The Monocle Minute

So that’s a wrap for the World Governments Summit in Dubai and many of its attendees have already flown northwest to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, which starts today. The reshuffling of the global order during Donald Trump’s second presidency continues apace and attendees at Munich will include US secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice-president JD Vance, who will be holding talks over a potential Ukraine-Russia peace deal.

These gatherings, these arenas where quiet bilaterals and trilaterals can be easily convened, show no signs of losing their significance in the digital age. Indeed, for Dubai, there was a clear sense this year that the UAE can leverage its position to become an increasingly important place for global leaders in government and business to talk. The Gulf state is making the most of its soft-power credentials as a place where all are welcome to gather: Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán was in town and Elon Musk beamed in for a talk that ran from a common-sense desire to cut bureaucratic waste to the dystopian (we are heading for a world, he said, where 99 per cent of all intelligence will be artificial and a small cabal of clever people will control the machines).

Look, this is not the Switzerland of the Middle East but it is a nation that tends to let others make bellicose statements. It also seems determined to dodge being caught up in anyone else’s problems: it’s at ease with its neighbours, even Iran, these days. And by putting $442m (€424m) into a port project, it has become a key investor in Somaliland, a country that remains unrecognised by any government.

Some people may still underestimate the influence and potential that the UAE has but this is a country that just gets things done. And in an age of soundbites, it’s also a nation investing in the art of diplomacy. And that’s to be welcomed.

Andrew Tuck is Monocle’s editor in chief. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, which runs until tomorrow evening, is a much-anticipated event in the country’s cultural calendar (writes Ed Stocker). Unashamedly mainstream, the music competition has been going since 1951 and purportedly influenced Eurovision. Airing until the early hours every evening for five days, it is the subject of intense discussions about everything from the best outfits and stage design to favourite hosts – and, of course, who will win (singer-songwriter Giorgia is among the bookies’ favourites with her track, “La cura per me”).

This year the mantle of artistic director has passed from sparkly-jacket-wearing, family-friendly presenter Amadeus to the perma-tanned but equally inoffensive Carlo Conti. Sanremo is playing things safe. The 2023 edition was a hoot, its most diverse and controversial to date. There was a male-on-male kiss and gender-fluid performers; black volleyball player Paola Egonu co-presented one evening; and one singer held up a picture of a politician from populist party Fratelli d’Italia wearing a Nazi uniform.

But as a design-industry friend who is from Liguria’s Sanremo told me this week, the competition changes according to who is in power – and some believe that the ruling right-wing, family values-focused Fratelli d’Italia has hijacked the show. This year’s event has included bad jokes from Mediaset daytime TV host (and Sanremo co-presenter) Gerry Scotti and one performer, Simone Cristicchi, who sang about an ageing parent while the audience wept. A bit of a snooze-fest? Perhaps. But Italians remain glued to their TVs.

China’s government is looking to boost its “silver economy” by getting its ageing population to travel more (writes Valentina Venelli). It was announced this week that by 2027, a new network of 100 “silver train” routes will speed elderly passengers to the county’s scenic hinterlands from Yunnan to Heilongjiang. Onboard, passengers can indulge in a round of mahjong and even a little dancing – one state-backed broadcaster aired footage of senior passengers doing the locomotion to promote the news.

A simple redesign of existing trains to include comfier berths, additional handrails and emergency-call buttons will better cater to this audience – one in five Chinese people are over 60. While few countries have aged so drastically, some facing similar issues could replicate this idea. Catering to those with time and money is good business sense and might be a silver bullet for bringing investment to distant corners of the country.

Russia is winning friends in Africa (writes Julia Lasica). Yesterday, Sudan decided to allow Moscow to build a Red Sea naval base on its coastline – a move that has caught Europe on the hop. The Kremlin had been in talks about having an East Africa outpost when Sudan’s former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, was in power. But these plans were dropped after he was deposed in 2019. Since then, however, Sudan’s military junta has been slowly cosying up to Moscow with a view to securing more arms supplies for its ongoing civil war.

For Russia’s navy, the strategic position on Sudan’s 750km-long coastline can’t be understated: positioned between Egypt to the north and Saudi Arabia to the west, it’s also a tactical gateway to Africa. “This is a win for Russia as it looks to expand their naval facilities around the world, especially after the loss of its position in Syria [Tartus],” says Russia analyst and author Stephen Dalziel. Indeed, Russia has been making its presence known across Africa, setting up new cultural centres and hitting a trade record of more than $24bn (€23bn) in 2024 but also backing increasingly active mercenary groups. With Donald Trump pulling the plug on much of the US’s foreign-aid programme, it just goes to show that when one power leaves, another moves in.

We take a look at three developments in the UK capital that will be worth a visit in the months to come. From a revitalised piece of industrial history to a colourful waterside park in a grey business district and the big tenants pitching up beside Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.