Weekend Box: NATO expansion, iPods & more
Welcome to The Weekend Box, Audley’s weekly round-up of interesting or obscure political, business, and cultural news from around the world.
NEUTRAL TO NATO
If the aim of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was to push NATO from its borders, he has epically failed. Not only have NATO countries rallied to support war torn Ukraine by moving thousands of troops to its border with Russia and supplying it with more than $1.6bn worth of military aid, but they are also about to welcome Finland and Sweden as new members to the alliance - edging NATO even closer to Russia.
On Thursday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin issued a joint statement emphasising that Finland must apply to join NATO “without delay,” signalling a historic departure from the country’s long-standing dedication to non-alignment. This shift demonstrates how Russian aggression has dramatically altered Finnish perception of their nation's security. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, public backing for NATO membership has surged from 25% to 75%. The country’s coalition government is expected to approve the decision this weekend. Meanwhile, it is likely that Stockholm will follow closely in Helsinki’s footsteps. Under Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Sweden is moving ever closer to joining NATO. It is expected that Ms Andersson’s Social Democrats will back the reversal of its 200-year commitment to its neutrality policy.
Of course, the prospect of NATO bolstering its alliance and acquiring Finland’s 800-mile border with Russia has prompted Moscow to spew a torrent of threats, including taking “military technical” and deploying nuclear weapons to the Baltic region. However, Russia’s warning has not shaken NATO’s resolve. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that “if they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed, and I expect the process to go quickly.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson also pledged to provide security guarantees during the transition period between membership application and NATO membership, the point at which NATO’s Article 5 collective defence comes into force. Johnson’s guarantee of protection during this vulnerable period will help to soothe Helsinki and Stockholm's fears of entering a 6–12-month period of maximum risk of Russian invasion. Elsewhere, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde broad security assurance and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly promised to back the Nordic’s NATO membership. No doubt Putin will be closely following developments.
R.i.Pod
This week, it was announced that an icon of modern music history would finally hang up its earphones and call it a day. Not a band, nor an artist, nor a streaming service, but a device that changed the way we listen to music: the iPod.
On Tuesday, Apple’s Newsroom posted an update titled ‘The music will live on’, informing readers that supplies of the iPod Touch – the last incarnation of the iPod sold by Apple – would be available “while supplies last.” In the update, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak acknowledges the impact of the popular music player, which he says “redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared[.]”
Originally launched in 2001, the iPod – which Fortune ironically referred to at the time as “Apple's 21st-Century Walkman” – drew a clear dividing line between the history of music players and the future the device represented. Former CEO Steve Jobs promised the iPod would allow customers to take “1,000 songs” in their pockets wherever they went. Joswiak describes the “incredible music experience” that, since the iPod’s launch, Apple has gone on to integrate across their range of products. While it is not explicitly stated, Joswiak’s words suggest Apple wishes to bookend the chapter in history that opened with Jobs’ “1,000 songs” promise. The world has moved on in twenty years; we carry our music libraries on our iPhones now, after all.
However, the response to the announcement suggests the world is not so ready to move on as Apple thinks. The ability to carry 1,000 more songs in one’s pocket meant that for some, the iPod helped to soundtrack stages of their lives. Since Tuesday, there has been an outpouring of mournful nostalgia online for the iPod and for the experiences it gave music listeners, which are now, in a sense, lost to time.
If you are feeling sentimental, or you want to get ahead of those who will sell the world’s last remaining iPods with huge markups on eBay, you can still purchase a Touch on Apple’s website. But, bear in mind that Apple bought the old iPod design back as the iPod Classic in 2007, only six years after the first model’s release. If the nostalgia is still palpable in a few years, perhaps the click wheel of time will take the iPod’s fate off pause and it can make a comeback.
NORTHERN IRELAND: AGAINST PROTOCOL
Since the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which partitioned Ireland into two separate regions, nationalists have failed to dismantle the border between the North and South. However after Sinn Fein, a nationalist party which was once associated with the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), secured a landmark victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly election on May 5th, hopes of a united Ireland appear to be more realistic. But, for now, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald’s plan to push forward with the planning for a border poll on Northern Ireland’s future status is on the backburner. The far-more pressing concern is the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which came in second place to Sinn Fein, opposes the protocol. Whilst they argue that the trade border across the Channel is damaging the economy, its objection is more fundamental to its unionist ideology. Its election manifesto criticises the protocol for its implementation of a customer border across the Irish Sea, posing a serious “existential threat” to the future of Northern Ireland’s place with the “mainland.”
In a dramatic escalation of its campaign against the Northern Ireland Protocol, the DUP is refusing to join the power-sharing executive at Stormont Assembly until the protocol is scrapped or radically overhauled. The party had been expected to block the appointment of a deputy minister when the assembly meets for its inaugural session this afternoon, but in a statement released early this morning it announced it will also call to halt the assembly. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the party’s leader, hopes that his party’s decisive action will send a clear signal to the EU and Downing Street that the party is willing to go to any lengths to secure changes to the protocol.
The DUP’s move comes after a meeting yesterday morning between UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and EU negotiator Maros Sefcovic. During the “tetchy” phone call, both sides engaged in a war of words. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK’s proposal to unilaterally revoke parts of the agreement, emphasising that “Northern Ireland Protocol had become the greatest obstacle to forming a Northern Ireland Executive.” The foreign secretary proceeded to caution Sefcovic, stating that unless the EU demonstrated the “requisite flexibility” in talks over the trading arrangements she would have “no choice but to act” to protect the “peace and stability” of Northern Ireland. Ms Truss’ threatening rhetoric, however, did little to sway Sefcovic from his hard-line negotiating stance. He insisted that there was no “room to expand the EU negotiating mandate or introduce new proposals to reduce the overall level of trade friction.” Fighting fire with fire, he warned that if the UK carried through on its threats to unilaterally revoke the protocol, the EU could prevent access for Northern Ireland business to the single market.
Whilst the final decision has yet to be confirmed, many believe that Truss’s uncompromising stance sets the stage for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s next move. The Times reported that the prime minister will announce next week that the UK will legislate scrapping key parts of the protocol. This is likely to involve a bill excluding goods destined for Northern Ireland from checks in the Irish sea.
NEW OLD REGIME?
“He has no immortality”: so said the leader of the Philippines’ Armed Forces about Ferdinand Marcos Sr., shortly before the People Power Revolution forced the dictator to end his 14-year rule of the archipelago under martial law. Over 30 years later, there is concern that the history of oppression, political violence, and human rights abuses associated with the Marcos name will live again, as Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has claimed victory in the Philippines’ presidential elections.
The president-elect declared his victory on Wednesday with an initial count of votes approaching completion, which puts the former dictator’s son at 56% of the vote; twice as many as his rival, the independent Leni Robredo. With Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, ‘Federal Party of the Philippines’, poised to assume power, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has promised to alleviate a number of crises in the Philippines, including an economy which has struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These promises formed the core of the president-elect's campaign, proving very attractive to voters despite the associations the Marcos name carries. Yet, he is aware that his apparent commitment to turn the fortunes of the Philippines around will not have convinced everyone. Pre-empting an outcry at his victory from the international community, the president-elect shared a statement to the world via a spokesperson: “Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions.” Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has infamously attempted to downplay the history of human rights abuses under the reign of his father; a history that commentators outside the Philippines fear will be repeated with his family in power again. BBC Correspondent in the Philippines Howard Johnson has reported there are “lingering questions” around broken polling machines and videos that allegedly show vote buying taking place.
However, at this early stage in the next chapter of the Philippines’ history, with the initial count still not yet complete, what Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s victory means for the future – and how his actions will be judged – remains to be seen.
WHO’S WHO?
After months of speculation, the BBC has announced that star of Netflix’s Sex Education Ncuti Gatwa will replace Jodie Whittaker as Doctor Who.
The announcement of Gatwa as the first Black Time Lord in the show's 26-year history sparked a flurry of excitement on Twitter, with one user tweeting: “This is the future, and it’s incredible.” Whilst Olly Alexander, who starred in It's a Sin and is the lead singer of Years and Years, tweeted that it was “amazing news.”
Predictably, there will be people who ignorantly profess that the casting of bafta-nominee Gatwa was a diversity hiring or an attempt by the BBC to stay on the pulse of ‘wokeness.’ However we believe that it was an inspired choice based on his talent: just watch the comedy Sex Education. Speaking to the Radio Times, Doctor Who writer Russel T Davies batted away uninformed criticism: “I’m aware that all of this comes with it," but he says that Gatwa was the best actor in the room: “[H]e dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds.”
Fans of Doctor Who will have to wait until 2023 for Gatwa to grace our screens. Until then, Jodie Whittaker’s final episode of Doctor Who is a feature-length special, which will air later this year and promises to be spectacular. The trailer features the Daleks, the Cybermen, and Sacha Dhawan reprising his role as The Master, making it the first time that all the classic adversaries have featured in an episode since Doctor Who returned in 2005. Speaking about the finale, showrunner Chris Chibnall promises that it will be a “thrilling, epic, and emotional send-off to the Thirteenth Doctor.”
And that’s it for this week. I hope you found something of interest that you might want to delve into further. If so, please get in touch at cwilkins@audley.uk.com.
For now, that’s the weekend box officially closed.