The Foreign Desk

We unpack the decades-long conflict in the landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh and ask how likely it is that it will go away.


Join us at Midori House in London on Thursday 11 May for a special live recording of The Foreign Desk. For details and to book tickets visit https://monocle.com/events/the-foreign-desk-live/.

The Robert Mugabe era is stumbling to an end: the 92-year-old is no longer a charismatic speaker and his aura of invincibility has long since disappeared. We ask who will follow him and what his departure will mean for Zimbabwe.

If a strong centre-right candidate had emerged in the race the picture we are seeing today might be very different. The odds seem to be massively in Hillary Clinton’s favour but is that really the case?

There are some aspects of this week’s attacks that are very particular to Belgium. Have the nation’s longstanding divisions influenced the attackers and hindered the response? And how has Belgium reacted to the events? We look at media, security and the nation’s identity – or lack of.

In the wake of this week’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, now more than ever Belgium needs to develop a sense of national identity. But with 11 million people, six governments, three regions and three languages, what can bring this fractured nation together?

The reality TV star may be on his way to the Republican nomination but winning a general election will be altogether tougher. Five campaign experts from around the world gather to tell us how they’d go about defeating him.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced that most of his troops will be leaving Syria. We ask why they were there in the first place and discuss what this withdrawal will mean for peace in the country.