Media
In the media
‘Let the old politicians run against you. It will restore your political independence and make you unbeatable.’
Lord Mark Malloch-Brown is an international affairs commentator, author and keynote speaker whose media work explores geopolitics, global governance, international development, political change and the changing world order. This page brings together his interviews, podcasts, articles, books and other media appearances.
In the Media
World’s Toughest Job Podcast
World’s Toughest Job is an eight-part series, co-produced by Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.
Join host Jasmin Bauomy and co-host Mark Malloch-Brown to explore the challenges facing the 10th UN Secretary-General — from economic turbulence and superpower rivalries to AI, inequality, and climate change.
[Re]Group. A Playbook for Turbulent Times
A Playbook for Turbulent Times is a platform for ideas and debate about the future of global cooperation. Open access to all, free of charge and free to share.
BBC Profile: Kristalina Georgieva
Becky Milligan explores Kristalina's life and career.
Kristalina Georgieva is not like previous heads of the International Monetary Fund. She grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Bulgaria, which was then part of the Soviet bloc.
Born in Sofia in 1953, her father was a civil engineer and her mother a shopkeeper. Life was tough because her family weren't part of the Communist Party regime. Her father fell ill when Kristalina was young and she was just fifteen when she went to work at the local food market.
She studied economics at the then Karl Marx Higher Economic Institute and then in the late 1980s she headed to London to spend a year at the London School of Economics. Over the last 30 years she's landed top jobs at the World Bank and the European Commission. In 2019, she was appointed managing director of the IMF, becoming the first person from an emerging economy to lead the institution.
In the rare moments when she's not working, friends, colleagues and family paint a picture of a fun-loving woman who likes nothing better than dancing and singing.
Contributors
Dessislava Kinova - daughter
Iliyana Tsanova - friend and Chief Risk Officer at the European Commission
Lord Nick Stern - friend and environmental economist
Lord Mark Malloch Brown - friend and former World Bank Vice President
Ivan Krastev - friend and political scientist
Galia Mintcheva - special adviser
World's Toughest Job. Exploring the challenges facing the next UN leader.
The United Nations secretary-general has been said to hold the “most impossible job in the world.”
Through immersive storytelling and voices from around the globe, World’s Toughest Job explores the challenges facing the next UN leader. Over eight episodes, we’ll examine how the secretary-general might make a difference on issues including economic turbulence, superpower rivalries, artificial intelligence, inequality, and climate change.
This is about more than the one person who will step up to lead an organization. It’s an existential moment for the UN, the one place where countries have a voice and a vote.Get it wrong, and we all feel the consequences. Get it right, and it could mark a turning point for the organization … and the world.
World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.
Times Radio. Trump's Lifting Of Oil Sanctions Is A 'Moment Of Weakness' For America
“It's America, in a sign of weakness in fact, having to concede this point because it needs oil from wherever it comes including Iran.”
Lord Malloch Brown was speaking to Hugo Rifkind on Times Radio.
ECFR's World in 30 Minutes: Bretton Woods institutions in a new world order
MMB on ECFR's World in 30 Minutes podcast
This week Mark Leonard is joined by Mark Malloch-Brown. Mark is the former president of the Open Society Foundations, former head of the United Nations Development Programme, formerly UN secretary general Kofi Annan’s chief of staff, and former UN deputy secretary general. From 2007-2009 he joined the British government of prime minister Gordon Brown as minister responsible for Africa and Asia.
Together, Mark and Mark discuss how the role and impact of the Bretton Woods institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, have changed. How can these institutions adapt to the rough-and-tumble world of 21st-century geopolitics—especially considering China’s increased support for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and projections that Asia will hold 50% of global GDP by 2035?
Is Mark Carney right that there is a rupture in the old order? How did the Bretton Woods institutions underpin the old order? Are the World Bank and IMF problematic and outdated? Is it possible to reinvent these institutions for a new era? Or is it better to work through new, more representative institutions?
Times Radio: Trump’s ‘real test’ starts now: Will he stick around for end of Gaza crisis?
“This will be a real test of whether Trump can change gears, get his head down, and stick with something.”
The “hard part” of resolving the conflict between Israel and Gaza starts after the hostages are returned, as there is yet to be an agreement around how Gaza will be governed, says former UN deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown.
Rachman Why We Need the UN
Gideon talks to Mark Malloch-Brown, former deputy secretary-general of the UN, about the role of the United Nations. While it sometimes struggles to make an impact on matters of global security, it plays a unique and often unrecognised role in shaping policy on migration, refugees and climate.
