The Foreign Desk Monocle Radio

The African National Congress looks likely to win South Africa’s upcoming election, despite facing the prospect of securing less than 50 per cent of the vote for the first time in its history. Is this the inevitable result of being in power for too long, or something else? Andrew Mueller speaks to Nwabisa Makunga of the country’s national daily Sowetan, author William Gumede and former opposition leader Tony Leon.
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France and New Caledonia have seen better days. Andrew Mueller explains France’s role in the South Pacific territory and why Paris is blaming a fresh round of unrest there on Azerbaijan.
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Russia celebrated its annual Black Sea Fleet Day with a notably smaller fleet in Sevastopol than just a few years ago. How has Ukraine managed to win in the sea? What has the Nato military alliance learned from that success? And how does Turkey exercise control as the gateway country to the Black Sea? We speak to Hanna Shelest in Odessa, James Bergeron of Nato Maritime Command and Turkish-American political scientist Soner Cagaptay.
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Andrew Mueller explains how the most recent Catalonian elections show that voters’ nationalist appetites may be waning. 

 
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Olaf Scholz visited the First German Brigade, which is stationed in Lithuania as part of Berlin’s new commitment to defend the Baltic states. But is Nato ready for Russia’s next move? We speak with Lithuania’s foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Marion Messmer of Chatham House and General Richard Shirreff, former deputy supreme allied commander at Nato.
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Panama has voted José Raúl Mulino as its new president. Andrew Mueller explains how, in reality, the endorsement belongs to his disqualified running mate, Ricardo Martinelli – a convicted criminal hiding under diplomatic asylum.
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