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Turkey is in a tricky position. Until recently it had a phrase to define its foreign policy: ‘zero problems with neighbours’. But with the emergence of IS on its southern border, and increasingly intractable problems throughout the Middle East, perhaps that policy could now be called ‘zero neighbours without problems’. Mark Lowen has been seeing the real effects of regional turmoil on Turkey’s southern border, where he has been visiting refugees from Syria.

Also on the programme, being thoughtful is generally considered a virtue. Not just considerate or thoughtful about others, but thoughtful as in ‘thinking’- taking time to consider options, and not rushing into something. But there are some who have doubts about such deep thinking, as Frank Hersey has been hearing in a Chinese monastery.

Presenter: Owen Bennett-Jones

Producer: Mike Wendling

Photo: An Islamic State (IS) flag flutters on the roof of a building in the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds, as seen from the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc, on 6 October. Credit: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images