General Sir Patrick Sanders

speaker

1,311 appearances 12 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 2 Sep

General Sir Patrick Sanders’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 12 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 4.

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The General & The Journalist · The new Middle East: Can a ‘NATO of the East’ work? · 2 Sep 2026 podcast

And I'm Patrick.

Welcome to

Well, Simon, I mean, you're talking to us from the Middle East now, but you've spent an enormous chunk of your career in the Middle East.

I've always thought that you come from, you sort of epitomise that amazing breed of British soldier diplomats with an extraordinarily deep cultural affinity for the region.

Where does that breed come from and where does it come from in you?

I think

So we're here to talk about the Mecca pact, this newly signed joint defence agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Incidentally, do you say Turkey or Turkey?

Okay.

Well, we want to try and understand the implications of this pact for the region.

I mean, let's just sort of reflect for a second on the extraordinary event that the signing ceremony represented.

And Tom, you watched this.

What was your impression?

religious, cultural and historical symbolism.

And that won't be lost on you, Simon.

Why do you think they did it like that?

So let's just spend a little bit of time talking through what they see in each other and what each country brings with the table.

Maybe start with Saudi Arabia.

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