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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.
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You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 15th September 2025 on Monocle 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.
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On the show ahead, he's calling about bring them to justice. He needs to be brought to justice. He's the one who's wanted to buy ccp.
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That's the Prime Minister of Qatar talking about Benjamin Netanyahu. We'll have a roundup from the region as Marco Rubio visits Jerusalem and the steps up attacks on Gaza City. A new report shows democracy's canary is gasping for air. We'll hear why press freedom is at its lowest point in 50 years and what can be done about declining democracy in almost 100 countries. We'll have a look through the papers and then turn to Poland to examine the new president's rapport with Donald Trump, whom he met on his first foreign trip since taking office last month.
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Then Dubai Opera definitely contributed to the making of the cultural identity of the city of Dubai. We have definitely made such a huge impact in the community.
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UAE's soft power hits the high notes. We'll also have a wrap up of aviation news and a rundown on the Emmys TV's most glamorous night of the year. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Romania scrambled jets after a Russian drone entered its airspace on Saturday as Poland faced the drone threat and NATO vowed stronger Eastern defences, Trump warned he will sanction Russia only if NATO halts oil imports and backs heavy tariffs on China. And China's factory output and retail sales weaken, intensifying calls for more stimulus do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories now. Israel's strike in Doha last week has shaken ceasefire talks and triggered rare US criticism. The UN's backed a two state plan with Western allies preparing to recognize Palestine, though this was boycotted by both Washington and Tel Aviv. In response, Israeli ministers are calling for annexation of the West Bank. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel on Sunday for talks, while Arab leaders Gather in Qatar and Egypt pushes a NATO style Arab alliance. Well, there are also reports that Mossad may have pushed back against Netanyahu by refusing to carry out a ground raid in Doha. I'm joined now by Nada Aftaha, who is a senior foreign reporter at the national, who is in Dubai. So much to unpick here. So much going on in the region. Can we start with what we're hearing about? Rupert, Visit to Israel.
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Hi. Actually, I am in Doha where the Arab Islamic Summit is set to take place today. At the leadership level yesterday there were preparatory meetings to discuss a draft resolution which we saw ourselves. The Marco Rubio visit comes, of course, at the heels of the meeting between the Qatari prime minister, US President Donald Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio and all the big names in Washington. And we expected that the Qatari premier would have expressed, of course, his very outspoken dismay at the Israeli attacks on Doha that killed at least five Hamas members and a Qatari security official last week. But also we're anticipating that the conversations there were a little bit more to the effect of did you guys know about this and why didn't you tell us that we could stop it ahead of time and how could you greenlight it? You need to convey something to the Israelis to that effect that this is not okay. And we are seeing all of this momentum of criticism building up and culminating into this summit that I am attending. And they are advocating for the conversion of words into actions through something tangible that would come out of this summit so that we can finally say here in the Middle east that enough is enough with this expansionist action by Israel, where it has attacked with impunity, obviously Gaza for two years now, and the west bank, but also Lebanon and Syria and Iran and Yemen, of course, which it hasn't stopped doing so far. And now Qatar, which is a new front altogether.
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So how deep would you say the divide is between Israel, the US And Qatar after that Doha strike?
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It's quite a tricky one. I was having discussions all week, really, with various people, whether diplomats or analysts. And it's something that everybody, I guess, thought that on one hand, Donald Trump would be much more outspoken about and against in politics, public, even though him saying unhappy could be the tip of the iceberg. We still don't know what happens behind closed doors. But then, for example, I spoke to Palestinian diplomats who said they're not surprised. This is, you know, Israel's actions are just a reflection of something that it has been doing for decades. But how Donald Trump plays this, of course, being that this is going on between a country that he, his country, fervently supported, which is Israel, and, of course, Doha and Qatar, and the Gulf, which he visited earlier this year and struck deals worth trillions. So it's quite a tricky one. And we have yet to see something tangible come out of this Marco Rubio visit to Israel versus Donald Trump's expression of dismay. Whether that's just words and rhetoric or whether it's going to be action, whether they're going to actually take steps forward to tell their Gulf allies that we a reliable security partner in the region. And, of course, the Benjamin Netanyahu predictable unpredictability of it all.
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B
You talk about words and rhetoric. I wonder if the UN Vote to recognize Palestine is just more of that.
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E
So I've been wondering the same. But I think that we are at a very crucial point right now in Palestinian history because Palestine is a state, whether people like it or not. It's a state recognized by the U.N. but what's very interesting now is the momentum that is being built by countries that have notoriously stood against Palestinian statehood. Now coming out, people who are sorry, countries that have, we would have never thought they would be on that side of history coming out now and saying, we are the time is now, because we can no longer play the chicken and the egg. Should we set up a state first for us to declare it as a state, or should we declare it as a state first so that we can set up state institutions more solidly? So I think countries have had it now with the kind of policy of let's wait and see. I think countries are now gathering together and saying the time is now for action, and whether that action is through a symbolic but legally binding kind of recognition of Palestinian statehood. Because once they do recognize Palestinian statehood, then there's an onus on them to go through a certain set of measures to ensure that Palestine remains sovereign and that it has the right to defend itself as a sovereign state, obviously. So it's quite interesting to see all of this happening right now. And it might seem like it's very symbolic and that it's just words, but I think it's a culmination of years of legal action and diplomacy on the Palestinian side and on the side of people who are or states that are pro Palestine.
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B
And, of course, the Israeli pushbacks happened. Ministers really want an annexation of the West Bank. What more do we know about that?
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Well, look through, you know, I guess we can no longer also start to, you know, believe the kind of narrative that a few ministers Saying a few bad things is not a representative of a wider policy of Israeli government. That these are niche and far right ministers that are just, you know, going on and saying crazy things. No, it's no longer the case. I think there are real reflections of what that is like on the ground. The Israeli officials have in varying degrees said, we don't want a Palestinian state. We are going to annex the West Bank. And not just saying that, but also taking real tangible measures that are making people's lives there a living hell, whether it's through the Iwan settlements. That basically kills all logistical kind of feasibility for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, or the continuous raids on the refugee camps in Jenin, which have displaced tens of thousands of people. And as well as the Israeli strike on Doha. The Israeli strike on Doha. Let's go back to that. This is the second time that they have targeted Hamas negotiators. And as the Qataris have come out and said, this is just a display that, you know, Israel is not interested in a diplomatic solution. They want to militarily resolve everything, their way or the highway.
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Do you think, though, that the IDF would obey instructions? I asked this because there are reports that Mossad refused to carry out a ground operation against Hamas leaders in Doha. What does that suggest about Israeli strategy, but also the unity between the intelligence community, the military and the government?
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Honestly, I cannot comment on internal Israeli workings, but obviously we have seen the Israeli street blow up in anger and rage at Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of this entire situation. The hostage families have said that, you know, your strikes on Doha have endangered our children even further that are being held by Hamas and Gaza. And, and this is well known, right? Even the ground invasion of Gaza City is endangering to not only obviously the 2.2 million Palestinians that live in the entire enclave and the 1 million Palestinians that live in Gaza City who are being forcibly displaced from their tents, I wouldn't even say their homes because they don't have any, but also the hostages that are with them. And so there has been a fracture, a divide within Israel itself, whether between the people and the government. Government, but also within the upper echelons of political society in Israel, whether through it's the opposition, former members of government, whether even leaks, of course, that we've been hearing about. But anyway, those cannot be confirmed. What we can go with, though, is the final action on the ground. What is being done. What is being done seems to be a policy of annexation, occupation, starvation and displacement and the killing of innocent civilians. And maybe there are fractures and maybe there aren't, but there's certainly not enough to stop Benjamin Netanyahu at the moment.
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Nada, thank you very much. That was Nada Artaha in Doha, a senior foreign reporter at the National. And this is The Globalist. It's 8:12 in Stockholm, 7:12 here in London. Global democracy is in retreat. A new report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or idea, the Stockholm based intergovernmental organisation that supports democracy worldwide, finds press freedom at its weakest point in 50 years and democracy declining in almost 100 countries. The sharpest falls are in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Myanmar and South Korea, though there are gains in parts of Africa and in Chile. The annual Global State of Democracy report is considered the most comprehensive of its kind, covering 174 countries. And I'm joined from Stockholm by Seema Shah, who's head of Democracy Assessment at idea. Seema, thanks for coming on the program. Is a drop in press freedom the first sign that democracy is in trouble?
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Hi, thank you so much for having me. I wouldn't say that there is definitive evidence that it's the first sign, but it's definitely a warning sign. The way that deterioration happens in different countries varies by context. But when you start to see attacks on civil liberties such as freedom of the press, it's definitely a flashing sign of warning.
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So why is this decline happening now?
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F
This decline is happening now for many reasons. The way that we measure it in our indices is actually looking at the past five years. So what this score shows is that there's ongoing declines over the past five years in these 43 countries. And the reasons, like I said, are diverse. There's media consolidation, so less of a spectrum of voices. There are clampdowns on freedom of expression in terms of what media are able to say and how safe they feel in saying it. There are attacks on journalists, sometimes physical attacks, sometimes online attacks, especially against women journalists. We found in other contexts it's corruption, so sort of compromising independence by bribing journalists to say certain things. There's. We've also seen a spike in defamation cases against journalists initiated by the government. So it's a whole combination.
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How Damaging is the USA's pullback from promoting democracy abroad?
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Well, again, I think it depends on the context. But in, in many cases, other countries around the world look to the US as a model. So if the US is doing something, many other countries see it as a sort of signal that, okay, well if they're doing it, then we can do it too. And what we see in terms of taking funding away in the US from public broadcasting, from, you know, virtually shutting down the Voice of America, which has provided independent coverage in countries around the world, that sort of package of things, attacks on the press, restricting certain press in the United States, from the White House, all of that serves as a model for other countries that are leaning in that non democratic direction.
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So what are the report's recommendations to counter the decline of democracy? What can be done?
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Again, it really depends on context. But what we've seen for many years now as sort of a constant source of hope is that scores in what we call the category of participation remain either stable or declines are much less than in other categories. And what that tells us is that people continue to demand democracy. They might not be satisfied with the way it plays out in their context, but they continue to prefer it to any other model of governance. And so people's demand and watchdog capability, their willingness to come out on the streets, sometimes even in dangerous situations, and continue to say something, provides hope that democracy is still the preferred option. So in terms of recommendations, we recommend that countries provide support or donors provide support for pro democracy organizations and individuals in authoritarian leaning countries, but also in countries that you wouldn't necessarily classify as authoritarian leaning, but which are just starting to show the signs of backsliding. Also there's places where you see, you know, countries are very high performing, but you see declines starting. And what we also say is that even if you are considered high performing, if you start to see declines, the time to take action is immediately so that you don't end up in a situation where things are deteriorating then so quickly that you can't do anything.
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I mean, it's not all bleak though. What's driving the progress in, in Botswana, in South Africa and in Chile.
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So in Chile there is this landmark piece of legislation on the table which provides really far reaching protections for journalists and other members of what's called the communications field, as well as their families. And there's a new definition of aggression in that bill which goes beyond just physical aggression to include things like digital harassment or surveillance. So if that gets passed, it will really be landmark in terms of protection for the press, respect for journalists. And in other places, what we see is that despite declines in what we call credible election scores, which I think is, if I recall correctly, is the second highest factor to decline in the data set, despite those declines, elections still serve as landmark sort of levers of power, milestones, levers of power, both symbolically and practically. So what we saw in Botswana and South Africa is that after an election like that, you saw a turnover of power in South Africa, certainly milestone because it was the first time the ANC was put on its back foot. But also in Botswana, turnover, historical turnover of power. And what that does is provide space for new ideas and new people in power. You know, it provides more space for innovation, which is important for democratic growth. And that's what we've seen in both places.
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Seema, thank you very much indeed. That's Seema Shah, who's head of Democracy Assessment at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm. Now, still to come on the programme.
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I think tonight proves that if you.
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Listen and you focus and you step out your comfort zone, you can achieve, achieve, you can achieve anything in life.
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I'll take you to the Emmys, TV's biggest night of the year, and ask if what we're watching on the small screen reflects the zeitgeist. This is the globalist.
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Craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS Houseview, you get the big picture in bite sized articles delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts, all focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. UBS banking is our craft.
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Let's continue now with today's top newspapers and joining me in the studio is author and political journalist Terry Stiastheny. Good morning to you, Terry. Good morning, Terry. Let's start off with right here in Britain because the UK is planning the biggest security operation since the coronation for Donald Trump's state visit, which begins, I believe, tomorrow.
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That's right. You know, this is going to be a big story, obviously in the UK this week and there's lots of coverage at the moment about all the preparations. And the New York Times is looking particularly at the security operation and has heard a bit more about what you don't normally hear about these kinds of things. I mean, obviously always when you get a state visit, particularly of a US president, there are huge, you know, security operations. They ship in their own cars, you know, you have big limos, you have all sorts of security. But apparently, according to experts saying that after the shooting of Charlie Kirk and in the attempted shooting of Donald Trump, they are really, you know, having to make sure that these security preparations are absolutely watertight, in particular in Windsor, you know, Windsor Castle, where, where he's going to be because Donald Trump is not really spending much time in London. They've got, you know, police Marksman snipers, restricting the airspace, which I'm not quite sure how they're going to do that because it's right next to Heathrow Airport. So that's going to be an interesting one. But, you know, obviously there, everybody is on, on very high alert for that. You know, even though Donald Trump is not going to spend, spend much time meeting any of the public in Britain, he's going to spend most of his time within either very secure places like Windsor Castle, where the King is, or Chequers, where the Prime Minister's country home is.
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And we understand a lot of his shuffling between places will now take place by helicopter because it's just deemed too unsafe to have him on the ground. And also, one presumes, as you say, he's not meeting the public and this is an attempt to keep him away from people who would protest.
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Yes, I mean, that's interesting. I mean, some of the BBC coverage this morning describes it as, as Trump's coming to Britain. He'll get a spectacular royal welcome, but no cheering crowd. So they've planned lots of things where, for instance, he will go on a carriage ride with the King through Windsor. He will. There'll be, of course, big state banquet with all sorts of dignitaries and, you know, describing in this article saying the nearest thing to the public that the President will see will be the staff working at the banquet.
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Yeah, well, of course, I mean, it's a huge, huge operation by the UK to get what Britain needs economically. So these are big deals. He's bringing along with him some top people from the world of AI and finance, and it's a very difficult position for the British government, luckily on recess, so that Trump does not address the Parliament, which would have been difficult. So tell us about some of the people that are coming with him and the deals that Britain hopes to make by being awfully, awfully nice to Mr. Trump.
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Yes, I mean, we've already got an announcement this morning about plans for nuclear reactors and things like that, but according to Politico this morning, so the group of technology heavyweights in Trump's entourage includes the Nvidia boss, Jensen Huang, who's hosting a party in King's Cross, Sam Altman from OpenAI, Steven Schwarzman from Blackstone, and there's, I think there's reports that Tim Cook might be coming as well. You know, there is a lot of stress on, you know, trying to reduce tariffs, on trying to get deals, on the use of AI and the use of technology. And, you know, the British Government, government is really hoping to get something out of this because it's quite high risk, you know, particularly after the sacking of Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador last week and, and discussions about, you know, his connections with, with Jeffrey Epstein and so on. Having Donald Trump here is going to mean lots of awkward questions from journalists in as far as journalists get to, to, to speak to the President and the Prime Minister. So, you know, they are hoping to kind of outweigh this with, you know, this is, this is why good deals with America are important for us.
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Well, of course, the sacking of Mandelson has put Keir Starmer difficult position. He lost his Deputy Prime Minister just last week and now this has happened, it's going to be hard to avoid the discussion that the UK Ambassador to the US has been sacked for the very same crime of which we're told Donald Trump is also guilty.
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Well, exactly. I mean, there's a lot of coverage this morning, particularly in the Guardian, amongst others, saying, you know, just how much trouble Keir Starmer is in at the moment. You know, there were big far right protests in London at the weekend. You had Elon Musk intervening in a sort of threatening violence essentially. And Keir Starmer has seen to be quite on the back foot. You know, there have been a lot of questions asked, particularly by the Conservatives about how much did he vet Peter Mandelson, how much did he know about his connections with Jeffrey Epstein even after he had been arrested and charged. And he seemed to be just be a bit slow to react to the extent that, you know, labor mps appear to be talking about. Is he up to the job of Prime Minister? You know, should we give him till May next year when the Scottish and Welsh and other local elections and, and you know, is he possibly on the way out, which is really surprising given what a massive majority he won just over a year ago.
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I think it's gonna be very interesting to watch what happens over the next couple of days during this Trump visit, particularly if they hold a joint press conference, which Trump likes to do. And he freewheels on that.
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G
He freewheels. I mean, that is exactly the problem is that Donald Trump can be so random. And British journalists, compared to what he's used to getting, can ask some really hard questions. You know, if there's a question from a journalist about, you know, what are your connections with Jeffrey Epstein, you know, when, you know that is going to be hard for both of them to answer in a, in a diplomatic way.
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B
Let's move on to Estonia because the Prime Minister there has said that Russia is a threat to all countries. This was a big report in the Sunday Times this week.
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Yes, I think this is a really interesting interview with Kristen Michel and you know, as you would expect from the Prime Minister of a Baltic state, he's saying, you know, it's really important that we need to have joint procurement, we need to fund Ukraine, we need to defend, you know, his country and other countries like him, particularly given, you know, the incursions across territory, other countries territories at the moment and you know, in over Poland and Estonian airspace as well. He was saying. But I think one of the interesting points that he makes here in this interview is he says it's not only the immediate threat from Russia to threatening its neighbors. He's saying even if there were a peace deal or what he calls a frozen conflict situation in Ukraine, all the demobilized Russian soldiers could cause instability far beyond Europe. He's saying Russia has more men under arms than before the war. They're getting higher salaries, they have fighting capabilities, some of them are criminals and they have to be treated as heroes. And he's suggesting that they might end up like the Wagner group going back into other countries to sort of ferment trouble there as well. And I think we haven't really, really thought very much about particularly what that means for Russia either at home in terms if you've got a lot of sort of disillusioned ex service people or internationally. And so I think it's just one of these other sort of threats around that we need to think about.
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B
Absolutely. Well, finally, let's have a look at parliamentary pets.
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Yes. Okay, so Britain, British prime ministers may come and British prime ministers go, but one person stays in one or not person stays in Downing street. And that is Larry the cat.
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B
I would argue Larry is a person.
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Is it? Well, possibly as a personality certainly. And there is a new book out about sort of prime ministerial and other parliamentary pets. But it's just, I've just did a bit of the maths here. Larry the cat has seen, seen off six Prime Minister not seen off six. But he'd been there for six prime ministers and three dogs. And, and so everybody has spoken to, to Peter Cardwell for his new book People from Sue Gray, Keir Starmer, Boris Johnson and Boris Johnson tells us and David Cameron who brought Larry the CA into government. 11 Former minister says Larry's the most miserable animal you'll ever meet in your life. Boris Johnson says that the cat basically took on his dog Dylan and, and attacked him and saw the dog off. So, you know, it's just, it's fascinating and it's interesting. They're saying prime ministers whenever they may, you know, they won't get, he won't get to meet Donald Trump on, on this visit. But Larry seems to meet every dignitary that comes and most of them, they're quite impressed to be at Downing street, but they're even more impressed to meet Larry.
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B
Absolutely. Terry, thank you very much indeed. That is Terry Stasthony there. And Terry, you have your own book out.
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G
I do, yes. It's called Believable Lies and it's about World War II fake news and disinformation and British propaganda.
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B
Well, I mean, could not be more relevant, really. Teres d', Asny, thank you. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Romania scrambled fighter jets on Saturday after a Russian drone breached its airspace during an attack on Ukraine, briefly flying 10km inside NATO territory before leaving. Poland also deployed aircraft and shut an airport in Lublin after a drone threat. While NATO pledged to bolster its eastern defences, US President Donald Trump says he's prepared to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, but only if NATO members members first stop buying Russian oil. He also pressed the alliance to impose steep tariffs on China, arguing it would undercut Moscow's power. And China's industrial output growth slowed to its weakest pace in a year in August, while retail sales slipped to a nine month low. The figures underline the drag from weak domestic demand and a deepening property slump, increasing pressure on Beijing to step up stimulus. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. It is 8:30 in Warsaw, 7:30 here in London. Poland's president Karel Noski, who's been in office since Aug. 6, has made Washington his first foreign stop. His White House meeting with Donald Trump bypassed his own government and diplomats, but delivered a pledge of continued US Military support. PORT Poland operates under a cohabitation system. The government, led by Donald Tusk, runs daily policy, while the president has limited but symbolic powers, such as the ability to veto laws and shape some foreign policy. So what does this mean for Poland's divided politics and for the country's security, particularly after Russian drones struck its territory last week? Well, to find out more, I'm joined now by Alex Szczerbiak, author of the Polish Politics blog. Alex, thank you very much for coming. Coming on the show, what message was Novrotsky sending by cutting the Foreign Ministry and embassy out of the visit completely?
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C
Well, in Poland, whatever the particular view, people may have of individual presidents and whatever view they may have of the need for Europe to develop a separate defense identity, there's a very broad political consensus and public consensus that the United States is Poland's key military security guarantor. It's, it's, it's only credible military security guarantor. But beyond that, the different political forces try and compete with each other for who's the most effective at developing those relations. And Mr. Navrotsky, during the presidential election campaign tried to make great play of the fact that he has a very close personal ideological relationship with Donald Trump. And he's tried to contrast this with the government, who have very little diplomatic chemistry with the Trump administration. Donald Tusk, for example, at one point described Donald Trump as a Russian military security asset. And as part of a very active attempt to progress a very assertive presidency, Mr. Navrotsky made his first visit to Washington to very much try and put the government on the back foot and to try and carve out and burnish his credentials as the person who's the best, best placed to develop that transatlantic relationship.
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B
And how much power does he actually have to push back against Tusk?
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C
Well, the day to day governance of Poland is the responsibility of the government, as indeed is foreign policy. It's a very constitutionally limited presidency. Its main power is this legislative veto, as you said, which obviously isn't a foreign policy competency. But beyond that, I think the president can make a symbolic impact.
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B
Impact.
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C
And in international politics, symbolism is very, very important. And this is particularly true in terms of foreign policy and security policy. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, which means that what they say on security policy has a particular purchase. And although the government says that Mr. Nawarotsky's role is simply to be its spokesman when he goes abroad, to simply say whatever the government's policy is, he has a much more expansive view of this. He believes that the representative role of president is actually much broader. And therefore, in something like transatlantic relations, he actually needs to be much more active and to push this forward much more. And the fact that he has this huge electoral mandate, more people voted for Mr. Norotsky than any other politician in Poland in what was a record turnout in a Polish presidential election, means that he can speak with an authority with a strong electoral mandate, which actually goes way beyond what is his formal constitutional position.
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B
I mean, he has that mandate, but is his support at home now tied to how close he stays to Trump? Is it a big risk that the foreign policy leans too heavily on Trump's agenda.
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C
It is indeed. And I think that it's a double edged sword for Mr. Navarrosky because on the one hand, he gets the kudos from being the man who is best placed to develop relations with the Trump administration, which, as I say, is something that, you know, pretty much all polls are in favor of because they want close relations with the US Whatever they think of the president. On the other hand, if he's tied too tightly to Mr. Trump, then obviously he will take, might take responsibility for things that Donald Trump does that aren't particularly popular in Poland. So, for example, if a peace settlement emerges in Ukraine, which isn't felt to be in Poland's interest, and I think we saw an example of this just last week with the drone incursions in Poland, where Donald Trump was quite slow to react to that. And what he said was kind of quite ambiguous. I mean, he didn't obviously attempt to defend it in any way and said it was very, very serious. But at one point he suggested that it might have been an accident. It wasn't necessarily deliberate, which is obviously not what the Polish government's line was. So I think that's the risk for Mr. Nevarotsky. Obviously, he gets huge political kudos from being the man who looks best placed to develop the transatlantic relationship. On the other hand, by being tied closely to Mr. Trump, he also has to take responsibility, political responsibility, for things that he does that might not be so popular in Poland.
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B
There are around 8,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Poland. What does Trump's play of continued support, which Navarrozzi managed to get out of him, and a possible increase of those numbers mean for Poland's defense? Well, and for Novrotsky's image, it's hugely significant.
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C
I mean, I think that Mr. Novrotsky's opponents wanted to simply portray this as a kind of photo opportunity. The trip to Washington without any substance to it, and the fact that he was able to get this firm commitment to maintain the US Military presence in Poland, indeed possibly even to increase it, I think this was a huge political triumph for Mr. Navrotsky and something even that the government has had to acknowledge. Although their argument, of course, is that this is due to the fact that Poland is spending a lot on defense and that all of this is going on US contracts. It's not Mr. Novrotsky's gain personally, but I think the reason it's so important is because Poland feels that the bigger the US Military presence is in Poland, the more likely it is to deter any incursions. Into Polish territory. Having an Article 5 NATO guarantee of collective defence on paper is one thing. It's another thing having troops in your country, which if there are military incursions into Poland, means that those who make those incursions, Russia, will find themselves in direct conflict with the United States military, which obviously means that there would be therefore much more substance behind the NATO and US Security guarantees. So that's why this is so important and that's why this pledge that Mr. Trump gave at that meeting was so politically significant as such a big political plus for Mr. Navarrosky.
- [38:25]
B
Alex, thank you very much indeed. That's Alex Szczec, author of the Polish Politics blog. This is Monocle Radio. Dubai Opera is celebrating almost a decade at the heart of the city's cultural life. Under the leadership of Paolo Petrocelli, the opera has become more than a stage for music and performance. It's now a meeting place for art, diplomacy and ideas. From hosting La Scala during COP28 to bringing together artists from Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, the Opera has positioned itself as part of the UAE's broad, broader soft power strategy. Monocle's Gulf correspondent Inzamin Rashid spoke to Petrocelli, a former cultural advisor to UNESCO, and began by asking how important Dubai Opera is to the culture of the city.
- [39:26]
D
Dubai Opera definitely contributed to the making of the cultural identity of the city of Dubai. You know, over Almost the last 10 years, because Dubai Opera started in 2016, we have definitely not made such a huge impact in the community. Not only just because, of course, we are the main source of shows and entertainment, if you want, along with other, of course, major venues like Coca Colarina, but mostly because of the engagement that we have facilitated in the community at every level in terms of, you know, the thousands and thousands of people that have been attending our show, shows contribution to the development also of local talents, the engagement of partners, the private sector, the public sector, the diplomatic network. So yes, Dubai Opera is an incredible piece of the city of Dubai and it's serving definitely as one of the main platform for not only cultural initiatives, but for social engagement.
- [40:27]
H
And this is the thing you brought so many incredible shows to, to the opera stage here. Would you go through some of those kind of big highlight shows that, that have been played out here over the last nine years and the significance that kind of bringing some of those big shows to a place like Dubai brings, right?
- [40:46]
D
Well, first of all, Dubai Opera is actually a performing arts center and there are very few of this kind around the world. Meaning that, you know, we cover the entire spectrum of the performing arts. So every year we try to cover, cover all the major artistic languages, not just from the Western culture, but actually globally. And of course we have also strong focus on Arabic music. So every year you have no pro. Ballet, dance, contemporary dance, musicals, pop, rock, jazz, Arabic music, film music, you name it. Every year is a journey through the major artistic languages of the world. And over the last nine years, definitely we have promoted some of the most important titles in operas. All the big operas from Turandot, Bohem. Same applies for the classical ballets. There's one Lake Nutcracker and all the others, all the major big classical ballet, then also symphonic and chamber music. We have hosted so many international symphonic orchestras, chamber music ensembles and classical music soloists. And this is for the more traditional part of the repertoire. But, but then we have been presenting every year at least one, if not two major West End or Broadway musicals. We have presented again, all the major title, just to mention of course, Phantom of the Opera. Last year we have presented Singing in the Rain. And every year we see so many different generation attending these shows.
- [42:17]
H
Can you give us an example where the kind of people that you've had and host here at Dubai Opera on that kind of political stage, or has there been, you know, a kind of quiet backstage political handshake between two nations.
- [42:33]
D
Or something like that?
- [42:34]
H
Is that the kind of institution you also aspire to be?
- [42:38]
D
What we want to do is to facilitate opportunities of dialogue between, you know, our artists, our audience. And this hopefully will reach also in the community on Dubai and beyond. Just a couple of examples. You know, over the last few years, for instance, during the COP28, the big conference that was happening here in Dubai, we hosted a very meaningful concert with the La Scala Orchestra from Milan coming for the first time to the UAE to make a gala concert which was attended by the Prime Minister of Italy, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Prime Minister of South Africa, the Minister of Culture of the uae, His Highness the Ruler of Ra Al Khaimah. So it was this really, you know, high level representatives with the full audience of 2000 people. It was just an incredible, you know, moment to celebrate culture and arts during this international conference.
- [43:40]
H
Obviously the uae, I think, pride itself, itself in, in kind of being a bit of a peacemaker, particularly in the times that we currently face, you know, politically. And it kind of wears a, a very kind of diplomatic hat when it comes to trying to create peace. How do you think the Opera House, Dubai Opera kind of can integrate itself into that kind of political peace, bringing diplomacy Kind of role that the UAE really holds quite dear to its heart.
- [44:13]
D
Absolutely. We are already, I will say, playing our part and hopefully we will do more and more. If you look at the last nine years of programming, you will realize that so many artists coming from so many different countries of the world that performed here, from Armenia, Aerbjan, Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Israel every really we have been, you know, offering an opportunity to so many different talents and artists to come here and showcase, you know, their artistic traditions here at Dubai Opera. Hopefully this will happen more and more. I remember that before the tragic events in Palestine, we were planning to do a great gala concert with Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra playing a gala concert with a cast made by Arabs, Palestinians and Jews. And all together they were going to celebrate the arts and music. So we are going in that direction. Of course. We are, you know, part of much bigger phenomenons and events that definitely also make an impact on our decisions. But this is the spirit of Dubai Opera as a very open and multicultural space and definitely it's our mission to reflect the spirit of Dubai itself.
- [45:34]
B
That was Paolo Petrocelli, head of Dubai Opera, speaking to Monocle's Gulf correspondent Inzamin Rashid. And this is the Globalist on Monocle Radio.
- [45:48]
A
There's a craft to every question, which is why? At UBS we query every aspect of the market, working with specialized experts and award winning research teams covering over 3500 stocks in 50 countries, all delivered in a comprehensive library, answering what you want with what you need. UBS Banking is our craft.
- [46:20]
G
Foreign.
- [46:24]
B
45 here in London and we're going to take you above the clouds for a roundup from the turbulent world of aviation with industry analyst Sally Gethin. Sally, good morning to you.
- [46:35]
I
Morning.
- [46:36]
B
Exciting news from Emirates as they expand their operation further into China. Tell us more.
- [46:43]
I
Yes. So Emirates, which is always on the front foot when it comes to pioneering and developing excellent passenger experience and destinations, is expanding its remit into China, going to Hangzhou. And the interesting thing about this is that it's going to replace the aircraft which it recently operates on this route with the A350. And the A350 will introduce a much higher quality of experience in the actual cabin because it will be line fit, which means it will be pre installed from the factory as a brand new aircraft with this new cabin compared to the B777 which is retrofit. There are certain advantages with being line fit, but it does mean that the first class cabin will be done away with with for this new A350. But it will expand premium economy. So there are fewer seats altogether, but there's more premium economy as well. Yeah, so there's more premium economy for the first time.
- [48:01]
B
And why Hangzhou? What's the attraction of that city?
- [48:06]
I
Well, it hits to a major sweet spot really because it's a tech hub and it's got a great business demographic for the Emirates passenger profile, but also it's a UNESCO heritage site. So it's a very beautiful destination for tourism as well. So. Yes, but we see China, the China market becoming increasingly competitive now. And China itself has developed its own aircraft too. The aerospace market is on a, you know, a rapid drive in China too. So a lot more activity in the region than ever before.
- [48:55]
B
So tell us now about Qantas, because they're launching the first A220 international service.
- [49:02]
I
Yes. And again, another story of, well, in this case more regional expansion. I mean, I say regional, but of course it's a vast tract of the Pacific area. But yes. So this will be starting international service between Brisbane and Wellington in New Zealand. And it uses again a new aircraft, a totally different type to Emirates, a much smaller, smaller one. It's the A220, which is regarded as a really efficient aircraft. It was an aircraft at the time actually acquired from Bombardier in the past, but now it's really become much more standardized. It's been produced by Airbus and it's a very attractive airplane. And this just adds capacity to that region. And really it shows that Qantas is so again, so determined to expand its reach and tap into so much more demand on what's called the Trans Tasman route.
- [50:19]
B
I want to go to the US now because the CEO of Southwest has been talking about expanding into Europe.
- [50:27]
I
Yes, this is a little bit on, excuse the Pearl Wing and the prayer at this moment, really, because it's all talk. But it was chatter that was picked up at an industry conference which are very good places from my experience in eliciting the inside thoughts of major airlines when the CEOs go there to talk. And so the CEO has been vocalizing ideas about increasing outside the United States. And therefore that would change things exponentially. It would mean they would look to a different aircraft type. Up till now they've always been the B737 might need to choose a different long range aircraft type like the A321XLR. But also, what's interesting, Southwest also rethinking its customer service in this way. So obviously we associate it with the granddaddy of all low cost carriers starting in the United States, but actually it's looking at a more premium product. Airline lounges going full circle, really in the market. It, it came in and broke ground with being the first low cost carrier. And now after beating, after the full service carriers have gone, have cut back and reduced some of their frills. Now the original low cost carrier is morphing into the very thing it set out to defeat. It's quite ironic in some ways.
- [52:05]
B
Sally, just to end, I want to quickly have a look at something that happened 85 years years ago today. Tell us about the Battle of Britain and what your connection to it is.
- [52:16]
I
Oh yes, this is so incredible, really. The 15th of September is the day annually that Britain at least remembers the Battle of Britain. It is a day when it was considered that the battle would be won against the enemy during the Second World War. And, and it calls to mind the famous Winston Churchill speech of the few, the pilots who risked their all in the skies. And actually it also includes not just what we call fighter command, but the bomber crews as well. Almost 1,500 pilots lost their lives in this battle. And I'm very proud to say that I was commissioned by BBC Radio Wales to. It airs today a program called Welsh Dragons at the Battle of Britain which looks at the Welsh contribution. Because we need to remember that there were around six, well above 16 nationalities that actually fought in the Battle of Britain. It was an international campaign with crews from the Commonwealth Europe and all in other countries. But also we need to think about the contribution of the nations within the UK as well. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We need to think of all of them, not just, you know, obviously all the crews, including the English, gave their all. But this program that I've produced, it aired this evening on BBC Radio Wales at 6:30pm British time, talks about the Welsh contribution and delves into the inside stories which are obviously tragic in some cases. And also to look at the role of women who also.
- [54:05]
B
Excellent stuff. Yeah. Sally, thank you very much. Much indeed. That's Sally Gethen there. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now, the television industry's most prestigious award ceremony took place at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles last night. And to discuss it, I'm joined by film, TV and culture critic Ashanti Omkar, who was watching, watching very closely. Ashanti, late night.
- [54:37]
J
Oh, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. An exciting, exciting time.
- [54:41]
B
So what was most exciting? Who, who were the big winners?
- [54:45]
J
Well, in this instance, you know, for me it's adolescence that's been the biggest winner, even though it won out of the 13 nominations, it won eight. But it is the biggest winner in terms of impact. The, the series had such a big impact on the whole globe. You know, Erin Doherty winning for this, Stephen Graham winning two awards for this. Owen Cooper being only 15 years old, first time actor winning honor, honor series where they actually had, you know, one take every time he had to do what he had to do in just one take. And it's just absolutely brilliant. Philip Barantini, the director of this, also has won, which feels, feels really great. And the studio winning. It was Seth Rogen's time and his time has come, you know, and that winning through 13 awards there and it had so many nominations and to have won those 13 awards feels great. The Penguin winning nine out of all those Emmys also is wonderful to see a Batman, kind of a spin off from Batman, which is always very dark. But to see something that's been so meticulously made, doing so well, Severance winning eight. There also is a great result. The Pit, which hadn't been shown to the UK viewers, has won five. And andor winning five, which was shot in the UK largely, is also a good look for the Emmys. I feel like they've captured a lot of diversity this year. And Tramell Tillman winning for Severance. He's the first black man to win supporting drama actor. So this all all feels really great.
- [56:19]
B
New host this year. How did he do?
- [56:22]
J
I feel like he really, he really captured what he needed to capture. It was good to have some, somebody who knows the industry, who is an insider in so many ways and he did a great job.
- [56:34]
B
Now when we look at what's really striking a chord with us, the most popular shows, the things that people are watching globally, would you say that there's a theme and does that reflect the zeitgeist at all? I mean, for instance, I see a lot of science fiction coming up.
- [56:50]
J
Yes, well, with science fiction in the list of big wins this time around, there hasn't been too much science fiction. I guess we can say that Severance falls into, into that sci fi category and Ando, of course, falls into that because it comes from the Star wars universe. Yes, that is something that people are thinking about. This is the digital age. We're living in that age. That AI is also, you know, impactful and we're looking at how, you know, these big companies can, you know, are they've already taken over the world, how, how are they impacting human beings? And Severance, I guess, is capturing that in a big way. But when you look at this. You're looking at something like adolescence, which is a very human story. It just captures what. And again, though, we are looking at the dark web, how the dark web is impacting young people. That's something that it captures. So there are these ties, as you mentioned, quite rightly so.
- [57:45]
B
And of course, we've got to talk about the frocks. Tell us about the best red carpet looks.
- [57:50]
J
Oh, my gosh. I have to say that I can't pick one out of out of all of those beautiful dresses. Everybody shows up fully well dressed. It's almost like Met Gala level of dressing that people put on because this is where the awards season really begins. And it begins with the Emmys. And now we'll continue all the way to the Oscars. So here we are in a very good place. People will be trying to. Trying to dress better and better as the days go on. I guess Jenna Ortega and Pedro Pascal are two that we can cite. And Sydney Sweeney was looking gorgeous in that red dress.
- [58:30]
B
Thank you so much, Ashanti. That's a lovely roundup there from the Emmys, which took place in LA last night. Ashanti Omkar there. And that's all we have time for today. Thanks to our producers Carlotta Rebelo, Tom Webb and Hassan Anderson, our researcher, Daniela Brauer Smith, and our studio manager, Mariella Bevan. After the headlines, there's more music on the way and the briefing is live at midday in London. The Globalist returns at the same time tomorrow. And in between lots and lots of sharp programming, we do encourage you to tune in live, but also to have a browse through our archives when you'll find something on almost every subject to entertain you. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thank you for listening.