The Monocle Minute

The powder keg that is the Middle East is getting dangerously close to exploding into a full-blown regional war. Over the past week, Israel and Hezbollah have been trading missile strikes with increasing intensity. As is often the case in such moments, the world is looking to the United Nations and particularly its most powerful organ, the Security Council, for answers. But at this week’s General Assembly meeting, the chances that the body will deliver a ceasefire or any other meaningful step towards peace and stability in the region are looking slim.

The Security Council is seen as a guarantor of world peace but wars in Gaza and Ukraine have exposed its inherent shortcomings and exacerbated the world’s growing geopolitical divisions. The only thing that the Security Council has contributed is inaction. Russia has vetoed any resolution that denounces its invasion of Ukraine, while the US, as Israel’s most important ally, has used its veto power to stop those demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza over technicalities and political pressures. Failure in both cases has meant more bloodshed.

The five permanent members of the 15-member council – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – use their veto powers only for political reasons, rather than for maintaining peace and security. The consequence is gridlock. Leaders from the Global South have proposed reforms to the structure of the Security Council, including an increase in the number of permanent members. This would be a start but without an overhaul of its entire charter and perhaps the endowment of economic and military power to punish transgressors, the UN will remain a toothless institution. English writer Jonathan Meades once described the UN as a body “set up to provide solutions to problems that belong to yesterday”. Without radical change, it will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.

HJ Mai is a Monocle contributor based in Washington. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

The South Korean government has announced a scheme to help rehome about 500,000 dogs bred for food consumption. This follows a bill passed in January banning the slaughter, breeding or selling of dog meat for human consumption. The law will take effect in early 2027. The scheme will give breeders and farmers subsidies of up to 600,000 won (€405) for every dog they surrender, with authorities then relocating the animals to shelters and putting them up for adoption.

Dog meat has been a part of the Korean diet for centuries and consumed as a delicacy, especially during the humid summer months. But with increased support for animal welfare, particularly from the pet-owning president, Yoon Suk Yeol, its popularity has dwindled. However, critics are already claiming that this new plan won’t be enough and doesn’t take into account the scale of the practice. South Korea has more than 1,500 dog-breeding farms, 200 abattoirs and some 2,300 restaurants that still serve dog meat. It might take more than the equivalent of a few hundred euros per dog to end these ingrained habits.

A former tobacco warehouse on an underused fringe of the University of Kentucky (UKY) campus has been repurposed and transformed into a new home for its College of Design, activating an area that stretches towards downtown Lexington. Designed by Studio Gang in collaboration with K Norman Berry Associates Architects, the project marks a step forward in the growth of the university’s design department. It’s also a signifier of conscious construction principles.

The 13,000 sq m space was selected for its potential for cross-disciplinary studies and also because the conversion of an existing structure would affect the environment as little as possible. Cutting the ribbon on the Gray Design Building – which features a new lecture hall, a central staircase and open-plan spaces for light-filled gathering – should provide ample inspiration for the next cohort of US design talent.

For more than 40 years, Tina Barney has produced a body of work celebrated for its singular style and searing insight.

She is best known for her photographs of the American and European upper classes, and this image from 1987, “Jill and Polly in the Bathroom”, is a classic example. It’s included in Barney’s first major European retrospective, which opens at Paris’s Jeu de Paume tomorrow and runs until 19 January.

At a tough time for downtown districts, we visit San Francisco and Seattle to find out how the urban centres are trying to encourage more footfall and appeal to the public during work and leisure hours.