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
NATO: brain-dead no more?
In this special episode, the team travels to Madrid for Nato’s most important summit in generations. How much stronger has Russia made the alliance, if only by accident? Andrew Mueller speaks to Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis; the head of policy planning in the office of the secretary general at…
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 and get two different answers.
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 ought to respond to current challenges.
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 evolution of Putin better than most. Andrew Mueller…
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.
