The Monocle Minute

Glance at a map and you’ll see why vast Greenland, despite its sparse population, has such potential strategic value. Yet it seems to have taken US president-elect Trump’s interest in buying it – and he is not ruling out taking the the island by force – for the world to pay this autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark the attention it deserves. Trump’s rhetoric isn’t as shocking as much of the media have made out – after all, buying land is hardly a new idea, especially for America (which bought Alaska from Russia in 1867).

The first reason for his interest is location. If Russian submarines want to reach North America, the shortest route is under Greenland’s ice pack. Then there’s the “GIUK” gap between Greenland, Iceland and the UK through which the Russian navy could wind its way toward New York or – God forbid – Mar-a-Lago. Finally, there’s the northern-sea route, or “NSR”, which runs along the top of Russia’s melting Arctic ice pack and is opening up as a viable global-trading route. While it remains international waters, it’s only 320km from Russia’s exclusive economic zone and at some point, Russia could decide to make the movement of shipping tricky. Greenland provides an outpost from which to combat this.

But Trump’s affections are not limited to the island’s watery surroundings – there are also riches within Greenland. From rare-earth minerals (including lithium and cobalt) to oil and green energy, the territory is a resource, well, goldmine. Greenland cannot escape its own geography – favourable or not – but it must learn how to master it. The incoming president is more than aware that Greenlanders want independence from Denmark. If that happens, he’s staked an early claim for greater influence, if not control. What’s more, he’s right to raise it.

Tim Marshall is a journalist and the best-selling author of ‘Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics’, published by ‎Elliott & Thompson. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

The remote Swiss town of Poschiavo in the canton of Graubünden has won the 2025 Wakker Prize. The annual accolade is awarded by the Swiss Heritage Society to a municipality that has excelled in preserving its historical architecture and developing a coherent cultural identity. Poschiavo, home to about 3,500 people, was chosen by the jury for fostering a resilient sense of community and bucking the declining-population trend among isolated settlements worldwide.

“Poschiavo is proof that a peripheral region can turn its isolation into a strength,” says David Vuillaume, executive director of the Swiss Heritage Society. “Young people who left for school or studies are returning and there is a constant interplay between tradition and progressive thinking,” he adds. “Even new buildings follow traditional principles.” Its success is down to prudent politics whereby the local administration and residents pull in the same direction. Anyone fancy a January road trip?

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has signed into law a bill restricting the use of mobile phones in elementary and secondary schools – a significant victory in the battle for pupils’ attention. Some fee-paying institutions had already forbidden the use of smartphones, potentially leaving children and teenagers in public education at a disadvantage. Despite Brazil’s deep political divisions, the ban has broad support across the country, with 82 per cent of adults in favour of it.

“It’s a move that has been welcomed by almost every single parent, myself included,” says journalist Catherine Balston, a longtime resident of São Paulo. “Despite the positive effect that this will have in the classroom, however, many Brazilian children are still receiving half of the formal education that they would receive in developed countries,” Balston tells The Monocle Minute. “Because of the schools’ double-shift model, a lot of them only study for half of the day.” By restricting students’ access to their phones, Brazil joins nations such as the Netherlands, Italy and France in seeking to curtail the potential negative effects associated with these devices, which include cyberbullying, increased loneliness and lower attainment. But Lula could send a stronger signal by expanding the provision of full-time education.

South Korea’s constitutional court opened the impeachment trial case against president Yoon Suk Yeol yesterday, then quickly adjourned it when the suspended leader failed to show up. The next session, due to be held tomorrow, will continue with or without Yoon there. Either way, the president’s lawyers will have their work cut out trying to defend his December decision to declare martial law.

Away from the domestic political turmoil, South Korea’s detente with Japan – arguably Yoon’s greatest achievement in office – appears to be continuing unabated. Japan’s foreign minister, Takeshi Iwaya, was in Seoul on Monday for a bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul. It’s the first such encounter in more than a decade and Iwaya’s first overseas trip since becoming foreign minister in November. Iwaya and Cho confirmed plans to mark this year’s 60th anniversary of formal relations between the two US allies and to maintain the diplomatic momentum that started when Yoon entered office in 2022. Amid fresh North Korean missile launches and Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House, the focus on co-operation between Tokyo and Seoul is timely.

We take a closer look at the earth beneath our feet. Writer Jennifer Lucy Allan delves into the human history of this ancient material, and we visit the maker Bisila Noha at her London studio. Then: Adam Weismann, co-founder of Clayworks, reflects on his journey working with clay as a building material and wall finish.