Max Hastings: The United States could soon be our enemy In less than a decade the American leadership that the West took for granted has collapsed. Now we are forced to consider the previously unthinkable

Psychologically hard for Europeans to take. But national security has to be built on worst case scenario planning, or it is naivety dressed up as strategy.
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

New Policy Brief: 3 recommendations for how the 🇪🇺 can strengthen the 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨-𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜, & 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 of (potential) Candidate Countries against foreign malign influence.

Read here: reunir-horizon.eu/strategic-po...

@horizoneu.bsky.social @gppi.bsky.social @bressansar.bsky.social

Merz’ Unfinished Foreign Policy Reforms The Merz government has started to restructure Germany’s foreign and security policy apparatus. The changes are happening too slowly and are not radical enough.

The Merz government is restructuring Germany’s foreign and security policy apparatus; it needs to find big solutions to big problems.

But so far, @bressansar.bsky.social & Philipp Rotmann argue, these changes are happening too slowly and are not radical enough.

ip-quarterly.com/en/merz-unfi...

Spring 2026 Issue: A New German Foreign Policy? The 23rd issue of INTERNATIONALE POLITIK QUARTERLY focuses on German foreign policy one year after the Merz government came into office.

Our new issue, A New German Foreign Policy?, features @lucyaash.bsky.social, @andreasrinke.bsky.social, @bressansar.bsky.social, @wolfgangschmidt.bsky.social, @josephdeweck.bsky.social, @rebeccawire.bsky.social, @fraghi.bsky.social, @johnkampfner.bsky.social & more.

ip-quarterly.com/en/spring-20...

Wenn ihr es mir nicht glaubt, dann glaubt es ihm. Oder uns beiden gleichzeitig, z.B. in dieser Podcastfolge @carlomasala1.bsky.social: creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

Text: The Iranian close to the regime said the Revolutionary Guards were behaving more like a militant group in their effort to take on the world's most sophisticated and powerful armies - abandoning their bases and scattering in order to reduce the risk of being hit while launching retaliatory attacks.

So - astonishingly - Iran has been paying attention to history, notably the Millennium Challenge exercise, which was originally an Iran war game, and in which US Marine Col. Paul van Riper, playing the baddies, handed an invading US force its hat with both its ears in it BY DOING THIS.

The war doesn’t care if it’s yours

Once again the Trump administration will need its European allies who have multiple times the US Navy’s mine clearing capacity.

Turns out that for fighting wars in the Middle East, the US needs its European allies. No matter who sits in the White House.

Class struggle, but weird: The surreal politics of this year's Oscar nominees The Best Picture contenders reflect a mad world—and they're suitably lurid, pulpy, comic, and strange.

This year’s Oscar-nominated films about ambitious strivers, faded revolutionaries, and exploited workers are defined by “surrealpolitik,” an aesthetic expressing a world “increasingly shaped by irrationality, disruption, and the erosion of established norms.”

hier rumirren aber FREIWILLIG

Great to have GPPi represented at Raisina Dialogue by @bressansar.bsky.social.
Here are some key take-aways.
Lots of opportunities for future-oriented cooperation -- and beefing up EU-India think tank ties and German/European EU India literacy.

If you want a detailed thread on Raisina dialogue, look no further - @bressansar.bsky.social has everything you need here:

🫶

It shall be known to future civilizations as the Hamster era

And you are right, kudos to ORF for avoiding one-sided, homogenous panels. I am eternally baffled that MSC and others in DE & Europe have such a hard time doing better on this.
(Actually, ORF invited @tluetkefend.bsky.social and me for the first time after reading Better Think Tanking!)

Thanks for the great points & nudge - added some of my observations here! bsky.app/profile/bres...

🇪🇺 EU diplomats in Asia say they see tons of positive visions that propel people forward in places like 🇮🇩 🇮🇳 & the Gulf, while Europeans are low-energy party poopers (visible on Rausina panels, „Things will only get worse“).
Futures work is key to turning that around. Let’s do more of it together?

Delhi‘s 🇮🇳 multi-vector balancing towards Europe was very clear in recent years, with large official 🇷🇺🇭🇺 presence at Raisina.
I guess next years will show to what extent 🇮🇳 keeps hedging or throws its weight behind reliable (I almost want to say rules-based 👀) partnerships that reduce volatility!

Not just 🇩🇪: India also self-censors in anticipatory disobedience vis-à-vis the U.S. 🇺🇸
Yes, Delhi 🇮🇳 has taken a massive hit last year. But colleagues continue to be surprised by the silence on so many topics where Delhi used to be more self-confident (decapitation strike, sinking an unarmed 🇮🇷 ship)

Sad so many from Africa, Americas, Asia had to cancel Raisina participation but great to share this reflection space with 🇪🇺 🇮🇳 colleagues @gesineweber.bsky.social @jpuglierin.bsky.social @almutm.bsky.social @nicolange.bsky.social @helenalegarda.bsky.social Garima Mohan, Shruti Pandalai &many more

Delhi‘s 🇮🇳 multi-vector balancing towards Europe was very clear in recent years, with large official 🇷🇺🇭🇺 presence at Raisina.
I guess next years will show to what extent 🇮🇳 keeps hedging or throws its weight behind reliable (I almost want to say rules-based 👀) partnerships that reduce volatility!

By the way, the India-Israel 🇮🇳 🇮🇱 relationship is thriving. Lots of Israelis travel to India as a relatively safe haven in an otherwise hostile part of the world (not a new development). The government-level relationship is a crucial part of India‘s evolving balancing act.

By the way, regarding lack of trust, I asked some countries traditionally very involved in confidence building measures why they’re not working on this, as it’s more needed then ever.
The answer?
We‘re too busy with ourselves in this volatile reality.
😣

🇪🇺 EU diplomats in Asia say they see tons of positive visions that propel people forward in places like 🇮🇩 🇮🇳 & the Gulf, while Europeans are low-energy party poopers (visible on Rausina panels, „Things will only get worse“).
Futures work is key to turning that around. Let’s do more of it together?

While many newcomers to Raisina may have picked up an important 🇮🇳 history book or two (great!), emphasizing shared civilizational legacy clearly risks losing the future out of sight, especially in foreign policy circles. This will eventually backfire.

„Strategic autonomy“ is the term many in Delhi 🇮🇳 use (👋 🇫🇷). Lots of joint work on how to do this in today’s world of eroded trust and unpredictability remains.

Strategic foresight could get us a long way, as interventions from @florencegaub.bsky.social at the conference have shown, and:

When Your Ally Turns Narcissistic: A Self-Help Manual for Europe Navigating Transatlantic Relations This study applies insights from psychological research on narcissism to offer a new approach to understanding — and countering — the unprecedented way the US currently wields power vis-à-vis its alli...

Also visible in Delhi 🇮🇳: Narcissistic foreign policy continues to be costly, until we learn how to outsmart it.
Here’s some advice @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social gppi.net/2025/10/12/w...

Not just 🇩🇪: India also self-censors in anticipatory disobedience vis-à-vis the U.S. 🇺🇸
Yes, Delhi 🇮🇳 has taken a massive hit last year. But colleagues continue to be surprised by the silence on so many topics where Delhi used to be more self-confident (decapitation strike, sinking an unarmed 🇮🇷 ship)

Relatedly, erosion of trust in the international system is still under-appreciated as a variable that explains so much.
E.g. People look for reasons why Iran 🇮🇷 didn’t settle with the US 🇺🇸. How much of this is international relations 101, you need a minimum of trust and who trusts D.C. these days?