Can Europe help repair the invisible scars of war?
After four and a half years of war in Ukraine, the physical destruction is visible, but the psychological damage is harder to measure. Former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband urges making mental health support central to recovery, while Europe must consider its role in humanitarian aid as the US retreats.
After four and a half years of war, Ukraine’s physical destruction is easy to see. But the psychological damage caused by occupation, displacement and loss is much harder to measure — although just as urgent to repair.
David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee and a former British foreign secretary, recently returned from southern Ukraine and emphasizes that mental health support must become a central part of the country’s recovery. He also notes that the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure — from Ukraine to Gaza, Sudan and Congo — points to a growing “new world disorder.”
As the United States retreats from humanitarian aid under President Donald Trump, can Europe fill the gap — in Ukraine and beyond?
Later in the podcast, as the week marks 10 years since the Brexit vote, Anne McElvoy joins to discuss the political chaos in London, what Keir Starmer’s departure means for the EU–U.K. reset, and whether Andy Burnham might be prepared to take the relationship further.
