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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. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on the 9th of 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, Sanamania, the personal cult of Japan's prime minister, awards Sanae Takaichi a landslide win in this weekend's snap elections, will examine how her popularity will be translated into policy. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes, the latest from the elections in Thailand, too. And we'll ask if Donald Trump's board of Peace will get anywhere with ending the devastating conflict in Sudan. We'll also look at the sentencing of the pro democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai. He's just been handed a 20 year prison term. And. With the opening ceremony and first full weekend of competition under its belt, we're live from the Winter Olympics as Monocle sets up camp for a two week residency. Plus the latest fashion news and Monday's papers too. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a quick look at what else is happening in today's news. Russian strikes overnight have killed at least one person in the Ukrainian port of Odessa. Russian also targeted the capital Kyiv, causing power cuts. Train drivers in Spain are beginning a three day strike prompted by two fatal rail accidents last month. They want increased investment and maintenance. And the centre left candidate, Antonio Jose Seguru has won Portugal's presidential election, holding off a challenge from the far right hopeful Andre Ventura. Stay tuned to Monaco Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, it is difficult to fathom. Less than a year ago, Japan's ruling party was at breaking point. It had lost its parliamentary majority for a second time in less than two years. Its politicians were mired in reputational scandals. Yesterday, however, the Liberal Democratic Party and its leader, Prime Minister Sanae Takechi, enjoyed a landslide victory in the country's elections. Will Japanese politics ever be the same again? Well, I'm joined now from Tokyo by Tomohiko Taniguchi, who's a former special advisor to the cabinet of Shinzo Abe, and by Fiona Wilson Monocle's Tokyo bureau chief and senior Asia editor. Good afternoon to you both.
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B
Good afternoon. Good morning.
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A
Fiona, let me begin with you. Where the time is. What, it's just gone 4 o' clock in the afternoon where you are. Has the dust settled?
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C
No, I think the headlines will be flowing all day. I mean, it's just been such an unbelievable experience, I think. I mean, nobody could have predicted such a big win. You know, we all knew about Sanaye Takechi's incredible personal popularity. She's been polling really high, particularly with young people, which is. Which is an achievement. It's quite difficult to get young people interested in politics. She did. So it's amazing. And I think it's a sort of. It's a double story here. It's her personal success and she's hauled the ldp, her party, with her, and also the collapse, the absolute collapse of the opposition. And we now know that the two, the big opposition leaders are both resigning. So, yeah, it's been an extraordinary night here.
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Let me come to you, Tomohiko. This idea that the victory has been driven by one single woman, how accurate an assessment is that?
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D
It is extremely accurate.
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This is a drama crafted, played and marketed simply by a single individual, Sanae Takaichi.
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E
No one actually expected that her success.
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B
Would be this much astounding, but I.
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A
Think this is something that she herself had in mind. And staying with you, Tomohiko, you worked very closely with Shinzo Abe, who is or was the great driving force behind Sanae Takeichi. How much of what we see or we have seen the last couple of months is down to her close relationship with the former prime minister.
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B
She sold an image to the nation that she is an heir apparent, succeeding the legacy and mission and the sense.
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Of mission, more importantly, that she thinks.
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B
That only she could inherit from Abe.
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And coming back to you, Fiona, the idea that a year ago the Liberal Democrats were on their knees, there was a quiet sense of impending doom. And. And yet the way that Japanese politics has been transformed by one woman cannot be underestimated, can it? Because Japanese politics from the outside looks like a reasonably quiet and sedate and discursive affair. And then suddenly a woman who rocks up with a pair of drumsticks and, you know, and a decision to sort of grab Japanese politics by the horns has really transformed the political scene in a way that some people say will never be able to be changed again, will never be able to go back to where it was before.
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C
Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You know, I mean, she's the first female Prime Minister. That's something in itself. And I think you just can't underestimate her popular touch. She seems to have an amazing knack for connecting with people. And a lot of people are asked, why do you like her so much? And it's this sort of relatability they talk about. She spoke very plainly. People understand what she's saying. Very clear message. She seems very decisive. She doesn't back down. You know, even last night I noticed when people were talking about the results, she was busy sending a message to Kira Kimura, who just won a gold medal for Japan in the snowboarding. You know, she manages to connect with people beyond the usual political circles. And I think that's really shown in the results she got last night.
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A
And the interesting thing now, Tomohiko, though, is that this idea that Fiona mentioned of her having a clear message and being decisive, how much of her policy was actually transmitted, broadcast to Japan? Do we actually know now what she plans to do when it comes to fixing the cost of living, fixing the international situation and Japan's role in the world? Now, let's begin with what her direct impact and the party's direct impact will be on solving what is becoming an expensive life in Japan.
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B
An expensive life. Well, actually is not actually accurate because Japanese growth has been stagnant for many.
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E
Decades since the collapse of the speculative.
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Financial bubble in the early 1990s. And her agenda, simply put, is to enhance growth. When it comes to piecemeal agendas of her policy package, not many people among ordinary folks couldn't say exactly what she is for. But when it comes to this simple core message that she is for growth, I think that much has been well understood, better understood than many people might have thought.
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And coming to you, Fiona, the idea that where are people thinking that she will take Japan now because she's elected on an ultra conservative position where there are questions about her attitude to sort of family values, but also the fact that she's, you know, going on the anti immigration ticket as well. And these are very, very strong views that she possesses.
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C
Yeah, I think, though, if you looked at the campaign, these were not the big issues. These were not what people were talking about. It was much more of an agenda about the cost of living. That was a big thing. You know, she's. She's had a lot of success diplomatically. You know, I mean, you may think it's a bad thing or a good thing, I don't know. But she was given a complete and total endorsement, as he put it, from Donald Trump, who was Quick to congratulate her. You know, she met Giorgia Maloney. She's been seen on the international stage. She brings this kind of energy. And I think a lot of people felt, you know, there wasn't a lot of detail on the campaign trail, to be honest. But what there was was a sense of optimism. And I think maybe that's why it sort of captured young people. Bit short on detail, and that will all have to come out. Now, we do know she's going to see Donald Trump next month. She's going Washington, so that could be interesting. She's got a big problem with China to solve or otherwise. But that will also be interesting because Donald Trump is himself going to China. So there's a lot coming up in the near future.
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Let's come back to you, Tomohiko, about this international position that Japan now occupies. Takechi ending up in a fight with China about a comment she made about what Japan's position would be were the Chinese to take military action against Taiwan. The that landed her in diplomatic hot water very, very quickly. Also, this cozying up to Donald Trump is not without its problems, is it?
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B
Like it or not, it is very much an imperative for Japan's leader, whoever.
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A
That may be, to build and maintain.
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B
Very much good rapport with the United States.
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After all, Japan is surrounded by an.
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Unlikely combination of powers.
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Russia, North Korea, China, all possessing nuclear.
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Arms and building nuclear arsenal. So Japan needs to invest further into.
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Its alliance relationship with the United States.
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B
Speaking of China, it's ironic. If you are weak, you will get bullied even further. But if you get strong, then you could enjoy a bit of respect from Xi Jinping, who understand power more than anything else.
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And Fiona, just coming back to you finally to talk about long into the future. It's probably unfair to ask this question, but to have a political victory based on the success of one individual is a dangerous thing to do. Because what happens when inevitably her star fades?
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C
Yeah, I think that's a really good point. I mean, you can't see into the future, but I think what's happened here is, I mean, it's an earthquake, really. It is forcing the opposition to, you know, reconfigure. It's going to have to think about what is it offering people. The message, I think in the campaign was too negative, didn't really connect to people. So I think beyond Takechi herself, what she's done is she sort of reconfigured the makeup of Japanese politics.
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A
And Fiona, stay with us for a moment. Tell us what else you'll be doing how else we'll be covering it this in the next couple of hours and days on Monocle.
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C
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we're obviously going to keep an eye on it because, you know, right now basking in the victory. But we want to see some detail on the policy and that will be coming up, you know, once the special diet session starts.
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Fiona Wilson, Monocle's Tokyo bureau chief, thank you for joining us. And thank you also to Tomohiko Taniguchi, the former special advisor to the cabinet of Shinzo Abe, both joining us on the line from Tokyo. You're listening to the Globalist. We head now to Bangkok where the time is just nudging 1412 because another and major election called short Gnosis was held this weekend in Thailand where the country's political future is much less clear cut than what we've just witnessed in Japan. The snap poll was called by the prime minister. Well, I'm joined now by Pravit Rajan Pruk, who's a senior staff writer for Kawasad English, and James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor. A very good afternoon to you both.
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E
Good afternoon, James.
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A
James, are we any closer to knowing the result?
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E
Well, I mean, we woke up this morning to the Bangkok Post front page with a thumping win for the Bum Jai Thai Party and their leader Anyutin Chan Virakun. So they have come out by far in front with 196seats. A party needs to get to 250 to get a majority, but they are by far the largest or they will be the largest in the new parliament. And it looks like when they get down to the business of forming a coalition that they could easily get to that magic number without involving the parties that came second and third, which is the People's Party and per tie. So the big result, the big headline is Buong Jaitai, the caretaker Prime Minister Anyutin won the day and it'll be for him to try and form the new government.
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A
And how much of a surprise is this, Pravet? Because going into the polls it was being seen as a very tight three way race with the People's Party posing a progressive and rather major threat to the, to the, to the incumbent.
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E
Very much so, actually. The MPs of the People's Party, which surprisingly performed very badly last night, was telling me just hours or two before the more concrete results emerged that they still believe there would win something close to 200 seats eventually. We're talking about something south of 120, so 117 or plus or minus. So it was a big shock to the party and to the public as well. So we are recalculating, calibrating the prospect of Thai politics in the days and.
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A
Weeks ahead and staying with you private. What does that look like?
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E
Well, we're going to have a continuation of a conservative party, mind you. Newton was an incumbent. Surprisingly he was voted although he was a third biggest party but it was able to form a minority government for brief periods of three months due to guess whom, the People's Party who were having a bad blood with the second largest party at that time, I mean late last year which was the party. So eventually Anutin seized the opportunity as a so called de facto interim prime minister for three or four months to prepare himself for election. And then there was this war between Thailand and Cambodia and his staunch nationalist stance and the gain of some disputed territories between Thailand and Cambodia seemingly have won him a lot of support in the polls.
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A
Let's come to you James, because we want to cover a story that's broken in the last couple of hours which is the Hong Kong media, pro democracy tycoon, 78 years old, has just been handed a 20 year jail sentence by a court in Hong Kong. Is, it is a, it is the most severe punishment that could have been handed to miss Salai, isn't it?
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E
Well, it's the most severe that's been handed down under Hong Kong's National Security Law. I guess it could have been more. I mean we knew that he'd been found guilty under the law as of December and so today was just the sentencing and I guess it was just going to be how big that figure was going to be. It's 20 years. He's already served two of those. He'll be down to 18. But for good behavior the earliest he could get out is 12 years. So he's in jail now for at least until he's 90 if he, you know, he lasts that long. His health is not, is not meant to be great. So it's obviously a big, a big shock to see that number. But I guess it's something that everybody could see coming.
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A
Indeed, I mean he's seen as a traitor by Beijing, isn't he? But nonetheless he has been. Well, he was one of the key voices of free of freedom of expression in Hong Kong for such a long time. And indeed he holds a British passport.
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E
Yes, I mean they are, his family are calling for the, the British government to get involved. But I mean a short history. He was born in mainland China. He moved to Hong Kong. He was a businessman but then he kind of got, you know, he got into politics and became an advocate after the Tiananmen incident in 89 and he had his own media company and he used that media company, Apple to I guess stand up to, to Beijing and stand up for Hong Kong. And then everything changed with the protests in 2019 and this new security law. And suddenly what he was doing became illegal. He was arrested and now he's finally, after about five or six years been sentenced. He was seen as a figurehead. He was seen as somebody that the Beijing authorities wanted to get. And so this will be a strong message. I mean, the Hong Kong's chief executive wasn't mincing his words today when he called the so called crimes of Jimmy Lai Henness. And he was very, very happy that he'd got those 20 years.
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James Chambers, Monocle's Asia editor and Pravet Raja Naprukh, senior staff writer for Kasad English, both joining us on the line from Bangkok. Thank you so much. Still to come on today's program, every.
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F
Message that we deliver has to be understood. And my parameter is always that at 14 years old in Bariloche, Argentina needs to get straight away what we are talking about.
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A
How do you design an opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics that gets hearts aflutter all over the world? We'll hear from the creative lead for this year's Winter Games. Stay with us on the globalist. 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. Let's continue now with today's newspapers. Joining me is Yossi Meckelburg, senior consulting fellow at the MENA program at Chatham House. Good morning, Yossi. I've messed your name up again. I'm so. I always. Every single time. I'll get there one day. How's life with you?
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F
Life is good.
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Yeah.
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F
Monday morning after a nice weekend.
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A
Good. Glad to hear it. Here we go. So let's turn our focus. The spotlight of the world's news has moved away from Israel for a little while but it is now going to return because Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Donald Trump this week.
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F
Yeah. And it's not only about Netanyahu, it's about Iran and the Negotiation that started in Oman on Friday. And this seems to be. They are not the United States and Israel are not on the same page to begin with. It seems like this they're talking not only about nuclear enrichment uranium, handing the enriched uranium, the missing 400 kg of highly enriched uranium, but also the issue of ballistic missiles. Stop developing ballistic missiles beyond 300 kilometers, which bothers Israel, of course and supporting the proxies Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis and the others. And came Friday. And for Israel liking on Netanyahu, it seems, you know, too cozy about between the negotiator, Witkoff and Kushner on the one side, Arkach on the Iranian side. So he decided to fly and it seems that he got the kind of the green light for Trump to come and see him. We always think put kind of Netanyahu living with urgency in a week that he need to give author three days evidence in court in his corruption trial. It's always make you think is it about Iran, is it about the tribe?
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A
Or is it more about Benjamin Netanyahu? I mean there's an article in the Washington Post, an organization which I think we've heard this morning, a third of all its staff are being let go. But the writing is brilliant and so we still keep going back to it. The idea though that we want to know what the purpose of Netanyahu's visit is. I mean you mentioned the fact that he has this three day corruption trial that he has to appear for. But what does Israel actually want from these talks between the United States and Iran? Because it does not want agreement, does it?
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F
So I think there is the text in the subtext. It seems that if the negotiation goes well, according to Iran and the United States, the option of military, the military option is off the table. And then Iran and the United States agree on some sort of nuclear agreement without limiting the range of ballistic missiles and without limiting the support of proxies in the region. From Israel point of view, being next to the Hezbollah, the Houthis launch missiles in the last two years and supporting potentially Hamas, what's left of feels as a danger. So this is kind of without the military option still there. I think that's what the sense of urgency for Israel. But those are very, very early days in this negotiation. They are going to be tough.
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A
Let's move to domestic politics here in the United Kingdom. The continued consequences of the revelation that the man who was the British ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, had a much closer relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than had been suspected and that the Chief of Staff now of Downing Street, a gentleman called Morgan McSweeney has resigned as a result of this. And one automatically asks, is this a resignation of what? Is this a scalp or a head to claim to avoid the decapitation of the Prime Minister.
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F
I think there is an element of sacrificial lamb, though calling McSweeney Lamb is.
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A
A bit kind of rather gentle term.
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F
For a rather probably wolf more than a lamb. But in this sense, yes, to save the Prime Minister position because he was under pressure, obviously there was colossal lack of judgment on the Prime Minister's side, very much pushed by McSweeney, who is the kind of. Is the young Mendelssohn, in many ways, the kind of, you know, Mendelssohn used to be called the Prince of Darkness. You know, these kind people behind the Prime Minister, behind the government, the people that strategically advise. And in many ways, you almost invented Keir Starmer as a Prime Minister as a campaign to win, I mean, fantastic win in the election of 2024. But at the same time, something tells us about the arrogance of power, the idea everyone that, you know, know the history of Peter Menison was set probably just living kind of where he had.
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A
Been fired twice or he'd not fired. He'd had to step down in the past over scandals. One involving a mortgage. I can't remember what the other one.
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F
Was with her passports. Giving passport, yes, supporting passports for a lot of, you know, big donation of money, if I remember correctly. So I mean, in this sense, now you see the logic of appointing the Prince of Darkness to deal with King of Madness in the United States. So there is some, some logic to it why he was sent to the United States. But knowing, you know, his connection with Epstein, the fact that as you mentioned, he had to resign thrice. Better not. You can find enough talented people in the FCDO to go and do a great job in the United States.
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A
And this is one of the big problems that we have with Keir Starmer, isn't it? Because this was a man who, as a human rights lawyer came into office with a determination to clean up politics. And yet the people who he has appointed around him seem to be difficult. Let's say his ability to appoint efficient, good, talented people seems to have become his greatest weakness.
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F
And that's the question of his judgment, not of his integrity, but more of his judgment. And politics attracts this kind of people. But, you know, it has to be said that already, McSweeney was already sing out by the more left side of Labour Party is More the right side of labour and some in labor are not happy. You know, let's we won, you know, a famous victory in election and instead of implementing a proper labor policies on a range of issues, what we do is not more than a, a sort of a nicer face of mitigating policies of the conservatives and he probably target him but by targeting him actually they're targeting the prime minister because many of them are already brief the media that Starmer doesn't have long as a prime minister.
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A
Let's have a look at an article in the New York Times that you wanted to draw our attention to. Opinion from Maureen Dowd. Trump's Obama Derangement Syndrome. This is off the back of the highly offensive cartoon that he placed on the Internet about Barack and Michelle Obama. But this wider idea of what she's described as a derangement syndrome, what's that, Lucy?
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F
I must read the first sentence with the. And she says, Maureen Dode, it seems etymologically, metaphysically, geologically and ethically impossible that President Trump could reach a new law. But he has. And this goes to this clip portraying, you know, Michelle and Barack Obama as apes. I think it's really going back to this kind of racist approach. And it reminds me when, you know, Michelle Obama said when they go low, you know, we go high, we go high. But now it goes so low, if you go so much higher, there is no oxygen for us to breathe anymore.
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A
And one wonders whether that phrase still applies. It applied a few years ago. And you know, if you were talking to people about how you should deal with a crisis, you would when they go low, we go high. Yet the way that the balance has shifted now going low gets so much more air and energy.
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F
I still, you know, those are different from the Trump and these people. And you see the press conferences that are really getting lower and lower. I think they should, you know, and we should go higher and higher, but not without a punch. So I think to combine between the two, go higher, keep the high moral ground, not use the kind of equivalent memes of this, but at the same time fight back because it's so low. Because, you know, Donald Trump never miss to call him not just Barack Obama, but Barack Hussein Obama. And this is completely fine. It's his name. However, when Trump is doing that is to imply, listen, he's basically a Muslim, he doesn't belong here. He had all the campaign to claim that Obama was not even eligible to be a president of the United States. Not being born in the United States, humiliate Obama to go and show his birth certificate or expose it. So yes, needs to go higher but fighting back.
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A
Finally, let's touch briefly on a very lovely story. Anybody who's come from Manchester will know that the worker bee is the symbol of creativity and hard work. And just getting down to it, rolling your sleeves up. There's been a literal iteration of this in the United Kingdom about the introduction of bees into the office. Not literally into the office because that would be dangerous, but actually having beehives at work.
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F
Yeah, it's a lovely story in the Guardian about growing number of workplaces that actually install beehives not inside the office but on the terraces in the gans around it. And kind of they say that there is something special, almost spiritual about enabling your employees to take time away from work and actually connect with nature. And again, there is a lovely quote there. Someone says that if every organization ran like beehives, with shared purpose driven goals, decentralized decision making where individual act autonomously for the collective good and honest communication, it would be very successful business indeed. And I think that's what we can learn from bees.
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A
I wonder whether we'll be taking bees over to the White House on Wednesday for a meeting. Yossi Meckelburg, thank you so much as ever for joining me in the studio. He's senior consulting fellow at the MENA programme at Chatham House. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's a quick look at some of the other stories we're following today. Russian strikes overnight have killed at least one person in the Ukrainian port of Odessa. Russia also targeted the capital Kyiv, causing power cuts. Train drivers in Spain are beginning a three day strike prompted by two fatal rail accidents last month. They want increased investment and maintenance and more staff. And the center left candidate Antonio Jose Seguru has won Portugal's presidential election. He held off a challenge from the far right hopeful Andre Ventura. The presidency is largely ceremonial, but the role has certain key powers such as the ability to veto government decrees. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. Just nudging, 9:31am in Khartoum, 7:31am here in London. Now, could the civil war in Sudan become the next peace project of Donald Trump? The US President and self styled man who would solve the world's worst conflict, intends to take a plan to his own so called Board of Peace. Well, to find out more, I'm joined now from Berlin by Dr. Volker Pertas, who's a former UN under secretary general and special representative for Sudan. He's now senior Distinguished Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Good morning.
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B
Volker, good morning to you.
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A
What details do we have about the plan?
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B
Well, I'm not really sure it's a plan. Five points have been released by President Trump's Africa advisor, Massad Boulos, and he says he has discussed these plans with the regional parties and got their consent. And the regional parties being Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And it's basically about a humanitarian truce, as I call it, which is a limited ceasefire, temporary ceasefire. It is then humanitarian access for the agencies, for the UN and other humanitarian agencies. And then it goes on and says from there we need a permanent ceasefire and a political transition process to civilian government and finally post war reconstruction. Now, what we know so far is that the warring parties on the ground, which is the Sudanese army and the so called rapid support forces, have not agreed to these points, not even to the humanitarian truce. But what is correct about the plan or the roadmap, whatever you call it, is it has to start with a truce, with a ceasefire.
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A
And as a result, when you do say that the RSF and the Sudanese army are opposed to this plan, what purpose does it serve?
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B
Well, I'm not saying they are opposed to it, but they have not consented to it and they both have issues with details and they both still have war aims. There is a certain, well, maybe a theoretical window of opportunity here. Both sides, that is the Sudanese army under General Burhan and the so called Rapid Support Forces under Mr. Hemetti have consolidated large chunks of territory. The army in the east and in the center, including the capital Khartoum, and the RSF in the west. In Darfur, there are still battles in the middle of the country in Kordofan, but in a way, the areas which are consolidated are very, very far away from one another. That's more than 1,000 kilometers. And so there would be a chance to put pressure on these parties and say, well, stay where you are and cease fighting and allow humanitarian agencies to support the people in your respective area of control. And if the main external regional backers of these two warring parties would agree to squeeze them, to no longer fund their war efforts, to no longer deliver weapons or intelligence or other support to the warring parties, then maybe indeed with the pressure from the Americans, from the United States, a ceasefire could be achieved and that would be an important step forward.
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A
Olga, explain a little bit more of the context, if you may. You have just outlined in a moment an idea of just how complex this situation is. You've lived, you've worked in Sudan. You were there before the civil war started. When you look at something like the Board of Peace, how much faith do you have that there is any depth of knowledge in this organization and how much of an understanding of what is going on exists among those who are trying to bring about peace at the moment?
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B
Well, the Board of Peace is irrelevant here. What is relevant, and even Masambulus said so much, is that a plan if it is indeed agreed, if the warring party's consent to it is brought to the Security Council or even before that in order to put pressure on the warring parties? It is not so relevant here how much expertise there is in the White House at the moment, or whether President Trump uses the diplomats and the experts which the Americans have in the State Department and in other agencies in the CIA, for example. They are not using that. And this is certainly a problem. But what is important here is that the regional parties, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, who know Sudan very well and have hard concrete interests there, that they are brought on board. And maybe that is something because they all want good relations to the us they all want to be on the good side on President Trump. Maybe that is something that can be achieved.
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A
And in that context, how much hope do you have that what may be coming from the Board of Peace and whatever people may think of it, may actually produce something good?
- [37:14]
B
Look, the Board of Peace has been established in order to secure the ceasefire and a form of peace process in Gaza. And I think it's good for that because relevant parties are there. Beyond that, I honestly think it is a non starter. But in this case here, if the US Administration works together with the three regional parties which I have mentioned, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE together in a format which they call the Quad for the four parties, then this could actually achieve something. If they agree on defunding, as it were, the warring parties not supporting them materially or politically, that could put enough pressure on them to agree at least on temporary ceasefire. And that would be a real respite for the people of Sudan.
- [38:11]
A
Dr. Volker Perta is former UN Undersecretary General and Special Representative for Sudan, now Senior Distinguished Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Thank you for joining me on Monocle Radio. Iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work, and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies, bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence all to elevate you, UBS banking is our craft. Let's have a look now at fashion and retail news. Joining me in the studio is Rebecca Tay, retail expert, brand consultant, regular voice around the microphones. Very good morning to you, Rebecca.
- [39:10]
G
Good morning, Emma.
- [39:11]
A
Splendant in lemon. Tell me what news from the world of fashion.
- [39:17]
G
Well, Peter Moulier has finally been announced as the creative director at Versace. So he was. They announced at Alaia that he'd be stepping back on January 30th and then just a few days later, which is quite quick sometimes, you know, sometimes these things can kind of drag on when it's the sort of news that everybody knows about, but nobody's actually announced yet. But just last week he was finally announced as the chief creative officer at Versace. So he won't actually assume the job until July 1st. And until then, we have Paris Fashion Week and he'll actually show his last collection at Alaia. But it is quite exciting news.
- [39:51]
A
It's very exciting in two ways. He's enjoyed a reasonably good tenure at Alaia, for starters, but the fact was that Versace needed a name that would carry it forward in a way that we're seeing with a lot of the ultra luxury houses at the moment.
- [40:04]
G
Yes.
- [40:05]
A
And longevity is the thing that everybody has been looking for. And you're looking at it. Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Mathieu Blasey at Chanel. Will Moulier be able to do what the other creative directors seem to be quite good at doing, at getting a handle on straight away?
- [40:23]
G
Yes, I think he will. He is very talented and he is very seasoned. You know, I think we've been talking about him. He's been in the limelight since he's been at Alaia for five years, but actually before that he was working alongside Raf Simmons for many, many, many years. And so there's this story that obviously Raf Simmons has been at Prada now for five years. Maybe he had a hand or a little bit of influence behind the scenes to bring on his right hand, his former right hand man. At the Elias show in September, he was, you know, there was a very emotional, very beautiful moment between the two of them between Peter Moulier and Raf Simmons. And so there's this sort of idea that he has had quite a history already in the fashion industry. He can bring the fashion house forward. And as you said, Versace needs that sort of. It needs that rejuvenation, but also someone to carry it into the next. You know, it's 48 years old, maybe the next few decades.
- [41:13]
A
Then where are the good Italian designers coming up, though? Because, you know, we're looking at. We're looking at Armani, which needs to find its future. And after it's. After Giorgio Armani died last year, we're looking at Versace. Belgium seems to be doing really well in terms of producing clever designers. You've mentioned Raf Simons and we also have, you know, Peter Molier. But one wonders where the Italian voice is coming from and the Italian eye.
- [41:37]
G
Yes, it's a very good question because I think also when Dario Vitale was first announced at Versace, there was this sort of idea that he was very Italian. He had been there for a while, you know, he had this sort of kind of voice. I think that would sort of bring that home. But that is getting a little bit lost, I suppose. And so I think it's more about kind of looking into what. What does Italian fashion actually mean? Is it about the heritage codes or what is it that sort of comes out? So I think at Vers, there is very much these, you know, there's the Medusa, there's lots of codes for Pretty Mourulier to really dig his, you know, dig his hands into or dig his feet into. But it's whether or not that actually means he'll have to, you know, feel a little bit more kind of into that Italian mentality or whether that's actually irrelevant these days. And it's more about actually what the house historically has had.
- [42:24]
A
And let's look at the way that this is being reflected. The list index is a quarterly ranking of fashion's hottest brands. Yes. Number one is Saint Laurent. Then there's Mimi. Cos Popping up. Ralph Lauren did very well at the Winter Olympics opening soon, and then Prada. So we. And Coach doing a phenomenal, amazing surprise job at number number six. What does the overall look at the. The list feel like to you?
- [42:50]
G
It feels like there's this sort of distillation of what does a house actually mean? You know, there's so much noise out there. When you. When you open your phone and you open an email or you look at social media, there's. There's so much noise. And I think customers are really kind of looking at what does a brand actually stand for? What does it mean? Ralph Lauren. You know, we've talked about it a lot over the last few months because I think it dominated TikTok and social media and all the media over the Christmas period because of Ralph Lauren Christmas. Everybody was talking about Ralph Lauren Christmas, obviously, It didn't hurt that Ralph Lauren himself, obvious, also received the designer of the year award last year, but their sales also speak to that. So their sales are up about 12%, if not more. And as you said, they've had a huge presence at the Olympics. So there's just this real kind of desire to understand what a brand actually stands for. And when you think about Ralph Lauren, you know, you know, I think the quarter zip polo is one of the hottest items also on the list index. So this sort of just really understanding in an, in an instant second what a brand actually stands for.
- [43:49]
A
And this is reflected in the fact that there is, there are at least two high street names. Cos is number three. Massimo Dutti is at number 16. Yes. That accessibility of good design is really huge, isn't it?
- [44:03]
G
Yes, exactly. So I think coach also speaks to that. It's this sort of mid price point understanding that you're getting good quality, which I think Massmo Dutti, customers of Massmo Dutti and also of ca, know that, you know, you're getting good basics at ca, a little bit of a fashion forward angle. And at Massimo Duty, you're getting a little bit of that trend, but also very, very good price point. You know, why pay £2,000 for something when you could get at Mass for £400?
- [44:30]
A
Rebecca Tay, Retail expert and brand consultant. Thank you so much for joining me in the studio. This is the Globalist. Now, this weekend marked the start of the Winter Olympics and with it the start of Monocle's own coverage from Italy. We are in Milan all this week and next week and we'll be hearing from our team on the ground at the end of the show. But first, here's Monocle's Andrew Muller explaining why you should be watching and why the Winter Olympics are better than the summer ones.
- [44:59]
H
With the exception of BMX racing, which might have been designed by orthopaedic surgeons working on commission. The greatest risks run by summer Olympians are the sort of strains and sprains that, while doubtless painful for the athlete, are merely tedious for the spectator. Winter Olympians can crash luges and bobsleighs, wipe out on snowboards, clobber each other into hockey rink barriers, careen off ski runs into forests and lose their balance mid leap from the ski jumping ramp to land with an audible fracturing of limbs. Even the relatively prim pastime of figure skating offers opportunities to descend from a height at speed onto a surface that's as hard as cement. But colder. Winter alone, Olympians are and the epithet is offered in respect. Verging on outright or total maniacs, the Winter Olympics have generally been regarded as a junior partner of their summer counterpart. The cold weather edition started later. The first was held in 1924, 28 years after the first modern Summer Olympics. And the Winter Olympics involves a smaller number of competitors as fewer countries countries have climates conducive to the training of athletes. Just 91 nations competed at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. By contrast, 204, including the refugee team and independent contingent, attended the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. A lack of snow at home does not have to impede competing in the colder months. Indeed, it should be considered a challenge. Challenge. The soft power benefits to a warm, dry country that decides to take a swing at the Winter Games can be huge. After all, everyone loves an underdog. The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will feature competitors from such unlikely places as Brazil, Eritrea, Haiti and Madagascar, all of which might leave without a medal but will win a raised profile. The model for this sort of enterprise was established in 1988 when Jamaica greatly enhanced the general gaiety by sending a bobslaying team to the Calgary Games. They finished last in the four man competition, but their story was immortalised in the 1993 John Candy comedy Cool Runnings. And nobody made a Hollywood film about the Swiss team that finished first.
- [47:30]
A
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme get on up.
- [47:38]
H
Somewhat unfairly, the Jamaican team also drew the spotlight away from their Caribbean rivals from the Netherlands Antilles, who proved to be better bobsleighers. But this is surely the Olympic spirit at its purest the joy of taking part with not the faintest prayer of winning. And the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City gave us what was arguably the most useful and heart of the morality fable in the history of sport. On the last lap of the final of the men's thousand metres short track speed skating, Australia's Stephen Bradbury was a distant last and possibly beginning to console himself by pondering the miracle that he was there at all. Bradbury had come back from hideous injuries twice in his career. An accidental slash from a rival's blade in 1994 which had spilled four litres of his blood on the rink, and a broken neck from a crash during training in 2000, which prompted the doctors who repaired him with screws and steel plates to tell him that he would never skate again. But at the final corner of the race, all four of Bradbury's rivals fell over each other, leaving the Australian athlete cruising to gold, bearing the expression of a man realising that he would never again pay for a dream drink back home.
- [48:55]
A
But the Chinese skater on the outside. Oh, and it's lot of contact.
- [48:59]
C
Oh, they've all gone down.
- [49:01]
A
Bradley is going to come through and win gold.
- [49:04]
H
It was a reminder that fortune favors not merely the brave, but every so often, the diligent, pragmatic and patient. For Monocle Radio, I'm Andrew Mullen.
- [49:17]
A
Andrew, thank you so much indeed for that. Andrew will be broadcasting a little later on this week and all next next week from Milan, but let's turn to the opening ceremony of the Games, where the main spectacle unfolded across northern Italy on Friday evening. An opening ceremony has to do a great deal. It has to be family friendly, it has to appeal to people all over the world and also set the right tone for subsequent sporting excellence. Well, we sent our man in Milan, Monocles Europe editor at large Ed Stocker, to the ceremony at San Siro in Milan to soak up the atmosphere and to talk with some of the people there. He also interviewed some of the key creatives behind the ceremony's production to find out about the complex process and the emotions involved in letting go. Once it's over, he sent us this report. Go Canada. Go Canada. Go Canada. I'm Julie Carnia. Our daughter is Margarite La Jolla. She's a nice dancer and it's her second Olympics, but it's our first one because we couldn't go to Beijing because.
- [50:23]
D
Of the COVID So how does it feel being here in Milan? We're walking to the stadium now. Have you been to an opening ceremony before?
- [50:29]
G
It's our very first.
- [50:31]
A
Like, it's such a privilege. We can't believe it.
- [50:33]
C
And the weather is so marvelous.
- [50:36]
A
Like, we're so excited.
- [50:37]
C
Everyone is so friendly and we encourage each other. It's like a big community with peace and mutual support. And so, yeah, the atmosphere is amazing.
- [50:49]
D
We're inside the stadium now for the opening ceremony. There are a lot of people funneling towards the gates. It really is just a massive celebration. I've seen people from the us, from Canada, from the Gulf, from Latvia and. And from pretty much everywhere else, South Korea. Everyone united by sport and just having a massive global party. A temple of Milanese football turned into the centre of the world for an evening. A showcase for everything Italy can do and has done creatively, and a celebration of. Of sporting nations, from the big, such as the US and Germany, to the small, such as Haiti and Guinea Bissau. The stadium audience, in festive spirit, is given Flashing bracelets that make the mass pulse and sparkle. But behind the slick execution, the perfect choreography, the spine tingles delivered by opera singer Andrea Bocelli, And the dose of celebrity in the form of Mariah Carey. And the surprise appearance from Hollywood actress Charlize Theron, there's a huge team of behind the scenes professionals and volunteers. Marco Balic, whose CV includes organising the Rio Summer Olympics closing and the curtain raiser for Torino in 2006, is creative lead for the 2026 opening ceremony. He heads up Milan's Balitsch Wonder Studio.
- [52:58]
F
The production of an Olympic ceremony requires two years, more or less. The first six months is creative group, ideas, topics and feasibility. Second six months is budgeting, contract, hiring suppliers and, you know, establishing what can be done. Third six months is execution of music, prototyping of costume, scenography, feasibility, etc. This last six months is rehearsal. So it's a two years journey, like a major feature film.
- [53:40]
D
Add to the mix this year the logistics of linking the San Siro ceremony with other northern Italian locations. Taking part via videolink. Cortina, Livinho and Predazzo. And while the narrative thread of the night, all about peace and harmony, may look effortless, it's been a long, albeit rewarding, process.
- [54:03]
A
I'm Lulu Helbeck. I'm one of the creative directors of the Winter Olympic ceremony, Milano Cortina 2026. There's different phases of the project. There's the moment where you have to get the idea, which is terrifying. And every morning you think you chose the wrong job. Why? I'm in this state. And you just want to open like a bar in Puerto Rico. And then you read and you study, you look for something. It's like a big research. And then finally you see a little thing, a spark somewhere, and you start to nurture this spark and it becomes an idea. And little by little you say, ah, maybe a. There's this is a good idea. And then you start to tell this idea to other people. And then when the other people, you see in their eyes something like the same spark you felt, then it seems that it's the right thing. And then you put together. It's always a big collaboration, especially in the Olympics. You work with many, many people. The creative team is big, not only you and the other co directors, but it's set design and costume design and a music director and all the other people that helps you. So it's really a teamwork.
- [55:15]
D
At the end of the day, you need to make people feel something and to do it in a Universal way. Here's Marco Balicz again.
- [55:23]
F
I would say that being Italian, I like to have strong emotional statements. Something that celebrates and creates a kind of an emotional statement in the audience, in the stadium in Cortina and around the world through the cameras. I always remind myself and everyone around me that we have been broadcasted by 197 broadcasts around the world. Which means that every message that we deliver has to be understood. And my parameter is always that a 14 years old in Bariloche, Argentina needs to get straight away what we are talking about. If we nail that, I'm sure that everyone gets the message and even the most reluctant and far away population. So the emotional journey is really not about the celebrity. The celebrity is just for some media hype. But the show, it's a big, beautiful, rich, expensive statement about Olympic values.
- [56:28]
D
Letting go of the creative baby once the ceremony is over can bring mixed feelings. Something the team is used to. Not that it makes it any easier. Simone Ferrari is another creative director for the show and also deputy creative lead.
- [56:45]
E
There is a great director in Broadway.
- [56:47]
F
That used to schedule a meeting about.
- [56:50]
E
The next project the morning after the show. And in a way I understand why he did it.
- [56:55]
F
I didn't do it, but I am.
- [56:57]
A
Already focused on the next next one.
- [56:59]
F
But yes, you are really letting a.
- [57:02]
E
Show breathe on its own and you.
- [57:05]
A
Abandon a ship where you have traveled.
- [57:07]
E
Together with so many friends for a long time.
- [57:10]
F
So it's a day of joy is also a day of loss in a way.
- [57:20]
D
For the audience leaving the San Cedo a song schooling in Olympic values and in a world of so much geopolitical strife, something to think about. It's been a slick show here in Milan. It's been a long show, but it's also had this incredible message that the world really can come together over something as simple as sport. For modern Monocle in Milan, I'm Ed.
- [57:52]
A
Stocker and Ed joins me now from the Allianz Winter Sky Lounge. Monocle in Milan. Ed Stocker is starting in what, a little over two minutes? So tell us what can you see and what's coming up?
- [58:06]
F
Good morning.
- [58:07]
D
Well, we were here on Friday. It was absolutely magnificently sunny. It's a little cloudy today, but on a good day you can see the Alps in the distance. But we're hoping it's going to burn off very shortly and we're going to have incredible views. This is apparently the tallest building in Italy and we're on the top floor. So it's pretty amazing to be here and looking forward to our show kicking off in about an hour's time.
- [58:30]
A
Indeed. I mean, as Europe editor at large, you are actually in the. In the prime position. How's Milan feeling this weekend?
- [58:38]
D
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's pretty exciting. You know, obviously there's some key events taking place in Milan. You know, you've got. Got ice hockey that's taking place all of this week. I'm actually going to be attending a game later this afternoon in the name of work, of course, and, you know, there's speed skating and other sports here. I guess the interesting thing about these games is the fact that it's spread all over northern Italy. So it's just this amazing opportunity to maybe hop around different locations and see all the magnificent Alpine locations that are. That are on display for these games.
- [59:14]
A
How does that create something coherent?
- [59:16]
D
I think it's really, you know, just trying to make sure that the best sports are in the best locations and, you know, they are united by being these Alpine locations. So it's a sort of pan Alpine celebration. They're all linked by being close to the mountains. And you forget, Emma, that, you know, you know, Milan is this thriving, busy city, but it's so near to the mountains. You can be in the mountains in about an hour's time. You're reminded of this connection that even a city like Milan has with the Alps. So it's just a celebration of Alpine culture, really, and Alpine sporting excellence.
- [59:53]
A
You have 10 seconds to tell us who's on the program in an hour's time.
- [59:57]
D
Oh, we've got so many great people. We've got Michael Balitch. He's the creative lead for the opening ceremony on Friday, that. So he's going to be telling us how it all happened. We've got Manfredi Catella, who's from koima, a real estate development company that has developed much of Milan. We've got photographer Scott Schumann. I think I'm probably out of time, but those are just a few of the people that are coming up just today. And we've got two weeks of this incredible show. So we're going to have lots of fantastic people.
- [60:25]
F
Emma.
- [60:25]
A
Monocle Radio taking up residence at the Allianz Winter Sky Lounge. Monocle in Milan starts in an hour's time. Our Europe editor at large, Ed Stocker, will be behind the microphone from today. And that's all the time we have for the Globalist. However, the warmest of thanks to all my guests and to the producers Angelica Jobson, Chris Chermack, Hassan Anderson and Rima Takahashi. And to our researcher, Monica Lillis and our studio manager, Mariella Bevan. I'm Emma Nelson. Goodbye. Thanks for listening. Have a great week. With ubs. You have a truly good global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities. Leading you to insights that help answer the questions that matter. Delivered with passion, care and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.