My new column praises Italian Senator Calenda’s viral push back of Ru propaganda and argues that democratic debate requires more of this. "We cannot hide confrontation over facts and truth behind the false-equivalency facade of 'let’s agree to disagree'." " www.policymagazine.ca/when-confron...

The West used to play dirty – and during the Cold War, we were good at it. Nowadays, we leave grey-zone tactics and hybrid warfare to Russia, which is winning the disinformation war.

When we look at this massacre and many more perpetrated by the RSF, let's be clear who funds, equips & sustains them. It's the UAE. Yes, the same UAE that might own your football club, fly you on your holidays, invests in our national infrastructure. If boycotts work, we should be boycotting now.

My perhaps controversial assessment is that when you share the propaganda of your enemies to call it out or to mock it… you’re still spreading their propaganda and maybe doing exactly what they hope you’ll do.

Tough gig but someone’s got to keep guard while articles are revised

Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success

The Economist has debased itself with this article. Reminds me of the 'would Greenland be a good investment?' piece. www.economist.com/united-state...

As the single most important news story this year, I can't wait to see the detailed and central coverage this will get in every media outlet we have

The year is 2075. 81-year-old Shohei Ohtani is walked to first base in the 1774494847th inning.

I know this is obvious. And I know we all know this. But if the President can raise taxes because an advert annoyed him, without even consulting Congress, then the US constitution is simply not functioning as intended.

How is mainstream British debate now, so fast, discussing mass deporting legal permanent residents? What a sorry state.

My new book, Elemental, is out in March. It's about the geopolitics of climate change. You can order it now, and I'd be really happy if you do. One of the things that has happened is that things I wrote about have come true rather quicker than expected. 1/4 www.waterstones.com/book/element...

Local legislator displays the importance of kerning

Quality cocktails at this Ukrainian joint in Kraków

CfP: Russia and the appropriation of the Arctic. Interests, instruments and identities from the late Tsarist period to the present day. International Workshop, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich 12–14 March 2026, Deadline: 30 November 2025 URL: mwsosteuropa.hypothe...

Sadly, there's a lot to be said for Marina Hyde's analysis here. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT "A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Reviewer 2 just told me not to use the em dash. ChatGPT fear has ruined a perfectly good bit of punctuation.

what

Putin cannot stop rambling about medieval Russian history. He does it to kids in Russia, he does it to Tucker Carlson, he does it to Trump. What does it mean for serious peace negotiations if the guy has completely lost it?

Putin and Trump should sign some sort of memorandum in Budapest, that’ll fix everything

Is anyone going to BASEES next year? I have a panel on shaping and responding to perceptions of Russia across Central & Eastern Europe. We need a moderator! (We also have space for 1 more paper if anyone is keen)

Well, what else do you use it for? 🇵🇱 ”Lawmakers in Poland’s lower house last month approved a bill to tighten regulation of the crypto asset market, including prison sentences for those who fail to comply with oversight rules” on.ft.com/4nZ3yRV Russia pays Europe’s saboteurs in crypto

Scandalous. Once again, the Nobel peace prize has been awarded to somebody who has dedicated their life to peace.

"does the president know what is real and what is not" is a legitimate question that should probably get asked a lot more

You might hate your job. But at least you're not a russian general invited to a meal & drinks with Putin next to an open window.

⚡️ Putin calls Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “right and timely,” portraying mass destruction as “liberation.” united24media.com/latest-news/...

Zach Battat: Russia can sustain a long war. The real urgency for peace lies in Western capitals, not in waiting for change in Moscow. @policyoptions.irpp.org policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/09/occi...

Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.

No matter how long you do academia for, hitting send on a submission always heralds a brutal wave of imposter syndrome.

The Russian military is not stupid: it "has become a military that is capable of both evolving during this war and readying itself for future, high-tech conflicts." They are deadly serious about fighting in Ukraine and beyond. We should be too.

Dad’s books are full of empathy, common sense, and a healthy suspicion of the powerful. But at its heart his work is also about how systems keep people poor while pretending it’s their own fault. So I hope Kemi’s taking notes as well as reading the jokes.

At @notredame.bsky.social, Rory Finnin called attention to Volodymyr Ananyev — the Kremlin's oldest Ukrainian political prisoner. 💬 “The Kremlin relies on our silence to keep its political prisoners anonymous, faceless. Please learn the name of Volodymyr Ananyev and share his story with others."

The 20,000 children "stolen by Putin" - brainwashed, tortured and sexually abused. A fascist war crime in the name of making good young Russians.

Wishing a very final birthday to Vladimir Putin 🎉

EU to curb Russian diplomats’ travel as suspected spy attacks mount on.ft.com/46WLxfN

Bona fide good news: renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

⚡️Explosions rock western Ukrainian cities as Russia launches large-scale drone attack. Russia launched a wave of drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, overnight on Oct. 5. The Air Force has warned of Russian drones approaching various regions of Ukraine.

I’m sorry but I’m going to laugh so hard if a Canadian team wins this year’s World Series

Warsaw really is the most wonderfully relaxed modern city. Perfect cafés for a morning read, coffee, and dog nap.

Just heard Chris Philp on BBC’s Today programme explaining why the Tories want to leave the ECHR. He claimed ECHR isn’t mentioned in Belfast Agreement - which is simply untrue. The UK govt agreed to incorporate it into NI law & give direct access to the courts (Strand 3). Why no BBC fact-check?

First Soviet and now Russian propaganda has been telling us Europeans are desperate to move to Moscow for over 100 years. What’s striking about Putinist madness is how unoriginal its propaganda themes are.

President Macron: “We were very naive to leave our public space to social media networks controlled by US or Chinese companies that don’t share our interests and not interested in survival of our democracies.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggN...

Good by Sweden's Minister of Finance, who battle propaganda about Russian economy. Main points: * RU inflation about 20% * Liquid part of RU welfare fund not enough for deficit * Intl inst (IMF et al) and media should not use data from RU * All RU data likely false. www.dn.se/debatt/vara-...

Uh oh

⚡️Europe 'no longer at peace' with Russia, Germany's Merz says. "Let me put it in a sentence that may be a little shocking at first glance ... we are not at war, but we are no longer at peace either," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sept. 29.

This is an absolutely extraordinary, revelatory quote. Why is the NBC affiliate in Portland the only place reporting it? www.kgw.com/article/news...

Poland’s most important research assistant bravely stands guard

I know we all hate Twitter now, but it's great value entertainment if you want to see credulous economists go increasingly mad

Outstanding summary of why Moldova's rejection of Russian electoral influence - bribery, really - matters to us from @snellarthur.bsky.social.