Most Syrians in Germany are here to stay. My piece this week. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

He is Risen

I have a piece in the new edition on the coming Zeitenwende for the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Short piece from me on the SPD's electoral disaster and its leader's decent reform pitch yesterday.

This is a phenomenal piece of journalism by my colleagues at @economist.com - deep reported detail on how Iran is now being run that I haven't seen anywhere else: www.economist.com/middle-east-...

war_iran_final-blow_v1.pdf war_iran_final-final-blow-v2.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1).pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1) APPROVED.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL (1).pdf

Baden-Württemberg is not about to become one giant Detroit. But ahead of what looks like a nail-biting election on Sunday, The Länd is certainly consumed with economic anxiety. My report from Stuttgart and Hohenlohe. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

The worst thing about working at the Economist is the appalling clickbait headlines

Can't wait for Janan's nuclear take on this

OK we get it, Trump contradicts himself. He is large, he contains multitudes

I knew you'd all come round in the end.

The American mind cannot comprehend a country where neither the leading party nor its chief rival sit on the left

Good Economist piece on Merz tough China trip. "For not only has China’s market begun to dry up for Germany, big chunks of German industry now regard China as a direct threat to their interests.." With a favourite chart of Setser and mine. China's net car exports now dwarf even peak Germany. 1/

"The central front of our China policy is at home in Europe". Excellent piece by @tomnuttall.bsky.social ahead of German chancellor's first China trip.

Next week Friedrich Merz will embark on his first visit to China since taking office. The vibes, as they say, will be off. My piece on a relationship that has become a lot more complicated in recent years. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

EU's flagship piece of industrial-policy legislation turning into a bit of a clownshow.

If a German public broacaster was deliberately seeking to bolster the accusations of bias and unprofessionalism levelled by its far-right critics, it might well do something like this. www.stern.de/politik/deut...

Skipped MSC this year. This is where all the cool kids are, anyway.

This, basically. What is new is the tone from some European leaders. Witness Friedrich Merz - barely a trace of transatlanticism in the speech from the former chair of the Atlantik-Brücke. And some biting, if belated, responses to Vance's broadside last year, echoed later by Emmanuel Macron.

It would be very funny for a European newspaper to report on a Trump speech and call him an "American official".

This week I ask if Germany can rearm its way to economic growth. Tl;dr - jein. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

This is an odd, or perhaps telling, way to describe a set of democratically elected national politicians. www.ft.com/content/4551...

In the "fuck you, Europe!" stakes, Marco Rubio's travel plans after Munich are not quite at Vance-meeting-Weidel levels. But they're not far off. t.co/ddDlUoe2Wu

If you've been paying attention to far-right circles in Europe you'll have noticed the growing prominence of the term "remigration". I dug into its background, interrogated its meaning, interviewed its advocates and looked at the dilemma it poses for the AfD. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

God I love the British public in one of its periodic fits of morality

File under, we never quite know what's coming next. One of my favourite embassy reports. The UK ambassador in East Berlin reporting in after the fall of the Wall...

RIP Sly Dunbar. Testament to his (and Robbie Shakespeare’s) skills that this highly eccentric Serge Gainsbourg number still somehow works. youtu.be/egHsU2zBgKI?...

hello Mr Vice President this is your economist speaking I am advising you to keep using this metaphor

“The sirens flashing red all over Europe have been turned off,” but leaders are now reckoning with the fallout from the Greenland crisis, Tom Nuttall tells “The Intelligence”. Listen now

Who wore it better?

Keir Starmer seems to be killing any hopes that Trump's aggression on Greenland might drive a UK-EU rapprochement. EU pressing on with €93bn retaliation, considering anti-coercion instrument. Starmer: "A trade war is in no one's interest".

Part of the MAGA campaign for Greenland is to make this about Denmark, rather than NATO. Allies have every reason to counter this pernicious narrative

If you're enjoying Denmark's foreign minister with a cigarette, have you seen him with a pipe?

Punting Greenland's security to a working group and sending a symbolic troop deployment is probably the best Europe can do, for now. But in time a more considered strategy may be needed to counter Trump's covetousness. My take on Europe's Greenland options www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Spotting a factual error in the New Yorker always brightens one's day.

V good Greenlandic fact www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

FT always takes bylines to the next level

I'm joining the BBC World Service Weekend show for the next couple of hours. Tune in!

2026 will certainly be interesting. But Germans overdo it with this Superwahljahr thing. There seems to be one every other year.

Perhaps a little early to call it for 2026, but I cannot imagine seeing a better film this year than In die Sonne Schauen

This podcast on the life and works of Fela Kuti is absolutely brilliant. Cannot recommend it highly enough. www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dol...

A few days after I moved to Los Angeles, Philip Seymour Hoffman cycled up to the Venice cafe I was in. Two days later saw Bill Clinton getting mobbed by fans in a Santa Monica bookshop. Assumed that was life in LA, but then saw no more celebs in two years except Anne Hathaway in a bar one night.

The brief annual window in which fireworks may be legally purchased in Germany has begun. My preview of the most wonderful debate of the year. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

I love a bit of Bloomberg shade www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A few quick thoughts about this morning's decision. Don't believe the spin from various Russians & others: it's a big deal. The EU has now unambiguously demonstrated that it is able and willing to provide the external financial support Ukraine needs, for as long and as much as it takes. (1/N)

My take on the EU's through-the-night summit to help Ukraine. The main thing is €90bn will find its way to Kyiv—though not funded by Russia's frozen assets. It was a messy deal, from which recriminations will ensue. But Europe got there (mostly) in the end. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

It's amazing what turns out to be possible when you're staring into the abyss. As far as I can see Article 20, the basis for this EU decision to fund Ukraine, has previously been used for the likes of divorce law harmonisation and patents.

D-Day for Europe to shore up Ukraine funding. As EU leaders huddle in Brussels, Stephen Paduano and I analyse the reparations loan in a new piece. This is not only a "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) moment—but the financial and legal risks are also manageable. 1/ www.cer.eu/insights/ukr...

The official Berlin New Year's party is called "Yeah 2026". www.morgenpost.de/berlin/artic...