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Affairs / Podcast

The Foreign Desk

​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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Samantha Power: part II:

Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power also served as a foreign policy adviser for Barack Obama. She talks to Andrew Mueller about her memoir and discusses Obama’s foreign policy, Trump’s disruption of the diplomatic order and whether the US can reconcile its interests with its values.

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31518 Jan 2020
30 min

Samantha Power: part II: 

Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power also served as a foreign policy adviser for Barack Obama. She talks to Andrew Mueller about her memoir and discusses Obama’s foreign policy, Trump’s disruption of the diplomatic order and whether the US can reconcile its interests with its values.

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★15 Jan 2020
5 min

Explainer 198: What is Russia really doing in Libya?: 

Russian president Vladimir Putin might be better known for starting disputes than trying to solve them. But he has displayed an uncharacteristic interest in bringing the civil war plaguing Libya to an end. Why? Andrew Mueller asks what might actually be in it for Russia.

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31411 Jan 2020
30 min

Qassem Suleimani: the fallout: 

​The effects of the assassination of Iranian military officer Qassem Suleimani and Iraq's Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad on 3 January are yet to be fully seen. What is known is that it reignited or reaffirmed many of the tensions that previously existed. Tom Edwards chairs a discussion asking what could be next for an already unstable situation.

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★8 Jan 2020
5 min

Explainer 197: What’s at stake in Taiwan’s election?: 

Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen looks set to be re-elected this weekend but it will be a tough term, with China seeking reunification while opinion on the island shifts towards independence. James Chambers asks what the future might hold for Taiwan.

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3134 Jan 2020
30 min

2020: The year ahead: 

Andrew Mueller is joined by Isabel Hilton, Lina Khatib and Jeffrey Howard to discuss the challenges that 2020 will bring – and what to look forward to.

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31228 Dec 2019
30 min

2019: the year in review: 

Andrew Mueller is joined by Isabel Hilton, Lina Khatib and Jeffrey Howard to discuss the highs and lows in global affairs in 2019.

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31121 Dec 2019
30 min

Soft-power special: global leaders: 

Leading a country is no easy task, not only at home but also on the international stage. In a special episode Andrew Mueller is joined by Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yossi Mekelberg and Quentin Peel to discuss which global leader has won the world over with their soft-power prowess.

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★18 Dec 2019
6 min

Explainer 196: Why has Pakistan sentenced a former president to death?: 

Many of Pakistan’s leaders, or at least their careers, have met an untimely end – and now a court in Islamabad has sentenced former president Pervez Musharraf to death for high treason. Andrew Mueller looks at what Musharraf might have done to deserve this.

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31014 Dec 2019
31 min

Who’s standing up for the Uyghurs?: 

The treatment of the Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region has been condemned by journalists but overseas governments have remained silent. Has China become too powerful to criticise or does the international community simply not care? Andrew Mueller is joined by Rushan Abbas, David Schlesinger and John Everard.

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★11 Dec 2019
5 min

Explainer 195: Why is Aung San Suu Kyi at the International Court of Justice?: 

Andrew Mueller explains how Aung San Suu Kyi went from Nobel Peace laureate to being questioned about genocide in the International Court of Justice.

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3097 Dec 2019
30 min

An Iraqi Spring?: 

Ongoing demonstrations in Iraq, which began in early October, are significant because of protesters’ persistence – despite heavy-handed and sometimes deadly responses from authorities – and the youth of some of those taking to the streets. Andrew Mueller is joined by Pesha Magid, Abbas Kadhim and Renad Mansour to ask whether, this time, things will change.

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★4 Dec 2019
5 min

Explainer 194: Who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia?: 

The murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 has influenced Malta’s politics for the past two years. Andrew Mueller asks whether we’re getting closer to finding out who is responsible.

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30830 Nov 2019
30 min

Tear Down This Wall: Legacies: 

Description: In the final episode of our series on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Andrew Mueller is joined by Istvan Rev, Oana Serafim and Cerstin Gammelin to explore the legacy left by the Soviet Union in its former satellite states.

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★27 Nov 2019
5 min

Explainer 193: What is France doing in Mali?: 

On Monday, 13 French soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in Mali – the French army’s worst day of active service since 1983. Andrew Mueller asks what France is doing in Mali and the wider region.

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30723 Nov 2019
30 min

Tear Down This Wall: The resistance: 

In the third episode of our series reflecting on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Andrew Mueller explores the forms of resistance from within the Eastern Bloc. Whether led by peaceful playwrights, powerful trade unions or mutinous soldiers, how did people trapped behind the Iron Curtain fight back against the system? Andrew is joined by Andrei Codrescu, Michael Žantovský and Krzysztof Bobinski.

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