France snaps back at NATO chief Rutte in feud over Europe’s defense muscle The NATO secretary-general told the European Parliament that the continent could not defend itself without the U.S.

The French government has responded curtly to Mark Rutte after the NATO secretary-general said Europe could not defend itself without the U.S.

A joke for the history buffs.

Great piece by @profsaunders.bsky.social and @dandrezner.bsky.social. You can add to your intro to IR/theory syllabi! My one friendly amendment would be that Hobbes presumed rational actors with comprehensible (albeit conflicting and incompatible) aims.

Foreign policy think tank in 2026...

Text: Old adversaries Sir, Your obituary (Jan 19) of Mr Justice Blofeld rightly referred to his fine sense of humour. When he first sat in Winchester a barrister called Richard Bond stood up to open the first case. Mr Justice Blofeld began to stroke the white ermine on the sleeve of his High Court judge’s robes as if stroking a cat. He then said with a smile: “We meet at last, Mr Bond.” Sir John Royce Clifton, Bristol

Letter in Times today

Threads post from Channel 4: @channel4 Because we did not win the BAFTA for best TV channel ever we have decided to try and claim ITV as ours.

Not for the first time, it looks like Channel 4 just handed the keys to their socials to an evil genius:

The Economist, April 8th 1933.

(The territorial dispute between Norway and Denmark over parts of #Greenland was decided in Denmark's favour by the International Court.)

“At time of the agreement in May 2025, Rubio said the US “welcomed the historic agreement”. It went on: “This is a critical asset for regional and global security. President Trump expressed his support for this monumental achievement during his meeting with Prime Minister Starmer at the White House”

A vanishing deterrent? Europe’s fishermen patrol our waters in shrinking numbers From a national security perspective, fishing fleets are manned by the best soldiers we never knew we had.

COMMENTARY: Many of the ships that damage underwater cables in Europe turn up in Irish waters. But while Ireland has a tiny navy to deal with these unwanted visitors, it does have another formidable resource:

Its fishermen.

Keep ice cool: How Europeans should respond to Trump’s Greenland tariff threats  – European Council on Foreign Relations Rather than panicking or posturing, European leaders should prioritise EU unity, pinpoint their leverage and consider buying time

Europe has no good options to respond to Trump's tariff threats over Greenland - in my latest for @ecfr.eu I outline five principles that Brussels and EU capitals may want to keep in mind when sketching out next steps (spoiler: ditch moot threats and focus on services trade)
ecfr.eu/article/keep...

Trump’s Arctic ambitions torch the most important US asset The market reaction to the threat of tariffs on supposed allies over Greenland has been extremely telling

"The US has squandered its most valuable financial asset: trust. It risks paying a heavy price for this for decades to come." Important piece by my colleague @katie0martin.ft.com on the hit to the dollar and US borrowing costs of Trump's derangement. www.ft.com/content/9f73...

‘It’s about trust’: Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threats push Europe to harden its stance Aggressive US rhetoric over Greenland demands a change in strategy by the EU and UK, officials say

"We’ve tried flattery, distraction, bargaining, hoping the tornado would pass. It was an analytical & political mistake. This is not about rebalancing transatlantic relations. This is about coercion & ideological & territorial dominance by the US". @sbeverts.bsky.social. www.ft.com/content/d13b...

From Greenland to Canada: a snapshot of how Trump has laid claim to different countries & territories beyond the US.

👉 How low trust is reshaping transatlantic relations: ow.ly/7W7550XbpcO

The cost of inaction: Why passivity is no longer an option for the European Union Geopolitics: Russians and Americans are making plans, to which Europeans then react with panic – that's how it usually goes these days, observes Steven Everts . This week's EU summit is a crucial mome...

"We cannot change Putin's ideas, but we can change his calculations about war." Passivity is no longer an option for the EU, warns @sbeverts.bsky.social. This week, Europe must show it can act & shape its own future. ow.ly/eFOo50XJH76.

In Russia talks, NATO allies fear Trump is doing his ‘own thing’ In negotiations over Ukraine, European officials say President Trump’s team has positioned the U.S. as an independent arbiter rather than the leading voice of NATO.

"European leaders must adjust to a new reality in which US interests don’t necessarily match theirs".
@gspataf95.bsky.social speaks to the Washington Post as NATO allies worry Washington is charting its own course on the peace talks. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Europe’s psychology of weakness It’s time the EU ditched its failing strategy of “react, hope, repeat.”

By @euiss.bsky.social director @sbeverts.bsky.social well worth a read for anyone interested in EU foreign policy:

Eoin is always worth reading. The security arrangements for a new Ireland are just one more thing many Republicans and nationalists don’t seem prepared for

Nicely provocative piece, and worth reflecting on. A United Ireland, for example, can’t expect to ignore British and other European - or US! - security concerns. That was a big reason for the 1800 Acts of Union in the first place…

This is a very good piece @bentonra.bsky.social - well worth reading for anyone interested in Irish foreign policy.

Ireland is perhaps the European state that has benefitted most from transatlantic strategic harmony, what should Ireland do when there is an increasing transatlantic disharmony?

Would UK be better off without Brexit? Ministers may be tempted to use it as an excuse for tax rises, but there’s far more to it than that

Fair-minded discussion by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the Brexit impact. I'm more worried about the trade data though - goods exports volumes declining since 2019 is a big problem, and finance and transport services have significantly lagged other advanced economies.

www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

At last week's EUCO summit, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever derailed EU plans to raid frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine.

Privately, EU diplomats are asking: Did anyone running the meeting bother to speak to him beforehand?

🔗 www.politico.eu/article/eu-l...

Those who do learn from history are doomed to have people tell them they’re overreacting

The Dutch elections have once again been disappointingly myopic - the transatlantic fractures, European security, China, Ukraine: they barely feature.

Despite this, I'd argue the momentum is for a more centrist coalition to win out, which will want to be far more active on the global stage again.

Presidential Election 2025 (#aras25) - live results by @gavreilly

🗳️ #aras25 Count Results live, from as soon as each of the 43 constituencies start to report their results: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

After another high-level military purge, Beijing is quietly scripting the next phase of its grand strategy. (Members Only)

Listen here: warontherocks.com/ep...

Watching from afar, it is also a symptom in how much of the UK, London based media ignores parties not (yet) relevant for Westminster.

UK polls hardly ever show the strength of the SNP or PC, let alone Northern Ireland's parties.

Ed Luce watching democracy die in the United States of America

Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.

Really well done explainer of the election system for the Irish Presidential elections using... smarties. Bonus points for showing why Irish election counting takes so long:

A testament to the state of affairs is that I am not sure whether this statement applies to the current UK or German debate, both of which now feature this element.