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The Foreign Desk
Monocle’s global-affairs show with Andrew Mueller. Expert guests, in-depth analysis, and sharp commentary on major geopolitical issues.
Latest Episodes
Spain, what next?
Who governs Spain? Elections in December were inconclusive: the old parties lost votes, the new ones won some and no-one came out on top. Spain’s divide will not be easy to fix. Monocle’s Steve Bloomfield is joined by David Alandete, managing editor of ‘El País’, and Pablo Rodriguez Suanzes of…
Should Schengen be saved?
For more than three decades Europe has been enjoying the end of internal borders between nations. But weaker border controls in the newest frontier countries and the influx of refugees has made the Schengen Agreement fragile. As internal borders return to the EU, we ask whether the ideal of a…
Iran vs Saudi Arabia
If there was any doubt that the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia is one of the greatest threats to peace in the Middle East, the events of the past few days have made it clear. Join Monocle’s Steve Bloomfield as he chairs a discussion between Jane Kinninmont from…
2016 in global affairs
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.
Affairs highlights of 2015
Monocle’s Steve Bloomfield is joined by guests Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Isabel Hilton and Quentin Peel for a review of the past year in affairs.
The battle over Zwarte Piet
Like a number of nations, the Netherlands has its own version of Father Christmas – in its case, Sinterklaas. But Sinterklaas has a little helper not found anywhere else: Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete. For many, Zwarte Piet is undeniably racist yet he remains popular in his home country. We…
Interests vs values
Richard Murphy, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Syria and John Everard, former UK ambassador to Uruguay, North Korea and Belarus, discuss what is more important: to promote a nation’s interests or a nation’s values. For most of the time these two go hand in hand but there are…
Who will fight the ground war against Isis?
The UK has joined the US and France in bombing Isis targets inside Syria but victory will be impossible without ground forces. So who will provide them? The Kurds? Syrian opposition groups? An outside force? Steve Bloomfield speaks to Rusi’s Shashank Joshi, Hugh Naylor from ‘The Washington Post’ and film-maker…
Trying to save the world from itself
Former European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard and Jennifer Morgan from the World Resources Institute discuss the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The last time world leaders gathered to try to solve the problem of climate change – in Copenhagen in 2009 – it ended in failure. But as…
Paris and the media
How has the media covered the attacks on Paris and its aftermath? We speak to the editor of ‘Paris Match’ about the challenges faced by French media and hear how two international editors balance coverage of competing tragedies. With Olivier Royant, Lindsey Hilsum from Channel 4 News and Newsweek’s Matt…
