The NATO Hague Summit was a success against admittedly low expectations, but significant, substantive work remains, not the least of which is operationalising the spending commitment and building a post-industrial defence industrial base. @breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com/2025/07/post...

Another great CSPC book event with Dr Andrew Monaghan to discuss ‘Blitzkrieg & the Russian Art of War’ (@manchesterup.bsky.social). A fascinating exploration of the drivers & tensions w/in Moscow’s war & statecraft, Monaghan’s book offers critical & timely nuance about the Kremlin’s strategic craft.

We Need To Talk About Rutte Maybe it's naive of me to think that politicians can and should be honest, but Mark Rutte's escalating rhetoric about the likelihood, even imminence of Russian invasion spurred me into a rant in response: youtu.be/bm91_X8Ho_Y

Belatedly posting my Fourth of July reading: the @financialtimes.com Weekend and Cathy Scott-Clark’s ‘Russia’s Man of War’ (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) a riveting biography of Viktor Bout.

Looking forward to joining Sirius XM’s POTUS tomorrow morning at 0830 to discuss NATO and more.

Yours truly getting excited about Silverstone this weekend with the excellent Jamie Owen CGTN Europe Global Business Europe @ukandeu.bsky.social m.youtube.com/watch?v=f6p2...

Heads up to our NATO allies, this is the mood the President is bringing with him to The Hague.

Sunday’s read: “Death is Our Business” (@bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social) by @johnlechner.bsky.social about Moscow’s PMCs, Wagner, and the confluence of the Kremlin’s geostrategic interests & Russian private gain abroad.

📖 Reading recommendation: "Now is the time for building European land power to deny Russian aggression and to show the US that sharing its strategic enablers and ISR remains worthwhile," writes Henrik Larsen in a new ICDS analysis. #NATOsummit #WeAreNATO

Read our series of briefs that examines some of the key issues of the Hague Summit. 📝 Authors: @joshuachuminski.bsky.social, Felix Gasper, @kzysk.bsky.social, Nele Loorents, @marpaire.bsky.social and Tony Lawrence. #NATOsummit #WeAreNATO

‘The key to the G7’s continued geopolitical relevance lies in near-term expectation management, and a longer-term shift towards results rather than process,’ writes @joshuachuminski.bsky.social, @cspc-dc.bsky.social #BritainsWorld #BigAsk #G7

How can the #G7 ensure it remains geopolitically relevant? We asked a group of experts in today's #BigAsk ✍️ Edward Howell, @joshuachuminski.bsky.social, @lanoszka.bsky.social, Timothy Less #BritainsWorld

I wrote on the appointment of a new MI6 chief, Blaise Metreweli, who joined the service in 1999 as a case officer. Not just the first woman. She's the first chief to have joined well after the end of the cold war. And well regarded in the tech community. www.economist.com/britain/2025...

⚓‘HM Gov should use the #SDR as a guide, but should also go further…by using the proposed spending increases to adopt a strategic and operational focus which is based on a #NATOFirst maritime strategy,’ writes @joshuachuminski.bsky.social, @cspc-dc.bsky.social #Broadside

"The return on investment, for Trump, is not about shared values or the rules-based international order. Those are intangible concepts that are fundamentally immeasurable, and not evident on a balance sheet," writes @joshuachuminski.bsky.social.

The Strategic Defence Review: The view from Washington 👇 🇺🇸 ‘The statements and priorities of the Review will find a receptive audience in the White House and the Pentagon,’ writes @joshuachuminski.bsky.social, @cspc-dc.bsky.social #SDR #Memorandum #BritainsWorld

Starting the week off with the @nytimes.com crossword and cracking open @candacerondeaux.bsky.social’s book ‘Putin’s Sledgehammer’ (Public Affairs) on Wagner, Russia, & PMCs. I’ve been looking forward to reading this for a while and picked it up this weekend. Looks like a cracking read.

Impressive though Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web is (and it most certainly is), let’s dial back the hyperbole about ‘Russia’s Pearl Habor’ or how the ‘rules of war have changed’. Incoherent, ahistorical, and analytically vapid shrieking isn’t particularly useful.

The UK government's upcoming Strategic Defence Review promises a fresh approach to identifying threats and responses. But will this new methodology deliver better outcomes than other recent reviews?

If you ever doubted how out of date the Dulles Airport people movers are, the one I’m presently on says it is 1 January, 1990 at 1:55 AM…

It is amusing watching a grown man fail at basic shapes on an airplane. I’m sorry sir, your obscenely large rolling luggage will not fit in that small space, no matter how hard you try and slam the overhead bin…

The emergence of new, novel defence tech companies is deeply exciting, especially if they manage to truly upset the defence industrial base, but I do wonder how much is ‘real’ & how much is Silicon Valley/VC hype/vapourware, fodder for the inevitable Theranos-style documentary…

Spending my final Monday in London (for this trip, of course) reading Jonathan Dimbleby’s ‘Barbarossa’ with an accompanying, if slightly on the nose, Moscow Mule.

Microsoft Copilot is just a more annoying and insidious version of Clippy.

British television knows me so well. A brilliant curry on Saturday night followed by ‘The Hunt for Red October’.

Assuming the worst case scenario is vital to planning for defence & deterrence, but interrogating underlying strategic assumptions & adversary intentions is critical, too; 2027 seems a bit of a stretch... I'll need to read the full report. www.thetimes.com/article/0493...

Cancel the rest of my morning meetings: this London cafe has ‘The Lord of the Rings’ on.

I think this is called the ‘Top Gun’ rule.

We all live in a Trident D-5 armed submarine…

Apparently the @thetimes.com is free this weekend. Do yourself a favour and have a read of their super reporting and writing across all sections.

Tom Clancy’s “Hunt for Red October” started me on my national security academic/career journey, and I became (and remain) utterly fascinated by the Akula/TYPHOON.

Always great to join Michael Farr on the always insightful FarrCast (although it is a challenge to follow Dan Mahaffee in the lineup). This week we talked Ukraine, Russia, the proposed cease-fire, and the possible next steps from President Truml & President Putin. open.spotify.com/episode/6QfI...

Is it possible to split 🇷🇺 and 🇨🇳? We asked 7 experts in today's #BigAsk ✍️ Dr Olivia Cheung, @isabelh.bsky.social, @natashakuhrt.bsky.social, Dr Timothy Less, @george17.bsky.social#BigAsk Danielle Reeder, Leon Sinfield #BritainsWorld

Huge thanks to @joshuachuminski.bsky.social and the CSPC for being such gracious hosts today and providing such a fantastic platform to discuss my book. Dramatic change is afoot around the world; being in DC at a time like this is… electrifying (in a very complex way).

Author @charleshecker.bsky.social joined me at CSPC today to discuss his fascinating & timely new book “Zero Sum” (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) about the role of international business in Russia’s economy & what the future could hold for the return of Western companies to the country.

Starting the week off with a bang, re-visiting “The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy” (Palgrave) by my KCL War Studies MA prof. @ldfreedman.bsky.social & Jeffrey Michaels, and a very strong much-needed Americano.

Phew. What a week. Taking a bit of a nonfiction breather (well, aside from the @financialtimes.com Weekend) and indulging in a spot of fiction with Jonathan Coe’s “The Proof of My Innocence” @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social) picked up in Edinburgh at Topping & Company on my last trip.

Fracture in transatlantic relations: What next for Euro-Atlantic security? 🌍 European leaders gather for emergency summit on #Ukraine 🤝 Starmer hosts US Special Envoy to UK 🚨 Lammy and Healey warn against a ‘bad peace deal with Russia’ Read this week’s #Cable #BritainsWorld

I'm pleased to share my contribution to the Baltic Defence College’s 2025 Conference on Russia: "Constraints & Frictions on Rapprochement between the United States & Russia". Recent events notwithstanding, there remain systemic obstacles to the president's ambitions. media.voog.com/0000/0051/27...

"Europe is now panicking because it has grown accustomed to the US security comfort blanket, underinvested in defence for years, not heeded what Trump has been saying, nor prepared adequately for his second presidency," writes John Foreman. www.spectator.co.uk/article/euro...

Must read ahead of Macron’s emergency Paris meeting today on security in Ukraine and Europe, by my colleague @shashj.bsky.social : what cards does Europe hold and what does the US really want Donald Trump’s assault on Europe www.economist.com/internationa... @economist.com

“This is only the start of a process where the end is by no means guaranteed, and in which the Ukrainians will have much more of a say than Trump seems to believe”. A useful reminder from @markgaleotti.bsky.social in this weekend’s @thetimes.com (£). www.thetimes.com/article/7eb2...

The @financialtimes.com may need to issue a slight correction. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m fairly confident that isn’t @keirgiles.bsky.social… I jest, but do pick up this weekend’s paper for Giles’ Life & Arts essay, & read his book “Who Will Defend Europe” (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social).

In modern dating and the pursuit of romance with its apps, swiping, ghosting, and the like, success is decidedly less assured. For this Valentine’s Day, I prefer something much more mutually assured. Reading Herman Kahn’s “On Thermonuclear War” (Routledge).

Seems like a geo-strategic geometric demotion from the 'axis of evil': “China, Russia and North Korea have formed a triangle of troublemakers,” according to Admiral Samuel Paparo. Great reporting from Demetri Sevastopulo in the @financialtimes.com. www.ft.com/content/3a31...

America cannot be relied upon to guarantee the security of Europe from Russia because it has to focus on its own borders and the threat of China, President Trump’s defence secretary told Nato leaders

Some thoughts on the possible Putin-Trump meeting. This is unquestionably something Putin would relish. He would want to time it, presumably, to coincide with Victory Day anniversary (early May), leaving time to reach an agreement with the US. Cannot have a summit without it.

Estonia’s foreign intelligence service released its annual assessment of international security. raport.valisluureamet.ee/2025/en/

Belatedly reading @georgewparker.bsky.social’s superb @financialtimes.com profile of Lord Peter Mandelson, the UK’s new ambassador to the U.S., whose appointment received somewhat less notice amidst the new administration’s ’flooding the zone’.