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In this episode of Dictators v Democrats: Why We Fight, Theo Allthorpe-Mullis is joined by Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE, one of the UK’s leading authorities on chemical weapons and modern deterrence.
Drawing on more than three decades of service and frontline experience, Hamish reflects on why he joined the British Army, what service means in a democracy, and how Syria shaped his understanding of power, responsibility and Western failure. The conversation moves from the broken “red lines” of 2013 to their consequences today, examining how inaction over chemical weapons emboldened authoritarian regimes and reshaped Russian behaviour in Ukraine.
The discussion also covers the confirmed use of chemical agents on the Ukrainian battlefield, the risks of escalation, and what a credible Western response would look like. From NATO deterrence and Article 5, to national resilience, military service and the quiet erosion of democratic confidence at home, this is a wide-ranging and unsparing look at the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.
Show Notes
- Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE on growing up in a family shaped by military service and why he chose the ArmyWhat “service” actually means in a democracy, and why serving the nation is not the same as serving a governmentSyria as the defining experience: witnessing chemical warfare, civilian suffering, and Western reluctance to actThe failure to enforce the chemical weapons red line in 2013 and how it shaped Putin’s calculationsWhy Syria matters to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Europe more broadlyRussian aggression and the long shadow of Western hesitationThe use of chemical agents in Ukraine, including chloropicrin and riot control agents delivered by dronesHow chemical weapons are being used tactically to force Ukrainian soldiers out of trenchesThe risk of escalation to more lethal nerve agents, and why the taboo is weaker than many assumeWhat a credible response to chemical weapons use would look like without crossing the nuclear thresholdNATO, Article 5, and whether deterrence still holds in an era of ambiguity and hybrid warfareEurope’s readiness, defence spending, and the question of seized Russian assetsWhy authoritarian systems are still widely misunderstood in the WestDemocracy’s internal vulnerabilities, from political extremes to public disengagementAdvice to young people considering military service, and to societies reluctant to prepare for warWhy strength and preparedness remain the best way to prevent conflictA final message to dictators and authoritarians, and the limits of trying to “buy off” ideologues
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