In 1946, the US and France negotiated over France's war debt, ultimately narrowing in on a key concession: movie tariffs. Read my latest piece for CWAR on how today’s tariffs are flipping the script on left-right preferences for trade restrictions 👇🎬🎞️🇫🇷 cwar-institute.org/stories-%26-...

Some reflections from me on January 6 in comparative and historical perspective (first time on substack) open.substack.com/pub/ziblatt4...

The year of European banks is starting off with a 💥 "Deutsche’s performance is also overshadowed by domestic rival Commerzbank, whose price-to-book ratio has rebounded...helped by a potential takeover offer from UniCredit." www.ft.com/content/8708...

A long and reflective essay by Dan Wang for this first Friday of 2026. A lot stuck out to me, but this most of all: 'Rather than “winning the AI race,” I prefer to say that the US and China need to “win the AI future.”' danwang.co - 2025 letter

Happy New Year! Wishing a fun, blessed, and healthy 2026 to everyone. 🎉🎇🥳 The FT lists European banking mergers as the 'wild card' to watch in 2026, and I will certainly be watching it too! www.ft.com/content/c283...

Some optimistic 🇺🇸🇪🇺 economic data for a change! Gros and Rotondi for IEP calculate that the effective US tariff rate on the EU has fallen to 6% while European imports to the US have risen to their annual average since July 👉 iepbu.substack.com/p/on-trumps-...

A lot stands out in Macron's op-ed in the FT, notably published during EUCO week and focused on China. Here's what stands out most: 1) labeling protection as an equal defining characteristic to the EU's economic agenda as competitiveness and innovation www.ft.com/content/c8fd...

And it is a moment of truth for both the think-tanker-in-chief in Paris and for the concept that Meloni is somehow a "good European".

Matthias Matthijs and Nathalie Tocci argue in their latest (must-read) piece that Europe was wrong to accommodate US demands throughout 2025. Yet, this outcome rested on catering to domestic politics 👇 www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

An apt blog by Mareike Kleine and Lucas Schramm ahead of next week's European Council meeting. "Should leaders accommodate domestic politics in one member state for the sake of unity or defend the norm that makes collective decision-making possible?" blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

Well it looks like I'm working from the Library of Congress with the entire NATO delegation today 😲

Housing secured! And in a place I’m really excited about while staying in budget 😊. Thanks to all the friends who helped!!

Sunday hike by the Potomac ☀️🧣

Sinead Bovell charts a way for journalism and topic experts to be embedded in AI information seeking, potentially safeguarding democracy: open.substack.com/pub/sineadbo.... I still need to think through her suggestions, but this could create new opportunities for universities & think tanks

I had the most beautiful commute of my life, and then got to see Georgetown at its most winter-y ❄️

A very good Friday read: Foreign Aid with Chinese Characteristics by Alicia R. Chen www.foreignaffairs.com/china/foreig...

What a beautiful first snowfall in DC! Makes my Midwestern heart very happy 😊🌨️

I'm looking for a room in Paris from mid-January to mid-June. Budget is €800-€1000 charges included. Send any leads my way! 💜✨

Not-so-humble brag: My cousin's congressman just called to personally congratulate him on his acceptance to West Point!!! 🎉

And this now becomes even more complicated: a search and seizure warrant has been issued for billionaire investors tied to Monte dei Paschi di Siena for allegedly conspiring to control Generali through the acquisition of Mediobanca. #ItalianBanksWatch www.ft.com/content/77c7...

Polling data show anti-US sentiment is growing across Latin America • Many people may agree with US hard line on drugs, but feel uneasy about Trump's tariffs and constant U-turns • Success of some US goals, such as curbing China's global influence, will hinge on US ability to improve ties with LatAm

Footnote hunting question: Can anyone please share online access to Expansion and Coexistence: Soviet Foreign Policy, 1917-73 by A. Ulam and/or Stalin’s American Policy: From Entente to Detente to Cold War by W. Taubman with me? Or scans of the sections related to 1947-1950? 🙏

Trying to do this on a Sunday in Georgetown with my cousin’s pickup truck made this an Olympic sport 😅😭

There are three regional elections to watch today in 🇮🇹: Campania, Puglia (the seat of the last G7), and Veneto (the heart of Lega). Today is yet another temperature check on the Meloni government

The European Commission has started an infringement procedure against Italy today with a formal notice of violating the SSM, Capital Requirements Directive, and TFEU with the golden power rule over domestic banks #ItalianBanksWatch 🇪🇺🇮🇹 ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

La victoire ! I’m going to Paris 😊💕

Great idea by @thebulwark.com and a touching essay by @tribelaw.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/my-fathers...

Join the Women in Comparative & International Politics (WICIP) Network! 🌍 International working group for women scholars in IR, CP, IPE & CSS. Monthly meetings to close the gender citation gap and build collaborative research. To join, email: [email protected]

It was great to attend Volha Charnysh’s presentation of her new work on Nazi repression in Poland and legacy effects on religiosity and support for the PiS today at the @mortaracenter.bsky.social!

Daniel Gros writes for IEP that the US actually has a *trade surplus* with China on rare earth compounds. This gives the US an advantage over China in manufacturing high-tech products and weakens the bite of 🇨🇳 rare earth export controls. 👉 iepbu.substack.com/p/why-china-...

The attached figure of Chinese tomato paste sales to Italy made my jaw drop 🍅🚢 www.ft.com/content/deea...

Georgetown has me parallel parking like a pro for the first time in 3+ years 💪🏻🚗

After BBVA's failed takeover bid in October, a BBVA executive says there is no way for BBVA, Santander, or Caixabank to takeover others because this would harm competition due to their size #SpanishBanksWatch #EuropeanBanksWatch cincodias.elpais.com/companias/20...

Ignazio Angeloni and Daniel Gros argue for IEP this week that the digital euro could do "reputational damage" to the ECB if it doesn't propose clear benefits over existing payment systems and address potential excessive public control 👉 iepbu.substack.com/p/are-we-on-...

UniCredit has submitted an appeal of the Italian government's previous stipulations (using the Golden Power) for an acquisition of Banco Bpm. It comes the day before the Eurogroup meets to discuss the European Banking Union. #ItalianBanksWatch www.corriere.it/economia/fin...

Newport, Rhode Island, USA — November 2025

Girls’ day shopping observation: The clothes from Canada, France, and Italy had been marked up, and then subsequently marked down 🛍️

Cambridge (Massachusetts) — October/November 2025

Important discussions in the INTA committee this week on the 🇺🇸🇪🇺 trade deal, including whether to apply steel tariffs on the US until the US lifts theirs on the EU, a hardline against the anti-coercion instrument, & a potential safeguard for agriculture. www.euractiv.com/news/meps-ba...

A good deep dive on UniCredit in the @FT today, reviving #ItalianBanksWatch. Noted in this piece is the uncertainty about whether the bid for Commerzbank will move forward in 2027, and the bank's stake in Alpha. www.ft.com/content/4285...

2x yesterday, in different contexts, I heard Isaiah Berlin's "The Hedgehog and the Fox" essay brought up. I am clearly meant to spend this Halloween reflecting on the differences between thinkers, writers, and, ultimately, leaders 🦊🦔 . Semi-spooky attached: assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/s99...

A treat to attend Edward Luce’s panel on his new book: Zbig. Excellent to hear the discussion of Brzezinski’s life, Harvard connections, and Cold War purpose from foreign policy and European studies experts who know it best!

In this episode of the Dondena Decode podcast I have the honour of interviewing Nobel laureate James Robinson on the reasons why modern democracy is proving to be a fragile institution, on the importance of studying the past, on the consequences of getting a Nobel... open.spotify.com/episode/4CqO...

I'll be spending my Friday reflecting on this paragraph from Brian Balogh's The Associational State (2015). Here, he marks trends in American political development since the United States' founding through the 19th century.

🇯🇵 🇪🇺 My favourite story yet written for @euractiv.com I’d been watching Commissioners go to Japan all through September. Could not leave that phenomenon unremarked! With my colleague Tom, I think we made something you’ll like :-) www.euractiv.com/news/tokyo-d...

10 years since I first visited Georgetown, I finally had a Georgetown cupcake! 🧁

Nothing quite captures how messy the PhD life is like the French visa officers saying: “We have never ever seen an application this complicated”

The nice thing about walks in the DMV: I ran into a fellow LSE alum (who recognized my sweater) and we got to talking about London, Brexit, and European politics. And now I have a new friend in the neighborhood!

A special #SpanishBanksWatch this Friday as BBVA's hostile takeover of Sabadell has ultimately failed, ending a saga that started in May 2024 www.ft.com/content/9e25...

A windfall tax on banks is now being considered in Italy again, and may put Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia on a collision course with Forza Italia #ItalianBanksWatch www.ft.com/content/32b6...