Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk

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​Presented by ​Andrew Mueller, Monocle 24’s flagship global-affairs show features​ expert guests ​and in-depth analysis of the big issues of the week. Winner in the ‘best current affairs’ category of the 2018 British Podcast awards.

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    • May 31, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 20m AVG DURATION
    • 678 EPISODES

    4.6 from 86 ratings Listeners of Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk that love the show mention: thanks for making, recommended, better, highly, great.


    Ivy Insights

    The Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk podcast is an excellent source of news and analysis on international affairs. Hosted by the knowledgeable and experienced Andrew Mueller, this podcast delves into global topics with in-depth interviews and thought-provoking discussions. The script is filled with witty and often hilarious lines that help to engage listeners and make even the toughest issues more accessible. Mueller's voice lends itself perfectly to an audio newscast, making for a pleasant listening experience. The podcast offers both bite-sized explainer episodes for quick analyses of foreign affairs events, as well as longer weekly shows that dig deeper into specific issues.

    One of the best aspects of The Foreign Desk podcast is the wealth of knowledge and experience that Andrew Mueller brings as a presenter. His understanding of global issues is invaluable, and he brings a unique perspective to the topics discussed. The podcast also excels in providing informative, engaging, and challenging content. It addresses important but often overlooked issues with expert panelists who offer educated debate without sensationalism. This refreshing approach provides listeners with a deeper understanding of international affairs.

    While there are many positive aspects to this podcast, one potential downside is that some segments can be dry for certain listeners. However, this is balanced out by the engaging Explainer episodes and overall high-quality content provided by the show. Additionally, some listeners may prefer a more neutral or less politically biased approach to news reporting, as Monocle 24 proudly wears its liberal heart on its sleeve. However, this viewpoint can also be seen as a positive aspect for those seeking alternative perspectives in these challenging times.

    In conclusion, The Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk podcast is a truly great way to stay informed about global affairs. With first-class journalism and analysis from host Andrew Mueller and his team, it offers deep coverage of important issues in the world today. The podcast stands out among other current affairs programs due to its commitment to discussing relevant topics and providing a fresh approach to news reporting. It is highly recommended for anyone seeking insightful, thought-provoking content on international affairs.



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    Latest episodes from Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk

    Are journalists safe?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2025 36:18


    At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024, about two-thirds of whom were Palestinian. Why is reporting becoming more dangerous and what can we do to protect journalists?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 469: Who are India's Maoists?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 6:46


    Indian security forces killed 27 rebels this week, including a top Maoist leader. This week, Andrew Mueller explains the nearly half-century long conflict between the state and the Communist Party of India (Maoist). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Why does Russia still have influence in eastern Europe? 

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2025 31:55


    While eyes are fixed on Ukraine, Putin’s influence continues to spread across eastern Europe, with many countries seeing a rise in far-right parties with Soviet-era sympathies. But why is this a winning policy?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 468: Tantrum or tactic? Why has Australia's National Party split from the Liberals?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 7:39


    After a humiliating general election defeat, Australia’s National Party has bid farewell to its coalition partners of more than 60 years. But what is behind this seemingly self-defeating manoeuvre? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Does the dream of a Kurdish state end with the PKK?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2025 32:01


    After 40 years of war with Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) lay down their arms. So, where does that leave hopes for a sovereign Kurdish state? Or ambitions for a more democratic Turkey?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 467: Why does Qatar want to gift Trump a jet? 

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 8:08


    President Trump is currently fielding accusations of corruption after being offered a $400m (€356m) jet by the Qatari royal family. While the US grapples with the ethics, we explain what’s in it for Qatar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The Trump factor

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2025 33:53


    To what extent can the centre-left’s landslide victories in Australia and Canada be attributed to Trump? And will the opposite be true in upcoming elections in Eastern Europe?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 466: What actually happens during a papal  conclave (as far as we know)? 

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 7:29


    As the eligible cardinals assemble at the Vatican, Andrew Mueller explains the expected and unexpected goings on during a papal conclave. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The most extraordinary first 100 days of any US presidency? 

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2025 40:42


    Trump’s first 100 days have been busy. But what has he actually achieved? And what can we expect from the next 1,360 days? We are joined by experts to assess five policy areas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 465: Who is behind the terrorist attack on Kashmir?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 7:45


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

    Live from Delphi: What's brewing in the Eastern Mediterranean?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2025 27:34


    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.

    Explainer 464: The threats facing Ecuador: real or invented?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2025 6:30


    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.

    Live from Delphi: has the sun set on the transatlantic relationship?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2025 34:09


    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.

    Explainer 463: Why is a UK MP facing corruption charges in Bangladesh?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2025 7:02


    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.

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

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2025 36:32


    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 Joe Biden, on how Democrats need to reshape their opposition if they want to be the party of transatlanticism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 462: Is Mali and Algeria's feud really about drones? 

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2025 7:30


    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.

    Why has Israel gone back to war?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2025 35:57


    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.

    Explainer 461: Marine Le Pen and the movable feast of far-right law and order

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 8:06


    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.

    Is Erdoğan's crackdown backfiring?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2025 32:46


    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 privacy information.

    Explainer 460: Jeffrey Goldberg has exited the war chat

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2025 8:40


    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.

    Syria: Is this going to work?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2025 38:16


    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 country’s neighbours with Faysal Itani, the senior director of Middle East programs at the New Lines Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 459: Why has Rwanda severed ties with Belgium? 

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2025 7:23


    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.

    Nato's frontline: the view from the Baltics

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2025 38:19


    ‘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.

    Explainer 458: Why is Rodrigo Duterte being sent to The Hague?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 9:14


    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.

    Has the US given up?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2025 37:44


    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.

    Explainer 457: What does Ukraine do now? 

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 7:01


    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.

    Russia's ripple effect

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2025 39:06


    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 gate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 456: What's halting Germany's defence? History.

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2025 7:19


    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.

    Very well, alone?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2025 39:25


    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 of defence of Ukraine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 455: Mauritius's money-laundering prime minister 

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2025 6:54


    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.

    Is Serbia OK?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2025 38:38


    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.

    Explainer 454: New Zealand's beef with its neighbours

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2025 6:02


    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.

    How to win a trade war

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2025 30:40


    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.

    Explainer 453: Does China really control the Panama Canal? 

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2025 7:49


    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.

    What is Rwanda doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2025 36:05


    The idea of Rwanda invading the Democratic Republic of Congo looks, on paper, preposterous. However, as an alliance of rebel groups seized Goma, the biggest city in the DRC’s east, we ask: what is the plan? Fred Bauma joins Andew Mueller with the latest from Kinshasa. Then: Jason Stearns and Michela Wrong tell us about the history behind this conflict and consider the view from Rwanda.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 452: Trump's Greenland grab

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 7:09


    Why is US president Donald Trump eyeing up Greenland? And if it’s not for sale, would he take it by force? Andrew Mueller explains the likelihood of an old-school territorial conquest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Can the Israel-Hamas ceasefire become lasting peace?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2025 34:09


    Relative calm has descended over Gaza after 15 months of war. A ceasefire agreement has been enacted but what happens next is unclear. Nada AlTaher, Esther Solomon and Aaron David Miller join Andrew Mueller to discuss how Palestinians would like to move forward, the domestic political tensions in Israel and whether real peace is on the table.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 451: The veteran rebels behind Colombia's violent turf war

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2025 7:22


    At least 100 people were killed this week during renewed fighting in Colombia’s northeast. Who is involved? And what are they fighting over? Andrew Mueller explains.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Mr Trump goes to Washington: the sequel  

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 36:06


    Donald J Trump will head to the National Mall in Washington on Monday for his second inauguration. When he takes the oath of office, Trump will become the second man to serve non-consecutive terms as president and the first convicted criminal to inhabit the White House. Tom Nichols, Nathalie Tocci and Alex von Tunzelmann join Andrew Mueller to consider what Trump 2.0 means for the US and the world. Plus: what makes for an inaugural address to remember? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 450: What is Lebanon's new government up against? Spoiler: itself

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 6:17


    As Lebanon welcomes a new president and prime minister, Andrew Mueller explains the peculiarities of the country’s 1943 political settlement and why it has proved to be an inhibitor to actual governance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The legacies of US presidents

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2025 40:27


    As US president Joe Biden’s time in office comes to a close, we consider how to assess the legacies of national leaders. What makes a president great? And why do our views change over time? Andrew speaks with the custodians of these legacies – biographers, presidential library directors and historians – to see how these mythologies are created and maintained.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Explainer 449: Is China cutting Taiwan's cables or are their wires crossed?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 6:33


    Andrew Mueller explains how likely it is that China is cutting Taiwan’s undersea cables and what’s in it for them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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