Jetzt erst recht In der imperialen Welt braucht Berlin einen pragmatischen China-Kurs. Merz’ Reise wird zum Autonomie-Test für Europa.

Aus gegebenem Anlass:

www.ipg-journal.de/rubriken/aus...

Zusammen mit
@stevenlangendonk.bsky.social

The key evidence here is that all major statements have been met with silence from the PLA (even after 17 major commanders were picked up at the same time and then let go, a common scare tactic).

So, the focus on Taiwan is way off. The question is if Xi will face an open challenge from the PLA 2/2

The PLA purge story is dominated by concerns about Taiwan and talk of Xi’s exclusive power within the CMC. Both are mistaken.

Xi lacks control over the military. He had to take Zhang Youxia down on shaky accusations because Zhang could act as a competing power centre after earlier CMC purges. 1/2

The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran | Owen Jones Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this reality, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Wishful Thinking, by Amanda Chicago Lewis The aspirations and failures of the United Nations

A sobering assessment on the role of the UN in world politics. harpers.org/archive/2025...

Le bras de fer économique ingagnable pour la Chine face aux droits de douane américains? La Chine ne courbe pas l'échine et contre-attaque face aux droits de douane américains. Mais l'économie chinoise pourrait ne pas avoir les reins assez solides.

Last Friday I gave an interview to Aymeric Debongnie of Belgian newspaper L’Avenir on the tariff struggle between the US and China.

Always happy to contribute to the public debate!

www.lavenir.net/actu/monde/2...

The sensible response, the one that makes “reciprocal tariffs” an unviable policy option, is to follow China’s approach of maximum pressure during negotiations. This may send markets down in the short run, but also make Trump’s programme unviable and leaves a lasting impression on his base (2/2).

EU leaders should learn two things from the tariff mess:
1. Trump backs down in the face of pressure from financiers first and political allies second
2. His plutocrat allies love market turmoil, but, like everyone else, hate unpredictability (hence the bond-selloff induced pause).

(1/2)

The cover image of The Journal of Global Security Studies appears on the left. At the bottom, the journal’s homepage URL (https://academic.oup.com/jogss) and Bluesky handle (@journalofgss.bsky.social) are displayed in white text on a navy blue background. The main section of the image features a background of medieval monuments in Kosovo. Overlaid on this is the article title and authors’ names: “Securitization between Narrative and Practice: A Praxis Perspective on the Multilateral Securitization of Orthodox Heritage in Kosovo between 1999 and 2011” by Steven Langendonk & Edith Drieskens.

🚨 New article alert! @stevenlangendonk.bsky.social & Edith Driessens rethink securitization with a new model of multilateral securitization. Learn how their model applies to the case of Orthodox heritage in Kosovo between 1999 and 2011.

🔍 Explore it more: doi.org/10.1093/jogs...

At this point it should be clear that US conservatives and their Silicon Valley enablers are taking us all down a slippery slope to military confrontation with China.

a historical analysis of the narratives, practices and agents that played a role in the securitization of Othodox heritage in Kosovo. Our analysis has implications beyond securitization, notably for the functioning of the (World) heritage regime and multilateral security governance (2/2).

Securitization between Narrative and Practice: A Praxis Perspective on the Multilateral Securitization of Orthodox Heritage in Kosovo between 1999 and 2011 Abstract. Inspired by a case that highlights the limitations of the traditional speech act model of securitization for studying the multilateral level, we

Edith Driessens and I have a new article out in @journalofgss.bsky.social. We highlight limits of the traditional speech act model of securitization at the multilateral level and propose a new model grounded in practice and narrative. We illustrate the added value via (1/2)

doi.org/10.1093/jogs...

Tusk announces plan to train all Polish men for military service Poland aims to build up its military to half a million men to face Russia.

Tusk said, adding: “It’s striking but it’s true. Right now, 500 million Europeans are begging 300 million Americans for protection from 140 million Russians who have been unable to overcome 50 million Ukrainians for three years."

www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Look at Donald Trump and his gang of broligarchs – and tell me we don’t need a wealth tax | Brian Cox I played a fictional billionaire on TV. It’s time world leaders got serious about taxing the real ones, says the actor Brian Cox

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Best read of the day:

Surprise! Who knew that the great short term threat to international order would come from its guarantor (the US) and not China? Europe’s leaders missed it, as did many IR scholars.

Good to remember that imperial orders will fray at the edges due to outside pressure, but they implode at the core.

Very grateful for the opportunity to discuss my research on Chinese diplomacy at Fudan University last week, where we also discussed the recent special issue of Global Policy about China in the UN.

The WeChat post on the conference:
lnkd.in/e8KBTGvf