The Foreign Desk

The course of recent world history and the future of Ukraine rests on the whim of one man: Vladimir Putin. Was Putin’s rule of Russia always going to end up like this? In this episode, we hear from people who understand the evolution of Putin better than most. Andrew Mueller speaks to the former deputy energy minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Milov; the president of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović; former president of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski; and the former president of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid.

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Andrew Mueller explains the UK government’s plan to deport certain migrants to Rwanda.

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In the second of our special episodes recorded at Globsec, Andrew Mueller sits down with Romania’s state secretary, Simona Cojocaru, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt and Ukrainian MP Maria Mezentseva.

Andrew Mueller explains how two throwaway, ill-thought-out comments from members of India’s BJP party sparked mass indignation around the world.

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In this special episode of The Foreign Desk, we travel to Slovakia for the Globsec 2022 Bratislava Forum. Andrew Mueller sits down with world leaders to discuss how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a major shift in European defence policy.

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Following the release of Fusako Shigenobu, the co-founder of the Japanese Red Army, Andrew Mueller explains the origins of the terrorist group.

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In this special episode, Andrew Mueller sits down with the former prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, to discuss the volatile relationship between superpowers China and the United States, the possibility of a catastrophic war between them – and how to avert such a conflict – and what he learned during his lengthy meetings with Xi Jinping.

As the president of Senegal prepares to visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks on behalf of the African Union, Andrew Mueller explains why African nations are divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Sweden and Finland have submitted their applications to become Nato’s 31st and 32nd members. We ask what Sweden and Finland would bring to the alliance, and if this expansion would make Nato’s mission of defending the west easier or harder. Andrew Mueller speaks to Jukka Siukosaari, the Finnish ambassador to the UK, Mikaela Kumlin Granit, Sweden’s ambassador to the UK, and to former Nato chief General Sir Richard Shirreff, among others.

Following a Covid delay, the annual World Economic Forum at Davos is finally taking place again from 22 to 26 May. This year, there will be some new participants – representatives from eight cutting-edge Finnish companies that are innovating within energy, technology, healthcare and education under the banner Finnish Flow. They are aiming to take Davos by storm with their solutions to everything from the green-energy transition to helping children catch up on their Covid-struck education. In this special edition of ‘The Foreign Desk Explainer’, we hear from five Finnish Flow members, and their messages to the leaders of the world.

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