a woman in a white dress is sitting next to a man in a tuxedo and says i want to be alone . ALT: a woman in a white dress is sitting next to a man in a tuxedo and says i want to be alone .

You almost wish that they were forced to pay as much attention to our politics as we are to theirs, but at this point I’d actually prefer them to just leave us alone.

A big step towards a quickie deal, with Iran in control of reopened Hormuz. A big relief for the global economy but not great news for the strategic balance in the region. Gulfies but also Israel find themselves in a deep strategic predicament after the US war and peace of Trumpian choice

Orban-proofing the EU How the leader of a small, poor country held such sway over the bloc

I steped briefly back into Charlemagne's robes this week (@spignal.bsky.social is on holiday) to explain why, amid all the Magyar-mania, the EU risks ignoring some important lessons it ought to take from its long Orban nightmare. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Trump deletes post depicting him as Jesus-like figure after backlash Christian allies of the president call the AI-generated image offensive as Trump says he thought it showed him as a doctor.

Turns out he wasn’t the Messiah, just a very naughty boy.

“Trump deletes post depicting him as Jesus-like figure after backlash” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Welcome back, Hungary! 🇭🇺🇪🇺❤️

No, they will not.

Det vi behöver är samnordiska högkvarter för alla domäner.

Det gör därför heller ingenting positivt för svensk eller europeisk säkerhet att slösa begränsade resurser på att bemanna JFC Norfolk, och andra fredstida Natostrukturer, som skulle vara otillgängliga för oss i ett skarpt läge.

Det är varken harmlöst eller smart att förneka att den transatlantiska alliansen i praktiken redan är över och att Nato nu är en teknikalitet eftersom det försenar uppbyggnaden av de alternativ som skulle kunna leda Europa i krig.

Vi har bokstavligen allt att förlora på att vägra acceptera att den redan är borta.

I ordered the hard copy. Looking forward to reading it.

Trump threatening to annex Greenland because the Norwegian government didn't give him the Nobel prize seems relatively sane compared with where we are now.

This is absolutely right, but I suspect another factor explaining Washington's current anger is a failure among people with the knowledge levels and worldview typical of this administration to understand the huge benefits of NATO to the US. So NATO just looks like welfare for an ungrateful Europe.🧵

Nej, inte på något sätt.

I suspect that Trump will take the opportunity in his speech tonight to put forward a MAGA version of the stab-in-the-back myth. Namely that the US could have totally defeated Iran if it hadn't been stabbed in the back by the traitorous Euros.

People need to understand that it is a good thing if Trump threatens to leave NATO and says the US will not fight for Europe. The truth was the alliance was dead the moment he became president again. The US under him would never fight to defend Europe from Russia. Pretending otherwise was dangerous.

The US president blithely rehearsing what Putin thinks of NATO, and Putin being sufficiently relaxed with/contemptuous of the US president to tell him, is pretty strong evidence that NATO is not currently functioning as a defensive alliance in any meaningful way.

When I made this prediction on the first day of Trump's second term, I didn't imagine that the circumstances would include Russia helping Iran fight the US. But here we are.

Not dealing with any credible air threats for over three decades of operations has consequences on culture, procedures and doctrine.

Bad ones.

Exclusive: US links security guarantees to Ukraine giving up Donbas, Zelenskiy says The U.S. is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding all of the country's eastern region of ‌Donbas to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told ...

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has consistently: pressured Kyiv, not Moscow; aligned with Russia; and disregarded its core alliance commitments. Why would Ukraine give up land for a security guarantee that would be nothing of the kind? www.reuters.com/business/aer...

Bond market may have dictated things again.

The US 20Y Note Yield was above 5.00%.

At the current pace, in US, 7% mortgages and $4.00 gas prices this week.

Radical view I know, but no amount of Woah/Hooah/Oorah/Hooyah can overcome poor planning, lack of strategic clarity, mixed messaging and… geography.

Trump Loses Control Iran has escalation dominance - for now anyway

The last 24 hours have shown us who now controls escalation in the Gulf - my latest substack markurban.substack.com/p/trump-lose...

Exactly. Russia is Russia and will most likely remain so.

Putin the Terrible and the History of Russia HISTORY IS NOT WRITTEN IN A VACUUM Marshall T. Poe, The Russian Moment in World History The unfolding Russian Disaster “Three days to Kyiv!” has turned into an ongoing 4-year disaster for Russia. Mo...

I wrote a few words about Putin, Russia, and why history, culture, and even civilisation matters.

All comments and thoughts much appreciated.

kkrva.se/putin-the-te...