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The Globalist
As Thai and Cambodian militaries meet, can a ceasefire between the two nations hold?
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- [00:04]
Georgina Godwin
We're proud to support the craft of journalism. UBS brings you the latest news from around the world with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Be part of an international network that brings together leading insights, research and technology across 24 time zones and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the centre of it all, UBS advice is our craft. You're listening to the Globalist first broadcast on 29 July 2025 on Monacal Radio. The Globalist in association with U Hello, this is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin on the show ahead.
- [01:17]
James Chambers
This is a vital first step towards.
- [01:20]
Georgina Godwin
De escalation and the restoration of peace and security. Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire. We'll cross to Bangkok to hear the details. Syria has announced dates for the country's first election post the Assad regime. As Gulf states commit to billions of dollars of investment, is the future looking up for Damascus? We'll have a roundup of the international papers and hear how France has reacted to the EU US trade deal. It's not good. Then a chilling new culture war in Russia. But how far behind is the West? We'll hear from one of Putin's most wanted journalists about why censorship is back, who's being targeted and what it means for freedom. Everywh Asian chipmaker rivalry heats up as Tesla signs a 16 and a half billion dollar deal with Samsung. We'll dig into it and what it means for the Samsung TSMC battle. We'll have a roundup of culture news.
- [02:17]
Jaron Schneider
Plus, they're really the only company that has successfully, repeatedly managed to scratch that analog itch.
- [02:23]
Georgina Godwin
Why Japan is going mad for an unusual camera by Fujifilm. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Four people, including a police officer, were killed in a Manhattan skyscraper shooting before the gunman fatally shot himself. Donald Trump has warned Russia to show progress on Ukraine within 12 days or face sanctions. And heavy rain has flooded southern Taiwan and Beijing with 30 dead in China and mass evacuations in Taiwan. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now, Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. This comes after months of tensions and renewed fighting which killed at least 33 people and displaced thousands more. The agreement comes off the back of an intervention by Donald Trump, who made a ceasefire a precondition to the country's respective trade talks with the us. Well, I'm joined now From Bangkok by James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor. James, and it's great to have you back on the show. What are the terms of this deal?
- [03:39]
James Chambers
Hi, Georgina. Well, as you mentioned, the, the agreement for a ceasefire which was agreed yesterday in Malaysia, in the capital Putrajaya, was just an immediate cessation of the fighting. There was no discussion in Malaysia about any of the big underlying issues, you know, the, the kind of border disputes and who owns what. But they, the two prime ministers, one from Cambodia and one from Thailand, agreed that fighting would end at midnight last night. And as you said, the term immediate by the sounds of it, nothing. The guns did not fall silent at midnight. There was pretty heavy fighting throughout the night and I think if we'd been chatting just a few hours earlier, I would have said that there was actually no ceasefire at all. But there was meant to be a meeting this morning between the relevant army commanders on the border, the Thais and the Cambodians, at 7am that was postponed because of the ongoing fighting until 10am Then after that, it was just ruled out altogether. But we've had some breaking news in the last half an hour from the Thai army to say that the two sides have in fact recently met and they are, looks like they are going to try and abide by this handshake in Malaysia yesterday. So there's going to be no more fighting, no more targeting civilians, no more troop reinforcements and no more troop movements.
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Georgina Godwin
How instrumental was Donald Trump? I mean, what exactly did he say to the two warring sides?
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James Chambers
Yes, it's quite an intervention by Mr. Trump. I mean, this came over the weekend while he was playing golf in Scotland. He sent, you know, a very kind of coherent and well thought out post on Truth Social saying, you know, if the two sides want to agree, come to an agreement with the US on tariffs, you know, before the deadline that he set on August 1st, then they're going to have to put down their guns and, and, you know, stop fighting each other, you know, which is quite a, quite a remarkable and welcome intervention from Mr. Trump. Both Thailand and Cambod rely a lot on exports to the us so this does seem to have had, you know, a nudge, nudging effect on the two countries and brought about this meeting. You know, it should be said that obviously Malaysia has played an important part too, in its guise as the chair, the rotating chair of asean. And it was the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, who actually brought the two together. But telling me that, you know, in the room we had the US ambassadors to Malaysia from the US and from China. So those two big superpowers have had a meaningful input here and both countries thanked the US And China for their, their role in bringing about this seafire.
- [06:46]
Georgina Godwin
So I wonder if there really is a real desire for peace or if this is just being agreed to, to protect from those, those punitive tariffs.
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James Chambers
I mean, I guess it's a, it's a bit of both. I think both countries, you know, are very worried about this, this looming deadline and do need to, to try and get the, the, those, those tariffs down. I mean, Donald Trump was threatening, you know, 49 tariffs which would be devastating for, for, for Thailand and even more so Cambodia, which is even more reliant on, on exports to the US So no doubt that would have, you know, got their attention, you know, but also, you know, neither country really wants to be fighting each other, especially at this, at this point when it comes to Thailand. I mean, it's, it's very reliant on, on tourism and I guess, you know, there's going to be a massive drop in tourists to a country which is at war with its neighbor. So I think, you know, both sides were looking to, to end what they're still calling a skirmish and not a war. But I do think the intervention from the, maybe have hurried things along.
- [07:58]
Georgina Godwin
So we know that the two countries have a very troubled history spanning at least a century and a great deal of bad blood since open hostilities broke out again on July 24th. Given that, what are the prospects of the ceasefire holding?
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James Chambers
Yes, that's the, that's the all important question. As I mentioned at the start, it hasn't been an immediate ceasefire. You know, overnight there was a lot of exchange of fire and once again Thailand sent up its F16 fighter jets and dropped a bunch of bombs on the Cambodians. It seems like it's one of those cases where two warring countries agree a ceasefire. Some of the most fierce fighting is just before the ceasefire is announced because they want to make sure they hold on to the territory that they have before the more difficult conversations about who owns what and where the border sits. As I mentioned, that agreement, that handshake in Putrajaya in Malaysia, you know, both sides were clear to point out that nothing was discussed in terms of the border. They, they did agree that they're going to have a follow up meeting on the border on the 4th of August and then another one in September. So they're trying to get back to these bilateral discussions. So there are mechanisms in place and, and Malaysia has taken it upon itself to be a Kind of a, an observer of this, of this ceasefire. So I guess we're hoped, hopefully getting back to the negotiating table. But as you mentioned, this has been a very, very long board dispute that stretches back over 100 years. So there's no, no one's thinking that anything's going to be solved imminently. But let's hope that at least the troops are pulled back from the border, there's no more fighting and the, you know, hundreds of thousands of displaced Thais and Cambodians can actually go back to their homes and get on with their daily lives.
- [09:56]
Georgina Godwin
James, how's this being viewed in Thailand? I mean, as we know, the, the country has Prime Minister at present. Is there any sense that when the domestic governance crisis is over, the new leader could reverse this?
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James Chambers
I think, I mean a lot of this dispute has been portrayed on the Thai side as a, as a family quarrel between the Shinawat family and, you know, Hun Sen and Hun Manet in Cambodia. So the, you know, the current per Thai party, that's, that, that, that runs the, the government here, that's the vehicle of the, the Shinawas. And so they're having to defend themselves from this accusation that this war would not have happened were it not for this, you know, kind of family relationship that the Shinawats have with, with the Cambodian leader and the fact that that relationship has soured and led to this fighting. So I mean, they're obviously denying that and saying it has nothing to do with the, the family ties, but it' happens when the courts in, in Thailand rule on whether Thaksin Shinoat's daughter, who, you know, was until recently the Prime Minister is allowed to stay on as Prime Minister or whether she will be suspended and who comes in her place. But I think, you know, fresh leadership might, you know, give this ceasefire and peace agreement a bit more legs. But we'll just have to wait and see. I think there's, there's, there's a lot going on domestically on both sides and this dispute, as you said, is very, very old. So even though the US President is leaning on both sides, that's no guarantee that they can be friends.
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Georgina Godwin
James, thank you very much indeed. That's James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor, speaking to us from Bangkok. This is the globalist. It's 911 in Damascus, 711 in London. Some positive news from Syria. Saudi Arabia has announced a $6.4 billion investment package to support the country's post war reconstruction. A major show of confidence in interim President Ahmed Al Sharar's Leadership. It comes as Syria prepares for its first parliamentary election since the fall of Bashar al Assad. But despite this, recent sectarian violence in the south has raised fresh concerns about the country's fragile transition. Well, joining me now is Hannah Lucinda Smith, who is Monocle's Istanbul correspondent. Hannah, good to have you back with us on the line. When are these parliamentary elections set to take place?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
So these elections are going to happen or the voting is going to happen between the 15th and 20th September. So in a couple of months time, a third of the seats in that parliament, there's going to be 210 seats up for election. Initially, there were going to be 150 seats in the parliament that was extended. A third of those seats are going to be appointed directly by Ahmad al Sharar, the transitional president. And the other two thirds are going to be voted for by the Syrian people.
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Georgina Godwin
And what role does the People's Committee play under the interim constitution? How's that functioning as a temporary parliament?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, so this is what was set up by Shera and the people around him when he ousted Bashar al Assad in December, installed himself as a traditional president, and also set up these people's committees. The idea was that there would be some form of administration until these elections could take place, which would be somehow representative of Syria, which, of course, is a really, really ethnically and religiously complex country. It has a majority of Sunni Muslims. It also has various sects of Shia Muslims as well, Christians, Druze, a really, really complicated country. And the idea of the People People's Committees was to try and, you know, make everybody in that country feel like they had some kind of political representation.
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Georgina Godwin
But how likely are these elections to be free and fair? And given the previous destruction of the country, does the infrastructure exist to run an inclusive vote?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, well, I mean, Syria, of course, was a dictatorship for more than half a century. There was Bashar al Assad. There was also his father, Hafiz before him. And all through both of their 10 years, there were still elections. They weren't particularly free or fair. You know, you would get Bashar al Assad being returned, for example, as president with 90% of the vote. These were absolutely just show elections. I think we're, you know, definitely expecting something a lot freer and fairer in that, particularly because, you know, the eyes of the world are on Sharah and on the new country that he's building. There's an enormous amount of pressure on him, particularly from Western countries like the US also like the eu, to take Syria on this new democratic and inclusive representative path. The problem, as you mentioned, is just the sheer level of destruction in the country. You know, infrastructure destruction, you know, the sheer kind of logistical challenge of organizing this kind of election when so many Syrians are still outside the country, others are displaced. That's going to be a huge problem in itself. But then the other criticism that's going to come from some parts as well is about Sharah and his intentions for the future. He's always said that he's going to be a transitional president. He's just going to be the one to sort of bring Syria into this new post Assad era. But there are Syrians who are somewhat suspicious of his motivations, whether he is able to truly bring the country through this incredibly difficult period. And not just the fall of Assad, but also the kind of sectarian violence that we've seen in the past few weeks as well.
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Georgina Godwin
Well, let's turn to a more positive aspect, and that's the investment from Gulf countries. What will this $6.4 billion investment package be used for? Do we know which sectors are being targeted and indeed which companies are involved?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, so this is a deal that's been put together by more than 100 companies, Saudi Arabian companies, which are going to invest in Syria. The investment is going to be directed mostly towards real estate, infrastructure, telecoms. It. Again, these are, you know, the areas which really, really need investment, both in terms of money coming from abroad, also in terms of expertise. The. It's really sort of difficult to describe just how destroyed Syria is physically. There are whole towns that don't exist anymore. The electricity networks, the sewage networks, water, you know, telecoms, Internet, all these things just basically need reconstructing, not even from the ground up. I was speaking to somebody in Damascus when I was there in February about. About this task, and he said, you know, in a way, it would actually be easier if we were starting from nothing. We're starting from utter destruction. So these are. These are the things that the Saudi Arabian money is going to. To be put towards. And this is just actually the latest in a series of really big investment packages that have been announced not only by Saudi Arabia, but also by Qatar, by the UAE also by the US as well.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, I wonder how it all fits into the broader Gulf strategy, then, and if it's part of a wider effort to bring Syria back into the fold economically.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, I think there's two aspects to this. One of them, of course, is economic. You know, the opening up of Syria post Assad presents a huge Opportunity for countries like Saudi Arabia, also like Qatar, like Turkey, countries that have been on the side of the opposition against Bashar al Assad pretty much since the start. Also for European countries as well, and for America, they've started lifting sanctions, meaning that Western countries also can start trading. But there's also political influence aspect as well. For a really, really long time, and particularly since 2011 when the war broke out, Syria was this kind of hub of Iranian influence right in the middle of the Levent. It was part of what Tehran was trying to do, build a kind of crescent of influence going right the way from Tehran, through Iraq, through Syria to the Mediterranean that's been absolutely broken apart by the fall of Assad. And now here's an opportunity for the Sunni powers in the region, particularly Turkey, but also Saudi Arabia, also the Gulf states, to really influence the direction that Syria is going to take politically.
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Georgina Godwin
And finally, Hannah, I wonder if this, this violence in southern Syria will derail either the elections or indeed knock investor confidence.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, I mean, this is a really, really difficult time for Syria. I think anyone that you speak to, either Syrians or, you know, experts in this region have always had, you know, a level, I wouldn't say cynicism, but, you know, reservations about how successful Sharia can be in putting together, putting back together this incredibly broken country, particularly given his own past as, you know, an Al Qaeda operative who set up his group in Syria as an Al Qaeda franchise. That group did some really, really appalling things during the course of the war, particularly against minorities, against their opposing groups. And, you know, the fear always was from the start is, you know, A, how well intentioned is Shah, what are his long term motivations, and B, can he keep his fighters into control? I think the second question really has been the foremost question, particularly for the US and for Europe. I think with, you know, countries like Saudi Arabia, they are less vocal about the human rights concerns in Syria than countries like the US are. Of course, you know, nobody wants Syria again descending into chaos. But I think, you know, for Saudi Arabia, they're far happier to kind of go ahead, forging ahead, building these kind of economic relationships and political relationships as well.
- [20:09]
Georgina Godwin
Hannah, thank you so much. That's Hannah. Lucinda Smith in Istanbul now, still to come on the program, this is probably.
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Simone Bouvier
The biggest deal ever reached in any.
- [20:18]
James Chambers
Capacity, trade or beyond trade.
- [20:20]
Simone Bouvier
It is, it's a giant deal with lots of countries.
- [20:24]
Georgina Godwin
But not everyone's so positive about the EU US trade deal. We'll hear from our Paris bureau chief on the discontented rumblings Coming out of the Elysee palace, this is the Globalist. Each of us has a craft, a calling that inspires us. Whether it's how a coffee is brewed, a chair is built, or how money is looked after, there's a love for the work, a care that compels you forward. For us at ubs, it's about designing a unique outcome for you, because whatever your craft may be, ours is built around helping you succeed. UBS banking is our craft. It's 7:20 here in London. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio with me, Georgina Godwin. And we'll continue now with today's newspapers. Joining me from South Africa, I believe he's in Johannesburg, is Phil Clark, who's professor of International Politics at SOAS University of London. Phil, lovely to have you with us, albeit not actually in the studio. Let's start by looking at Trump's acknowledgment that there is real starvation in Gaza and what he said to Israel. Just unpack that a little for us, will you?
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Phil Clark
So this came out of Trump's press conference yesterday with Keir Starmer in Scotland, and British journalist asked Trump about the current situation in Gaza. And Trump made the strongest statement that he's made so far about the starvation of people in Gaza, the responsibility of Israel to provide food for desperate people, and in fact, he directly contradicted Benjamin Netanyahu's denial that there's a problem of starvation in Gaza. So perhaps the strongest statements that we've heard from Trump against Netanyahu. Starmer then weighed in and said that he was revolted, quote, by the absolute catastrophe that was unfolding in Gaza. So I think both from the UK government and from the US government, these are perhaps the strongest denunciations that we've heard so far about what Israel is doing in Gaza at the moment.
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Georgina Godwin
I thought it was really interesting that Trump said he knew there was starvation because he'd seen it on television. And there's a great piece in the Atlantic today going just how much TV warps his worldview and how responsible Fox is for what Trump knows and believes to be true.
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Phil Clark
It's really remarkable, I think, Georgina, that so much of this man's thinking and so much US policy is dictated by what happens to be on his TV screen, as opposed to what the us, in fact, has been doing. And what the us, of course, has been doing is supporting Israel in the genocide in Gaza. The US has been an enabler of the starvation that Trump is now denouncing, even while that press conference was taking place in Scotland yesterday. It was reported that 78 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza just on Monday alone. And many of those people were killed at aid delivery sites. So the terrible situation that we've seen over the last months, of course, just played out even on the same day as the press conference. I guess many commentators will listen to Starmer and Trump and say it's all well and good for you to denounce Israel now, but what will the UK and the US do, particularly in terms of stopping their support for the Israeli government, putting real pressure on Netanyahu to not only to let food into Gaza, but to end this ongoing conflict which has caused so much devastation. So talk is cheap. But the question now for Trump and Starmer will be, what will you actually do about this situation using the huge influence that you do have over the Israeli government?
- [24:21]
Georgina Godwin
And of course, we know that there's a meeting about the two state solution going on this week at the U.N. and it just, you know, the U.S. isn't represented there, Israel isn't there. It doesn't seem like there's any kind of real commitment to getting to the heart of this.
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Amma Rose Abrams
No.
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Phil Clark
And I think again, that points to the skepticism that many people have about what Trump and Starmer were saying yesterday, that it's very easy in a press conference in response to a journalist's question to identify the heart of the problem in Gaza, but it seems to be a completely different thing for these very powerful leaders to actually act. It's interesting that the UK has indicated it probably will support a two state solution. And there are some reports this morning that the US has in some ways given the green light to the UK to go down that line. The US itself, of course, won't do that because of its relationship with Israel. But it does seem to be significant that the US is perhaps, perhaps nodding towards France and the UK and other European states that may want to recognize the two state solution. But a lot does hinge on what happens in the UN this week. And again, talk is cheap. Everybody's looking to see what action is going to be taken.
- [25:32]
Georgina Godwin
So of course, on the one hand he's promising more aid to Gaza, but on the other, he seems oblivious to the absolute chaos and poverty and food insecurity that he's caused by cutting aid to places like Lesotho. Perhaps we need Fox TV to make a document about what's going on there because the country is facing economic collapse after AIDS cuts and Trump's tariffs.
- [25:56]
Phil Clark
Indeed, Georgina, this is a major story in the Mail and Guardian newspaper here in South Africa, I guess putting a spotlight back on a very small African state that doesn't get a lot of coverage even here in southern Africa, but a state that has really been hit hard by the US aid cuts in the last six or seven months and the enormous tariffs that the US government has imposed on many states around the world, but particularly in Africa, that these tariffs have hit the textiles and the clothing industry of Lesotho, which makes up about 50% of the country's GDP. The economy was already teetering in Lesotho, but really has plummeted in the last that there's an estimate that in the next 12 months the country will probably only see about 0.5% growth in GDP. So very small economy that's really struggling. Those US aid cuts have hit the health care sector in Lesotho particularly hard. Mailing guardians reported that there's already been 1500 health care jobs cut just in the last few months. That's particularly significant because Lesotho has one of the world's highest rates of HIV and was very reliable reliant on US support for the health sector. And so that's really wrought major damage in Lesotho recently. And so I think of all the African states that have been hit by what the US has done in Africa in the last year, it does seem that Lesotho has been perhaps hit the hardest. And some real concerns that the national economy could completely collapse if there isn't some sort of regional assistance to Lesotho in the months to come.
- [27:38]
Georgina Godwin
Phil, finally, let's pity the poor Finns who are battling foul feces. Tell us more.
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Phil Clark
It's a magnificent article today in the New York Times, Georgina. The title is something about the Finland Goose Poop problem. Apparently this is a major issue in Helsinki at the moment. The 25 public beaches of Helsinki are completely covered in the feces of the Finnish barnacle goose, a very particular species of goose that's wreaking havoc. Apparently this is a global problem. The New York Times tells us that this same species of goose has been producing similar problems on beaches around the world. In California, for example, apparently there was a huge cull of these geese to try to solve the feces problem. The fins are slightly gentler than the Californians and don't want to kill the geese, but are trying to come up with all sorts of solutions to deal with this problem of feces covering all of their beaches. And I guess the context here that the New York Times points out is that most Finns only enjoy six or seven weeks of what we might think of as a serious summer. And everybody, no pun intended, flocks to the beaches in this time. So this is really a problem for those Finns who are trying to deal with rapid, rapidly escalating temperatures at the moment. So who knew, who knew that goose poo was the big problem in Scandinavia at the moment?
- [29:00]
Georgina Godwin
Phil, thank you very much indeed. That's Phil Clark of SO University of London. And this is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. A gunman opened fire inside a midtown Manhattan skyscraper housing NFL and Blackstone officers, killing four people, including a police officer, before turning the gun on himself. Authorities say the officer had served just over three years, while the other victims were all civilians. Donald Trump has given Russia 10 to 12 days to show progress on ending the war in Ukraine or face consequences. The US President is threatening sanctions on both Moscow and its trade partners, signaling growing frustration with Vladimir Putin. And southern Taiwan has been battered by torrential rain for a second straight day, forcing thousands to evacuate and shutting schools and businesses. Meanwhile, flooding in Beijing has killed at least 30 people after nearly a year's worth of rain fell in just days. This is THE globalist. Stay tuned now for a look behind the headlines. Here's Simone Bouvier on France's reaction to this weekend's U.S. eU trade.
- [30:24]
James Chambers
This is probably the biggest deal ever.
- [30:25]
Simone Bouvier
Reached in any capacity, trade or beyond trade.
- [30:28]
Georgina Godwin
It is.
- [30:30]
Simone Bouvier
It's a giant deal with lots of countries. Many EU countries are sharing a sigh of relief after the union penned a new trade agreement with the US On Sunday. But there is one notable exception. France. French Prime Minister Francois Bayroux has called the deal a dark day. That's because even though the deal doesn't make any new concessions, most of the measures announced by the eu, such as investments in US Factories and purchasing American hydrocarbons, were already in the pipeline. There is one area dear to France that will suffer European defence. The agreement announced by US President Donald Trump and EU Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen commits to more European purchases of American military equipment. This will divert funds from the EU's stated plans to build up its own defense industrial base. France, which is less exposed to punitive tariffs than Germany or Italy, for example, was pushing to curb the purchasing of US Weapons. As the number two arms exporter in the world, France and its leading defense companies, from radar specialist Thales to many missile maker MBDA, stood to benefit from the EU's stated intent on prioritizing European arms, embodied by the 800 billion euro rearm Europe plan. Instead, President Macron's long stated ambitions to nurture the continent's defense industry have taken a hit, as von der Leyen prioritized appeasement with promises that were short on specifics but clearly hinder stated goals of bolstering European defense manufacturing. Though it might seem shrewd to hand Trump a political win in exchange for a financial lifeline, as European economies continue to be shaky, the French see this as capitulation.
- [32:23]
Georgina Godwin
That was Simon Bouvier, who is our Paris bureau chief. And for more from Monocle's editors and correspondents around the world, do sign up for our free daily newsletter, the Monocle Minute@monocle.com Minute to Russia now, where a sweeping crackdown on books and culture is helping the Kremlin tighten its grip. Authors, editors and booksellers are under pressure not just for writing about LGBTQ lives, but for anything deemed morally or ideologically suspect. Police have raided shops with banned book lists. Publishers have been detained, and a new alliance between the state and the Russian Orthodox Church is fuelling bans on everything from satanic movements to suspected Western influence. Well, Andrei Soldatov is an investigative journalist and co founder of Ajentura.ru a watchdog of the Russian secret services activities. He's also co author with Irina Borogin of Our Dear Friends in Moscow, the Inside Story of a Broken Generation. He's on Russia's most wanted list. Andre, welcome. What's the picture right now in the Russian book world? What kinds of titles are being banned and who decides that?
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Andrei Soldatov
Well, the problem is that as a list of the authors and the titles is getting longer by day. It's not only about, as you rightly said, LGBTQ topics, it's about everything written by the authors who said anything critical of the Kremlin after the start of the full scale invasion. And for instance, Brisa Kunin, who is the most popular fiction writer and usually he writes something about wild crimes and all kinds of crime novels. And he, he's extremely popular. His books were made into movies. His books were sold in millions of copies. These days, his books are not anymore available in Russia. They are not on sale and they are disappearing from libraries. And he himself was sentenced to 14 years of prison in absentia because he lives in London on terrorism charges. One example.
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Georgina Godwin
And you and Irina have been targeted too. I mean, you had your media license revoked after officials claimed you were dead. What's your situation now? And are your books available in Russia?
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Andrei Soldatov
No, unfortunately, these days you cannot find our books available. It comes in stages so initially, the government demanded all bookstores to label your books with awards, with a special libel produced by a foreign agent, which nobody likes to have on your. On on your book. But now, gradually, the bookstores and libraries are under pressure to remove our books entirely. And thanks God we still have the Internet, so online copies are still available, but for free. You just need to give up your copies for free to make them available for people.
- [35:42]
Georgina Godwin
And tell us about this bizarre new ban on international satanism.
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Andrei Soldatov
Well, to be honest, it's very difficult to understand the logic, but we understand that it came from the Russian Orthodox Church. They also want to have a place in Russian ideology. But again, it's really difficult to understand the logic. For instance, just two weeks ago, the director of a library in Siberia was fined because he had a book of Heinrich Bull, the most prominent German writer after the second world war, in his library. Apparently for one reason. Because there is a foundation in Germany named after Henrik Baohl. And because all German foundations are prohibited these days in Russia, apparently the government decided they don't want to have anything connected with the name of this German writer.
- [36:33]
Georgina Godwin
Extraordinary. I mean, we know that censorship was actually lifted in the 1990s. It's clearly back in some form. How does today's system of fear and self censorship compare to Soviet times?
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Andrei Soldatov
I would say it's much more aggressive than what we had in the 70s or 1980s. There is a clear call for introducing a state ideology. And the problem is that people who promote this idea, they say that we need to start teaching our kids at the level of kindergarten, not only in schools. And of course it's. It's a brainwashing of. Of everyone.
- [37:11]
Georgina Godwin
And finally, while while Russia may seem extreme, I wonder if the gap with the west really is so wide. I mean, we've seen books banned in U. S schools, we've seen musicians deplatformed, we've seen protests over g are shut down in parts of Europe. Do you think that this is a global turn against free expression?
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Andrei Soldatov
Yes, unfortunately. I think that we have the end of the era of enlightenment and unfortunately so many people feel offended or pissed off with what the writers or artists might say. And yes, it's a global phenomenon.
- [37:46]
Georgina Godwin
Andre, thank you very much indeed. Andre Soldatov, who's co founder of Ajentura and co author of Our Dear Friends in the Inside story of a Broken Generation. And do stay tuned because there will be an interview with Andrzej and Irina coming up on Meet the Writers. You are with Monocle Radio, iq, EQ and AI three Components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work, and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence. All to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. It's 1438 in Sol 838 in Zurich. Tesla has struck a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to produce its next generation AI6 chips in Texas to be used in self driving cars and robotics. The agreement runs through 2033 with production starting in 2027. It's a major win for Samsung as it tries to close the gap with chipmaking rival tsmc. I'm joined now by Tim Martin, the career bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal in Seoul. Tim, many thanks for coming on the show. What exactly does this deal between Samsung and Tesla involve?
- [39:31]
Tim Martin
It's a big bet in a variety of directions. Firstly, it's a big bet on this resurgence that first President Biden and now President Trump hope to see, which is more semiconductor manufacturing happens in the U.S. samsung operates several plants in the state of Texas and this is where we'll see production of this $16.5 billion deal. It's one of the largest single contracts we've ever seen in the chip industry's history. So it's a big deal for Samsung. They've been struggling to land clients and it's a big bet on them as well.
- [40:05]
Georgina Godwin
So why do you think Tesla turned to them instead of going all in with the tsmc?
- [40:11]
Tim Martin
We don't have full visibility into the rationale, but Elon on social media posted, gave us some clues. He said that Tesla will be able to cooperate very closely with Samsung on the manufacturing of these chips. And that's generally not an arrangement we see with big clients and the chip makers. So lots of access, lots of, you know, again, Samsung's been playing catch up here. You have to wonder if perhaps price or consolations on price were a factor versus tsmc, which is far larger, has a lot more demand for its services.
- [40:47]
Georgina Godwin
I mean, Samsung leads in memory chips, but it does lag far behind in the foundry space. I wonder if you could explain that to us.
- [40:55]
Tim Martin
Yeah, Samsung makes a lot of products, including memory chips, smartphones, TVs, but they've struggled to break through in this foundry business, which is, you know, you have companies like Nvidia and Apple and Qualcomm, they design chips, but they don't have the factories to actually produce them. This is a very expensive and Cutthroat business. Basically only two companies on earth, TSMC and Samsung are even capable of playing the game at this level. But TSMC enjoys a very wide margin. They're something like two thirds of the global foundry market. Samsung is a distant number two at 8% roughly. So it's, it's been a struggle for them because it's very complicated. These are, are the tiniest semiconductors that are known to man that have tons of transistors crammed onto them. It's a very complex process and what you need is scale and volume to back up these tens of billions of dollars in investment. And that's where Samsung struggled at least until now.
- [41:53]
Georgina Godwin
Because of course this could really shift the balance, couldn't it, between Samsung and TSMC within the AI chip race?
- [42:00]
Tim Martin
Yeah, the $16.5 billion is roughly equivalent to 7% of all revenue at Samsung. That includes the smartphones and the TVs. It'll net out across these eight years to about $2 billion a year. That's not enough in isolation to turn the tide for Samsung, but what they've really lacked and what they really need is credibility in the marketplace and a big name like Elon, a big name like Tesla could really help them in that front. And Elon has said this, you know, the size of this deal could actually grow in subsequent years.
- [42:32]
Georgina Godwin
So good for Samsung. What's in it for Tesla? What advantages does it offer Tesla especially long term?
- [42:39]
Tim Martin
Well Tesla has gone and Elon have gone back and forth with between TSMC and Samsung. I think it gives them an advantage to play one off the other. It also. So look, Elon mentioned this in his social media postings. Perhaps he's going to have a little more control. He's even made reference to, I don't live too far from these Texas facilities. They are in the Austin suburbs. So he can be walking the factory room floor seeing how production is going. So I think that level of control and involvement is something that appealed to Elon and look, I think he's a hands on guy. This is a very important A six chip as they're calling it. This is for the humanoid robots self driving cars as they ramp up to a next generation and AI data centers. Excuse me. So this is, you know, very, these are all critical things for Elon and the fact that he can perhaps show up, you know, at any moment to check in like he would at a Tesla factory is definitely an upside for him.
- [43:43]
Georgina Godwin
And so finally, what does this tell us about the wider tech rivalry in Asia and where it's heading.
- [43:52]
Tim Martin
It shows that there are only two, really two companies atop the most advanced semiconductors. And this is a sleepy industry that's slipped into national security in the past several years because there are military applications for this. So there are many. There's this broader race happening on between the US and China and why this single transaction really matters. It's a big endorsement by, again, someone who's close to Trump and Elon Musk, but also on this other alternative. I think the broader tech industry respects and certainly acknowledges that TSMC has these advantages. But there's also concern that too much power, too much clout is held by one company. An endorsement, a partnership between Tesla and Samsung gives the opportunity for other tech giants, tech giants to feel comfortable working with Samsung, which again has a pretty big name globally. But they've struggled in Foundry.
- [44:51]
Georgina Godwin
Tim, thank you very much indeed. That's Tim Martin, who's career bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal in Seoul. And this is the globalist on Monocle Rad. Now it's time to talk culture and arts with Amma Rose Abrams, arts journalist and contributing writer at Artnet News and others. Emma Rose, welcome back to the show. Frieze is coming. Give us the details.
- [45:25]
Amma Rose Abrams
Yes, Freeze is coming. It feels like we're in the middle of summer, but the autumn announcements are flooding in and Free Sculpture has announced that it will be opening on the 7th, 17th of September with a show of 14 artists, which is going to be called in the Shadows, and that will run through to the 2nd of November. Frieze sculpture is the kind of free, public accessible aspect of Frieze, which runs throughout the fair and into the autumn and is installed in Regent's Park.
- [45:57]
Georgina Godwin
It also coincides, though, with Frieze London and Frieze Masters.
- [46:02]
Amma Rose Abrams
It does, yes, exactly. And so I think we can all kind of be quite excited about what to expect at the fairs as well. I think during the fair this will be activated with Turner Prize winners. You know, the architectural collective Assemble are going to be doing a big procession through this kind of public installation to the fair. There's going to be all kinds of activations around the exhibition that during kind of that time when the, you know, Freeze week, which is going to be later actually than it usually is, I think it's going to start on the 15th of October. So it's a bit of a shift, a bit of a change there.
- [46:41]
Georgina Godwin
And what are the big names we should be looking at in sculpture?
- [46:45]
Amma Rose Abrams
Big names I think we can look out for probably a lovely surrealist work from Irwin Worm, who is this wonderful artist who just very humorous, interesting kind of sculpture that's going to be really cool. And then Elm Green and Drag set, you know, another kind of humorous and slightly kind of. It's all about visual word play, if that makes sense, and that they are going to be taking part as well. There is also going to be another work by Assemble, which we can. I. We can kind of expect an architectural kind of more installation type piece from them and from. And there's also going to be Jean Quick to see Smith, which is going to be an interesting installation from an artist that maybe we don't know so well, but they're being presented by White Cube. And so I think we can expect that to be quite a statement.
- [47:44]
Georgina Godwin
Fantastic name. Quick to see Smith. Fabulous, wonderful.
- [47:48]
Amma Rose Abrams
I know.
- [47:49]
Georgina Godwin
Let's move on now and have a look, look at the Art Market Integrity Act. What is this?
- [47:55]
Amma Rose Abrams
It's a new piece of legislation which is being proposed in the us it's bipartisan and it's going to. They say it's just, they're just closing up there. So I think they're saying it's not going to be kind of brought in until the autumn. But this is aimed, I think at money laundering in the art market. And having a bit more clarity, I would say the art market in the US is the biggest art market in the world. And so you're looking at $24.8 billion worth of revenue a year and it's almost 50%, 43% of global art sales. So while this is just happening in the US it's going to have an impact on everybody, but just because of how dominant they are. And I think what they're looking at, essentially it means you've got to know who you're selling to if you are selling art.
- [48:52]
Georgina Godwin
And that's to stop money laundering, presumably the financing of terrorism and so on.
- [48:58]
Amma Rose Abrams
Absolutely. This is what it's aimed at. They think. I mean, one of the quotes associated with story is saying basically they feel that people are circumventing sanctions and by selling, buying and selling art, you know, because it's kind of. You can do it by proxy. You can, you know, you have someone selling on your behalf, you can have someone buying on your behalf. It can be very anonymous. And so I think this is just trying to bring everything a bit more out into the open. So again, you just know who you're buying from and who you're selling to and that you can't maybe just raise money in this kind of very opaque.
- [49:36]
Georgina Godwin
Way of Course, the art market is very international and that's just the US's law. Do the UK and the European Union and other countries sign up to similar legislation?
- [49:48]
Amma Rose Abrams
They do. This actually brings the US in line with the UK and Europe who have quite strong laws about kind of understanding where money is coming from when you're buying and selling art. And there are lots of laws to do with tax and to do with money laundering. And there's a whole system in place which will flag up even after the fact, sometimes quite long time after the fact, it will flag up questionable sales.
- [50:23]
Georgina Godwin
Finally, emma Rose, a 4,000 year handprint has been discovered. It?
- [50:29]
Amma Rose Abrams
Yes, yes, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. They're preparing for their upcoming show which is called Made in Egypt, which will open in October. But while they were putting the show together, they have found a 4,000 year old handprint on the bottom of something which is called a soul house. Quite beautifully. And a soul house is something that would sit above a burial and it's where in their belief system the soul would live on. And yet just at the bottom, a complete handprint. Apparently this is the only handprint like this they've found. They found fingerprints and slight kind of impressions in different objects, but this is the only full handprint just sitting at the bottom there 4,000 years later.
- [51:16]
Georgina Godwin
So I mean, extraordinarily this must have been in their collection for some time.
- [51:21]
Amma Rose Abrams
Yes, but we keep hearing about this, don't we, about things discovered in people's collections that they've had for some time. And I guess we have these giant collections of things in our museums and often they sit there and until there's a relevant show or someone asks for it or is looking for it, maybe it doesn't get looked at for a long time. So you get these discoveries and what.
- [51:42]
Georgina Godwin
Else can we see in the Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition?
- [51:48]
Amma Rose Abrams
They haven't announced all the objects, but the Fitzwilliam has a really wonderful collection of Egyptian items and artifacts on view. Anyway, they have a selection of mummies, items from different burials and tombs that I've seen visiting the museum. And so I can think that all that they're going to do is tap into more of these unseen items from behind the scenes that they have, which I imagine is going to be a lot and kind of of bring that out for us for a show that we can all actually see.
- [52:21]
Georgina Godwin
And of course this, this also takes us back to the discussion of who these treasures really belong to, because Egypt itself is about to open its major new museum. Are These artifacts ever going to make their way home?
- [52:34]
Amma Rose Abrams
I wonder, I wonder and I wonder if there's a reason maybe doing these shows now while we still can. Inverted common because obviously again the grand museum every everybody is just waiting for this museum to open. What we've seen of the museum is so striking, beautiful, high tech, state of the art. There's really no reason for us to keep these objects, you know, especially if they're out of view in the uk. And so yes, maybe it's a question of let's have shows now while we still can and then in the future who knows where these objects may live.
- [53:12]
Georgina Godwin
Emma Rose Abrams, thank you very much indeed. You're listening to the Globalist on Monacle Radio. Finally on today's show we look at a peculiar camera that's become a surprise hit. The Fujifilm X half topped the June best selling list of map camera. That's Japan's largest camera retailer. Trailer Monocle's Henry King spoke to Jaron Schneider, editor in chief of leading photography outlet Petapixel earlier to ask what's so special about this camera and the wider success Fujifilm is having.
- [54:16]
Jaron Schneider
This is an unusual camera in that it mixes the film concept with the digital medium. It only shoots JPEGs and it does so using Fujifilm's film simulations. Film simulations have been in Fujifilm cameras for a very long time.
- [54:33]
James Chambers
Time.
- [54:34]
Jaron Schneider
They are based on Fuji's history in film. It even has like a film winder on the camera that you use to advance the shot. I'm doing air quotes right now because there's nothing too advanced. It's not connected to anything physical. It just tells the camera like a switch. You shot a shot, you got to move forward and that's to support an entirely new digital way of shooting film. It sounds absurd. Essentially you can tell the camera I want to shoot a roll of just this one film simulation and in order to move to the next shot I have to rack that lever. And so it's entirely just kind of like a make believe fun sort of thing. And it shoots half frame which is in film style. You'd shoot just half of one 35 millimeter frame. The viewfinder is oriented in portrait as opposed to landscape and it's designed to just be fun. And I think it's popular in Japan, which is what we're looking at here, map camera. One of the few in the world that actually tells you us what people are buying which is why we look at Japan. We don't really get that information out of Europe or the United States Now Fujifilm cameras are historically very popular in Japan but this one in particular, the culture in Japan is they're really into the analog scene more so than in Europe and the United States or in Canada. They just really seem to like this cute idea of just having fun with pictures.
- [55:49]
James Chambers
Do you think all those features are a bit of a gimmick? And you've said that the Japanese market loves this kind of analog style experience. But will markets and audiences around the world also seek that kind of nostalgia with the half frame that you mentioned?
- [56:04]
Jaron Schneider
So it's difficult to say for sure. Fujifilm will unlikely tell us and the retailers out here they don't reveal these sort of sales charts in the same way. I think that yes this camera will sell very well. It's not going to be like the smashing success of like an X100 series. For those who don't pay attention to photography. The Fujifilm X100VI, the sixth generation of this camera was released last year. Last February. March was when pre order started. They only started actually catching up within the last month or so. That's how popular this camera was. Basically as soon as they made one it went to someone who pre ordered it and this was a global issue. That's not the case with the X half. You can go to a large retailer in the United States States and pick up an X half today I think. And my colleagues also think that this camera will sell very well. We just don't know that once someone buys it like how long they're going to enjoy what is fairly a gimmick.
- [57:00]
James Chambers
Yes, I do wonder whether people will ask why does it only take portrait? I want to take landscape. With a real camera I can just use my phone. But sticking with the X100 line, I think it was the 5 and the 6 on back orders. And it's really difficult to get these cameras for the monocle probably non photographer audience. You can probably find them on your latest cool looking person with a kind of vintage camera likely to be one of these cameras. And that probably links in well with saying that they're doing really well as a brand. Fujifilm. Is it that Instagram nostalgia film type jpeg, all of those components coming together that's really working for you.
- [57:39]
Jaron Schneider
Them yes, that's a major part of it. But what Fujifilm does better than anyone else is make a camera that is fun to use. It should be this experience as opposed to just kind of this methodical manual way of forcing a photo which I think a lot of people will get from something that is like, like a Canon or a Nikon or a Sony, they just don't have. I feel weird saying it, but if they don't have soul, the way that a Fujifilm camera makes you feel like it has soul, and they're really the only company that has successfully, repeatedly managed to scratch that analog itch. And I think people who shoot analog will say it feels like it has soul. Like you're actually, you know, capturing an.
- [58:20]
James Chambers
Image that's meaningful for Monocle listeners that might want to capture their late summer holidays. You're into Fujifilm, but are there other brands, are there other types of cameras that are also out there to say.
- [58:30]
Jaron Schneider
Like, what's a really good travel camera to pick up? Like, it's so difficult for me to answer that question. It is challenging to answer that question because this whole like the point and shoot thing, that type of camera went away when the smartphone came in. You can't really easily find an all in one ready to go camera that I can say, go pick that. You'll get some great travel pictures with. I can't do it anymore, really. The only one making them is Fujifilm.
- [58:56]
Georgina Godwin
That was Jaron Schneider there speaking to Monocle's Henry King. And that's all for today's program. Thanks to our producers, Anita Riota, Hassan Anderson, Chris Chermack and Ryoma Takahashi, our researcher Henry King and our studio manager, Lily Allen. After the headlines, there's more music on the way and the briefing is live at midday. In London, I'm Georgina Godwin. I'll return on the Globalist at the same time tomorrow. Thanks for listening.