24 August 2016
03 minutes
Photo: Alamy
For some sportsmen and women from poor countries, the chance to perform abroad isn’t simply about representing their nation. Sometimes it’s about an opportunity to escape.
24 August 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
Explainer 322: The capriciousness of the Supreme Court
Roe vs Wade was just the beginning. Now the current US Supreme Court appears to be overturning a whole host of previous rulings. Andrew Mueller explains how two different Supreme Courts can read the same constitutional text…
Mark Esper
Andrew Mueller sits down with former US secretary of defence Mark Esper to discuss his tumultuous tenure in the Trump administration, the ongoing Capitol Hill committee hearings, and how he thinks other Western militaries…
Explainer 321: Belgium returns a Congolese hero’s golden tooth
Belgium has returned a tooth, the last remains of the murdered Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, to members of his family. Andrew Mueller explains why.
The evolution of Putin
The course of recent world history and the future of Ukraine rests on the whim of one man: Vladimir Putin. Was Putin’s rule of Russia always going to end up like this? In this episode, we hear from people who understand the…
Explainer 320: The Rwanda deportations
Andrew Mueller explains the UK government’s plan to deport certain migrants to Rwanda.
Globsec 2022 Bratislava Forum, part two
In the second of our special episodes recorded at Globsec, Andrew Mueller sits down with Romania’s state secretary, Simona Cojocaru, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt and Ukrainian MP Maria Mezentseva.
Explainer 319: The BJP and the contagious nature of indignation
Andrew Mueller explains how two throwaway, ill-thought-out comments from members of India’s BJP party sparked mass indignation around the world.
Globsec 2022 Bratislava Forum, part one
A special episode at the Globsec 2022 Bratislava Forum. Andrew Mueller talks to Belarus’s opposition leader, the former president of Estonia and the ambassador-at-large at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Explainer 318: The Japanese Red Army
Following the release of Fusako Shigenobu, the co-founder of the Japanese Red Army, Andrew Mueller explains the origins of the terrorist group.
Kevin Rudd: How to Avert a Conflict Between China and the US
In this special episode, Andrew Mueller sits down with the former prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, to discuss the volatile relationship between superpowers China and the United States, the possibility of a catast…
Explainer 317: Why is Africa divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
As the president of Senegal prepares to visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks on behalf of the African Union, Andrew Mueller explains why African nations are divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland and Sweden bid to join Nato: why now?
Sweden and Finland have submitted their applications to become Nato’s 31st and 32nd members. We ask what Sweden and Finland would bring to the alliance, and if this expansion would make Nato’s mission of defending the west…
Explainer 316: A Davos special in association with Finnish Flow
Following a Covid delay, the annual World Economic Forum at Davos is finally taking place again from 22 to 26 May. This year, there will be some new participants – representatives from eight cutting-edge Finnish companies…
Children of giants
In this special episode of ‘The Foreign Desk’, we speak to the descendants of major political figures. What’s it really like to be the child of a head of state? How weird is it when everyone else’s president is your parent…
Explainer 315: Taliban and the burqa
When the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in the wake of the allied forces’ sudden departure, they assured the world that things would be different this time. This was the Taliban 2.0 after a progression of 20 years. But…