The Monocle Minute

Russia is on the brink of losing its Mediterranean outpost. With the Straits of Bosphorus effectively closed to naval traffic, its power projection in the region has depended on its Syrian base at Tartus – a gift from the fallen Assad regime. A minor “material-technical support point” at the time of Russia’s 2015 intervention in Syria, the port developed into a base used to deploy submarines and the Black Sea Fleet. However, despite a diplomatic campaign that included a visit to Damascus this week by Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Vershinin, the odds are lengthening against Moscow retaining Tartus or its airbase at Hmeimim. As its hardware is dismantled and shipped out, we’re left asking: now what?

Longtime ally Algeria might offer port-access rights so that Russian vessels can replenish their supplies and even undergo basic maintenance. But it would be far from a like-for-like replacement. Bashar al-Assad’s Syria was a vassal state: the Russians could not only demand full extraterritorial rights over their bases but they also knew that Damascus wouldn’t cause them any trouble. Algiers, by contrast, is unlikely to sign away its territory, let alone its interests. There are already frictions over the Russian state-funded Wagner Group’s activity in Mali and the US is hoping to persuade the Algerians to minimise the help that they’re willing to offer.

Even less reliable would be a facility on the Libyan coast. Moscow has been backing Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the warlord dominating the country’s east, with arms, mercenaries and political cover. Tobruk and Benghazi might offer basing options but neither is especially well furnished with maintenance facilities and would need plenty of investment to bring them up to scratch. Besides, Libya is still in the throes of a civil war that would put any ships and facilities at risk. Haftar is also susceptible to the wants of the highest bidder should Paris, Rome or Washington be willing to engage.

As Russia fights on multiple fronts and keeps an eye on its Arctic ambitions, its loss of Tartus in the south has hit its once mighty navy hard. Moscow’s claim to be a Mediterranean power and the viability of its opportunistic efforts to acquire positions in Africa are now in question.

Mark Galleotti is a regular Monocle contributor and the author of ‘Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine’. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Donald Trump’s property-mogul instincts returned with a vengeance this week (writes Christopher Cermak). His pledge for the US to take control of Gaza and turn it into the “riviera of the Middle East” – without a place for the Palestinians who live there – was swiftly rejected by Arab nations. Elements of the Israeli right, however, welcomed the plan.

“Trump is using Israeli right-wing party Likud’s old tactic of applying the maximum amount of pressure on Palestinians in order to seek concessions,” Atef Alshaer, a Gaza-born senior lecturer in Arabic language and culture at the University of Westminster, tells The Monocle Minute. The question is whether Egypt and Jordan, the two nations that would have to take in Palestinians from Gaza under Trump’s plan, can build “coalitions of regional and international partners” powerful enough to withstand the US pressure, says Alshaer. After all, Trump understands the art of the deal: if the opposition to his proposed takeover is big enough, he’ll be willing to consider alternatives.

For more reaction from Egypt and Jordan, tune in to Thursday’s edition of ‘The Globalist’ on Monocle Radio.

On the move and craving that familiar click-clack as you tap out another message (asks Julia Lasica)? Perhaps you still miss your Blackberry? If so, you’re in luck because Florida-based designer Justin Mitchell’s newly released Amberdeck portable keyboard turns a smartphone into a miniature laptop. Its clam-shell-shaped design opens to reveal a full array of mechanical keys – chunky ones, of course – topped by a magnetic slot in which you can firmly fit a phone.

Any Samsung Galaxy or iPhone user can easily connect their device to it via Bluetooth. “If your phone has its own keyboard, there’s suddenly little need to be scrolling Tiktok,” Amberdeck designer Justin Mitchell tells The Monocle Minute. He says that he is tapping into a hunger for physical keys that has also led car manufacturers to revert to button-based control systems. While the bounceback of buttons might just turn out to be a trend, it’s clear that, for many, the screen has lost its touch.

Can architects rethink the ways in which they use existing materials, rather than further depleting resources (asks Grace Charlton)? That’s the question that Copenhagen’s annual Obel Award is posing with this year’s competition theme, announced yesterday: “Ready Made”. Dutch architect Nathalie de Vries of MVRDV is part of the jury that will be looking for contestants who can respond to the theme with potentially game-changing solutions for the sector; that could mean anything from researching new bio-based materials to working with available building stock. “It’s about using what we already have to unlock new creative possibilities,” says de Vries. “It’s a more physical approach this year, bringing back a renewed interest in how and with what materials we build.”

Supported by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, the Obel Award was founded in 2019 with the aim of driving new discussions and exploring the key challenges facing architecture. Its previous recipients include Franco-Colombian researcher Carlos Moreno (for his theory on the 15-minute city), Mexican architecture firm Colectivo C733 and Tokyo-based Junya Ishigami + Associates. Whoever takes home this year’s prize in October will certainly be in good company.

Vanessa Hope is the director of Invisible Nation, a documentary based on extensive interviews with Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen. It is a sequel of sorts to Hope’s acclaimed All Eyes and Ears, which examined the US-China relationship.

How wary was former president Tsai of the line between advocating for Taiwan’s interests and angering China?
She was extremely brave. She was one of Taiwan’s first presidents to speak up for Taiwanese sovereignty, to advocate for it in ways that it hadn’t been on the world stage before.

Do she and other Taiwanese leaders want the situation resolved or do they think that they’re probably better off with it in limbo?
Tsai was known for maintaining the status quo, meaning that Taiwan wasn’t provocative. [Its leaders] aren’t seeking a declaration of independence. They are, as Tsai says, a de-facto independent country. For the people of Taiwan, it’s Xi Jinping who is changing the status quo. He’s the one threatening them.

Does Taiwan’s leadership believe that they can keep a lid on it for ever? Younger Taiwanese, for instance, identify more strongly with Taiwanese identity.
The Taiwanese sense of identity has developed with democracy. I wish that Taiwan and its leaders were more valued by governments around the world because they should be leading the conversation about their own future and how they would like to hold on to their way of life. Interestingly, when Chinese people see the film, they love it. They don’t know Taiwan’s story on this level and they find it inspiring, which almost makes me want to cry.

We meet a former magazine editor who leveraged her experience to launch her own womenswear brand. Then: fresh from fashion’s front rows, Monocle’s Natalie Theodosi talks about the trends shaping the market.