The Monocle Minute

The Freedom Party of Austria was a far-right power before it was hip in Europe or North America. When it first entered government as a coalition partner in 2000, Europe was shocked and cut off bilateral ties with Vienna. Now, after winning September’s federal elections for the first time in Austria’s postwar history, the Freedom Party will get a chance to govern in poll position. The difference this time? Much of Europe will barely bat an eyelid.

The far right is now a force to be reckoned with in the West. But – despite its name – its direction of travel remains unclear: some leaders, such as Italy’s Giorgia Meloni or France’s Marine Le Pen, have sought to soften their image. Others, such as Donald Trump or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, have doubled down.

Austria’s likely new chancellor, Herbert Kickl, a long-time party operative who is strongly anti-Islam and anti-immigration, seems to be of the latter’s ilk. Except that in order to form a government he will need to reach a coalition deal with the more moderate Austrian People’s Party, a rather unique experiment in itself. Can moderates and extremists govern together? Both parties will need to reach compromises with which they can comfortably enter government – something that the Freedom Party has never had to do as a leading partner. While right-leaning parties often have the backing of powerful corporate interests, Kickl will need to manage Austria’s business community carefully. For the moment, it is giving him the benefit of the doubt – but he’ll have to prove himself a steady steward of the economy.

The reality is that far-right parties are being handed the keys to the castle. Now they have to prove themselves capable castellans. The Freedom Party has failed before, twice. Its forays into government (both times as a junior-coalition partner) collapsed under the weight of outrageous corruption scandals. Can a leopard change its spots? Austrian voters appear determined to find out.

Chris Cermak is Monocle Radio’s senior news editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

The US Army has reached its ambitious 2024 recruitment goal thanks to an unexpected jump in the number of enlisting women. Nearly 10,000 women volunteered for active duty in 2024, marking an 18 per cent rise on the previous year. The reason? As well as being less likely to have a criminal record, American women are better educated than men on average, allowing them to rise up the military’s ranks and fill senior positions. Since 2013, there has been a 35 per cent drop in the number of men signing up for service. Largely, this is a result of young men falling behind academically – the US Army requires a high-school diploma for entry.

“The US military has seen this pattern before, most notably in the 1970s during the early days of the All-Volunteer Force,” says Kara Dixon Vuic, professor of war, conflict and society at Texas Christian University and whose upcoming book is titled Drafting Women. All military positions, including combat duty, were opened to women in 2016. “One thing is for certain – this pivot in the data will push army recruiters to change tact. Today’s military leaders would do well to think strategically about how to recruit even more of these highly qualified, motivated women.”

Have your tools at the ready because Bau, the world’s biggest trade fair for the construction and architectural industries, returns to Munich today. A get-together for builders, planners, developers, digger-drivers and the property purveyors who ultimately bring new buildings to market, Bau puts a great emphasis on hardware. Whether it’s the materials that will make the homes and façades of the future, or the locks, windows and roofs making an impression, Bau is built on anything but sand.

One of the focuses among this year’s booths is the increased blurring of city and countryside; not mere suburban sprawl but the possibilities that come from more people choosing a rural life but wanting homes that have a sensitivity to the land. There is also a focus on modular dwellings and the ways in which this long-touted solution to the housing shortage can make a comeback. But can the prefab be made fabulous? Through a combination of smart materials and harmonious architecture, some of Bau’s exhibitors are bridging the gap.
bau-muenchen.com

Aerial firefighting isn’t for rookies. These pilots, many of them ex-military, have typically notched up about 10,000 hours in the air; they say that if you’re scared, you’re out of your depth. In the next breath, however, most add that there’s no work quite like it.

Currently, men and women are taking to the skies to tame the flames that are engulfing much of LA and Southern California. For issue 152, Monocle’s executive editor, Christopher Lord, visited Montana’s freelance aerial firefighting firms where the industry’s Wild West spirit found a natural home.

Nicknamed Super Scoopers in the US, where they are among the firefighting craft of national and state forest services, Canadair’s red-and-yellow amphibious water-bombing planes can take on more than 6,000 litres before ascending to douse wildfires from on high.

Those flying above LA are witnessing an unprecedented scale of burning and devastation, however their work is one of the city’s best hopes.

We meet author Ben Mims to flick through his new book, Crumbs, which traces the history of cookies and biscuits from around the world. Also in the programme, Monocle’s Petri Burtsoff is in Tallinn to try a newly opened Dagestani restaurant, Kurze. Plus: Elna Nykänen Andersson heads to Stockholm’s Spritmuseum, dedicated to Swedish drinking culture, to learn about depictions of food and drink in Andy Warhol’s artwork.