Affairs
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New designs on diplomacy
Post September 11 every embassy was built as a bunker ready to repel all comers. But now, from Kathmandu to Harare, architects are reinventing the mission as a national calling card. Robert Bound reports.
Abuja
Founded 32 years ago, Nigerian capital Abuja was a utopian dream. But it became marred by corruption and few could afford to live there. Today, as the cranes return, its new minister is attempting…
Dream Team
As the US presidential election draws closer, at Monocle we've been turning our attention to who we'd like to see in the Cabinet. From CEOs to hip hop moguls, we've found a team who…
Turkmenistan
When Turkmenistan's President Niyazov died in 2006, it was the end of an eccentric personality cult. His successor promised to open the state up but today the gas-rich nation is still an enigma. Foreign…
Q&A: Alain de Botton
In our July/August issue author Alain de Botton comments on one of the worst examples of urban development currently going up in West London. He joined editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé at Monocle's offices in London…
Q&A: Lady Yvonne Cochrane
Beirut's Christian quarter of Ashrafieh has weathered civil war, terrorist assassinations and the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict. But today the hill-top neighbourhood is once again under threat, this time from developers who are destroying the…
Yubari: Ghost town
Featuring the haunting photographs of Shinichi Ito, our Asia bureau chief, Fiona Wilson, reports from Yubari, the Japanese coal city that lost 90 per cent of its residents after its mines closed and the…
Japanese MSDF
Under its post-war constitution, Japan is not allowed a navy, army or air force, only Self Defence Forces. Yet, today, the country has one of the largest, most sophisticated fleets in the world with…
