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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
The Gulf after oil
Arab Gulf states owe much of their geo-strategic importance to fossil fuels. But even the most oil-soaked petro-kingdom knows that the wells will cease gushing eventually. If the Gulf becomes a centre of renewable energy, what will that mean for the region’s politics? Andrew Mueller is joined by Mehran Kamrava,…
Twitter diplomacy
Diplomacy used to be a dignified art. But social media has changed that, as it has everything else, into a much faster, more direct and often informal discourse. Is this just a case of governments changing with the times or is the world walking into something much more serious?
Social gastronomy
*Special episode in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers* We’ve teamed up with the Nordic Council of Ministers for a series of five special episodes delving deeper into topics of global importance from the region. In this, the first, Michael Booth hears how the social gastronomy movement is using…
Keeping the peace
Ending a war is far harder than starting one. That said, once a peace deal has been signed, ensuring that formerly warring parties stick to the deal is even trickier. As Colombia’s deal threatens to unravel, what have we learned elsewhere about how – and how not – to keep…
America’s opioid crisis: a turning point?
A judge in Oklahoma this week ruled that pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has to pay $572m for its part in the state’s opioid crisis. The firm is far from the only company embroiled in this ongoing and devastating problem that’s sweeping the US. But does this ruling, and a…
Sustainable cities
*Special episode in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers* ‘The Foreign Desk’ has teamed up with the Nordic Council of Ministers for a series of five special episodes delving deeper into topics of global importance from the region. This episode looks at sustainability in the region’s cities. What happens…
Can a cure for Ebola be a cure for the DRC?
As two new anti-Ebola treatments prove effective, making the disease potentially 90 per cent survivable, we ask how close we are to completely beating the virus, what a cure could mean for ending violence in the DRC and how big a role widespread diseases still play in restricting Africa’s development.…
The future of Kashmir
Description: Earlier this week, the special status that Kashmir had long enjoyed within India was revoked, communication was cut off, thousands of extra troops were deployed and politicians detained. Abolishing its special status was a promise made by Narendra Modi in this year’s election but what does it mean for…
Gender pay gap
*Special episode in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers* The Foreign Desk has teamed up with the Nordic Council of Ministers for a series of five special episodes delving deeper into topics of global importance from the region, the first of which looks at the gender pay gap. The…
Hong Kong’s stalemate
As the demonstrations in Hong Kong continue, we look at the stand-off between Beijing and the people of Hong Kong, and ask if Hong Kong’s government will ever have any real say in this. We hear from Badiucao, Fernando Cheung, Johnson Yeung, Diane Wei Liang and Monocle’s Hong Kong bureau…
