review, which sets out how the UK should scale up its response to risks from an emboldened Russia and a less predictable United States. 

Hill cautions that we are not in a second Cold War, but in a more volatile era of asymmetric threats. She warns that Trump’s engagement with autocratic leaders such as Putin and Xi is strengthening authoritarian regimes and eroding long‑standing alliances, and highlights sabotage and disinformation – the kind of threats seen in recent incidents such as the Russian spy‑ship Yantar encroaching on UK waters and the rail explosion in Poland. 

Hill came to the Intelligence Squared stage in February 2026 where, in conversation with journalist Jon Sopel, she set out the practical steps she believes the West must take to bolster its resilience and safeguard security and stability.

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