18+ hour, 16+ min ago   (231+ words) The US secretary of state has been focused on easy wins in Latin America, disappearing at the first sign of political turmoil. The recent Venezuelan oil deal, which gives the US access to untapped reserves, is more divisive: it was…...

1+ week, 28+ min ago   (246+ words) Whether viewed in months or millennia, the politics of place naming is always in the zeitgeist. Now, Trump’s toponymy is failing to put America on the map. Last week, the age-old wheeze of saying something is what it manifestly is…...

1+ week, 18+ hour ago   (310+ words) monocle.com Donald Trump has said that the most beautiful word in the English language is “tariff”. But recent evidence suggests there is another noun with a more lyrical quality that might have supplanted it in his affections: “ballroom”. Barely…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (330+ words) From shuttles and walkways to the importance of making a reservation, former US National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis knows a few ways to make national parks greener – and more profitable – for… The lakeview rooms at the Fairmont Chateau Lake…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago   (1677+ words) When governments consider their soft power it’s in a piecemeal manner. Maybe there is a decision to bid for a major sporting event; perhaps there’s a debate to increase funding for museums and art galleries. Even then, soft power and…...

1+ mon, 1+ day ago   (1766+ words) Monocle’s editors, writers and correspondents look ahead to 2012 and beyond. But while they battle to defend their borders, their economies are missing a trick. There is a compelling economic case for a more laissez-faire approach to the global movement of…...

3+ week, 18+ hour ago   (272+ words) Monocle Los Angeles spent the summer hosting World Cup matches without a promised piece of infrastructure for the occasion. Skylink, an airport train first scheduled to run in 2023, missed its debut after cost overruns of an estimated $500m (€428m). The people mover…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (239+ words) More broadly, a decade into the Trump era, his entrenched loathing for US allies and comfort – even glee – while tearing down long-standing US relationships is still rather a mystery. There appears to be no strategic rationale. The reasoning seems nothing…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (374+ words) The rise of the left in Bogotá, Obama stirs up controversy over Cuba, and rebuilding a Chilean icon. My morning media menu Noah FeldmanProfessor of Law, Harvard Law School and Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign RelationsCambridge, MA Where do…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago   (479+ words) France's blogging love affair, plus a green oasis in Spain and our Q&A with the Mayor of Berlin. For many French people, blogging is more than just a variation on the Cartesian “I think, therefore I am” – in this…...