Sooner or later, books fly the nest to live their own lives, outside the authors' control. Mine has now reached that point. If you see it, please grab it, read it, and judge it for yourself. harpercollins.com/products/t…

So lemme get this straight. Somewhere at the bottom of the Baltic Sea there's a metal cylinder full of military-grade explosives, which the divers who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines accidentally dropped in the water? From the new book by @bopanc wsj.com/world/europe/nord-st…

Putin's chief propagandists can no longer explain what Russia is fighting for. Aleksandr Dugin spent decades justifying Russia's war against the West. Asked what is worth fighting for today, he failed to give a clear answer, The Atlantic. 1/

No Russian thinker has worked harder than Aleksandr Dugin to rationalize the invasion of Ukraine—but Dugin, along with many other Russian elites, has run out of cogent stories to tell, @shustry reports: theatlantic.com/national-sec…

No Russian thinker has worked harder than Aleksandr Dugin to rationalize the invasion of Ukraine—but Dugin, along with many other Russian elites, has run out of cogent stories to tell, @shustry reports: theatlantic.com/national-sec…

'She made her position a platform for promoting distortions and undermining public confidence in the very institutions she’d sworn an oath to lead" From @shaneharris, on Tulsi Gabbard theatlantic.com/national-sec…

Strategic ambiguity, long the U.S. approach toward defending Taiwan, is no longer reserved for the Indo-Pacific. Under Trump, it also defines Washington’s approach to Europe. Our latest @TheAtlantic with the great @nancyayoussef and @isaacstanbecker theatlantic.com/national-sec…

"I am in the business of writing long and complicated stories full of nuance. Yet I am at the mercy of platforms that want to turn my words into cortisol and endorphins, often for people who will never click the link to read what I wrote. Regardless of my intentions, my work can fuel the false division I despise." @michaelscherer captures a core frustration of the modern journalist: theatlantic.com/politics/202…

Why did so many titans of Silicon Valley turn against Ukraine after the Russian invasion? George Packer finds an answer in this brilliant profile of @DavidSacks. "If you neutralize any sentiment of right and wrong, Ukraine just looks like a risky bet." theatlantic.com/magazine/202…

On the political benefits of having a backbone: Trust in Zelensky peaked right after the invasion (90%) and in the weeks after his clash with Trump/Vance in Oval office. Now at 58%. After 4 years of all-out war, still a level many presidents can only dream of.

"Volodymyr Zelensky is taking the next step, one that would have been unthinkable even as recently as 2024. By word and deed, he’s showing Europe and the world how the post-American free world can preserve its liberty and independence." nytimes.com/2026/04/26/opini…

Five years into the Ukraine war, no Major European country can easily deploy even a 1000 troops.

If the United States truly thinks about withdrawing from NATO, then European security will be based solely on the European Union. But not in its current form. I think that the EU is in a situation where it needs more countries. The UK, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Norway. These are four strong countries, which are part of Europe. Together, the UK, Ukraine, and Türkiye have armies that are stronger than Russia's army. Without Ukraine and Türkiye, Europe can’t match Russia. With the four countries on board you can wrest control of the seas, have secure skies and the largest land forces. It’s not about offense, because when Russia makes the decision to have an army of 2.5 million people by 2030, Europe has to think about security and how to preserve its independence. The UK once was a member of the EU. There are concerns about agriculture when it comes to Türkiye. But you can manage all of this if you have a really great economy. But security comes first, economy second. Not vice versa. From an interview on The Rest Is Politics podcast (5/5).

The man is talking sense

Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz may have given China a model to follow—but the resulting shock of a partial blockade of Taiwan to the global economy would be far worse, @shustry argues: theatlantic.com/national-sec…

The Times says a strategy of publishing “fewer, better stories” has led to three consecutive months of record-breaking global audience growth - including Google traffic increases The Times has gone from publishing more than 200 stories a day to about 150 – a 25% cut

It's true, the author of this book had extensive access to the people who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines. One big question is how much President Zelensky knew about it, and when. Very curious to read it @bopanc us.macmillan.com/books/97812…

With a cameo by Zelensky: In an interview with Simon Shuster published last week, the CEO of Germany’s biggest arms manufacturer “dismissed the work of Ukrainian drone makers as child’s play.” Shuster reports on the backlash that followed: theatlantic.com/national-sec…