The Foreign Desk

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.

The fraught history of India and Pakistan’s seemingly perpetual fight over Kashmir. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Biden, on how Democrats need to reshape their opposition if they want to be the party of transatlanticism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

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.

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 information.

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.

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 Itani, the senior director of Middle East programs at the New Lines Institute. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

‘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.

Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, has been arrested and sent to The Hague, where he will face charges for crimes against humanity. Andrew Mueller explains the former president’s bloody ‘war on drugs’ and its marked popularity with voters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is clear by now that Donald Trump’s second administration will not be a rerun of the first. Why has the United States tilted away from Europe? Is there any method to the apparent madness? And how should Europe adjust? Leaders from the CIA, Nato and the US military join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to sift through the US’s new reality. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What shape will the war in Ukraine take now that president Trump has paused all military aid? Andrew Mueller unpacks the nation’s prospects following Friday’s showdown in the Oval Office. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russia’s rampage in Ukraine has had knock-on effects elsewhere, few if any of them positive. At the Munich Security Conference, Georgia’s president Salome Zourabichvili told us how she’s fighting Russian interference at home, and Belarus’s exiled opposition leader discussed how Moscow is underpinning her country’s tyrant. Leaders from the countries staring down the threat from the Kremlin join ‘The Foreign Desk’ to tell us how to defeat the menace at the gate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As security risks on the European continent rise and the US retreats from its historic role, will Germany be able to shake off its history and arm itself to meet the moment? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.