HARDtalk Review of the Year HARDtalk

fire to a vehicle. Those are the headlines. Time for

Welcome to a special edition of HARDtalk, a chance to look back at

some of our most memorable encounters and an opportunity to

show you our new home at the BBC's London

London. This building is so steeped Let tions.

Let us go inside and relieve a vintage year on how talk. -- relive

a vintage year on HARDtalk. The past year has been dominated by

turmoil in the Middle East. In Syria, we have seen the

intensification of a brutal internal conflict. In Egypt,

elections but no consensus on the country's future cast. HARDtalk

reflected on the lessons to be uprisings

uprisings in Tunisia. I went to the capital to meet the

former prisoner of conscience turned President of the nation. Now,

balance between the country's Islamist and secular political

movements. secular and all are Muslims and

is try is say, Look, we are a complex

society and we have to accept that some are secular and some are

Muslims and we have to work together. Everybody talks about

working together but when the prime minister, for example, told

supporters after his victory "we are in the 6th Caliphate, God

willing", how do you as receptionist to feel? I think that

was a mistake. Of course I am in favour of a modern, secularist

state. I do not accept and will never accept the kind of Islamist

state in this country. The hope was that what happened here would

spread. Yes. There would be a positive contagion. And that...

That has not happened and this is very frustrating, yes. I would like

so much for all of the Arab revolutions to have been like ours.

Egyptians surprised the world when country and in 18 days overthrew

the tyrant that many people thought some had

some painful, as you say, transformed completely when we have

now the first civilian - for the history - a civilian president who

way. We now have an accountable government that is in charge of

business. Y business. Yentioned the election of President Morsi. Of

course, it was a historic landmark for this country. At the time of

his election, he made promises, some of which he said he could

deliver in 100 days, on the economy, security, everything including

garbage collection. The truth is, if you look at that raft of

promises, most have not been met. It depends on how you define them,

of course. If you believe one can solve the problems that have

days, and do not think that is the right thing to do. But you did what

to promise to make significant change. -- but he did promise to

make significant change. This year, we took HARDtalk on the road to one

of the most under-reported and troubled corners of the Arab world,

prompted apprehension from Saudi Arabia to the United States. We

tried to reach the territory being held by jihadi militants loyal to

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. However, we gathered footage that

showed the militants gaining ground. Al-Qaeda sy Al-Qaeda sying

advantage of a political vacuum. That put increased influence in the

hands of local tribal leaders with their own complex agendas.

This man is a tribal leader with family ties to Al-Qaeda at

insurgence and close contact with the government. He and his

entourage have in recent months been involved in efforts to

negotiate an end to the conflict. In your heart, do you believe there

can be peace, real peace and freedom, in this country as long as

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda fighters, militants inside

What we want on HARDtalk our exclusive interviews, scoops, and

this is where the HARDtalk team practises the arts of persuasion.

One case in point came this year as the war in Syria intensified. We

persuaded the most senior defector from the Assad regime to give us

his first major interview - but not in London, in the Jordanian capital

There are Syrians in the opposition who are deeply cynical about your

person person says that when you arrived

in Jordan after August's six, she wrote, the rats are leaving the

sinking ship. She implies clearly that you and the left to save your

skin because you believe the regime could no longer guarantee its own

In 2012, Israel watched as newsrooms around the world reported

on the crumbling of the old order across the Arab world. But in

Israel, the focus remained firmly on Iran as the government of

Binyamin Netanyahu conceded military action to swart Iran's

nuclear ambitions. -- considered military action to stop Iran's

nuclear ambitions. We spoke with one intelligence insider. We must

work to stop Iran from reaching nuclear capability. That is in the

vital interests of everyone, the re

the only country in the world which is really threatened by another

state which we do not even have a common border with. They want to

see us disappear from the Planet. If you believe in the flat, why

word like stupid? A negative word that you use when you talked about

the idea of an immediate Israeli strike? This will not serve Israeli

purposes. Why? First of all, we cannot stop the project by an

attack. Tha attack. Thanly delay a project. Second, that will create a

situation which would rally the leadership

leadership even though they are in an economic and political crisis. -

- that would rally Iran's public. That would provide them with the

a nuclear military project. Four now, they tell the public they are

doing this for peaceful purposes. As we welcome President Obama...

And Governor Romney. The 2012 US presidential election

promised to be a cliffhanger but it challenger, won the first head-to-

head debate with President Obama but he could not build on that

momentum. The President's advantage among minorities, women, young

people, saw him win with something to spare.

Underpinning the election was a basic question - how to fix the

ailing US economy? For answers, I turned to one of the most

influential voices on Wall Street, former Fede former Fedeve chief Paul

Faulkner. The critical time will come after the election. Can we

then frame a response to the challenge that is effective and

timely? I have to believe that is what we will try to do and what we

can do. Not long ago, you said, looking at this fundamental problem

that the US has with its budget and its debt, you said "if, at the end

of the day, we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes." however,

that runs against the grain of what so many Americans believe at the

moment. No money and -- nobody understands that more than I do but

if we have to do it, we should do it. The great challenge will be to

combine the budgetary programme and deal with the Budget consistently

The present tax system is on the verge of breaking down. The system

has to be changed. Do you think that whoever leads America after

the next presidential election will have to abandon efforts to finesse

some sort of middle of the ground together and lead on this issue in

a way that maybe the President has shied away from. Maybe he has, but

I think this is his opportunity. I will be disappointed if he is

elected and he does not take a more comprehensive, effective, forceful

course of action. If he is elected, that is the signal that he has the

opportunity to do it. This is where the director and the

team over CD recording of HARDtalk. This year, one of the recurring

subjects for the programme has been the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

It has been a story of bail outs, budget cuts budget cuts protests

across Europe and the Continent's politicians and bankers desperately

trying to find a solution. I think there has been a big

element of solidarity between the countries and also a certain

robustness. We have been able to take decisions even though it has

been a very difficult situation. notice that to focus on the taking

of decisions. It seems to me that what we have learned over the

course of this crisis over the last few years is that it is impossible

to come together and take drugs -- difficult decisions. I would not

say that. In terms of European for the euro countries and their

ability to take hard decisions. We had a financial crisis that hit the

world very hard. First, it hit the US... With respect, let us stick

hit us all very hard. Then we had a certain element where the economy

was not in order. The economies of the male -- member states were not

in order and that is why we have these difficulties. It is not the

fault of the euro that they had problems in Greece. That is their

own responsibility and I believe we must have the eurozone countries

and the EU member states -- I think it the eurozone countries and the

Another big theme for us in 2012 has been the transformation of

Africa into the world's fastest growing economic region. Uganda is

seen dynamic economic change. Not so in politics. President Museveni

has been in power for 27 years and term limits do not apply. This is

not real not realmatter. I do not think we are concentrating

on the substance. Leaders in Africa awful long time, off the top of my

Robert Mugabe, Teodoro Obiang, Biya, is this company you apparat ticket?

I keep the company of elected leaders. -- you are proud to keep.

More importantly, you should ask me, of leaders? Is it programmes? You

issue that has crippled Africa has been which way to go, which formula

not who, but what. Late in 2012 I took HARDtalk on the road to

Equatorial Guinea. This tiny West African nation has vast oil wealth,

during the long rule of Teodoro Obiang, it has been dubbed one of

the most corrupt and unequal nations on earth. There is a very

state the state and the family. You are the

President. We are talking about your son, who is now the vice-

president. We are talking about a government that includes your other

son, Minister of Energy, we are talking about a government that

includes your brother, Minister of Defence. It looks as though you run

2012 provided a timely reminder that political change can come to

even the most repressive and entrenched regimes. Burma has been

part of five decades, until last year. The country has embarked on a

process of political reform that has seen Aung San Suu Kyi entered

Parliament in the run-up to elections in 2015. Supervising the

currend current president Thein Sein, who

gave an exclusive interview to HARDtalk. Are you prepared to say

that you, personally, believe it is not least to allow Aung San Suu Kyi

the possibility of becoming president if she is elected by the

You did choose to praise Aung San Suu Kyi at the United Nations and

other Torksey have given in America. You praised her efforts for

make a good leader of your country? Would you work with her if she was

Many of the best feel good moments of 2012 were generated here in

London by the Olympic Games. The cynics were silenced as London put

on a fabulous show and athletes from all over the world excelled

without the help of illegal drugs. On HARDtalk we got a rare insight

into the pressure and pain to be found in sp found in spThorpe, gold-

medallist and Australia's greatest ever Olympian, looked back on a

career blighted by depression. would have dealt with depression, I

believe it is something you're born with. I would have had to deal with

it regardless of doing all these things in sport. I look at the

think think there is an elevated level

compared to the rest of the population. That is going to

surprise a surprise a ople. When you look at athletes, the last thing

they appear to be his final report. I completely agree. It is seeing

that performance, people see a tiny sliver of what an athlete do. They

do not look so vulnerable, it is the same before a race, I walk out

with all the confidence in the world. It i world. It i It is a mask.

You put the mask on to protect something that you think is ideal

for that situation. We all do it. If someone is going for a job

interview, you show the best side of yourself. You do not tell them

you are going to be looking at Facebook all day. In sport, it is

part of the show. Before we close, I want to go back to the beginning

of 2012. An encounter that was not just stimulating for the mind, but

for the taste buds as well. I went to Copenhagen. This restaurant has

been hailed as the best in the world. Rene Redzepi has pioneered a

cuisine based on locally foraged for food. Including ants, seaweed

and moss. He calls it the science push not only urine innovative

diners into new areas? It can be pushed into wherever the

deliciousness his. You say that, plate of live ants, some people are

going to say, I am not going to eat that. They will for a little while.

When we opened seven years ago, when we started serving Moss, it

could have been crocodile. Some strange animal. It was so strange

for people. Just the fact to serve a wild grass. People were of

getting to it originally. These things do not take long. Putting an

ant in your mouth is no different to shrink. It is not. It is a

cultural thing. -- shrimp. Hard... In 2012 gave me and I hope you

plenty to chew on. We will be back in 2013 for more challenging

interviews from right around the world. Until then, have a very

happy New Year. I will leave you with pictures from a recent