As Putin announces a military mobilisation and Russian men flee for the border, is his gamble of extra troops set to pay off on the battlefield? Ian Bond of the Centre for European Reform joins to discuss the Kremlin's call-up, and increasing nuclear sabre-rattling. Plus, to make this a bumper edition China expert Rana Mitter talks to Arthur about how the war in Ukraine has affected Beijing's thinking over Taiwan. We're taking a pause on our war bulletins, but don't worry. On October 12th our second 10-part documentary season is set to be released, so stay tuned for an in-depth look at the global threats of tomorrow. Resources to help the Ukrainian people can be found here: https://ukrainewar.carrd.co/  “We see a lot of people heading for the borders, but we shouldn’t mistake that for the majority of the country.” - Ian Bond “Sending a lot of men with rusty rifles into battle isn’t going to do the job.” - Ian Bond “Using nuclear weapons to attack a non-nuclear weapon state is a huge taboo, and the West needs to make that clear to Putin.” - Ian Bond “The Ukraine crisis is exponential for Europe. Whether it’s exponential for China is another matter.” - Rana Mitter “China cares more about visible international publicity than the Russians do. Comms management will have entered their minds over Taiwan.” - Rana Mitter DOOMSDAY WATCH was written and presented by Arthur Snell, and produced by Robin Leeburn with Jacob Archbold. Theme tune and original music by Paul Hartnoll. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. DOOMSDAY WATCH is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices