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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
Albin Kurti: prankster to politician
Andrew Mueller is joined by Albin Kurti, the prime minister of Kosovo, for an in-depth conversation. They discuss the unusual challenges the country faces, its tumultuous relationship with Serbia and how a prankster became a politician.
Explainer 292: Lukashenko’s migrant warfare
Migrants hoping for a new life in Europe have been trapped at the Belarusian border for weeks, clashing with the authorities of countries such as Poland. Andrew Mueller explains what Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who promised them easy access to the EU, stands to gain.
Confronting climate change: what actually works?
Climate change is not an issue that governments enjoy confronting. Nevertheless, the recent Cop26 summit and its predecessors have made it abundantly clear that the crisis is not going anywhere. In this episode of ‘The Foreign Desk’, Andrew Mueller speaks to people who know what it takes to keep politicians…
Nordic Council of Ministers series, part eight: Sustainable agriculture
As an economic sector, agriculture accounts for almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions but agreement on how to reduce that is proving difficult. In this episode of The Foreign Desk Explainer in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers, we hear from campaigners, farmers, ministers and foresters about…
War: what is it good for?
In this special episode, we explore an uncomfortable and challenging subject: war. Why do we fight wars? How does conflict shape us? And does human nature doom us to fight one another? Andrew Mueller sits down with celebrated historian, Margaret MacMillan.
The Tigray crisis: how did we get here?
Ethiopia’s government has declared a state of emergency as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front gains ground in Addis Ababa. Andrew Mueller explains how we got here.
Fiona Hill
Andrew Mueller sits down with Fiona Hill, former White House aide and senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, to discuss her memoir, working for the White House and how she prepared for her testimony at the impeachment hearing of Donald Trump.
Explainer 289: Nordic Council of Ministers series, part seven – Communicating the climate emergency
With COP26 approaching, communicating the reality of climate change is clearly important but it’s a notoriously tricky message to get across. As recent protests in the UK and elsewhere have shown, it’s easy to alienate the public, which risks climate fatigue setting in. People shut down if the picture is…
Thomas Sankara and pan-Africanism
A landmark trial is taking place in Burkina Faso over the assassination, 34 years ago, of Thomas Sankara, the country’s then-president. Today, Sankara remains something of an icon for his interpretation of the philosophy of pan-Africanism. Who was Thomas Sankara? What did he stand for? And what does pan-Africanism mean…
Explainer 288: Trying to Trump the legal system
Earlier this month, Joe Biden allowed the US National Archives to grant access to the first batch of documents requested by the House Committee investigating January’s Capitol riots. Donald Trump has responded with a lawsuit to suppress these documents, citing executive privilege. Andrew Mueller explains what success this might have…
