Come on @crisisgroup.org You have chosen to hold a discussion on the New Middle Eastern order on the one day in the year (Yom Kippur) that pretty much all Jews will be unable to attend. I don’t believe you deliberately intended to exclude Jews, but that’s what you’ve done.

America’s new plan to fight a war with China economist.com/internationa... This week’s International section in The Economist.

"Worse than showing indifference, many Israelis deny the clear realities: that Gaza is in chaos and teetering on the edge of widespread starvation, and that Israel has played a major role in bringing about this terrible state." This is worth reading www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...

I'm writing this week on the crisis in international law and have just come across the most spectacular example of judicial activism (in an ICJ case), where in two paragraphs a judge explains that he voted for something, even though he thinks it has no basis in law. www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

Thank you.

Horrifying milestone of 150,000 deaths in Africa linked to jihadists groups over the past 10 years. africacenter.org/spotlight/en...

I’m completely in favour of closer EU defence co-operation and procurement, but if France wants to insist that the UK pay a % on all contracts to UK companies, then we should start charging the EU a fee for our contribution to collective security (and France for fishing our waters).

Lessons from Ukraine "Innovation does play a role…but quantity has a quality of its own. Mass is not going anywhere. We need to adopt and adapt faster than our adversaries, but that does not replace the need for us to outproduce them on ammunition: Benedetta Berti, Director, Policy Planning, NATO

Very punchy comments by General Ben Hodges at Chatham House conference #CHLondon on European NATO defence spending: "Europe is itself a super power. It should quit whining and act like a superpower." Also thanks for the shoutout to @economist.com 1/

Speaking in London at a Chatham House event, Sir John Sawers (former head of MI6) thinks it likely that America will intervene in Iran and bomb nuclear facilities. Argues it should get on with it, as delays give Iran time to move material out. Argues UK should stay out. #CHLondon

Surprising line by John Sawyers (former head of MI6) that "Israel is achieving its goals" in Iran, considering it has barely touched the deeply-buried enrichment sites at Fordow and Natanz (as far as we know). www.ft.com/content/45bf...

This week in the International pages of @economist.com we point out that on current trends Russian casualties in Ukraine will pass the 1m mark in the next few weeks. 1/2 www.economist.com/internationa...

This is a masterclass is trolling - whether it is true or not, you will now have FSB agents across Russia smashing down the doors of their neighbours.

When I started reading this I thought it was satire. Sadly not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

And wrapping up this week's International Section in @economist.com is the always-brilliant @dsorennie.bsky.social with a nuanced look at the history of the refugee convention, and why judgments about who deserves protection have always been subjective. www.economist.com/internationa...

Also in my pages at @economist.com is an excellent piece @antonlaguardia.bsky.social on why the shutdown of VOA, RFE/RL and other broadcasters weakens America and supporters of democracy.

The Five Eyes spy pact is the world's most successful SIGINT (or signals intelligence) alliance in history. Is Donald Trump putting it at risk? This week in the International pages of @economist.com we have a crunchy look at how it works by @shashj.bsky.social www.economist.com/internationa...

'Across the vast network of U.S. spy agencies, from the CIA’s human operatives to the National Security Agency’s codebreakers, job cuts and ... conflicting instructions to the workforce have deeply unsettled tens of thousands of intelligence personnel' www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Fascinating insights on a new CSIS report on Ukraine using AI in drones. A short 🧵 1/ "The Ukrainian military’s objective is to remove warfighters from direct combat and replace them with autonomous unmanned systems. This goal reflects the need to conserve a limited human force"

Are you kidding me! Has the WSJ's editorial board slept through the past 30 years? Do they not remember the Bush tax cuts of 2001, which overwhelmingly helped the rich, or the Trump tax cuts in 2017, which increased inequality?

At what point do we decide that Elon Musk is a clear threat to European/UK security. And if he is, then what do we do about it? Discuss.

Also in this week's International pages of @economist.com is an excellent piece by our Telegram columnist @dsorennie.bsky.social who points out that: "No, Donald Trump’s Putin-wooing is not like Nixon going to China...Kissingerian cunning it is not." www.economist.com/internationa...

Can Europe confront Vladimir Putin’s Russia on its own? This is the question we asked in this week's International pages of @economist.com The answer is grim. A short 🧵

Trump's Pentagon looks like it is full of snowflakes who can't take any criticism: "Saltzman bars Space Force staff from Mitchell Institute events - The order follows a Mitchell report criticizing Saltzman's overarching theory of space power" breakingdefense.com/2025/02/salt...

Wait till he finds out

This really is becoming the sum of all our fears www.ft.com/content/ac1d...

Well this puts my usual troubles (no milk for my morning coffee) into perspective www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

China’s stunning new campaign to turn the world against Taiwan  www.economist.com/internationa...

The proliferation of armed and suicide-drones has huge implications for international law, since they are routinely being used to kill injured soldiers who may be "hors de combat" and entitled to protection under the Geneva conventions 1/4

Many dismiss the value of teaching/studying literature. But maybe, just maybe, it might be less embarrassing to read Tolkien before quoting Tolkien.

This is going to be fantastic from everything I’ve heard. Looking forward to listening and confidently recommending it even before I have listened.

This is pretty damning: "German workers are sick on average 15 days a year compared with eight days for the EU as a whole....In 2022 the average Briton took only six sick days. " The reason is because Germany is now “the world champion when it comes to sick days”. www.economist.com/business/202...

please read this thread about our new piece in @bmj.com about further consequences for US withdrawal from WHO and its suggestion of setting up an alternative health body...

Rwanda's invasion of Congo is a crisis for Goma, and the wider region: "A world in which the strong seize territory from the weak would be a scarier, more violent place...If blatant breaches of borders are allowed to stand, there will be more of them. " www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Why people over the age of 55 are the new problem generation: Among those for whom time’s winged chariot is hurrying a little nearer, drug and alcohol use—and abuse—have surged. So have STIs www.economist.com/internationa...

Oops. I had to scroll down to the first paragraph to figure out what they meant by "cross misconduct"

Women warriors and the war on woke - an excellent piece by my colleague @shashj.bsky.social showing why Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for defence secretary, is wrong when he says that women should not serve in combat roles. www.economist.com/internationa...

What has four stomachs and could change the world? This week in the International pages of The Economist we take a look at cows, and how bridging the "dairy divide" could reduce poverty, slow climate change and nourish the development of children's brains. www.economist.com/internationa...

Incredible line in the Financial Times by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe about her time in prison in Iran.

Could the next pope come from Africa or Asia? This weekend Pope Francis will appoint 21 new cardinals who could one day vote in the conclave on who will replace him (if they are under 80 years old at the time), shifting the balance of voting power. 1/ www.economist.com/internationa...

Oh my word. This is a download from her appointment diary. All that's missing is the MyFitnessPal records of what she ate and Strava, telling us she took a morning walk in Berlin.

Gangsters’ paradise: The world is losing the fight against international gangs This week in the International pages of The Economist we have an alarming piece about how globalisation and technological progress are leading to a boom in organised crime. A 🧵 1/ link ⬇️

Some exciting news from @economist.com. All American service members—all 1.3m active duty, and those retired—now have free access to The Economist's website, thanks to a deal with DoD. If I'm not mistaken, you can access it through DoD's library pages: www.dodmwrlibraries.org. Happy reading.

Is your master’s degree useless? This week in The Economist we have a piece looking at the latest data-crunching in America and the UK that finds a shockingly high proportion of master's courses leave students worse off. 1/ www.economist.com/internationa...

Haven't these people read "3 body problem"! And they call themselves experts in alien intelligence. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/o...

Could someone please tell the White House that you don't announce a change in policy like this by leaking it, you announce it with dozens of simultaneous deep strikes on air bases, ammunition stores and command centres. Once again they are diminishing the military utility of the new policy.

We also ran a big piece in the International pages of The Economist this week explaining why the presidential transition from Biden to Trump is more scary than most, with wars raging and the possibility of another starting. www.economist.com/internationa...

We recently launched The Telegram, a column dedicated to geopolitics, in the International section of The Economist. Our most recent one looked at the dark arts of Trump-flattery. Key tips are don't assume you can change his mind or that flattery is enough. www.economist.com/internationa...

An excellent thread that explains the situation very well. Please read it

Sigh. Taiwan doesn’t need hugely expensive F35s and old ships. First and foremost, they need large quantities of anti ship missiles, air defense batteries and interceptors, mobile radars and seaborne and aerial UAVs www.ft.com/content/7b21...