The Monocle Minute

Every road and roundabout here in the centre of Damascus is crammed with lines of cars that mingle, sometimes flow and most often come to a horn-blaring standstill. But in the new Syria, traffic means freedom. The capital’s roads were usually empty during the twilight years of Bashar al-Assad’s rule as petrol prices soared, wages plummeted and normal Damascenes took to using bicycles to get around. But since the collapse of the old regime, cars have become one of the most popular purchases for Syrians: the country’s new rulers have lifted import bans and lowered taxes. As a result, scores of vehicles have flowed in over the past month. This motorised chaos is compounded by the fact that new traffic police have only just been appointed.

Damascus is a city in transition. The flags of the old regime have been painted over and replaced with the new three-starred ensign of Free Syria, while anything showing Assad’s face has been torn down or vandalised. Workers are repainting buildings and replanting parks. Dollars are now traded openly; under Assad, people might have disappeared to jail for the mere mention of the US currency. These small freedoms were unimaginable just three months ago and Syrians are taking full advantage.

But the task ahead is huge. While central Damascus escaped the fighting that has destroyed huge swaths of the country, it is still blighted by frequent electricity outages and patchy internet coverage. The city has the look you would expect of somewhere that has endured a decade of war and sanctions, battered and worn. For now the euphoria of freedom – and the promise of a new car – is enough to make many Syrians positive about the country’s new rulers. But euphoria has a short shelf life. Freedom might begin with competent traffic cops but soon people will start expecting more.

Hannah Lucinda Smith is Monocle’s Istanbul correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Under the banner “We stand for values”, some of Germany’s biggest brands have joined forces to argue that anti-immigration populism is bad for business (writes Kristina Jovanovski). Ahead of the country’s federal elections this Sunday, in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) party looks set to finish in a historic second place, about 40 companies, including Volkswagen, Bosch and Siemens, have united to dismiss anti-immigration policies as detrimental to the national economy.

“Extremists would jeopardise our democracy and, at the same moment, threaten our economic success,” Frank Wienstroth, a senior communication manager at BMW Group, tells The Monocle Minute. According to the automotive giant, a diverse workforce is crucial for an export-dependent country that develops products for an international market. “Without legal immigration of highly qualified people, we will fall behind the competition,” added BMW Group board member Ilka Horstmeier. “Xenophobia and intolerance scare off urgently needed specialists.” The German government currently estimates that the country requires another 400,000 skilled workers every year to keep its economy on track.

Despite the official position of big business in Germany, AFD has found the industrial working class to be a rich source of support. Nevertheless, BMW says that the commercial alliance has aired its campaign across 38 radio stations and run social media ads in the run-up to Sunday’s election. While stopping short of advising its staff on how to vote, the group’s members argue that immigration is just good business.

Art has a way of transcending class and wealth (writes Jack Simpson). Perhaps it was under this ethos that Birkenstock sought “copyrighted work of applied art” status for its classic sandals, which are as likely to be found on the feet of yacht-faring travellers as field-dwelling revellers. Yesterday, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany, sided with the brand’s imitators.

“The line between art and design is blurry but if you were to attempt a distinction, it’s that design has an element of function while also striking an emotional chord,” says Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse. “Birkenstock ticks these boxes. If anything that makes it, and design more broadly, worthy of such protections.” In 2022, Steve Jobs’s well-worn birks were bought for nearly $220,000 (€210,000) at auction – it’s unclear whether they’re getting any practical use or eliciting an emotional response.

Anwar Mohammed Gargash was foreign affairs minister of the UAE from 2008 to 2021 and is now senior diplomatic adviser to the country’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. As foreign affairs minister, Gargash was closely involved in the UAE’s normalisation of relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020. Monocle sits down with Gargash to hear his perspective on a tumultuous time for the Middle East.

In light of more recent events in Gaza, do you still think that signing the Abraham Accords in 2020 was the right thing to do?
When you sign a strategic agreement such as the Abraham Accords, you should expect some turbulence in the future. We have recently witnessed considerable conflict in Israel. But the accords have given us a conduit through which we have been able to build field hospitals and send planes, ships and clean water to Gaza. The Abraham Accords have given us a good relationship with Israel.

What should Gaza’s future governance look like?
The UAE has been quite vocal that if the Palestinian Authority is to play a major role in rebuilding Gaza, then it has to be seen as credibly reformed. Hamas should not play a role in this transition. Some people feel that Hamas is more of a political idea than a group. Regardless, we shouldn’t have to allow a political idea to take part in any committee or a municipality that is involved in rebuilding Gaza.

Could the tumultuous events of the past 18 months, such as the fall of Bashar al-Assad and weakening of Hamas, alter the Middle East’s political landscape?
These events have been quite the geostrategic earthquake. If we’re unable to construct a political road map in Israel and Palestine, address the changes that are happening in Syria and support Lebanon, then we might go through another period of unrest. But if we are all able to work together and build some sort of consensus in these areas, there could be an opportunity to reshape the Middle East.

We find out how to design a dance venue from the inside out at Sadler’s Wells East in London. Also in the UK capital, we immerse ourselves in Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave at the Barbican. Plus, art and architecture at Provence’s Château La Coste.