Monocle 24: The Foreign Desk

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.