Increased deportations and unequal and growingly restrictive visa policies in the United States are jeopardizing the trust built by decades of hosting Pacific Islanders – while China moves in the opposite direction.

I joined @cwarzel.bsky.social on the Galaxy Brain Podcast to explain some of the reasons why America, and a lot of other Western democracies, are sliding into authoritarianism and why it's probably inevitable www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFh...

“A European intelligence agency distributed a hard-copy report in a manila envelope to some of the continent’s most senior national security officials...inside were details of the commercial and economic plans the US had been pursuing with Russia, including jointly mining rare earths in the Arctic.”

No, Mr. Bart DeWever, this is nothing but a Russian narrative. What deal are you talking about? The Russian plan that amounts to Ukraine's capitulation and will herald a full-scale war on Europe? Did you forget the hundreds of thousands murdered by Russia? #MakeRussiaPay www.ft.com/content/320b...

“Once the claws are in you through social media—it starts dragging down the whole democracy with it.” The journalist Eliot Higgins speaks with Charlie Warzel about how algorithmic incentives can affect how people make political decisions. Listen to the episode: theatln.tc/y9MnNOkb

🔴Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny “Orwell would have enjoyed the irony” of the former Conservative minister’s appointment, say critics bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...

Trump continues to get manipulated and played by Putin.

If the United States is serious about besting China, then “it needs to invest in its manufacturing capacity, spend on its people, shore up its partnerships, and reinvest in its values,” writes @congressmanraja.bsky.social.

Here's UKIP's former Scottish leader David Coburn, who has denied taking Russian bribes after being named in Whatsapp messages between Nathan Gill and a pawn of the Putin administration, being applauded by Gill for arguing against Ukraine's entry to the EU

🚨 BREAKING: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top adviser Andriy Yermak has quit amid a snowballing graft probe. Read the full story: politi.co/48rLU2L

All the people I know in politics are smart, well-educated and intellectual, they just don't actually have time to think about big ideas or underlying concepts - even during summer recess etc. We can create a system that makes for better MPs (staff etc), but it'll cost money we don't want to spend.

"Labour has managed to squander its capital with immense speed, it's more than a little shocking." Salman Rushdie says a reluctance to acknowledge the damage Brexit has done and is harming people's faith in politics. @jonsopel1.bsky.social | @lewisgoodall.com

One of the clearest, logical thinkers and strategic communicators on why Russia must not win - and why Ukraine needs more support, not more pressure to sign a deal that favours Russia.

A great article in @foreignaffairs.com about the "toothless" Trump sanctions on Russian oil, that people have been getting wrong. China is still buying lots of oil, and without secondary sanctions, this will protect Moscow www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Trump’s pursuit of Senator Mark Kelly extends the president’s retribution campaign to the military justice system, Missy Ryan, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, and Nancy A. Youssef report. “We basically said, ‘Follow the law.’ And he said, ‘Kill them,’” Kelly tells them:

"You may be tempted to believe that “ending the war” is synonymous with “creating peace.” It is not.” Great thought experiment from @markhertling.bsky.social

'There is no peace process. This is not negotiations over peace: it is the transmission of surrender demands from Russia with the active facilitation of the United States.' Read @keirgiles.bsky.social analysis on the Trump administration's proposed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine⤵️

Couple of thought-provoking but worrying pieces in the FT today. First, does China want to buy anything from anyone? Not really, no different then to the US or many others. The lure of self-sufficiency. Most worrying, why is this thought a surprise? www.ft.com/content/f294...

Barents Observer looked into the background of Denis, the new "doorkeeper" at Russia's Consulate General in Kirkenes. Guess what? 🕵️ 🇷🇺 🇳🇴

For a decade, Russia has been seeking to divide Europe and America, to undermine NATO and weaken the transatlantic alliance. This peace plan, if accepted, will achieve that goal. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Trump’s 28-point peace plan with Russia “is misnamed,” @anneapplebaum.bsky.social argues. “It is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future.”

The climate science is clear: decarbonisation is essential. But will that hand power to Beijing? ✍🏼 @isabelh.bsky.social

I just dipped a toe in the cesspit that used to be Twitter, and I think the surest indication that the “28 points” were translated from Russian is the number of Russian mouthpiece accounts busy shouting, unprompted, that that is absolutely not the case and they were drafted in the White House.

Russia Rejects Trump’s Peace Plan, Says Only Full Military Victory Over Ukraine Is Acceptable united24media.com/latest-news/...

What a shame - with the current 'plan' Vance et all will maximise chances of Russia's forever war against Ukraine & Europe

Trump is pushing Ukraine to commit strategic suicide by Thanksgiving.

The Putin-Trump surrender plan is the end if European security. If you decided you didn’t care about Ukraine (I do, but just if) you should oppose with every fibre if you don’t want further Russian attacks on Europe. It really is that simple.

Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist

The inclusion of the promise that "Russia will be invited to rejoin the G8" indicates that Putin *really* minded Russia being booted out of it. It's a deeply, deeply weird thing to include in a peace treaty.

The G8 provision is also fascinating and ludicrous because it shows that Russia and the Trump admin think they have the power to compel states that aren't parties to the conflict to sign up to things they've no interest in agreeing to. It reflects Putin's view of allies as puppets of great powers.

The G8 clause and some of the others are nothing to do with Ukraine or even nominally about Russia's security. They're about Russia's status - Russia being recognised as great power. The Trump administration is apparently happy to sign off on this.

Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said this week he is eager for a German general to eventually take command of the alliance's forces, a job that has been held by an American officer since the bloc's founding nearly 80 years ago.

Unmanned systems don’t magically sustain themselves, and the Indo-Pacific will expose every weakness.

The United States brings frontier ambition. Australia brings outback pragmatism. The future of AUKUS will depend on how well they blend.

‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Flight tracking services yesterday showed a Chinese military aircraft operating around Hainan while broadcasting the identity of Royal Air Force Typhoon. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/chinese-dron...

Helsing has opened its first UK 'Resilience Factory' in Plymouth to produce autonomous underwater gliders for allied naval forces. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/helsing-open...

Australia’s longstanding foreign policy challenge of managing the United States as its principal security partner while relying on China as its largest trading partner remains the central framework shaping Australian public attitudes.

EU foreign ministers will be briefed tomorrow about a spate of sabotage attempts and airspace incursions that Russia’s neighbors say marks a “very dangerous phase of escalation” by the Kremlin, and one that endangers civilians.

Good that it's being publicised and called out, but I don't think that a change in the ROE is a suitable enough deterrent to the Russians at this stage.

China recruiting spies in the UK with fake headhunters and ‘sites like LinkedIn’

A major Defence Committee report released today raises persistent concerns about the UK’s force structure. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/report-warns...

China’s loan book is now worth $2.1trn, which is far larger than previously published estimates. But the “really striking” discovery is how much goes to rich countries, argues Bradley Parks

The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world" That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims

“To the historically oriented, the fight for the minds of decision-makers and noncombatants does not expand the battlespace, but it does expand or at least challenge long-held Western conceptions about war.” A superb review of cognitive warfare from Frank Hoffman smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/14/a...

Modern intelligence lives in the open, but it takes mastery to stay unseen. This conversation explores the new hidden tradecraft of the open web. Listen here: warontherocks.com/20...

Excellent paper with practical policy suggestions. In the case of Finland, dearly hope that officialdom and politicians would start to build what's suggested here, it's very much needed. icds.ee/en/beyond-de...

The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think. New piece from me. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

😮 Norway finds out that its electric busses - produced by a Chinese firm - can be remotely controlled from China! The good news of this is that the Norwegians realised this because they did a cybersecurity test. We need to think about, and test, stuff like this more. www.focus.de/panorama/wel...

What makes a satellite a legitimate military target? Fascinating ICRC analysis. "a particular location in the GEO belt may have strategic significance during an armed conflict, as GEO facilitates continuous coverage over a particular area on earth" international-review.icrc.org/articles/hum...