2 January 2016
Episode 104
27 minutes
Photo: Cédric Puisney
What are the biggest events to look forward to in 2016? Monocle’s Steve Bloomfield is joined by guests Isabel Hilton, Quentin Peel and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera to discuss the year ahead in current affairs.
2 January 2016
Share episode
DownloadWant more radio episodes like these in your inbox?
Sign up to Monocle's email newsletters to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.
The Foreign Desk - latest episodes
Soft-power special
As Monocle’s annual Soft Power Survey hits newsstands, Andrew Mueller asks what countries can offer their international partners beyond trade and guns – or just the cold shoulder. Whether it’s sport, music, food, technology…
Explainer 141: Is Merkel's departure a blow to liberal democracy?
As soon as Angela Merkel announced her exit from politics, international media were reporting the end of democracy as we know it – the final nail in the coffin of political decency. But, as our Berlin correspondent Kati…
The Trump effect
Last week’s midterms saw the election of record-breaking numbers of women and breakthroughs for minorities. Might Trump’s legacy be turning the US into everything his supporters like least – and fear most? Andrew Mueller…
Explainer 140: Floral tributes
Every year the Royal British Legion, a charity that supports members and veterans of the British armed forces, raises money by selling poppies in remembrance of those who have died during service. Andrew Mueller explores…
Why ambassadors still matter
Despite being the world’s most powerful country, the US has dozens of vacant ambassadorships in the capitals of some of its most important allies. Does the current administration’s disregard for America’s foreign service…
Explainer 139: Trump’s predictable October surprise
Although the group of asylum seekers travelling towards the US from Central America is real, the threat they pose to American citizens is not. With only a few days until the midterm elections, it doesn't take a political…
Xinjiang: China’s captive province
China does a good job of keeping its Uyghur minority out of international headlines. But, as more stories of huge numbers of Uyghurs incarcerated in detention centres emerge, so do less-than-convincing excuses from Beijing…
Explainer 138: What does the Wentworth by-election mean for Australia’s conservatives?
In an historic upset, Australia’s governing coalition lost its one-seat parliamentary majority following a by-election in the Sydney electorate of Wentworth. Andrew Mueller explains why this comes as a shock, and asks if…
Saudi Arabia vs the world
When news broke earlier this month of the disappearance and alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi the outcry was appropriately loud. But what about the war in Yemen, the human rights abuses, the support for…
Explainer 137: Who will run against Trump in 2020?
The US midterms are only a few weeks away but Democrats seem just as concerned about who could go head to head with Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. What’s certain is that local media is enjoying the guessing…
Can Brexit be stopped?
Time is running out to reach a deal on what will happen when the UK leaves the EU in March – but as negotiators get ready for the next set of talks this week, campaigners are calling for another referendum. Can – and should…
Explainer 136: Why did Nikki Haley resign?
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, quit this week in what was, to many, a shock announcement. Along with speculation as to why, the question of who will replace her remains unanswered. Andrew Mueller gazes into his…
Iraq: is the future here at last?
Just over 15 years since the US and UK invaded Iraq with a promise to remove Saddam Hussein and install democracy, the country is still struggling. Internal divisions and external interference aren’t making things any…
Explainer 135: How is Canada pushing its feminist foreign policy?
In Montréal at the end of last month, Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland and the EU’s commissioner of foreign affairs Federica Mogherini co-hosted a meeting of the world’s women foreign ministers – the first mee…
The war on drugs: time to surrender?
Canada will shortly become the next of only a handful of countries to legalise recreational marijuana. How will this affect the illegal drug traders who remain untouchable to the governments trying to stop them? Andrew…
