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PODCAST

The Foreign Desk

Presented by Andrew Mueller, Monocle’s flagship global-affairs show features expert guests and in-depth analysis of the big issues of the week. Nominated for ‘Best Current Affairs’ show and the ‘Spotlight Award’ in the 2022 British Podcast Awards.

news politics

All Episodes

36:32

Live from Delphi: how to respond to Trump’s trade war

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/12

In the days before this year’s edition of the Delphi Economic Forum, Donald Trump launched, and then only partially retreated from, a global trade war in which the EU was a target. Reporting from Delphi, Andrew speaks with Greece prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on what it’s like to lead an EU and Nato country in this moment. Plus: former Italian prime minister and EU commissioner for the economy Paolo Gentiloni on how Europe should respond and Meghan Hays, former special assistant to

en-US

7:30

Explainer 462: Is Mali and Algeria’s feud really...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/09

Andrew Mueller explains why what could have been a minor diplomatic dispute has sparked a massive feud between Mali and Algeria.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

35:57

Why has Israel gone back to war?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/05

As the ceasefire in Gaza falls apart, Tahani Mustafa, Nimrod Goren and Faysal Itani join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to weigh possible paths forward. Is Netanyahu even interested in peace? How will Lebanon fare? And as Trump, the Arab League and the EU push for their own ends, what will become of Gaza?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

8:06

Explainer 461: Marine Le Pen and the movable feast of...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/02

This week Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and banned from seeking public office for five years. Andrew Mueller explains why the far right cares deeply about law and order – until its own is in the dock.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

32:46

Is Erdoğan’s crackdown backfiring?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/29

Hundreds of thousands of protestors have poured onto Turkey’s streets after president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his authorities arrested Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu. Since then, thousands more have been arrested, detained and, in the case of some foreign journalists, deported. So, what prompted the move? And, after 22 years in charge, could Erdoğan’s latest power grab prove a step too far? We hear from experts on the ground.See omnystudio.com/listener for

en-US

8:40

Explainer 460: Jeffrey Goldberg has exited the war chat

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/26

As the US government scrambles to explain why the editor in chief of ‘The Atlantic’ was added to a group chat discussing war plans, Andrew Mueller considers just how serious a security breach this is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

38:16

Syria: Is this going to work?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/22

The unloading of Bashar al-Assad in December was a hopeful moment for Syria. The installation of his successor, jihadist commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, was a more nervous one. We discuss the mood among civilians with journalist Zaina Erhaim and Monocle’s Hannah Lucinda Smith, following the latter’s trip to Damascus in February. We also hear Slovenia’s foreign affairs minister, Tanja Fajon, who has met Syria’s interim president, and consider the implications for the

en-US

7:23

Explainer 459: Why has Rwanda severed ties with Belgium?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/19

Following Rwanda’s expulsion of Belgium’s diplomats this week, Andrew Mueller explains the European nation’s troubled history of involvement in Rwanda and the DRC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

38:19

Nato’s frontline: the view from the Baltics

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/15

‘The Foreign Desk’ speaks to leaders from Nato’s Baltic members about the vexing, existential questions they face: what happens if Russia strikes one of them? Is Nato’s Article 5 the unassailable security that it used to be? Is it worthwhile to keep telling Western Europe “we told you so”?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

9:14

Explainer 458: Why is Rodrigo Duterte being sent to...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/12

Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, has been arrested and sent to The Hague, where he will face charges for crimes against humanity. Andrew Mueller explains the former president’s bloody ‘war on drugs’ and its marked popularity with voters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

37:44

Has the US given up?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/08

It is clear by now that Donald Trump’s second administration will not be a rerun of the first. Why has the United States tilted away from Europe? Is there any method to the apparent madness? And how should Europe adjust? Leaders from the CIA, Nato and the US military join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to sift through the US’s new reality.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

7:01

Explainer 457: What does Ukraine do now?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/05

What shape will the war in Ukraine take now that president Trump has paused all military aid? Andrew Mueller unpacks the nation’s prospects following Friday’s showdown in the Oval Office.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

39:06

Russia’s ripple effect

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/03/01

Russia’s rampage in Ukraine has had knock-on effects elsewhere, few if any of them positive. At the Munich Security Conference, Georgia’s president Salome Zourabichvili told us how she’s fighting Russian interference at home, and Belarus’s exiled opposition leader discussed how Moscow is underpinning her country’s tyrant. Leaders from the countries staring down the threat from the Kremlin join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to tell us how to defeat the menace at the

en-US

7:19

Explainer 456: What’s halting Germany’s defence?...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/26

As security risks on the European continent rise and the US retreats from its historic role, will Germany be able to shake off its history and arm itself to meet the moment?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

39:25

Very well, alone?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/22

In the week following US vice president JD Vance’s explosive speech at the Munich Security Conference, European leaders scrambled to two emergency summits to consider the prospect of American detachment. In this special episode recorded at the conference, we reflect on this new reality almost exactly three years on from the invasion of Ukraine. We speak with current and former office-holders, including Pål Jonson, Sweden’s minister of defence, and Oleksii Reznikov, former minister

en-US

6:54

Explainer 455: Mauritius’s money-laundering prime...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/19

Former Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth was arrested last weekend after the country’s Financial Crimes Commission recovered suitcases full of banknotes worth over €2m. We explain why the scandal is not just bad news for Mauritius but the UK too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

38:38

Is Serbia OK?

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/15

Between the infrastructure disaster that has sparked prolonged protests and the ongoing troubles with Kosovo, Albania and Nato, is Serbia OK? Andrew Mueller speaks to the country’s minister of foreign affairs, Marko Đurić, and our Balkans correspondent, Guy De Launey, for the view from the ground.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

6:02

Explainer 454: New Zealand’s beef with its neighbours

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/12

Why has New Zealand fallen out with the Cook Islands and Kiribati? And what does China have to do with it? Andrew Mueller explains.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

30:40

How to win a trade war

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/08

It seems clear that the newly inaugurated US president Trump has a philosophy on trade wars: they are good and easy to win. Tina Fordham, Alex von Tunzelmann and Elisabeth Braw join us to discuss whether the history of trade wars can tell us anything about how to wage one. And are these new economic tussles really anything remarkable, or just part of a wider backlash against globalisation?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

7:49

Explainer 453: Does China really control the Panama...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/02/05

Is there any truth to Donald Trump’s claims that China controls the Panama Canal or is he out of his depth? Following secretary of state Marco Rubio’s meeting with Panama’s president, Andrew Mueller explains the US’s rocky history with the country and its waterways.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

275 results

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