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Craft matters in small ways like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft.
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You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 6th February 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is the Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up, the US And Iran are holding talks, but where are the points in common? We'll assess the hopes for today's discussions in Oman. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes, Thailand goes to the polls. This weekend we'll hear about a three way battle for power.
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Plus, if we allow that things like the Kosovo Metokia issue can be spread through the world, then we should have splitting the countries into the small ones and this is not a functional international position.
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Serbia's Prime Minister Djuro Matsut on his country's relationship with Kosovo. We'll also find out why the Taiwanese government is issuing guidelines to cope with your k pop obsessions.
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And we learned this week of an intriguing new angle to American exceptionalism.
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B
Andrew Muller will help us with what we've learned this week. Plus the papers and why Japan is limiting numbers for cherry blossom season. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in today's news. Parliament in Venezuela has given initial approval to legislation that would grant amnesty to people jailed for opposing the former president Nicolas Maduro. Norwegian police are investigating the former prime minister Thorbjorn Jaglund over his past ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey EPSTEIN. And the U.S. embassy in Poland says it's cutting contact with the country's parliamentary speaker after he criticized President Trump's policy and said he didn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But where is the starting point for today's talks between the US And Iran? In terms of positive points of encouragement, there are precious few. In terms of examples of hard power, there is rather more. We have Donald Trump's armada of warships in the region and the promise by Iran to retaliate. At the heart of it is Iran's nuclear program and Washington's efforts to put an end to it. Well, I'm joined now by Bunua Foucault, who's a Middle east correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Jo us live from Muscat in Oman, which is where the talks are taking place. Very good morning to you, Bunua.
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E
Morning. Thank you for having me.
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B
This, these talks almost didn't have happened because of an argument over the location, is that correct?
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E
Yeah, I mean there's been actually multiple, you know, hurdles. The first one was when Iran forces basically harassed US flagship and then subsequently one of their drones was shot down by US forces. So there were already tensions. And then the very same day Iran said, well, we, we don't trust Turkey enough, we want to do it in Oman. But also we want to focus only on nuclear, we don't have, we also don't want to have, you know, a number of other countries joining to discuss other matters like, you know, missiles and our Middle east allies. You know, so there were a number of complications and now it's narrowed. It's basically only the US and Iran discussing the nuclear program. That's, that's basically what Iran agreed to, but we're not sure the US has agreed to that. I think the US wants to speak to about other matters like missiles.
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B
So where do you think that the, any point in common will be?
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E
Well, that's, that's, so there is room for, you know, concessions on the Iranian side that are easy to provide. For instance, you know, commit to temporarily pose their nuclear enrichment. It's not a very difficult commitment because they can't do it anyway right now because of the damage on their facilities. So that's one example. Another typical possible outcome is just a general pact of non aggression where each side commits not to attack each other and Iran commits not to attack. Israel and US recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran. And finally Iran recognizes and commits not to develop nuclear weapons. So you can have very low threshold agreements that don't resolve long term issues, but at least put a pause potentially on the escalation.
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B
Tell us more about who's going to be in the room and what kind of influence people will have over each other. There have been warnings that Iran, if Steve Witkoff special Envoy will be in the room. There have been criticisms that he will be tricked, just as he was with interactions with the Russians and with Vladimir Putin in particular. The question I suppose I'm asking is who has the upper hand around the table.
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E
Something has changed in terms of the team structure. Is true it was basically generally just him, but just him dealing with Gaza, Ukraine, Iran last year and very often on his own. This time it's actually a big team. Right. He's got Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, who sort of became more and more involved in recent months. He's got Brad Cooper, who is the head of the Central Command in the US Also joining. So it's a much bigger, a much bigger team and lots of heavyweights here joining him. So that's what was very different from last year.
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B
What is also different as well is Iran's domestic situation. And there is a sense, isn't there, that the uprising and the brutal crackdown that Iran experienced in the last month adds a completely different dimension to what Iran wants out of these talks?
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E
Yeah, so that is true. There's been two key elements have changed the calculus entirely from the last time there were talks in May last year. So one was the devastation inflicted by the Israeli strikes and later US Strikes on the missile program and the nuclear program. And subsequently from last month, pretty much the massacre of protesters, which obviously provoked an outcry in the US and sort of makes it basically potentially would force Iran to make more concessions and make concessions on other matters beyond the normal nuclear and missile size. The US has raised really the issue of human rights. At the same time, you could argue that a potential calculus for the leadership is that war could be helpful to put all these issues on the lead. But that's obviously a very dangerous calculation because that could also destabilize further the regime and just the country.
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B
And indeed, it would draw other nations into this conflict as well. How important is it for this region that these talks succeed? And what would various players want as an outcome?
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E
I mean, yeah, I would say for the immediate region, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, in that case, for, you know, for Oman. But let's say, you know, monarchies in the region, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, you know, and to a certain degree, they're less involved. The uae, you know, yes. The calculus is they don't want war because there will be immediate retaliation on the ground. And I could also mention potentially, you know, Iraq and Turkey being, you know, in that same situation. So they don't want conflict that would basically, you know, boomerang back into, on their territory. That's for sure. They do want to have Iran under control, especially on this, not just actually on its nuclear issue, but really on its, on its proxies like the Houthis and on its missile program. Israel is in a different place. They've got obviously huge ambitions about how, you know, things could change in Iran. First obviously diminish its missile and military capabilities further and then potentially have regime change. There's a lot of connection, there are a lot of connection between the son of the former Shah Pahlavi and the and Israeli circle. So they would favor an attack but maybe the issue for them is really the timing. Right. They need to be ready to.
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So tell us, gaze into Crystal Balban. We're a few hours ahead. What do you think the message will be at the conclusion of this? There is a desire for the, for Iran to return to the table with a nuclear deal, to pledge that it does not continue any development of anything that could help it make a nuclear weapon. But at the same time, is there just a feeling, a very practical and pragmatic feeling that a de escalation of tensions is something that everybody might be happy with by the end of today?
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E
Oh, this escalation is, I think that's the best that has to be expected, right? No, no breakthrough, you know, no fundamental breakthrough. But yes, at least, you know, a framework for further discussions that means, you know, you've got enough to choose to say, okay, we stop war for now. So that is really the best outcome. And obviously that would include to be taken seriously a commitment to meet soon again. The other risk is really that the US come with maximalist demand which is very similar to pretty much what they've said all along, which is we want discussion not just on nuclear file, but on missiles, on, on your allies and potentially also on, you know, on human rights. Now if the US comes with that agenda and say that it's, you know, there's no discussion around it, then it's quite possible it would just collapse immediately.
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Middle east correspondent for the Wall Street Journal joining us on the line there from Muscat. Thank you very much indeed. And for more about the rising tensions between the US and Iran, the latest developments in Tehran and the future of the Iranian reg, be sure to catch tomorrow's new edition of the Foreign Desk which premieres at midday London time right here on Monocle Radio. It's 1411 in Bangkok, 711 here in London. Now this weekend Thailand holds elections. They're being seen as a three way contest between the country's progressive, populist and conservative groups. To tell us more, I'm joined from Bangkok by Titanan Pong Sudarak who's professor of Political science and International relations at Chennai Longor University. A very good afternoon to you, Tisanena.
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F
Good afternoon everyone.
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B
So to have to have three very different voices trying to win an election in Thailand what's, what's the race looking like this weekend?
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F
Well, it's very ominous. Ominous and I would say precarious. You know, we've had a number of elections before and they've been subverted, manipulated. So there's a bit of a, a concern, a fear, a deja vu that we might see something like this again this weekend on Sunday. I mean it's a, it's a three, three horse race but it's a multi party contest apart from the, the three main parties. Khum Jai Thai, the incumbent minority government party, conservative, as you mentioned, p Thai populace all along founded by Thaksin Chinnawat who is now in jail for corruption. And then the, the third New Party, the newest kid on the block would be this People's Party, the successor to the Future Forward which was dissolved and Move Forward also dissolved. So the People's Party is seen as progressive. The base, very young. A lot of young Thai see that they don't have a good future in this country. Thailand is falling behind, it's diminished. So they want their country back. So that's the main contest. But we've seen this before in 2023 and this weekend I think we're a little bit anxious because in 2023 the young party, the new party that moved forward before the People's Party won the election. It was formed in 2018, 2023 won the election, the largest winner, but it was dissolved and its leader was banned. So people are afraid that if this happens again, if the People's Party wins again, the same thing could happen.
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B
Indeed. Because when Move Forward won, they campaigned on a promise of political reform, economic reform and also diminishing the power of the military and also looking at the notorious Les Majesty laws. But none of this happened because of the way that the conservatives managed to position them out.
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F
Correct? I mean the, you know, the way that the system is set up and all kinds of entrapments and mechanisms to manipulate and slice and shape the outcome the way that the conservatives want to. So in Thailand, Emma, if you can believe it, I see a kind of a two and a half steps process. There's an election, yes. Voters get to choose. Yes. But the results, the voting results afterwards are shaped and manipulated and molded to the preferences of the establishment by these agencies like the Constitutional Court that they solve Move Forward, for example, and the election commission. So you know, the vote is one thing, what happens to the vote is something else. And if the vote is overwhelming, let's say People's Party win by a lot is undeniable they might be allowed to take office for a short time. This happened to the Thaksin parties in 2008 and also the 20111213 by 2006 in 2014 there was a military coup. In 2008 there was a judicial dissolution of the taxing party. So just because they win you can also be derailed after taking office in a short time.
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B
So what does that mean for voter apathy or enthusiasm?
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F
Yeah, it's a good question. I mean we've gone through this cycle of instability and economic malaise and people vote and it doesn't count because the people, the party they vote for gets dissolved and in the process they get disenfranchised. But I think because a lot of this people's party base is still young, some of them are exhausted, I mean they're kind of disillusioned. But at the same time their future is at stake. For young people, I mean older people, they can get tired and go home and stay home. But for young people they got a lot of years ahead. So if the country has no future, I think that they still would go to the polls. We saw from early election last Sunday turnout was very robust, a lot of young faces. So this Sunday I wouldn't be surprised it turned out it's equally healthy and strong. I mean we had 75% last time in 2023 so I think the turnout will be around that range this time.
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B
And how enthusiastic do we believe that young people's vote, you know, desire to vote is going to be? Given the fact that if you live in Bangkok and you're young, there is a possibility that you'll make a good living to yourself. But rural Thailand is experiencing a severe brain drain at the moment and the low paid jobs are now being transferred to Vietnam in many cases.
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F
That's correct. I mean not just young people in Bangkok, even young people in Bangkok not getting good jobs, you know, they a lot of service, low paying service jobs. And I mean a lot of my students for example, I've been at the university for more than 30 years. I can really see the trend that they are a little bit anxious about what's going to happen after they graduate. So Thailand has been, you know, a laggard. It's been diminishing and kind of stagnating. The economy expand below 2% being out competed by Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, even Philippines. So I mean this kind of economic malaise, people are very, I think distressed and I think it's kind of existential to them. So especially for young people because they see in this day and age what's happening around them, how Vietnam is surging ahead, how China is falling behind. And that's why I think the election will still see a very, very strong turnout. And we'll see if there's a kind of this monkey business of dissolving the winning party and disenfranchising people again. This time, unlike last time, I think that there'll be some expression of public anger.
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B
And where do you believe this public anger may come from? Because protest is not a common thing in Thailand.
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F
Well, we've had it before. Remember that 2005, the Thaksin Party won the landslide re election. And in 2006 there was a military couple. 2008, 2007, it won election again. In 2008 it was ousted by a judiciary. And then by 2009, 2010, there was massive red shirt protests in the streets and there was violence in 2010. And in 2020, after the move Future Forward was dissolved, before it became Move Forward, young people went to the streets and demonstrated and they were suppressed. So we've had protests from disenfranchised people before. If people vote in masses for a certain party and the party gets dissolved and disbanded, leaders are banned. These people, the disenfranchised people, they're not going to sit around, do nothing. I think last time they were a bit fooled by this process of splitting up the Move Forward in pure Thai pact alliance. But this time I think people also have learned from the past. And I wouldn't be surprised if public anger comes to the fore if the same kind of monkey business goes into play again.
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B
What effect does that have on Thailand's ability to recover its economy?
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F
Well, until Thailand sorts out its political system. And by this I mean there has to be some kind of compromise, some kind of a new moving balance between the old guard, the old guard being the military, the monarchy, judiciary, bureaucracy, you know, the older people from the Cold War, for example, the establishment, let's say, and the new generation. The new generation would be people in the 30s, 20s, 30s, even 40s who want a better future, who want to take the country back because it's falling so far behind, there's no good future ahead. So you know, to get the politics right is the basis of getting the economy on track again. And there's a lot of potential. As you know, Thailand should be doing a lot better economically. The growth should be more than 3,4%. It has a great potential, but it just substandard subpar. And it's been subpar for some time.
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B
Tina and Ponto Dirak, thank you so much for joining us on the line. Still to come on today's program, The screaming fans of K pop Taiwan has advice for overwhelmed parents. Stay tuned.
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Craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office Houseview, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights. Delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS Banking is our craft.
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It's what, 7:20am here in London. Let's have a look at the papers. Julia Jenn Monocle writer and researcher has just walked in looking resplendent in strawberries, I should say. And frankly, given the fact that we're like on the 6th of February, the last time I checked, these are, this is unseasonably chirpy dressing. Good morning, Julia. How are you? Thank you for lifting the, thank you for lifting the mood in this room at length.
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G
It's how I cheer myself up in the middle of February. Unseasonable fruits.
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B
She's wearing happy clothes, everybody. It's wonderful. Okay, so, and I suppose we need them given the fact that we have again, when you, when you come in, obviously your, your focus is very much on, on Ukraine. You are Ukrainian. Tell us a little bit about where the, where, you know, where the, the press coverage is at the moment.
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G
Absolutely. So, you know, the world's media kind of the attention is on Epstein or Greenland or kind of what Trump is up to next. We're looking at Iran morning. But in Ukraine, there's a very difficult situation going on now with Russian energy strikes on the country. We had some over the just, you know, in the last few hours and several kind of regions left without power because of Russian strikes and you know, several thousand buildings, for example, civilian buildings, apartment blocks in Kyiv that will, you know, the government said yesterday we will just not be able to provide electricity to these buildings until the end of the winter. So that means, you know, entire apartment blocks in the freezing cold. But one story I'd like to draw our attention to is Donald Tusk. So that's the prime minister of Poland was in Kyiv yesterday and Tusk has really been pushing to keep the eye, you know, the world's eyes on Ukraine. He said a few days ago his big message to the world's media was we must not leave Ukraine alone at this time. And there has been, you know, flurry of renewed support from Poland to Ukraine. We've seen generators, we've seen heaters, we've seen. That's from the government. And we've seen also huge volunteering efforts from the Polish public as well. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being raised for Ukraine. And the big announcement yesterday was joint production between Poland and Ukraine of weapons and ammunition. And Poland will. Apologies for my voice. Poland will be.
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B
Too many strawberries.
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G
Exactly. Poland will be swapping jets, MIG jets with Ukraine for Ukrainian made drones. So I think what Tusk and what Zelenskyy really were deciding now really was about improving business links between the two countries, shoring up both their economies, but also positioning the two countries in a very vital way for the rest of the world as the real armament drive goes on.
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B
Indeed, it's a diplomatic, it's as you say, an economic and indeed it's a sort of a kind of a shared identity. Given the fact they have such a, you know, they have a shared border. To have Poland commit in such an open, open way, does that have a more long term effect on the way that the Ukrainians can approach their situation?
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G
Absolutely. There's a feeling of support from such an important ally. I think at the beginning of the full scale invasion in 2022, there was such enormous sense of support from Poland to Ukraine that's really been dampened in the last few years. There have been so many quarrels over history, over kind of accusations of historical injustices that have not been sort of remedied, particularly by the Polish right wing kind of political parties. And that's really damaged relations between Ukraine. But there was this burst of positive energy I think between the two countries yesterday with this agreement. And of course that was really buoyed by the prisoner release that we saw. So there was a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine that was broken. Brokenbrokered, sorry, in the UAE during Ukrainian, Russian, US talks. And that was also a great burst of energy for a very dark time for Ukrainians.
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B
Okay, let's move on to an article in Nikkei. Actually Nikkei Asia, hp, Dell and Asus Mull using Chinese memory chips amid supply crunch. This is obviously not something that Donald Trump will be happy to hear, but it does reflect the speed at which AI is moving.
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G
Yes, absolutely. So the story is about how the AI kind of drive now means that the global memory chip makers, so for example Micron, Samsung, they are diverting their supply or prioritizing their capacity for the AI giants. We've got Nvidia, Google, Amazon, so you've got traditional computer Makers, you know, names that we've been long familiar with. And they're sort of a mixture of US and Taiwanese manufacturers and they are really suffering, they say, from this kind of shortage. And so there's this question now is where is their supply chain? Because if they become more reliant on the Chinese, and who knows, is this a cost cutting sort of, is this a convenient cost cutting sort of measure? But, you know, all in all, is their supply chain going to be more reliant on the Chinese? And that is a national security risk, I think that the Taiwanese, that the US will be looking at and sort of analyzing and really trying to evaluate.
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B
And what's this article in the Nikkei warning about the dependence of, dare we say, the sort of the second tier computer makers to actually to do what? Is there a genuine fear that were Chinese memory chips to suddenly become prevalent in millions of computers, then it would be impossible to actually, you know, the whole thing about shutting the stable door.
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H
After the horses bolted.
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Yes, I think not so much that, but sort of more worrying about overdependency on Chinese supplies. So we have this idea that China is diversifying where they are becoming sort of critical in the global supply chain. So we're talking about batteries, we're talking about printed circuit boards, mechanical parts for computers. So these vital little components that when brought together, if, you know you've got the majority coming from China, that really poses a risk in terms of how you're actually able to make just everyday appliances and, you know, just the computers that we are looking right now in the studio that people are using at home and so on, so forth.
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B
Okay, let's move on to the Times. It has its, its weekly Friday morning bash at the French and this time it's asking serious questions about just how beautiful a train station is. Well, it's a, it's a, it's in the southern suburbs. There's an enormous drive in Paris to connect the suburbs to the center of the city. It's, it's a massive, massive project. And there's a new station called I think Ville Juif, Gustave Roussy, it's in the southern suburbs. People say it makes you feel sick when you go in.
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E
Yes.
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B
Which is not great.
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G
No. So this is a survey that the Times have done. They've kind of gone into the station, some good old fashioned reporting, just asking people how do you feel? And one French lady said, in a very poetic way, it feels like a shower of light. So to paint a picture for our listeners, this station has 32 escalators. So these glassy escalators kind of descending down in a sort of spiral down into the station, into the deck.
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B
Like a giant borehole, isn't it?
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G
Yes. Or it's a waterfall or something. And then you have a skylight as a sundial above. And this was designed by a Mexican artist. And then we have lifts moving alongside these escalators. We have walkways. And this is all part of a 42 billion euro project. So enormous. But then we have other Parisians or kind of other residents who are using this station and they're saying, well, actually after five minutes onto my journey, it's too big, I get lost here. Or someone was really complaining of something, you know, very reminiscent of Vertigo. He's sort of afraid to look down because he's afraid he's sort of going to fall down into these shards of glass and so on, so forth. So this is a very, yeah, interesting sort of take on, I guess, when you have these beautiful renders and so this idea of how the station is going to turn out and then with the human experiences of actually being in.
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B
The station and everyone feels a little bit dizzy. Monocle writer and researcher Julia Jen, thank you so much for joining me in the studio. You're the globalist. Now a quick look at some of the other stories we're keeping an eye on today. Parliament in Venezuela has given initial approval to legislation that would grant amnesty to people jailed for opposing the former president Nicolas Maduro. It's now a month since he was removed from power by the U.S. norwegian police are investigating the former Prime Minister Thorbern Jaglund over his past ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Yaglund was chairman of the committee that awards the Nobel Prize and head of the Council of Europe during the period covered by documents released earlier this week. The US Says it has agreed with Russia to re establish high level dialogue between their armed forces. The last talks ended shortly before President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. And the US Embassy in Poland says it's cutting contact with the country's parliamentary speaker after he criticized President Trump's policy and said he didn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. The White House says the comments are outrageous and unprovoked. This is the globalist. Stay tuned. Now it's Friday, which means a recap of the news is due. Here's what we learned with Andrew Muller.
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D
We learned this week of an intriguing new angle to American exceptionalism, that belief which holds that the United States operates according to different precepts and conventions to Those which constrain other, perchance lesser nations.
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I
Interesting.
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B
Tell me more.
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E
See where this goes.
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D
Strap yourselves in. We learned via the latest dump of documents pertaining to the unlamented human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that while evidence of association with the dead creep is a career destroying and or reputation wrecking scandal in.
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G
The United Kingdom, we are hearing in.
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B
The last few minutes there has been a statement issued by the Metropolitan Police.
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G
Remember we've been reporting that the Met is set to launch a criminal investigation.
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A
Into Lord Mandelson Norway.
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J
And from the Norwegian press, then a lot of focus on the Crown Princess connection to the convicted pedophile financier.
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B
Yeah, that's right. As this Norwegian paper here explains, she is mentioned some 1,000 times in those latest files released Slovakia.
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G
On Saturday, top Slovakian politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajczak resigned from his post. In the 3.5 million Epstein files released.
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A
On Friday, the name Lajek reportedly appears 346 times.
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D
And Sweden, Take our word for it, in the United States, having maintained cordial association with a convicted sex offender is just no big deal. Not really a thing. Come on. Who among us has not cheerfully socialized or corresponded with someone who has literally been imprisoned for procuring a child for prostitution? And we learn this from no less authorities than U.S. deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
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I
As you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.
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D
And indeed from one of Blanche's former clients for whom Blanche famously failed to win acquittal that time on 34 counts of fraud.
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B
I think it's really time for the.
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F
Country to get onto something else.
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D
From whom we further learn that it's just plain bad manners to even bring it up.
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B
What would you say to the survivors?
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I
You are the worst reporter. No wonder CNN has no ratings because.
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F
Of people like you.
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B
You know, she's a young woman.
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E
I don't think I've ever seen you smile.
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D
But we learned in fairness that the President may have been preoccupied rearranging all the fake golf trophies on the Oval Office mantelpiece to accommodate not only the Nobel Peace Prize he believes himself due, but an Oscar for We learned that.
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G
This together with like minded leaders, we.
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B
Have a voice.
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D
That being Melania feature length homage to the first lady of the United States might not actually be the absolutely unendurable load of old bollocks the unconvinced moviegoer may well be anticipating, but potentially the greatest film ever made. Like maybe even better than the Birth of a Nation or Triumph of the Will. We learn this from no less a cineast than Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary turned Fox News ornament. Or more specifically, from Kayleigh McEnany's mum, whose completely believable testimony her daughter was delighted to share with the nation.
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B
My mom went to this this weekend in Florida.
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E
She said not only was the theater.
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B
Packed, it was, you know, standing room only. If you could like try to sneak.
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E
In the back of the theater, people.
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B
Were cheering through it, they were excited. It was interactive, people interplaying with the film, she said.
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D
It was just electric and everybody on the bus clapped, etc. So we learned that Florida cinemas have standing sections. Actually, we learned that Florida has cinemas and electricity. But we learned that Mrs. McEnany was not alone in her enthusiasm. We learned that Donald Trump himself boasted that he had seen Melania for the second time. Didn't think they were that close, but.
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F
Daily News, Daily Blues, pick up a.
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H
Copy anytime you choose.
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D
We learned that the $75 million spent on this flagrant bribe sorry, important documentary by Amazon may have reduced its CEO Jeff Bezos to his last several years yachts, as we learned that cuts would need to be made at one of his other enterprises.
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B
Our breaking news desk is busy this morning. We have just learned that the Washington Post is laying off its entire sports department and most of its overseas journalists.
- [35:02]
D
We learned that aside from shuttering the sports section in what is of course a very quiet time of a very quiet year, with only the super bowl, the Winter Olympics, March Madness, Major League Baseball, spring training and the World cup come coming up, Other sensible economies include closing the Post's bureaus in Kyiv and Jerusalem, two legendarily uneventful beats where even the most resourceful reporters struggle to pad out column inches. Such is the paucity of noteworthy events in those vicinities. But. We learned even that, or indeed any of the above above wasn't going to be the stupidest thing that happened this month.
- [35:50]
J
It looks like the Patriots and Seahawks won't be the only competition during the super bowl this Sunday. The group founded by late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Turning Point usa, said they plan to put on an alternative event called the All American Halftime Show.
- [36:03]
D
We learned that conservatives appalled by the choice of halftime entertainment at this coming Sunday super bowl, and who knows what objection they might have to Puerto Rico's own Spanish language rapper Bad Bunny, just a total mystery, had decided to stage an alternative the All American Halftime show, consecrated to the values of, quote from the poster, faith, family and freedom, and featuring, among others, the irreproachably Wholesome Kid Rock.
- [36:31]
B
Young ladies. Young ladies. I like them under age.
- [36:35]
G
See, some say that statutory, but I say it's mandatory.
- [36:41]
D
A bold choice given some of the week's other disclosures. The mallet, if you would. For Monocle Radio, I'm Andrew Muller.
- [36:57]
B
And that was Monocle's Andrew Muller. A brand new installment will be with us at the same time next week right here on the Globalist. Now, if you've been tuning in all this week, the Monocle team are out and about having a very busy week in Dubai. They're interviewing heads of state ministers and business leaders at the world government summit there. One of the hot topics was the ongoing trilateral talks among the U.S. russia and Ukraine. And our Gulf correspondent in Zaman Rashid heard from the Serbian Prime Minister Duro Matsud. He asked by us, he began, I should say, by asking how the progression of the talks is affecting his own country.
- [37:36]
C
This conflict actually is targeting mostly the countries that are in the region nearby, but also the global, let's say security, but also the economy of the world. So we can see in the recent past that we faced with a lot of issues related to the energy supply and the related issues. We are not directly involved in any of the, let's say, actions of energy, any kind of anything. We are neutral, but we are dependent from the resources that are coming mostly from the east. If we are talking about the energy supplies in the gas, but also from the oil, because the central oil company, which is in Serbia, is belonging still to the Russian side. So now we are in transformation of these capacities into the third side, let's say. So the Russia is in negotiation with the Hungarian oil company to overtake the majority of the proportion of the company, let's say, and we are looking forward to this. So the conflict that we are all facing for four years, directly or indirectly, is really very important for the stability of the region in the future and I believe for the economical progression. On the first place, the problem, progress in economy is something that is really streaming the countries into the good way, let's say. And any disturbances, any turbulences that are produced or that will be like the echo of these conflicts will leave us with some consequences, definitely. So this summit here is actually giving another picture to this situation that you asked me. So, so we see that the multilateralism, as I can say, is something that was forgotten in some part of the history of time in the recent few decades. I can say it was much more present in the 60s, 70s and 80s. But now we can see that many countries from the global east and south are coming together with the attempt to strengthen more their relations. So you can see that they can function. We are not belonging to the east or to the south in the geographical meaning, but we can see that the people has the feeling that we must unite somehow and that we have to exchange our capacities, efforts, knowledge that we are not lacking with the knowledge and the capacities. But I think that we are not given the chance to show what we can do. How can we do this?
- [40:16]
J
Can I pick up on that point, Prime Minister, about actually coming to an event like this? You know, the global south and east is very much on show here, which usually isn't in conferences and events like this in Europe that are held. So, yes, you will be having a lot of conversations on the sides, I'm sure. But drilling down into the regional aspect, as a result of the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, we've seen and we've had in the studio as well, the Kosovan president has been here. How much of an issue is that right now between Serbia and Kosovo and particularly in relation to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, that's also adding a lot of pressure to those ties between the two countries.
- [41:02]
C
I mean, just one explanation. We do not consider Kosovo as the country. So this is the autonomous region of Serbia and according to the constitution of Serbia, Kosovo and Metochia are the part of the sovereign Serbia. So in the international relations, Kosovo is not accepted to the United nations or any international organization that is reflecting the critical feeling of the international community. So this is something very important to know because if we allow that things like the, let's say the Kosovo Metokia issue can be spread through the world, then we, we should have splitting the countries into the small ones. And this is not an functional international position for the surviving in a big moon movements in the big clashes in the big economic situations as we have now nowadays, because splitting economies into small and small and small is not giving a progression to that economy per se.
- [42:06]
J
So then if Russia comes out on top against Ukraine and there isn't necessarily peace in the region, do you feel that gives you a mandate to step up your actions towards Kosovo?
- [42:21]
C
Well, we are not planning to make any actions, any aggressions, any military actions or whatever. We just want to have the integration of Kosovo into the Serbian community, economic, let's say surrounding into the everything which is the normal living in our region. So we, we are not looking forward into the one or the other side in that meaning we are just keeping our way and we are looking on the whole territory of Serbia as one in that meaning we could not back one on the other side in that relation. And we are not expecting that someone will support us in that way to solve the problem. We have to talk, to negotiate, to discuss about our relations in the region, between countries, or between the regions, or between the problems that we have nowadays. So I think that the formula is within the talks. We have to talk to everyone and to anyone in a way to achieve the goal, which is stability, peace and let's say, economic prosperity.
- [43:30]
J
Last questions for myself. We've seen the UAE has held trilateral talk talks, of course, we've been talking about that. They've held Armenia, Azerbaijan here as well. It seems to be a place to mediate such conflicts. Is that something Serbia would be open to an open dialogue with Kosovo here in the uae, But I think that.
- [43:51]
C
We are already in talks with the European Union. So we have some negotiations that are already signed and agreed. Many Years ago, in 2013, we agreed on how to solve the problem and how to go on between Serbia and Kosovo. But the side of this non recognized, let's say, administration in Pristina, in Kosovo, is still neglecting the situation that we have an agreement. So they have to fulfill everything related to the agreement. So they are still, still and continuously sneaking out from that and trying not to approve the agreement and not to put it into the everyday society life. So this is the actual, the situation nowadays. So we have the European Union because Serbia is in the way to the accession of the full membership to the European Union. And we are on that way by the full, filling the requests by the different clusters and chapters. There are 35 chapters that we have to approach to. But this is very much dependent on the political situation and on the economical situation. So nowadays we have some really weird, I can say, situation. We are very well economically approaching the European Union and we have lots of those things that are already accepted within the Serbian law and the Assembly. But we do not have the other side, the technical side from the European Union that are always somehow abandoning us with some new requests. So we have disproportions in that way. So we are the country with the closest relation to the European Union among the other West Balkan countries in comparison to Montagnaise, North Macedonia, to Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, even. So our history and let's say economical connections are much more developed with European Union in comparison to all the other, let's say, countries, but they are much closer with the political aspect. So we have technical issues and political issues. So we Fulfilled the technical ones, but the political ones are way too.
- [46:09]
E
In Brussels.
- [46:10]
B
And that was the Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Matsut talking to Monocle's golf correspondent Inzaman Rashid. And you can listen to an interview with the Kosovan president Vyosa Osmani later on the Monocle Daily.
- [46:25]
A
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.
- [47:03]
B
1646 in Tokyo, which is where we head next on today's Globe list, because it's a question, what are tourists doing that is so damaging that the Japanese authorities in a town near to Mount Fuji have cancelled this year's cherry blossom festival? A surge in tourist numbers has apparently been unmanageable for the locals, plus their behavior. Fiona Wilson is Monocle's Tokyo bureau chief, I'm delighted to say. She joins us from our studio in the Japanese capital. Good afternoon, Fiona.
- [47:31]
H
Hi, Emma. You're over tourism correspondent here. Because I do feel like this subject is just not going away, is it?
- [47:37]
B
This is a well worn path and to pardon the metaphor, given the fact that there are literally too many people going to this place. Just explain where this is and what's gone wrong here, please.
- [47:49]
H
Yeah, so I mean the sort of backdrop is that, you know, we had record numbers of tourists coming to Japan, highest ever number last year, nearly, it's 43 million and, and they are pretty much all going to about five places. This is the problem. Now one of the things people want to see when they come to Japan is Mount Fuji. Can't blame them. And if you have Mount Fuji plus cherry blossoms plus snow on the peak, it's just the perfect trio, isn't it? And this spot, Fuji Yoshida, which is very close to Mount Fuji, it's only about an hour and a half drive away, a couple of hours maybe maximum from Tokyo. If you go there when cherry blossoms are at their peak, you get this view of Mount Fuji, which is slightly unreal. It's so perfect. It looks like a complete setup. It looks like a sort of Photoshop scenario. And people discovered. No, it's a real place. There's a pagoda, five story pagoda in this small town. Only about 45,000. It's actually technically a city, 45,000 people. And then they have this cherry blossom festival. They've had that for the last decade, ironically, they set it up to encourage people to visit. So be careful what you wish for, I think.
- [48:57]
B
Indeed. And as a result there are too many people going there and also they are not behaving themselves where they get there. This is the bit that is offending the Japanese the most in many ways, isn't it?
- [49:08]
H
Yeah, exactly. I think the numbers, you know, we've all heard about the numbers. I think what the mayor of the town said, I mean, it was a bit heartbreaking. He said this is a crisis and our sort of, our quiet way of life is being ruined here. And he spoke about how badly behaved tourists were being. You know, it ranged from, from throwing litter, cigarette ends, going into people's gardens, I mean, and sometimes even going into people's houses to use the bathroom and worse. And you thought, okay, this is quite bad behavior. Pretty surprising but that people behave that badly. But it seems it's become a bit of a crisis for this small town. And it is a lovely small town. I've been there. Actually. What it used to be famous for, it is still famous for in Japan is textiles. And they also, they make textiles, they do a lot of sewing there. They have a big textile festival as well as a cherry blossom festival. So that side of things is not that interesting for tourists. So they only want to go and see the cherry blossoms. And I think it's all about social media. These extraordinary photos on a sunny day with Mount Fuji, cherry blossoms, pagoda, you know, it's just irresistible and people really want to go there.
- [50:16]
B
And this isn't the first time that we've seen coverage of this. I mean, you mentioned the fact that you've become the over tourism expert here. But I think it's, it's two years ago now since the view of Mount Fuji from a certain spot was blocked to stop people from taking photographs. Again, we're getting the impression that Japan is gaining a slight reputation for this.
- [50:41]
H
Yeah, it's interesting. And that place is very close by actually. I mean this area of Japan, you know, whichever way you either suffers from or lucky that area, you know, I mean, just you're really, you're at the foothills of Mount Fuji and Mount Fuji up close is a really remarkable. It's this perfect kind of conical shape and when you're at the foothills of it, it's this amazing sort of sweeping view. And yeah, so this town before two years ago, you're absolutely right. They ended up erecting this slightly ridiculous barrier to stop people photographing. It was a Lawson, it was a Combini Convenience store with Mount Fuji in the background. Now unfortunately they did that. People then started cutting holes in the tarpaulin they directed to get the pictures anyway. And people discovered there were other convent convenience stores which also had good views. So it's really, really difficult for Japan. It's balancing, you know, welcoming tourists and the money they bring and what it's meaning for these very small rural communities.
- [51:37]
B
Do you think that this festival will ever come back?
- [51:41]
H
Well, look, I mean the festival in itself is a bit open ended. You know, Cherry Blossom is exactly what it's supposed to be. It's a transient phenomenon. You can't predict exactly when it will start or when it will end, how long it will last. And that's the beauty of it. So, so it's quite difficult to say it will be. It was roughly a two week period. And honestly, people will still be going to Fujiyoshida. I can guarantee they will be going in droves. The mayor knows it as well. They just won't be setting it up as a festival. They'll still have the, you know, they've got the temporary loo set up. The car parking situation is having to be managed. People will be going in droves. I mean, on an average year they're getting about 200,000 people now. And for a small town of 45,000, you could imagine it's just overwhelming the place.
- [52:25]
B
To Fiona Wilson, Monocle's Tokyo bureau chief, thank you as ever for joining us on the line. You're listening to the Globalist. Finally, on today's program, teenagers and pop stars have always enjoyed a potent, if rather hormonal relationship. In many ways, those who possess fame are dependent on the adoration of their young and impressionable. Well, in Taiwan, however, the government has felt it necessary to step in. It's worried about the, the emotional effect K pop stars is having on their fans. Well, I'm joined now by Bernie Cho, president of the Seoul based K Pop agency, DFSB Collective, a regular voice here on Monocle Radio and a man who knows something about K Pop in Taiwan. Good afternoon, Bernie.
- [53:13]
I
Good afternoon. Talk about timing. You got me as I'm going to the airport from Seoul to Taipei and you have me talking about basically art imitating life imitating art.
- [53:24]
B
Is it your fault?
- [53:27]
I
You know what, it's one of those things where I'm aware that Korean music is quite popular in Taiwan, but I didn't realize it's reached a fever pitch with government officials to the point where they've essentially issued kind of sort of a warning. But I Think in many ways, their best intentions and best efforts to possibly maybe sort of get a grip on. On the K Pop craze in Taiwan may inadvertently actually have an accidental effect of doing the exact opposite.
- [53:58]
B
Indeed, tell a teenager to do something and they will do the exact opposite, especially if the message comes from the parent. But just tell us, just outline what the problem is, Bernie. I mean, how, how fraught are these young people in Taiwan?
- [54:11]
I
Well, you know, again, right now K Pop is arguably, and again based on data and analytics, it is the most popular international pop music throughout Asia. Asia. And again, if you happen to be an international pop artist, you will find this kind of success and fandom and let's call it for what it is, fandomonia across the region. So why K Pop from Korea, Pop music from Korea got singled out is interesting, intriguing, and frankly a little bit bewildering. But that being said, the way the Ministry of Education posited and positioned K Pop, it's giving it a lot of credit. Some of it do, some of it a little bit over the top. But what it's done, and this is where I can't help but laugh and smile a little bit, is the prescription that if parents are worried about their kids K Pop craze, they're actually recommending the parents get more engaged in sort of finding out more about K pop to find out why their kids like it so much. I think what may ended up happening is the kids will stay K Pop fans, but they may inadvertently get their parents to become K Pop fans. Which leads the question, what do you do when both the kids and the parents are into K Pop?
- [55:22]
B
Create another government department. The issue is here is what is this? The amount of emotional currency that young people spend on their pop heroes? Or is this also a more economically dangerous thing that a young person finds themselves marketed into? They are the subject to so many campaigns and so many things that can part them from their money that actually this is an economic threat as they.
- [55:50]
I
Well, yeah, I think you hit both the problem and the solution on the head. I think it's less emotional, more commercial. I think it really has to do with money. The fact that these K Pop fans spend a lot of money, much to the shock and maybe the grief of their parents, so that it's become an issue. I'm curious as to who whispered to the government officials that this is somehow an endemic or a pandemic that needs to be addressed. Again, according to online reports, quite a few. A few academic research papers were referred to as required reading on how to address and deal with this problem. And, you know, I read the summaries. I'm actually trying to find the reports themselves. But honestly, I think some of the academic, quote unquote insights were essentially repackaging very universal, not so unique ideas as to why this particular music is so popular. But that being said, a lot of the problems that are being addressed are not cultural, cultural or youth issues. They're industry issues. Expensive concert tickets, you know, spending a lot of money on merchandise is something that every major music market is struggling and dealing with. And so why K Pop was singled out, again, it's more scratching heads and scratching chins and. But the key thing is, you know, again, I think the Taiwanese government has gone out of their way to say, hey, we're not trying to say K Pop is bad. We just think, think that kids just need to have a little bit more guidance on their sort of fan behavior. But it's very peculiar because I know for me, as the music industry executive, I'm curious as to why the Taiwanese government is spending so much time and energy looking at K Pop and not sort of flipping the script and reverse engineering the recipe to say, how can we create Taiwanese pop music to have a similar effect on their home market with their home fans as well?
- [57:38]
B
Excellent to see a business opportunity arising for you there, Benny. We got to ask a little bit about the musicians themselves, given the fact that what they do is they're just doing something which every teenager craves, which is creating something that a young person can be part of.
- [57:57]
I
Absolutely. And I, again, it's interesting to see not just fanboys, fangirls, academics, but, but more importantly, financial analysts try to figure out what the secret sauce is to the success of K pop. Not just locally, regionally and globally, but what comes up time and time again is the F word, fandom, fan community. And this is something that a lot of people have been studying to see sort of not just only the positive, but some of the negative, but just all in all the effects. And what definitely comes through is for whatever reason, and thanks to the Internet, K Pop has very much gone international and they're all connecting vis a vis through online forums, online communities to connect. And so the fact that there is this sort of fandom that has gone global that kids can reach out to and relate to, again, people are a little bit startled. But for me, I see it no different than sports fandoms in the sense that I see this type of, type of emotional investment with fans who happen to follow, you know, English Premier League football to the National League, you know, baseball or the NFL football. So again, it's a fandom at this level. K Pop is definitely we're gonna have to let people startled.
- [59:12]
B
I hate to cut you off. You have to go and get an airplane. But thank you so much indeed for joining us. On the line from Seoul, that was Bernie Cho. And that's all the time we have for today's program. The warmest thanks to all my guests and to our producers, Carlotta Rebelo, Anita Riota and Angelica Jopson. Our researcher is Anneliese Maynard. Our studio manager is Elliot Greenfield. For now, from me, Emma Nelson. Goodbye. Thank you very much for listening. Have a great weekend.
- [59:40]
A
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