Politics
Page 104
Expo 7: The road to damascus
It’s a short drive from Beirut to Damascus but these cities eye each other without affection. Monocle navigates the pockmarked highway, taking the region’s temperature amid assassinations, bombed bridges and political tension.
Asia
Chinese artist Yue Minjun commands millions for his paintings overseas but is dogged by cheap copies at home. We explore the effects of China's growing counterfeit trade on the country's own creative talents.
Africa/Middle East
Walid Ataya left Lebanon for a lucrative job in Dubai but returned a year later. After housing and school fees, the lawyer had less disposable income than he had in Beirut.
Power dressing
High-profile security lapses have damaged Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency. To fix its PR, it launched a hunt for Miss Atom. But can a beauty contest overturn an ugly reputation?
Europe
Is wealthy Norwegian Christian Ringnes imposing bad taste on Oslo? His plan for a €30m sculpture park of women is causing controversy, though most politicians seem pleased with the gift to the city.
The big thaw
Monocle travels to Greenland, where melting ice threatens Inuit life but also reveals a wealth of resources. The big thaw has begun, and with it, a scramble for oil and power.
Top of the world
Amid rising Arctic tensions, Monocle's tour of the High North stops in Greenland to reflect on a lost opportunity by Canada to assert its influence and shape the region's future.
Future states
Pentagram's Paula Scher rebrands America, arguing that a poor global image demands new symbols, a humbler name and abandoning "enforcing" freedom for something more honest.
Young rebels
Thirteen years after declaring independence from Georgia, the unrecognised state of Abkhazia and its de facto government are determined to put the region on the map, despite having only Russia as an ally.
