The Foreign Desk

After years of being ostracised by its fellow Arab countries, Qatar has rapidly been welcomed back into the fold. Andrew Mueller explains the reasons behind this sudden change of heart.

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In this special live edition of ‘The Foreign Desk’ Andrew Mueller is joined by Suzanne Lynch, Cynthia Miller-Idriss and Jeffrey Howard to discuss the aftermath of the siege of the US Capitol building. Who were the groups behind the insurrection, where does the movement go in a post-Trump era and how do you fight ongoing misinformation?

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CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra has been re-elected for another term. However widespread violence from militias purportedly under the direction of former president François Bozizé look set to undermine his premiership. Andrew Mueller explains.

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We look ahead to 2021. Even after Joe Biden becomes president and a vaccine has been rolled out, will things go back to what we thought of as normal or has the definition of normal changed? What will post-pandemic life look like? Is Trumpism here to stay? Has Black Lives Matter changed things for good? Andrew Mueller puts these and other questions to Rokhaya Diallo, Brian Klaas and Isabel Hilton.

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It hasn’t been an easy 12 months to keep up with, but ‘The Foreign Desk’ has done its best. We pick out our highlights in an attempt to make sense of the 21st century’s weirdest year yet.

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The retired admiral and former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service talks about his book ‘Friendly Fire: How Israel Became its Own Worst Enemy’. It is a memoir criticising Israel’s counterterrorism policies and arguing for a two-state solution in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. He argues that it is not only the morally just thing to do, it is the only road to national security.

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The retired admiral and former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service talks about his book ‘Friendly Fire: How Israel Became its Own Worst Enemy’. It is a memoir criticising Israel’s counterterrorism policies and arguing for a two-state solution in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. He argues that it is not only the morally just thing to do, it is the only road to national security.

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Joe Biden was officially voted in as president-elect this week. Andrew Mueller explains what the electoral college is, why it matters, and what the recent vote means for president Donald Trump

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Tensions between Australia and China have noticeably worsened this year. Andrew Mueller asks Beijing-based journalist Sophia Yan what lies behind the ongoing spat – and former Australian prime minister and China specialist Kevin Rudd offers suggestions for how to fix the relationship.

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As Japan faces a rapid decline in its native population, the government turns to Artificial Intelligence to help nature along. But, as Andrew Mueller explains, this may be treating a symptom rather than the cause.

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