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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

7:45

Explainer 465: Who is behind the terrorist attack on...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/30

The fraught history of India and Pakistan’s seemingly perpetual fight over Kashmir.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

27:34

Live from Delphi: What’s brewing in the Eastern...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/26

With the change of the past 12 months, we ask experts: what does Turkey want in the Eastern Mediterranean? Is Cyprus actually solvable? And do we understand how the Middle East is being reshaped?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

6:30

Explainer 464: The threats facing Ecuador: real or...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/23

Ecuadorian officials have placed the country on high alert, claiming imminent terrorist attacks and presidential assassination attempts. There is, however, very little evidence of these dangers. This week, Andrew Mueller explains whether the threats in Ecuador are real, invented, politicised or all the above.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

34:09

Live from Delphi: has the sun set on the...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/19

In fewer than 100 days in power, Donald Trump has upended his country’s historic alliance with Europe, told the continent that it can no longer rely on security guarantees from the US and launched a trade war that threatens the global economy. Reporting from the Delphi Economic Forum, we spoke with attendees with experience at the Pentagon, Nato, the US Army and more about whether the sun is setting on the transatlantic relationship.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

7:02

Explainer 463: Why is a UK MP facing corruption...

The Foreign Desk ·

2025/04/16

Nepo-corruption or a politically motivated smear? Andrew Mueller explains why Bangladesh has issued a warrant for the arrest of UK MP Tulip Siddiq.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

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

300 results

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