This is a very good point. The November 2025 US National Security Strategy never mentions the Arctic at all. The idea that it's a genuine security priority for the Trump administration is not credible.

The art of the deal

I'll be on BBC World Service 's The Weekend for the next three hours, commenting on world affairs. It's also my 51st birthday. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

To honour brave Iranian protesters, I will be sharing Persian words that we commonly use in Balkan languages. Sindzhir (chain) - from the Farsi zanjīr زنجير (through the Turkish zincir) Break those sindzhirs!

He didn't have Pashinyan's number ....

"The CIA team moved about Caracas, remaining undetected for months ...The intelligence gathered about [Maduro] daily movements — combined with a human source...& a fleet of stealth drones ...— enabled [CIA] to map out minute details about his routines." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/u...

Isn't it renamed back to Stalingrad?!

The pleasures of X: I tweeted that every time I come to Spain I'm reminded that Europe is a success. But "Europe" and "success" inevitably triggers bots, algorithms and the like to push the opposite line. Which then boosts the original post's visibility. x.com/DimitarBeche...

We have a first in a long time Russian industrial output is declining. After industrial output in October 2025 jumped due to one time factors to 3,1% in November 2025 there was a 0,7% decline compared to November 2024.

On the photo - the Kairos, an oim tanker from Russia's shadow fleet hit by an Ukrainian drone. Turks dragged it into Bulgarian waters.

Ahtopol (Agathoupolis), Bulgaria. Photo by Borislav Kamilov

From @“gmfus.bsky.social : Hungary’s 2026 Elections: The Stakes and Challenges. Information, insights, analysis. Worth watching every second, but key food-for-thought for me: youtu.be/swZ36J4g4KA?...

Voice of the Kremlin, Dimitriev means.

We just published a paper on Europe-China by @jankaoertel.bsky.social www.sant.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/u...

Just read another book which boils down the discussion of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to "oh God, why are Americans so Russophobic!?" Won't name names but some people in academia are beyond redemption.

Streets have been renamed, Ukrainian monuments removed, and murals painted over. Bellingcat investigates how apartment blocks in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have been demolished to make way for a new Russian suburban utopia… www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...

🔔BiEPAG member @dimitarbechev.bsky.social for @carnegieeurope.bsky.social "The #WesternBalkans are on the path to become a net contributor to EU security, but much more needs to be done. The 3 NATO members - Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro - should lead the way. tinyurl.com/29cd6fj7

Amazing. The architect and urban planner who built Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, was born in Bulgaria. Constantinos Doxiadis came from a Greek family in Stenimachos (Assenovgrad) in 1913, moving to Greece two years after. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constan...

New: Trump cancelled his Budapest summit with Putin after a Russian memo to Washington holding firm to hardline demands on Ukraine was swiftly followed by a tense call between Rubio and Lavrov. Moscow would not negotiate. w/ @maxseddon.bsky.social @a-mackinnon.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/d665...

“The fate of China, whose maritime gates have for a century been sagging under the pressure of the West and are now being battered down by Japan, will largely be determined by what happens at the inland gates that open toward, or from, Central Eurasia and Siberia.” Owen Lattimore in 1935.

Charles King writing more than 20 years ago. The Black Sea: A History (Oxford UP: 2004), p. 4.

Up there with the historic Delors one.

The last survivor of the Crimean War died in 2004. "Timothy" spent 40 years in the Navy. After retirement, having moved in with the Earl of Devon, she revealed she was a girl. She would wander round his garden wearing a sign that said. "My name is Timothy. I am very old. Pease do not pick me up".

The closing chapter in my forthcoming book The Scramble for Europe: Russia, China and Turkey Challenging Regional Order discusses rearmament @oxfordacademic.bsky.social

Indian Oil Corp resumed buying Russian crude purchasing five cargoes from non-sanctioned entities for December delivery despite US pressure to stop, while other major Indian refiners paused purchases after sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Reuters reports. www.reuters.com/business/ene...

Listened to an old episode on @restisclassified.bsky.social on Russia's Bulgarian spy ring in the UK. At some point, @gordoncorera.bsky.social & D. McClosley struggle with the surname "Dzhambazov".It actually comes from the Persian jānbāz /جانباز (veteran) -> Turkish cambaz (daredevil/acrobat)

"Saying buccaneering a lot" - Ganesh is in top form!

My new piece: New measures from the United States and European Union confirm why Russian energy exports were always a double-edged sword. foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/29/p...

The Western Balkans' defense industry can contribute to Europe's security. But first, governments must modernize their militaries, attract investment, & gradually integrate into the EU's initiatives, say @dimitarbechev.bsky.social & @ilirianagjoni.bsky.social. carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

⚡️Ukrainian drones target Moscow in overnight attack, mayor says. Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports have temporarily suspended operations in response to the drone threat.

A Chinese LNG tanker owned by Pacific Gas was spotted receiving fuel from a sanctioned Russian vessel off Malaysia, the first documented case of a Chinese ship assisting blacklisted Russian LNG transport, Bloomberg reported. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

BIG NEWS if true: the Commission looks to have found a solution to use the frozen 🇷🇺 assets to fund 🇺🇦! www.politico.eu/article/eu-d...

The EU is about as likely to break up economic ties with Israel as Middle Eastern countries severing relations with Russia.

Interesting article. Paradoxically, Tufan Erhürman's victory in the presidential election in Northern Cyprus against the candidate supported by the AKP could benefit Ankara, which has not abandoned the negotiating table and intends to improve its relations with Europe. t24.com.tr/yazarlar/bar...

Trump and Putin do what they know best: smoke and mirrors. open.substack.com/pub/scramble...

Check out Dr. Dimitar Bechev’s latest piece on Trump and Putin relations. atlasthink.org/the-trump-pu... by @dimitarbechev.bsky.social

Among the consequences of Ukrainian migration to Central and SE Europe is the cross-pollination btw Ukrainian and Russian and local Slavic languages. Just came across an example by a Russophone Ukrainian from Primorsk (Zaporizhiya) living in Sofia. "Жду на спирке" (остановке).

Just another day in Sofia. Source: www.facebook.com/share/p/19sE...

Алло, Адольф Алоизович? Это Рузвельт беспокоит. Тут Сталин звонил, просил какой-то «лендлиз». Как думаете, давать им его или нет? — Ни в коем случае, Франклин Джеймсович! Это не повлияет на ход войны! — Ну, ладно, так и сделаю, всего хорошего! — Привет Элеоноре Эллиотовне!

A programme on Algerian pop music. Gotta love Bulgarian National Radio.

A great piece by @massdara.bsky.social (also interviewed on @foreignaffairs.com podcast by Dan Kurtz-Phelan). Highlights a problem w/ analysis on Russia which oscillates between extremes. The Russian military is not an unstoppable filghting machine but nor is it a paper tiger.

Coming to you from Oxford University Press in 2026.

Outrage one day, admiration the next. Vučić’s reaction to Turkey's drone sales to Kosovo captures the fragile pragmatism holding Serbia–Turkey relations together. ✍️ My latest in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/10/10/t...

New in Advance Articles: War and Eurasia’s Ethnic Boundaries: Chinese Intellectuals on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine by Ed Pulford 👉 doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...

Trump is pursuing a thaw in ties with Belarus, but the chance of these efforts paying strategic dividends is slim.

The Western left is ridden by Trump envy, not Trump derangement. It's like "Wait a second, it is us that were supposed to be the disruptors of established order! Why did we fail?!"

My substack - Scramble for Europe - is now on. Do subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/scramble...

Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines plans to launch direct flights to Armenia, as Ankara steps up efforts to normalize relations with its neighbor after decades of hostility. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

My latest piece for @foreignpolicy.com Erdogan’s visit to Washington showed that the United States and Turkey just don’t need each other as much as they used to. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/30/t...

atlasthink.org/how-rock-sol... by @dimitarbechev.bsky.social