The Monocle Minute

After a startling wake-up call from Washington, Europe is finally getting serious about hard power. But beyond its support for Ukraine, which was the focus of yesterday’s European Commission summit in Brussels, the continent needs to turn its attention to tooling up and getting autonomous. With France’s nuclear arsenal and decisive action promised by Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, it’s an achievable goal.

The US’s new reluctance to adhere to the postwar norms that it largely created should not be dismissed as a flash in the pan. While Donald Trump will not be in power forever, there’s evidence that his “America First” stance will have a lasting influence. When Joe Biden succeeded Trump’s first administration in 2020, many of the tariffs that his predecessor imposed on China stayed in place; the promised resurrection of the Iran nuclear deal never materialised; and France was blindsided by the Aukus security agreement, which saw the US snatch €60bn worth of defence contracts from under Paris’s nose. “The future of Europe must not be decided in Washington or Moscow,” said Emmanuel Macron this week. Even if a Democrat succeeds Trump, that will remain the case.

Whatever happens in the coming days – or years – there is a possibility that the roughly 100 US nuclear weapons dotted across Europe cannot be relied upon to defend anything more than the narrowest US interests. Though France only possesses a fraction of the thousands of warheads that the US or Russia hold, its nuclear arsenal is fully autonomous – unlike the UK’s, which relies on American components and maintenance. Nuclear deterrent in hand, Macron has been keen to lead the development of Europe’s “strategic autonomy” for years. Merz’s support for a new European security architecture independent from the US opens the door to making defensive independence a reality.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, European allies collectively spend nearly four times more than Russia on defence. If this financial, political and military support were directed towards the reorganisation and upgrade of France’s nuclear-capable fleet of submarines and Rafale jets, Paris could provide the homegrown deterrent that the old world needs. After all, what use is an umbrella if you need US approval to use it?

Simon Bouvier is Monocle’s Paris bureau chief. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Chanel x Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Visitors to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum are in for a treat. Through its collaboration with French fashion house Chanel, the gallery is doubling down on its efforts to display more works by women. The partnership will allow the Dutch national museum to appoint more researchers to its Women of the Rijksmuseum project, while Chanel will become the lead sponsor of an annual symposium and support the acquisition of works by leading female artists.

Marimekko’s pop-up exhibition, Osaka
Finnish design house Marimekko is bringing its colourful looks to Asia with a touring pop-up exhibition, Field of Flowers. Starting in Osaka, it will then head to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City from March to April. Central to the show are 25 floral patterns designed by five artists, including Helsinki-based textile and print designer Eija Vehviläinen and Japanese fabric artist Masaru Suzuki. You’ll also find limited-edition Marimekko products on sale in the new patterns.
‘Field of Flowers’ runs until 11 March at Hankyu Umeda in Osaka.

Lemaire x Carlos Peñafiel, Paris
French luxury brand Lemaire’s Parisian flagship on Rue Elzévir has a new tenant: an exhibition titled Wearable Sculptures. The show is dedicated to the carved works of Chilean artist Carlos Peñafiel, who is known for his artisanal takes on fashion pieces. Highlights include his “toe” shoes, first produced for Pierre Cardin in 1986, and the scallop-shaped Carlos bag, a collaboration with Lemaire made using Peñafiel’s signature moulded leather.
‘Wearable Sculptures’ is open until 23 March.

Giorgia Meloni’s ambitions of becoming a bridge between Europe and the US are looking in doubt (writes Anita Riotta). Though Italy’s prime minister was the only EU head of state invited to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, any criticism of the US president could cause her to lose favour – and that includes disagreements over the White House’s closeness to Vladimir Putin. As her French and UK counterparts take leading roles in organising Europe’s defence, Meloni’s competing allegiances are making things difficult for her in the domestic arena.

Her deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, has positioned himself as the White House’s Italian mouthpiece by attacking EU proposals to defend Ukraine. This has irked Meloni, who publicly rebuked Salvini in parliament earlier this week, saying, “Basta con i giochini” (“Enough of your little games”). Unsurprisingly, Meloni’s influence among fellow European leaders is waning. Despite criticising Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to send troops to Ukraine, she has failed to propose a viable alternative. At a time that demands meaningful words and actions, she has increasingly relied on platitudes. (“A divided West is fatal for everyone,” she has said.) If she intends to “Make Italy Great Again”, Meloni needs a plan that both the country and the continent can get behind.

A 72-year old economist who has twice been Panama’s finance minister, Ricaurte Vásquez was happily retired when the board of the Panama Canal asked him to apply to be its administrator. Now, Vásquez is the man plotting the course of one of the world’s key waterways. Here, he tells Monocle why the trade route must be open to all.

There was apprehension when the canal became state-owned in 1999. Yet you handed President José Raúl Mulino a cheque for $2.5bn [€2.4bn] in 2024.
The Panama Canal Authority has done it well. We have been responsible and haven’t taken sides. The neutrality clause in the treaty was – and remains – important for the continuous operation of the Panama Canal in times of war and peace. It’s open to vessels of all nations. This means that despite the role we have globally, Panama doesn’t get drawn into situations that have nothing to do with us.

Did your experience in the public and private sectors stand you in good stead for this role?
My experience of working at General Electric has had a significant effect on what I bring to the Panama Canal. I saw a huge, extremely successful US icon go down [during the financial crisis between 2008 and 2010]. You don’t want the same thing to happen to the canal. I saw what happens to successful companies when they don’t evolve. The Panama Canal has been an organisation run by engineers for all of its life. I arrived and said, “We’re going to do things differently.” You have to become disruptive.

Does Panama’s motto, ‘Puente del mundo, corazón del universo’ [Bridge of the world, heart of the universe], seem like a double-edged sword?
What other country of four million inhabitants and 75,000 sq km has the relevance that Panama has in the world? Think of the consequences that any disruption to it – such as a drought – can bring to world trade.

For the full interview, pick up a copy of Monocle’s Marchissue.

We explore The Round, a new 7,000-plus sq m landmark development in London, to hear how developers are putting community at its core. Then: we’re in Bangkok to discover how the city is tackling its suffocating air pollution.