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
Explainer 222: Why did Iran issue an arrest warrant for Trump?
This week Iran issued an arrest warrant for Donald Trump over January’s killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani – and asked Interpol for its help in enforcing it. Andrew Mueller looks at what Iran might actually be trying to achieve with such a move.
Has populism been found out?
The pandemic is a populist’s nightmare: a virus makes no ideological distinctions and requires expertise and patience to defeat. In Brazil, at least 50,000 people have died while a populist president blusters – a situation echoed in the US, the UK and elsewhere. Has populism been unmasked? Andrew Mueller is…
Explainer 221: Where is Socotra and who has invaded it?
In an intriguing sub-plot of Yemen’s ghastly civil war, one of the factions allegedly supporting the government has taken control of an island near the Gulf of Aden. Andrew Mueller looks at who has seized Socotra and why.
The Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte goes after the messengers
The conviction of prominent journalist Maria Ressa is yet another worrying sign of the Philippines’ direction under Rodrigo Duterte. Andrew Mueller talks to Sheila Coronel and Richard Heydarian about Duterte’s assault on democratic norms and to Carlo Bonura about the populist president’s so-called independent foreign policy.
Explainer 220: What are Somaliland and Somalia discussing in Djibouti?
As Somalia conducts talks with the unrecognised government of breakaway region Somaliland, Andrew Mueller asks if Somaliland’s time might be coming.
Jeffrey Sachs and the future of globalisation
We talk to leading economist – and advisor to three UN secretary-generals – Jeffrey Sachs about his new book, ‘The Ages Of Globalisation: Geography, Technology and Institutions’, which tracks globalisation through history to the present time. Is this the peak from which globalisation descends? Is this an opportunity to make…
Explainer 219: Why has North Korea stopped talking to South Korea?
As North Korea halts all cross-border communication with the South in a row over propaganda balloons, Andrew Mueller wonders why Pyongyang has chosen this moment to get so angry.
Black Lives Matter: a tipping point?
The killing of George Floyd has resulted in protests across the US and the world. Andrew Mueller is joined by Charles H Ramsey – former Washington police chief and co-chair of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which was set up by Barack Obama – to consider how the…
Explainer 218: Make G7 G8 again?
Why did Russia get punted out of the G7 and why does Trump want it back in? Andrew Mueller explains.
Is this China’s world now?
Has the pandemic accelerated China’s plans? Andrew Mueller talks to James Chambers about the escalating situation in Hong Kong, to Beijing journalist Sophia Yan about China’s plans elsewhere and to former diplomat John Everard about how other countries can usefully – and tactfully – try to change China’s behaviour.
