Estonia’s spy chief on Russia and Europe re-arming: “Russia clearly sees value in … promot[ing] the idea that an arms race is pointless – that it diverts money away from other areas like social welfare and that, ultimately, it's harmful to Europe itself.

Syria: Ground Zero For The Imploding World Order open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

Neil Kinnock talks populism and conjures a lost world: “A kind of superficiality that most of the time is confined to about quarter past 10 in the four-ale bar of your average pub.” alanrusbridger.substack.com/p/neil-kinno...

A senior US official shares a post mocking the Downing Street Chief of Staff. Britain’s public silence speaks volumes. 👇👇👇

Melvyn Bragg bids his farewell.

🧵 1/ The Death of Digital Sovereignty: The US just sanctioned the CEO of an organisation set up by Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. The charge? Supporting laws that regulate American platforms.

1/ Denise Coates earned £287 million last year from Bet365. This isn’t a story about one woman’s fortune. It’s a diagram of how late capitalism actually works.

1/ Denise Coates earned £287 million last year from Bet365. This isn’t a story about one woman’s fortune. It’s a diagram of how late capitalism actually works.

Want some politics with your mince pies? 🥧 🎅 open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

Secure the borders…

EHRC ECHR

The US has Europe’s back.

What they don’t tell you on LinkedIn: How to get a job in the Chinese Communist Party 7thin.gs/p/china-comm...

Censorship at CBS. Bill Owens’s resignation was the loudest signal you can get. What will the rest of CBS News do? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Nazi Knockout Advent Calendar really delivered 🎄

Cool initiative run by an ex-journalist - helping prisoners needs your help gofund.me/183a2221e

“The Baltics think they’re first.”

Turns out Britain’s prisons really are full of immigrants www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

End of the post WW2 order... Japan edition.

The owner of Unherd, The Spectator and GB News kindly shares his views on Brexit with FT readers. www.ft.com/content/42b3...

🧵☢️🇯🇵 1/ A top Japanese official just said Tokyo should possess nuclear weapons. This is someone inside the Prime Minister's Office responsible for security policy. The remark was off-the-record, but it got reported anyway. Here's why it matters. 🧵 www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ...

How irresponsible to organise this in the world’s most dangerous city

It’s rare that I share the same content on LinkedIn and Bluesky but this popped into my inbox this morning and really grabbed my attention. Great and extremely thought provoking writing from @amonck.bsky.social Make sure that you read to at least point 4 before reacting… 7thin.gs/p/future-204...

The Future Has a Flag open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

They might want to add another name to the list.

🧵1/ THE RETURN OF CLASS: A new NBER paper from Oded Galor and Daniel Wainstock shows that 96% of US income inequality occurs within ethnic groups, not between them. The class divide inside each community dwarfs the gaps between communities. www.nber.org/papers/w34558

The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate 91-3, then died in the House. Tech lobby beats democratic consensus. https://7thin.gs/p/who-governs-truth

You, an idiot: the NSS is a disaster Me: a sophisticated contrarian…

“Seven German journalism students tracked Russian-crewed freighters lurking off the Dutch and German coast—and connected them to drone swarms over military bases.” www.digitaldigging.org/p/they-drone...

“The question is not whether truth is governed. Truth is governed now – by algorithms optimised for outrage, by platforms accountable to oligarchs’ whims rather than citizens’ wishes. The question is whether that governance should be democratic or plutocratic.”

Zelenskyy spoke to US negotiations team.. and here's the kicker: the team consists of Bessent, Kushner and BlackRock's Fink Details asap in a new article

From @defenseone.bsky.social and the longer US National Security Strategy 👇

Keir Starmer and me. A tale of student politics and attack journalism. open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

1/ The Mail on Sunday just published a 2,000-word “investigation” into Keir Starmer’s student socialism. The timing – 24 hours after the Guardian’s Farage antisemitism allegations – tells you its function. A thread on how defensive journalism actually works. 🧵 www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent

1/ James Meek has a brilliant long piece in the LRB about Blyth – ex-mining town in Northumberland, turned Reform stronghold. The puzzle? Blyth’s economy increasingly depends on green energy investment (offshore wind, cable factories, renewables R&D), yet it’s voting for an anti-net-zero party.

From back in August 7thin.gs/p/ukraine-pe...

A friend sent me this. Written 25 years ago, me taking to Rob Butler about Omagh…

We Are All China Now – The Future is Financial Repression open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

Don’t listen to Benny Goodman kids

It’s about the nastiness, not the numbers.

Tom Whitwell’s review of 52 things he learned in 2025 will make your day medium.com/@tomwhitwell...

Deeper digging may uncover more scandals. Did she fail to feed the class hamster in primary school? I trust the Times is on it.

China’s Real Industrial Crisis Isn’t Overcapacity – It’s Hollowing Out... Why Britain is a warning for Beijing 7thin.gs/p/china-dein...

“A former Dutch champion high-diver who studied journalism on a sports scholarship in the US, Faber had no hesitation about applying for the job of chief executive.”

Maybe they should consider changing the name of the party etc. www.bbc.com/news/uk-poli...

The crisis of the West isn’t immigration. It’s immobility. Politicians obsess over who’s coming in. Nobody talks about who can’t leave. Britain is becoming a sessile nation – its people fixed in place not by choice, but by the collapse of choices. open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

NEWS from @crisisgroup.org. After 7 years as UN Director, I'm moving to a new program on Global Issues and Institutions. @fortid.crisisgroup.org becomes Head of UN Affairs, backed by @mayaungar.bsky.social. . AND we need a Senior Analyst covering geopolitics 👇 jobs.crisisgroup.org/o/analyst-gl...

My daughter and her pal do a great version of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Hm...

The Mercantilist Maginot Line 7thin.gs/p/mercantili...