Explainer 473: Cambodia, Thailand and phone-call warfare
Andrew Mueller explains the leaked phone call scandalising Thailand in its ongoing border dispute with Cambodia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 25, 2025•7 min
The Foreign Desk
Presented by Andrew Mueller, Monocle’s flagship global-affairs show features expert guests and in-depth analysis of the big issues of the week. Nominated for ‘Best Current Affairs’ show and the ‘Spotlight Award’ in the 2022 British Podcast Awards.
Episodes
The view of Europe from Globsec Forum 2025
Reporting from the Globsec Forum in Prague, we hear from guests including the host country’s foreign minister and Georgia’s president to discern how their countries are adapting to today’s security, military and political threats. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 21, 2025•42 min
Explainer 472: The furious funeral row over Zambia’s former president
Andrew Mueller explains how the rivalry between the late and former president, Edgar Lungu, and the current president, Hakainde Hichilema, is going well beyond the grave. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 18, 2025•9 min
‘The Foreign Desk’ in Odesa: the international ripple effects of war in Ukraine
Reporting from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Andrew Mueller talks to leaders – domestic and international – about why Ukraine’s struggle for survival matters around the globe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 14, 2025•40 min
Explainer 471: Who gets to be an Italian citizen?
(Some) Italians headed to the polls this week to decide who gets to be one of them. Andrew Mueller explains what’s at the heart of this debate and why apathy might have won the day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 11, 2025•8 min
Odesa, the Black Sea, the front line and Ukraine’s future
Andrew Mueller reports from the Black Sea Security Forum, asking why Odesa matters beyond Ukraine’s borders and how Ukrainians have managed to keep fighting more than three years into Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 07, 2025•38 min
Explainer 470: The on-again, off-again US-Iran nuclear talks
Andrew Mueller unpacks the latest round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran, asks why Trump is now eager after rejecting the previous deal and why Iran has fewer cards to play than in the Obama years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 04, 2025•8 min
Are journalists safe?
At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024, about two-thirds of whom were Palestinian. Why is reporting becoming more dangerous and what can we do to protect journalists? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 31, 2025•36 min
Explainer 469: Who are India’s Maoists?
Indian security forces killed 27 rebels this week, including a top Maoist leader. This week, Andrew Mueller explains the nearly half-century long conflict between the state and the Communist Party of India (Maoist). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 28, 2025•7 min
Why does Russia still have influence in eastern Europe?
While eyes are fixed on Ukraine, Putin’s influence continues to spread across eastern Europe, with many countries seeing a rise in far-right parties with Soviet-era sympathies. But why is this a winning policy? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 24, 2025•32 min
Explainer 468: Tantrum or tactic? Why has Australia’s National Party split from the Liberals?
After a humiliating general election defeat, Australia’s National Party has bid farewell to its coalition partners of more than 60 years. But what is behind this seemingly self-defeating manoeuvre? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 21, 2025•8 min
Does the dream of a Kurdish state end with the PKK?
After 40 years of war with Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) lay down their arms. So, where does that leave hopes for a sovereign Kurdish state? Or ambitions for a more democratic Turkey? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 17, 2025•32 min
Explainer 467: Why does Qatar want to gift Trump a jet?
President Trump is currently fielding accusations of corruption after being offered a $400m (€356m) jet by the Qatari royal family. While the US grapples with the ethics, we explain what’s in it for Qatar. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 14, 2025•8 min
The Trump factor
To what extent can the centre-left’s landslide victories in Australia and Canada be attributed to Trump? And will the opposite be true in upcoming elections in Eastern Europe? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 10, 2025•34 min
Explainer 466: What actually happens during a papal conclave (as far as we know)?
As the eligible cardinals assemble at the Vatican, Andrew Mueller explains the expected and unexpected goings on during a papal conclave. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 07, 2025•7 min
The most extraordinary first 100 days of any US presidency?
Trump’s first 100 days have been busy. But what has he actually achieved? And what can we expect from the next 1,360 days? We are joined by experts to assess five policy areas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 03, 2025•41 min
Explainer 465: Who is behind the terrorist attack on Kashmir?
The fraught history of India and Pakistan’s seemingly perpetual fight over Kashmir. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 30, 2025•8 min
Live from Delphi: What’s brewing in the Eastern Mediterranean?
With the change of the past 12 months, we ask experts: what does Turkey want in the Eastern Mediterranean? Is Cyprus actually solvable? And do we understand how the Middle East is being reshaped? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 26, 2025•28 min
Explainer 464: The threats facing Ecuador: real or invented?
Ecuadorian officials have placed the country on high alert, claiming imminent terrorist attacks and presidential assassination attempts. There is, however, very little evidence of these dangers. This week, Andrew Mueller explains whether the threats in Ecuador are real, invented, politicised or all the above. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 23, 2025•7 min
Live from Delphi: has the sun set on the transatlantic relationship?
In fewer than 100 days in power, Donald Trump has upended his country’s historic alliance with Europe, told the continent that it can no longer rely on security guarantees from the US and launched a trade war that threatens the global economy. Reporting from the Delphi Economic Forum, we spoke with attendees with experience at the Pentagon, Nato, the US Army and more about whether the sun is setting on the transatlantic relationship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 19, 2025•34 min
Explainer 463: Why is a UK MP facing corruption charges in Bangladesh?
Nepo-corruption or a politically motivated smear? Andrew Mueller explains why Bangladesh has issued a warrant for the arrest of UK MP Tulip Siddiq. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 16, 2025•7 min
Live from Delphi: how to respond to Trump’s trade war
In the days before this year’s edition of the Delphi Economic Forum, Donald Trump launched, and then only partially retreated from, a global trade war in which the EU was a target. Reporting from Delphi, Andrew speaks with Greece prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on what it’s like to lead an EU and Nato country in this moment. Plus: former Italian prime minister and EU commissioner for the economy Paolo Gentiloni on how Europe should respond and Meghan Hays, former special assistant to Joe Bide...
Apr 12, 2025•37 min
Explainer 462: Is Mali and Algeria’s feud really about drones?
Andrew Mueller explains why what could have been a minor diplomatic dispute has sparked a massive feud between Mali and Algeria. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 09, 2025•8 min
Why has Israel gone back to war?
As the ceasefire in Gaza falls apart, Tahani Mustafa, Nimrod Goren and Faysal Itani join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to weigh possible paths forward. Is Netanyahu even interested in peace? How will Lebanon fare? And as Trump, the Arab League and the EU push for their own ends, what will become of Gaza? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 05, 2025•36 min
Explainer 461: Marine Le Pen and the movable feast of far-right law and order
This week Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and banned from seeking public office for five years. Andrew Mueller explains why the far right cares deeply about law and order – until its own is in the dock. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 02, 2025•8 min
Is Erdoğan’s crackdown backfiring?
Hundreds of thousands of protestors have poured onto Turkey’s streets after president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his authorities arrested Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu. Since then, thousands more have been arrested, detained and, in the case of some foreign journalists, deported. So, what prompted the move? And, after 22 years in charge, could Erdoğan’s latest power grab prove a step too far? We hear from experts on the ground. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...
Mar 29, 2025•33 min
Explainer 460: Jeffrey Goldberg has exited the war chat
As the US government scrambles to explain why the editor in chief of ‘The Atlantic’ was added to a group chat discussing war plans, Andrew Mueller considers just how serious a security breach this is. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 26, 2025•9 min
Syria: Is this going to work?
The unloading of Bashar al-Assad in December was a hopeful moment for Syria. The installation of his successor, jihadist commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, was a more nervous one. We discuss the mood among civilians with journalist Zaina Erhaim and Monocle’s Hannah Lucinda Smith, following the latter’s trip to Damascus in February. We also hear Slovenia’s foreign affairs minister, Tanja Fajon, who has met Syria’s interim president, and consider the implications for the country’s neighbours with Faysal I...
Mar 22, 2025•38 min
Explainer 459: Why has Rwanda severed ties with Belgium?
Following Rwanda’s expulsion of Belgium’s diplomats this week, Andrew Mueller explains the European nation’s troubled history of involvement in Rwanda and the DRC. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 19, 2025•7 min
Nato’s frontline: the view from the Baltics
‘ The Foreign Desk’ speaks to leaders from Nato’s Baltic members about the vexing, existential questions they face: what happens if Russia strikes one of them? Is Nato’s Article 5 the unassailable security that it used to be? Is it worthwhile to keep telling Western Europe “we told you so”? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 15, 2025•38 min
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