In Iceland's Defence

Loading player...
Iceland is an island of great beauty and even greater strategic importance. Its position in the Greenland Iceland UK Gap, the gateway between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, makes it crucial to Nato operations in the High North.

But Iceland is one of the few nations in the world with no military of its own. A country of approximately 400,000 people, its security relies on the umbrella of protection it derives from being a founding member of NATO, a bilateral agreement with the United States signed in 1951 and a highly skilled coast guard and police force. In a climate of fracturing political alliances, is entrusting national defence so heavily on the guarantees of allies a sustainable strategy? Sandra Kanthal travelled to Reykjavik to find out.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
20 Apr 8PM English United Kingdom Education

Other recent episodes

When Shiraz calls

A personal account of day-to-day life in Iran told through the conversations of two Iranian sisters – one in the UK, the other in the Iranian city of Shiraz. Since the outbreak of war at the end of February, a near total internet blackout and a shutdown of international phone…
20 May 8PM 30 min

Introducing: Focus on Africa - Electric vehicles: fixing Africa's fuel crisis?

Kenya is the latest African country to increase fuel prices citing the US-Israel war with Iran. While announcing one of the steepest pump price increments in recent times, the government reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel products from 16% to 8%, as the country's political opposition threatens street demonstrations…
19 May 8PM 25 min

Victim or Accomplice? The Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Girlfriend

Nadia Marcinko, originally Marcinková, was born in Slovakia and met Jeffrey Epstein as an 18-year-old model. Later, she became a successful aircraft pilot. For seven years, she was Epstein’s main girlfriend. And she’s one of four women that US prosecutors named in a 2008 plea deal as his “potential co-conspirators”…
18 May 8PM 47 min

Thomas Keneally: What’s next for the Schindler’s List author?

Rachel Naylor visits the Booker Prize-winning author Thomas Keneally in his home in Sydney, Australia, to see how he writes his latest book. He gives Rachel a tour of his neighbourhood Manly, a seaside suburb in the Northern Beaches, famous for its ferry, surfing and his beloved Sea Eagles, the…
18 May 12AM 26 min

Introducing: CrowdScience - What keeps the universe in balance?

Listener Ndanusa in Ghana, is gazing up at the stars, and wondering what keeps our universe in balance? Ndanusa knows a thing or two about the stars, and he knows that they use up hydrogen as they burn, and release helium. And he’s wondering, is there something out there which…
16 May 8PM 34 min