The Monocle Minute

As I was preparing to visit family in the US a few days ago, a colleague joked that I should write about what life is like “behind the iron curtain”. He was only half-joking. Travelling to the US as a European has often been a trepidatious endeavour; one is forced to submit to the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive posturing and zero-tolerance methods. But today’s business – or, indeed, pleasure – seeker is entering a country that seems keen to not only deter Europe’s best and brightest (let’s not even go near its huddled masses) but also its tourists. The unwelcoming mood is already damaging the US’s estimated $2.4trn (€2.1trn) tourism industry. Airlines such as United are slashing prices in an effort to revive bookings.

On the business front, there have been rumours that European companies are giving employees “burner phones” when they travel to the US, while the EU has provided its diplomats with specially encrypted technology to defend against espionage at next week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington. These are the kinds of precautions that Western nations take when sending people to autocratic states such as China or Russia. But though they offer a disturbing picture of US-European relations in 2025, they perhaps tell us more about where the Old World is presently at when it comes to the transatlantic alliance.

I was at the Munich Security Conference in February when US vice-president JD Vance made a speech decrying the state of European democracy, blindsiding the continent’s leaders. But just two months later, Europe’s decision-makers – far from trying to salvage their relationship with the US – are already behaving as though they are living in a post-transatlantic world: they increasingly meet without the US to discuss Ukraine, the European Central Bank has been talking up the euro as a reserve currency to replace the dollar and EU diplomats have reached out to China with the intention of relaxing trade rules. Across the pond, the US turns ever inward. From Portland to Miami and from Anchorage to San Diego, a new iron curtain seems to be descending along the eastern and western seaboards. Who now has the desire – or the energy – to bring it down?

Self is Monocle’s foreign editor. For more news and views, subscribe to Monocle today.

European policymakers often lament the continent’s lack of a competitive defence industry (writes Simon Bouvier). Yet the engineers at French defence firm Thales say that its latest air-surveillance-and-defence radar, the Ground Fire 300, can simultaneously detect and track as many as 1,000 airborne targets, including drone swarms and hypersonic missiles. Speaking to the French press, Thales stated that its capabilities are now “clearly superior” to the US’s Patriot system that European countries buy.

Nato estimates that Europe needs to bolster its air-defence capacity five-fold and so Thales is stepping up its production in Limours, southwest of Paris. With 400 new hires in 2024 and 400 additional staff planned for 2025, the electronics specialist has already tripled the production of its air-defence radar systems over the past three years. At a time when the continent is handwringing about how to achieve strategic autonomy from the US, Thales’s swagger is a much needed confidence boost.

When the streamlined houses on Napraforgo Street were built in the space of a few months in 1931, they were seen as revolutionary. Building detached, single-family homes was hardly the norm at a time when Budapest was reeling from a profound housing shortage. Sitting on the quieter Buda side of the Hungarian capital, this tiny enclave feels like a world unto itself.

The street is composed of 22 houses that vary in size, though all adhere to modernist architectural principles and, more narrowly, those of the Bauhaus school. In keeping with the homes’ original ethos, their new owners tend to come from the creative industries. “People here are very individualistic,” says Nora Szeleczky, who lives on Napraforgo with her mother. “But the street was built around the idea of community. It is unique in Budapest and anyone moving in should expect to be open with their surroundings and with their neighbours.”

To hear more from the residents of Napraforgo Street, pick up a copy of Monocle’s April issue, which is on newsstands now.

Ben Lamm is the CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology and genetic-engineering company working to bring back extinct species. Following the so-called return of the dire wolf – the first of its kind in more than 10,000 years – Lamm spoke to Monocle about the role of synthetic biology in conservation and the importance of journalism for science.

Why did you bring back the dire wolf?
Because we can and because the same technologies can help to save species on the brink. There are only 15 red wolves left in the wild. We have actually created more red wolves than dire wolves but people have naturally focused on the Game of Thrones aspect [dire wolves feature in the series]. This isn’t just about bringing back extinct animals. It’s also about protecting what we still have. That’s why we created a $50m (€44m) foundation dedicated to conservation. All of our technology is free for conservationists. People are busy: they hear “dire wolves” and don’t dig deeper. But we’re not ignoring endangered species.

There has been some debate over whether this is actually a dire wolf. Were you surprised by this reaction?
Honestly, yes. Our team did something that has never been done before. We used the ancient DNA of dire wolves to edit the biology of their closest living relatives: the grey wolf. That’s monumental. Yet some people wanted to focus solely on taxonomy. There are more than 30 ways to define a species. Call it a dire wolf, a Colossal dire wolf or the most genetically modified wolf ever – whatever works. But don’t lose sight of the science or the effect on conservation. That’s what matters.

So what’s next?
The mammoth is still on track for 2028. The dodo is close too; we’re working to jump over the last biological hurdle now. We also plan to grow the number of dire wolves, adding between five and eight more to the pack. Perhaps one day we’ll rewild them with the approval of our indigenous partners.

‘Time’ put your wolves on the cover. What did that mean to you?
It was huge. As a child, my grandfather had a mock Time cover with a photo of the two of us on it, so this felt deeply personal. It was a bit of a full-circle moment. More importantly, it showed that the science is being taken seriously.

We delve into the power of sports to help propel the regeneration of an entire neighbourhood. We’ll explore how smart stadium design can help cities grow in a more sustainable way and hear from the architecture firm behind the world’s largest landscape-led project, Riyadh’s Sports Boulevard.