Fuckin' A! This is the way ✊️ Protection of public patrimony is #CivicSelf-Defense.

According to @kurtbassuener.bsky.social, asserting a European vision over this geographic space would minimize the potential for non-military extraction and self-dealing by an increasingly transactional US, including pursuit of energy, mining, and other deals. www.biepag.eu/blog/europe-...

My latest guest blog for @biepag.bsky.social on how Europe+ can take the initiative in the #WB6 in the interests of these countries' citizens - and their own. www.biepag.eu/blog/europe-...

The citizens of BiH - citizens everywhere - should know what their representatives are being pressured to sign when it comes to extraction deals (or ANY deals); the lack of transparency on the SIC is just one of the issues Pippa and I discussed--

"Can we trust the United States?" former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asks former US defence secretary Mark Esper at #GlobSec2026. "Yes, Europe can trust the US" Esper replies. This is followed by a long silence in the room. "Where's the clap?" Esper asks the audience.

I enjoyed chatting with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show" last summer. He has always been kind to me when I've been a guest on his various shows — and he's a wicked smart satirist. Are you planning to tune in to his farewell episode tomorrow night?

My colleague Valery Perry speaks to @pippagallop.bsky.social of @ceebankwatch.bsky.social on the Southern Interconnection (SIC) pipeline, which has been pushed forward here in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with considerable velocity by the US Govt. 👇

Latest opinion piece by Senior Associates @kurtbassuener.bsky.social and @tobyvogel.bsky.social: the EU should push back against a Trump-backed pipeline project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

On the Day of Remembrance of the Crimean Tatar Genocide, write a letter to a Ukrainian prisoner held by Russia, like Volodymyr Ananyev and Appaz Kurtamet. It only takes a moment, and your words will give hope: hrhcrimea.org.ua/en/letters-b...

The Journal of Democracy has been spun off from the National Endowment for Democracy to become an independent nonprofit now housed at Stanford www.journalofdemocracy.org/about/

My / @dpcglobal.bsky.social's latest for @balkaninsight.com.web.brid.gy on how Europe+ ought to respond to the challenge posed by a de facto US alliance w reactionary Bosnian & Balkan leaders, in the succession of High Rep Christian Schmidt. balkaninsight.com/2026/05/18/i...

This is a form of psychosis. These people will burn the world if they have their way.

1/ Two days before his semiannual report to the UN Security Council, High Representative Christian Schmidt announced that he would be resigning his post as international High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

"What we’re watching isn’t subtle. Protections get stripped, and the response is immediate. Not years later. Not gradual. Immediate. That should tell you exactly why those protections existed in the first place." Must read thread here 👇

Hungarian oligarchs begin fleeing the country, transferring assets, in anticipation of corruption investigations giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

From page 246 (2023 Renard Press printing) of Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here" (1935). Fascism is fucking eternal.

ICE has violated almost 100 court orders. Let me say that another way. 100 times ICE was caught brazenly ignoring the law. 100 times a court told them to immediately stop. And 100 times they ignored the order. That's an out-of-control agency that shouldn't get another dime.

👇🏽

I didn't mean to turn this into a short thread, but once I started ranting ... So here it is, on one page: skywriter.blue/@georgemonbi...

1/ Resource extraction, particularly mining of critical minerals, has become an increasingly visible focus of external actors in the Western Balkans. @dpcglobal.bsky.social's case study on the Vares mining project provides a detailed look into the structural dynamics at play, domestic and foreign,…

Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice. It doesn't have to be this way.

How did Magyar win? A long running grassroots campaign in rural and small town Hungary; a refusal to be distracted by government propaganda; a focus on economic issues and corruption; a central promise to bring back democracy and the rule of law

DPC's latest argues that the people of Hungary, who shook off an authoritarian, Russia- and MAGA-aligned regime, deserve some introspection about what made Orbán's abuse of power possible – from the EU and from other pro-democracy forces. Business as usual should not be an option.

Magyar posted on FB saying that Orban called and congratulated. This is it. It's over.🇭🇺 Tisza won and will likely get a supermajority. And with large legitimacy comes large responsibility.

“They’ve learned from Hungary that you have to change the voting rules. That’s how autocrats win elections - by rigging the system. That’s exactly what Trump has been trying to do.” Vital conversation w/ @kimlanelaw.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/trumps-nex...

My @dpcglobal.bsky.social colleague Valery Perry is once again the guest on @evandawson1.bsky.social's program Connections on NPR affiliate @wxxirochester.bsky.social. Given events, they had (even) more to discuss than usual. www.wxxinews.org/show/connect...

My interview included in this piece for @rferl.org.web.brid.gy. I have been able to find nothing to substantiate the rumors of High Rep Schmidt's potential departure or UK Soecial Envoy Dame Karen Pierce getting nominated for the post, btw. www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/bih-schmid...

He is absolutely right - Trump's threat against Iran's civilization - e.g. 90m people - is criminally insane and evil. Greta Thunberg is correct on this as well: www.instagram.com/reel/DW1rOY5...

I had a faux Tourette's episode when I heard his "resurrection" riff...

Thread 👇

This has been the GOP's "starve-the-beast" scheme for nearly 50 years. Meanwhile, millions suffer and struggle to get ahead as the rich get richer. See the problem here?

The news has moved on, but ICE is still in Minneapolis. My neighbors are still patrolling streets, driving strangers to work, and providing aid. As a photojournalist at @propublica.org, I wanted to know: What do they look like in their daily lives? So I picked up my camera 👇

Our first conversation was with Matt Joseph, a city councilman in Dayton, Ohio, who talked about the role of effective local governance in strengthening democratic confidence. Find the podcast on Spotify or Apple: open.spotify.com/episode/2pYX... podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/d...

DPC is starting an occasional series of interviews with people who have interesting perspectives on democratic opportunities, democratic threats, effective governance, changing global geopolitics, and other issues.

Crazy thought. Hungary should not get a single cent out of the EU's SAFE programme given that it acts as a Russian proxy inside the EU.

A couple of thoughts on why Hungary's election is important for Moldova. First, pro-Russian groups want Orban to win. If he does, that victory will be framed as a sovereignist success against the "globalist" European Union ...

Nearly 6 billion people live in the 101 countries that a study has identified as confronting a net decline in water supply — signaling enormous challenges for food production and a heightening risk of conflict and instability. (Published July 2025)

This is insane.

NEW: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed charges against prediction market company Kalshi. "Kalshi may brand itself as a 'prediction ⁠market,' but what it's actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation." www.reuters.com/world/kalshi...

This is a great and thoughtful message

To their everlasting shame

"We're not going to litigate whether the supposed need for this legislation that would contract voting access exists."

🚨 IT'S ELECTION DAY 🚨 This is it. Today decides everything. Let's make it count: Knock doors, make calls, talk to your friends, and make sure everyone you know in IL-09 makes their voice heard!

@gspataf95.bsky.social - good statement on US treating NATO as an external toolbox rather than an Alliance in which it is a member on @npr.org's Morning Edition and Brussels correspondent Teri Schultz. www.npr.org/2026/03/17/n...

It's not the public interest Carr cares about open.substack.com/pub/anntelna...

Thread 👇

We're spending $1 billion per day on war as millions of working people struggle to get by. Meanwhile, America's ultra-rich have never been richer.

Elizabeth Warren: "I am a hard no on a supplemental. This is not a war the American people want us to engage in. This is not a war that makes us safer ... No. No more money. The only thing Congress has the power to do is to stop actions like this through the power of the purse."