National Security | Sport | Geopolitics — Author of The Sun Will Rise.
Joined September 2008
- Tweets 4,405
- Following 7,042
- Followers 17,288
- Likes 6,059
388 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
13 Nov 2023
My book ‘The Sun Will Rise’ comes out 28 Nov.
If you’ve enjoyed my reporting on Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, please buy a copy (or 5)!
Buy here: thesunwillrisebook.com
It is dedicated to the heroes of Ukraine fighting for their freedom. And ours.
Slava Ukraini!✌🏼🦘🇺🇦
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misha retweeted
Apr 15
This was a brilliant episode with @mishazelinsky.
He said what no one has been game to say about restoring sovereign capability - it's going to cost us. A brave and true statement. #auspol
How do you prepare Australians for the real cost of sovereignty?
@mishazelinsky asks the hard question. @KosSamaras gives the blunt answer: governments must level with the public about the world we’re entering — where trade-offs are unavoidable. Spend a little less now … or risk something far worse. Just ask Ukranians.
🎧 Curtin’s Cast Ep 51:
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcas…
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misha retweeted
Apr 14
Has World War Three Already Started? by @mishazelinsky open.substack.com/pub/mishaz…
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Apr 12
In the end, the Good Guys win.
What an amazing result for the Hungarian people and a big moment in halting the slide towards illiberal democracy.
In one of my first episodes of Diplomates, I interviewed Gordon Bajnai — the last Hungarian PM before Orban. He said we should never give up the fight.
A ray of light in a decade of darkness.
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Apr 11
What is national sovereignty?
It’s the ability to have the things, when you need them.
Don’t go that? You don’t got much.
On our latest pod @mishazelinsky explains how the Iran war shows, in real time, how asymmetric conflict actually works.
The Strait of Hormuz does not need to be permanently closed to cause global economic shock. It only takes risk — even the possibility of one in 20 ships being blown up by a speedboat packed with explosives — to send insurance costs soaring and supply chains into panic.
For Australia, the lesson is stark. As Misha tells @Dyrenfurth and @KosSamaras, too many businesses have become utterly addicted to cheap inputs, cheap labour and cheap overseas imports. But the true price of “cheap” is what it costs when the world turns dangerous.
We have been casual. We have been foolish. And the bill is now coming due.
🎧 Listen now to Curtin's Cast episode 51:
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcas…
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misha retweeted
Apr 11
What is national sovereignty?
It’s the ability to have the things, when you need them.
Don’t go that? You don’t got much.
On our latest pod @mishazelinsky explains how the Iran war shows, in real time, how asymmetric conflict actually works.
The Strait of Hormuz does not need to be permanently closed to cause global economic shock. It only takes risk — even the possibility of one in 20 ships being blown up by a speedboat packed with explosives — to send insurance costs soaring and supply chains into panic.
For Australia, the lesson is stark. As Misha tells @Dyrenfurth and @KosSamaras, too many businesses have become utterly addicted to cheap inputs, cheap labour and cheap overseas imports. But the true price of “cheap” is what it costs when the world turns dangerous.
We have been casual. We have been foolish. And the bill is now coming due.
🎧 Listen now to Curtin's Cast episode 51:
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcas…
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Apr 9
Check out my latest chat on the coming of WW3…👇👇👇
On Curtin's Cast Episode 51, @dyrenfurth and @KosSamaras speak with @mishazelinsky about the return of Cold War style proxy conflict — from Iran’s use of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis to Russian arms spreading across Africa and the Middle East.
The goal isn’t just conventional warfare — it’s chaos, discord and the destabilisation of democracies.
🎧 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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misha retweeted
Are we already seeing the beginning of World War III?
On Curtin’s Cast, @Dyrenfurth & @KosSamaras are joined by @mishazelinsky to unpack a confronting reality:
This didn’t start with a declaration — it started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a growing alignment of authoritarian powers.
But this war looks different.
Not just tanks and missiles —
Economic warfare.
Grey-zone conflict.
Information wars.
China reshaping supply chains.
Authoritarian regimes targeting democracy itself.
As Misha puts it: society is now the battlefield.
🎧 Ep 51:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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Apr 7
Check out my chat with legends @KosSamaras and @dyrenfurth on their awesome podcast.
WW3, democratic crisis, where to from here?
All the good stuff.
If you want to read more, check out my piece on why WW3 may have already started (link in bio).
Has World War III already begun — just without a declaration?
This week on Curtin’s Cast, @Dyrenfurth & @KosSamaras are joined by @mishazelinsky to unpack a confronting idea: We may already be living through the early stages of a new global conflict.
From Russia’s war in Ukraine to Middle East instability and Indo-Pacific tensions, Misha argues we’re seeing an uneven, undeclared world war — driven by a loose alignment of authoritarian powers.
Ep 51 covers:
• Why the 1930s, WWI & Cold War analogies fall short
• The “bad guys club”: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea
• How deterrence failed — slowly, then all at once
• War across military, economic & cyber domains
• Whether democracies are strong enough — especially at home
A sobering conversation about power, geopolitics — and whether we’ve already crossed the line.
🎧 Curtin’s Cast Ep 51 — out now
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misha retweeted
Apr 2
How worried should we be about Iran, Ukraine and global tension in multiple regions? 🧵
A: very.
WW2 started way before Hitler invaded Poland.
— Italy into Ethiopia in 1935
— Hitler into Rhineland ‘36
— Japan into China ‘37
— Stalin into Finland ‘39.
Sound familiar?
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Apr 2
Recent past:
— Putin into Georgia ‘08
— Xi militarising South China Sea ‘14
— Putin takes Crimea ‘14
— Putin meddles in US/Brexit ‘16
— Iran proxy wars escalate ‘06
— North Korea gets nukes ‘17
— Xi/Putin ‘no limits’ partnership ‘22
— Putin invades Ukraine ‘22
And so on.
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Apr 2
Today: the Bad Guys are working together.
Russian, NK and Iranian weapons and know-how are showing up in proxy fights everywhere, while Putin’s nuclear scientists have quietly assisted the weapons programs of both Kim and Iran.
Meanwhile China — provides the industrial base, technology, trade and financial oxygen that keeps the whole system running, while gorging on Iran and Russian energy and materials and prepping for war in East Asia.
While it’s not an alliance, it is something close to a wartime ecosystem.
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Apr 2
What can democracy do?
1. Admit the problem, and get serious. The dictators have declared war on us already. Denying it won’t make it any less true.
2. Make democracies work. If they don’t deliver for people at home, you can forget about selling them aboard
3. Work together to resist the Bad Guys.
Check out my full piece on this (link in bio).
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Apr 1
How worried should we be about Iran, Ukraine, fuel crises and global tension in multiple regions?
Well, World War Two started the exact same way.
My latest substack on how we are closer to global conflict than you might think.
open.substack.com/pub/mishaz…
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Mar 31
Has World War Three already started and we just don’t know it yet?
Iran, Ukraine, Taiwan, China, Russia, North Korea. It’s all connected. And it’s all getting worse.
My new Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/mishaz…
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misha retweeted
21 Sep 2025
🇺🇦 MUST WIN and 🇷🇺 MUST LOSE. Because autocracy isn't about peace, it's about rule by fear - anywhere, not only in 🇺🇦.
«The defence of Ukraine is not charity, but a policy of self-interest and national defence. Because once our global commons is destroyed, it will not return.»
20 Sep 2025
Ukraine: With the battlelines a frozen mess, what’s changed since in the 20 months since I was last here? In a word: energy.
While the world may try to move on, the stakes are clear.
For Ukraine, extermination.
For us, the grim prospect of WW3.
My latest @FinancialReview
afr.com/world/europe/coffee-…
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misha retweeted
21 Sep 2025
Misha just got from his trip to Kyiv. Read his insights @mishazelinsky
20 Sep 2025
Ukraine: With the battlelines a frozen mess, what’s changed since in the 20 months since I was last here? In a word: energy.
While the world may try to move on, the stakes are clear.
For Ukraine, extermination.
For us, the grim prospect of WW3.
My latest @FinancialReview
afr.com/world/europe/coffee-…
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20 Sep 2025
Ukraine: With the battlelines a frozen mess, what’s changed since in the 20 months since I was last here? In a word: energy.
While the world may try to move on, the stakes are clear.
For Ukraine, extermination.
For us, the grim prospect of WW3.
My latest @FinancialReview
afr.com/world/europe/coffee-…
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