The number of one-off structural changes that disadvantage young people vs their parents at the same age is pretty staggering

finally, we're living through precedented times

European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)

'So many unhappy souls comprise the royal family - they're listless.' @lewisgoodall.com approves of listener Lea's method on 'getting rid of' the monarchy.

Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13

If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them? Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

The Berlin meeting.

🇪🇺🇺🇦 Kallas: The Donbas isn’t Putin’s end game. If he gets it, he will demand more. We know this from history and we should learn from history.

‘The 0.001%’: a quick visual breakdown of the world’s wealthiest people

“AI is clearly sticking around so you have to get used to it” wrong. I don’t have to get used to shit. I am a practiced hater and I can keep this going for decades if I am required to

Persuasive letter on populism as a cognitive short-cut in the @financialtimes.com

A former UK prime minister held responsible for tens of thousands of deaths while the US president calls for elected politicians to be hanged. A jolt of a reminder that law and policy are ultimately about life and death. And politicians are often not up to dealing with such things.

"To say 'Zelenskyy is no friend of the working class' is an insulting, facile distraction from the fact that Sultana refuses to support the Ukrainian people’s fight for existence." Proper cold fury and moral clarity from @paulmason.bsky.social on Sultana. open.substack.com/pub/htsf/p/c...

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐

Read in full 👉

One of the strangest ironies of the last ten years has been watching Britain immersing itself as deeply as ever in memories of WW2 while proudly turning its back on the project that emerged from it.

This very much aligns with my view: eulogy for the transatlantic alliance has now to be written. Time for Europe to move on. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Europe’s State of the Union address is becoming a political ritual, symbolizing the slow maturing of the EU as a political entity, writes columnist Caroline de Gruyter. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/09/e...

Radical right accommodation really does not work. New paper out with this exceptionally talented team @katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk doi.org/10.31235/osf...

- 8/20 He stresses that while the EU's first decades could draw on memories of war and the goodwill of strong economic growth, those have both dried up (correct, but for my money this was the weakest part of his speech: as the experience in central and eastern Europe is very different).

Just got round to watching Mario Draghi's speech in Rimini in the original Italian. It is easily the most important speech on Europe so far this year and I hope someone (@grandcontinent.bsky.social?‬) publishes it in English and other EU languages soon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMME...

Meanwhile, UK politicians continue their race to the bottom as to who can talk the most nonsense about immigration... www.ft.com/content/8bfd...

President Zelenskyy: When Russia raises the issue of security guarantees,I honestly don't know who is threatening them yet.They attacked us, they’re on our land.I don't quite understand what guarantees the aggressor needs.Guarantees of what?

Thoughts ahead of Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy & European leaders. First, Trump wants both sides to stop fighting, but is only prepared to put pressure on Ukraine. If Putin had any worries on that score, the Alaska summit will have reassured him. Sanctions are postponed, again. 1/16

It is only sentimental American exceptionalism that makes what Trump is doing any different from "increasingly dictatorial president uses military to assert power in capital city".

A pretty damning indictment of the EU's neighbourhood policy when Trump is having to broker peace deals for you. Ah the never-ending joy that is 'strategic autonomy'

This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen. By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza

By failing to sanction Israel, EU leaders are complicit in its crimes. They must act now | Josep Borrell

If academic institutions want to grade students in a meaningful way, I suspect they will now need to go back to handwritten exams and oral tests only. If you can’t handwrite or speak, it’ll have to be done on a non-networked dumb machine. Maybe just a typewriter

Its clear that Mr Clegg would greatly benefit from taking our 2nd year undergraduate module: Introduction to the Integration of the European Union!

The US is now attacking Europe on multiple fronts: economic, diplomatic and political all the while weaselling out of its strategic commitment to European security and offering aid and comfort to Europe’s existential threat… Russia. Can’t address the problem until it’s honestly identified.

This is high art

Carney: Canada must be looking elsewhere to expand our trade, to build our economy, and to protect our sovereignty. Canada is ready to take a leadership role in building a coalition of likeminded countries who share our values… If the US no longer wants to lead, Canada will

Would be cool if the European Union were occasionally not living a defining moment

I think we’ve reached the point where this discourse is no longer helpful. It’s hardly breaking news that the EU/Europe has been heavily dependent on the US for its security. What we should be discussing is how do we move away from this dependency in as fast and as sustainable way as possible.

www.bbc.com/news/article... Wait, wait, wait… I’ve heard this one before

Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine. We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor. Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.

I keep reading that Zelensky shouldn't have risen to the bait. The man is human. He's seen tens of thousands of Ukrainians murdered, their cities blown apart & their children stolen. He was sitting by a man who's looting his country's minerals & praising Putin. And for 40 minutes, he held it in.

The Irish should read The Witcher books (ironically written by a Polish author) - a good story of how the protagonist slowly discovers that consistently maintaining the belief that they are somewhat ‘neutral’ to the events around them, ultimately leads them to their demise

🇪🇺

All democracies should have regularly rehearsed contingency plans for successfully repelling domestic attempts to overthrow democracy. With aspirational autocrats increasing trying to seize power, we shouldn't discover how resilient our democracies are only at the point when they face overthrow.

Once again I am leaving the Munich Security Conference in a low mood. Amongst all the noise, the US signalled their plans for Europe, so things are becoming clearer. But things are clearly not good. This is what we now know, and what we have to do about it:🧵1/17

Exceptionally grim @financialtimes.com essay by Keir Giles of @chathamhouse.bsky.social: archive.ph/287LE

Fanciful perhaps, but.. What can Europe put on the table? 1) massive, coordinated efforts to purchase and ship defensive weapons to Ukraine 2) EU membership and Art 42.7 guarantees 3) forward deployment of European troops to defend Ukraine. 4) comprehensive economic embargo on Russia

The US is visibly - and rapidly - collapsing as a credible, functioning democracy and as a global partner. Time for European governments to get their act together alongside likeminded allies. US can’t be ignored but it can no longer be trusted.

Måke Califørnia Great Ægain! denmarkification.com

This is the one article to read on contemporary (and future) U.S. politics. Laid out analytically and clearly. There is a hint of optimism (which I do not share but do appreciate).

Nothing, neither the promise of wealth nor the prestige of Lords, can deter our national commitment to being a bit crap all the time. It is iron-clad, a principle far stronger than any party or personality.

🇬🇧🇪🇺 I am increasingly convinced that the British government, despite a massive parliamentary majority and no veto-capable head of state standing in its way, is going to pull off one of the more spectacular self-inflicted political suicides that will make Scholz govt look like it had a good run.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took aim at Europe in a fiery speech delivered at the World Economic Forum today, saying the continent “needs to step up” and “learn how to take care of itself so the world can’t ignore it.”