The Monocle Daily – November 21, 2025

Episode: “10,000 violations: The Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, nearly one year on”

Overview

This episode of The Monocle Daily, hosted by Andrew Muller, offers sharp analysis on the ongoing Lebanon-Israel ceasefire—nearly a year after signing—and reviews the wider regional consequences. Monocle’s team and expert guests also discuss the legacy of the Nuremberg Trials, innovations at Helsinki’s Slush tech summit, Calabrian cuisine’s London arrival, and the week’s quirkiest lessons.

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire: "How ceased is the fire?"

[00:44–12:08]

Key Discussion Points

1. UNIFIL’s Ceasefire Violation Report

• UNIFIL has catalogued over 10,000 violations in the last year:
  • ~~7,500 airspace violations~~: Israeli jets entering Lebanese airspace, often over Beirut, regularly conducting practice bombing runs (intended as intimidation).
  • ~~2,500 ground violations~~: Israeli troops/tanks on Lebanese territory.
• [02:51 | Leila Milana-Allen]:
  "It was daily practice that Israeli jets would come, they would fly over Beirut, which they're not supposed to do.”
• Israeli strikes have resulted in at least 100 civilian deaths since the ceasefire.
  • Recent example: Attack on Ain Al Helwe refugee camp, killing 13.
• Israel maintains 5 military outposts in southern Lebanon’s "buffer zone," with no intention of withdrawal.

2. Hezbollah’s Capability and Changing Dynamics

• UNIFIL discovered 360+ abandoned Hezbollah weapons caches handed to the Lebanese army.
• Hezbollah’s operational capability is significantly diminished:
  • Leadership heavily depleted during the war.
  • Supply from Iran constrained due to regional conflict and Iran’s internal problems.
  • Fall of Assad regime in Syria severed a key weapons and funding conduit.
• [05:07 | Leila Milana-Allen]:
  “Previously...no one really expected them to disarm...That really wasn’t an expectation until it became clear in this war that Hezbollah had once again become a huge liability for the Lebanese people..."
• Despite military setbacks, Hezbollah remains under pressure to disarm per UN Security Council Resolution 1701, but refuses.
• Concerns persist that, even if Hezbollah withdraws, the Lebanese Army cannot secure the south—remaining rationale for local support.

3. Popular Support and Shifting Attitudes

• Hezbollah's support base is complex—often caricatured but rooted in provision of social welfare, order, and even reconstruction.
  • Supported by many Shi’a, some Christians (for past reconstruction efforts), disenfranchised youth (dollar salaries).
  • Hezbollah has historically stepped in where the central government failed (2006, 2016 crises).
• Yet, the devastation and current dangers in the south are shifting opinions.
  • Some question whether Hezbollah’s arms are “worth it,” particularly as Lebanon tries a new governmental approach.
• [07:29 | Leila Milana-Allen]:
  “There are a lot of people who feel very faithful to them for that reason, not just ideologically...So all those reasons still remain. However...the risk of living in the south right now is so great that...certainly [people] are starting to think maybe the weapons aren't worth it now.”

4. Signs of Hope: Lebanon’s New Government

• Recent emergence of a new government after three years of vacuum.
  • Cabinet composed mainly of technocrats and non-politicians.
  • Early signs of progress: improved basic services, civil order (e.g., traffic tickets), returning expats, better medical system.
• [09:57 | Leila Milana-Allen]:
  “For the first time in many years, [Lebanon] has a government that at least seems to be trying to do something for the people...There is for the first time a lot of hope that Lebanon might be taking a new step forward.”

Nuremberg Trials: 80 Years On

[12:08–22:28]

Key Discussion Points

1. Lasting Legacy of International Justice

• Reflections on Robert H. Jackson’s powerful opening address at Nuremberg and the trial’s role in shaping the concept of justice for crimes against humanity.
• [13:08 | Robert H. Jackson]:
  “The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated...that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated.”

2. Justice over Vengeance

• Jackson saw trials as the only path to lasting peace and to delegitimizing “victor’s justice.”
• [15:30 | Kristen McMahon]:
  "He is well aware of all the criticisms about it...Ultimately, when you get to the verdicts...not all 22 of the defendants were found guilty, really validated the system that he set up..."

3. Architecture for Future Accountability

• Nuremberg was intended to create a precedent for prosecuting even the most powerful for war crimes.
• [17:29 | Kristen McMahon]:
  “He really was, I think, intending this to be a legacy act...that this was at least enough of a roadmap for the world to move forward with, if they so choose, in these types of tribunals.”

4. Lessons Retained and Forgotten

• "Following orders" as a failed defense is perhaps the trial’s most indelible lesson, now part of military and public doctrine.
• [20:18 | Kristen McMahon]:
  "With each generation who hasn't lived through this time, there's a duty and an obligation to educate them..."

5. Dramatization and Public Perception

• Discussion of the new Nuremberg movie—its historical liberties versus educational impact.

Slush: Finland’s Startup Powerhouse

[22:28–29:15]

Key Discussion Points

1. Slush: The World’s "Founder-Focused" Event

• Over 13,000 attendees, including 6,000 founders and 3,500+ investors, gather for two days of "speed-dating" between big money and new ideas.
• [23:27 | Petri Birtsoff]:
  “Think of it as a speed dating...for those people in the world who have all the money and those people...who have all the best ideas.”

2. Shifts in Tech, Beyond AI

• While AI is everywhere, “deep tech”—technology solving concrete problems—gains traction (food security, quantum computing, biotech).
• Example: Finnish company Oner Gobayo making egg protein with fungi, now ready for US commercialization.
• [25:11 | Maya Corner, founder]:
  "We are actually producing animal protein without any animals...We recently got the FDA approval..."

3. Global Appeal, Nordic Grit

• Helsinki’s November gloom is part of the event’s unique draw—with attendees braving the dark, cold, and “Slushy” weather for world-class networking.
• [26:44 | Petri Birtsoff]:
  “Nobody in their right mind would come to Helsinki in November. It's dark, it's cold, it's miserable. Nobody smiles...But...the pitch is so, so crazy, so nuts that, that you know, it just grabs people's attention.”

4. Smart Money and Future Bets

• Investors, like Accel’s Senya Loginov, see AI as a transformational shift for the next decade.
• [27:54 | Senya Loginov]:
  “For the current five to 10 years, AI is the biggest shift and we are looking for how it's going to manifest itself across all layers of what we do as humans.”

5. Innovations Galore

• From lab-grown proteins to brain-operating micro-robots, not everything is about AI—solutions to real problems (and even micro-robots for brain surgery) lead the agenda.

Calabrian Cuisine Arrives in London

[29:15–37:46]

Key Discussion Points

1. Chef Francesco Mazzi on Calabrian Food

• The celebrated chef opens Mezzo Giorno at the Carinthia London, promising authentic, rustic southern Italian cuisine.
• [30:23 | Francesco Mazzi]:
  "The special thing is that nobody knows about it...I brought nduja to this country...I introduced this beautiful salami to the wide market in the UK."

2. What Makes Calabrian Food Unique

• Heavy use of spices, vegetables, little butter, abundance of olive oil—“the region of the Mediterranean diet.”
• [31:38 | Francesco Mazzi]:
  “We use a lot more spices...a lot of salumi...a lot of vegetables...less butter, a lot of olive oil. It's very healthy for you.”

3. Hospitality and New Restaurant Concept

• Restaurant experience centers on warmth, accessibility, and a kitchen-first journey.
• [33:29 | Francesco Mazzi]:
  "When you go through my doors...you go to my kitchen first and then you go sit down...you come through my kitchen again. If something goes wrong, you can talk to me directly..."

4. Signature Dishes and Calabrian Wines

• Highlights: pasta with spare ribs, Auntie Maria’s gigantic meatball, chocolate & aubergine cake; over 10 Calabrian wines offered.

5. Calabria’s Rising Culinary Scene

• Southern Italy cuisine is still underappreciated internationally; Calabria is now a hotspot for innovative chefs and gastronomic tourism.

The Week in Review: News Roundup & Oddities

[37:46–45:07]

Key Moments

• Comic confusion as "J.D. Vance" (a Michigan citizen, not the Vice President) is jailed for threatening the public figure, cueing up a riff on American politicians’ eccentric names.
• Head of state (Venezuelan President Maduro) caught singing John Lennon’s "Imagine"—a “culturally pernicious” tune, per host Andrew Muller.
• President Trump (as of 2025) calls a female reporter “Piggy” when confronted over the Epstein files scandal, with the White House blaming the reporter, not him.
• Swedish record-setter Martin Strobe wins "most matchsticks stuffed up nose" (81), allegedly “to make his children proud.”

Quote Highlight:
[43:46 | Chris Church, on Martin Strobe’s motives]:
“As a father, I want my children to look up to me. With that in mind, I really wanted to make them proud and think that they have a cool dad.”

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Leila Milana-Allen [02:51]:
  "Israeli jets would come, they would fly over Beirut, which they're not supposed to do."
• Leila Milana-Allen [07:29]:
  "Hezbollah is actually a social force that distributes a lot of money and social support to people who are living in its communities."
• Kristen McMahon [15:30]:
  "He is well aware of all the criticisms about it...when you get to the verdicts...not all 22 of the defendants were found guilty, really validated the system that he set up..."
• Petri Birtsoff [24:03]:
  “A speed dating for people with all the money and people with the best ideas…”
• Senya Loginov [27:54]:
  "AI is the biggest shift and we are looking for how it's going to manifest itself across all layers of what we do as humans.”
• Francesco Mazzi [30:23]:
  "The special thing is that nobody knows about [Calabrian cooking]...I introduced this beautiful salami to the wide market in the UK."
• Andrew Muller [41:03]:
  "Not just any song. The worst song ever written. Musically inane, lyrically vacuous and culturally pernicious..."

Conclusion

This episode of The Monocle Daily offers a deeply informed, yet refreshingly witty, survey of issues from Middle Eastern geopolitics and the ethics of international justice to European innovation and culinary culture—punctuated with the week’s most charming absurdities. If you missed it, you’re now fully briefed.