Affairs
Japan’s 10 buzzwords of 2025 reveal a snapshot of a country in flux
From climate anxiety to soaring rice prices and a momentous leadership transition, Japan’s annual buzzwords offer a window into how the country faced 2025’s changes and challenges.
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Denmark 2026 forecast: Diplomacy, downfall and Donald Trump
Looking back on 2025, it is hard not to conclude that the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has played a good hand badly. It’s an assessment that applies as much to her own political…
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza on surviving Putin’s gulag – and the moment when he thought he would be executed
Poisoned twice and sentenced to the longest term ever handed down to a Russian government opponent, Kara-Murza details his confinement in a Siberian prison and why he returned to fight for his country.
In the darkness of the Bondi Beach massacre, a civilian’s heroism gives Albanese a clear path forward
The Bondi Beach attack was callous and anti-Semitic but the fallout could provide further ugliness yet. The reaction, like the actions of Ahmed al Ahmed, must be brave and unequivocal.
Trump’s new National Security Strategy picks a side. Hint: it’s not Europe’s
The White House has released a new 33-page National Security Strategy that formalises the Trump administration’s foreign policy and should leave no one in doubt, least of all Europe.
Brazil 2026 forecast: Real progress in store as Lula gets set to run again
As 2025 draws to a close, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is riding high. Indeed, the Brazilian president is probably looking ahead to next year – an election year – with relish. In 2025,…
Spain 2026 forecast: You may not agree with Pedro Sánchez but his country continues to take a refreshing stance
One of the things that I get to do as Monocle’s Europe editor at large is compile a mental compendium of how nations on the vieux continent are performing against one another – the…
Fifa’s shamelessness is its superpower – it only has one goal in mind
Football’s governing body, Fifa, is no stranger to fostering ties with problematic world leaders and controversial governments – but the 2026 World Cup might just be its most flagrant fawning to date.
Mipim Asia offers lessons in building better following Hong Kong’s fire tragedy
Every March about 20,000 people head to the French Riviera for the world’s leading property and real-estate trade show, Mipim. But this week, a smaller contingent of 400 or so attendees made its way…
