". The central finding of this study is that Europe’s resilience remains situational rather than systemic. A strong performance by a select group of countries in specific domains contrasts with critical shortcomings in others..." hcss.nl/wp-content/upl…

To really understand how Russia thinks today at the negotiation table, we need to go a bit back in time. Enter Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet diplomat known as "Mr. Nyet" he wasn’t just being stubborn he had a method. He literally said about the West that it is "impatient, divided,

Pleased to see reports of progress being made on bringing Hizballah’s weapons in southern Lebanon under state control. During my recent visit, I saw first-hand the vital work of the Lebanese Armed Forces in ensuring peace and security in the south. 👇 apnews.com/video/army-tak…

Russia has centralized training, production, and hunting Ukrainian drone operators and the networks that support them. Ukraine says that shift is rapidly eroding their early edge in drone warfare and poses a growing threat to its ability to hold the line. kyivindependent.com/russians-reall…

Lebanon’s gov is undertaking big risks in holding talks with Israel. Last time serious efforts as such happened, assassinations and violence followed. In some ways, Beirut is more immune now (not in state of civil war, Assad gone, Hezbollah recalibrating, LAF stronger). Still,

The #DamascusDossier investigation is now live. The exposé includes new details of former Syrian president Bashar Assad's vast system for the detention, torture and murder of Syrian citizens — and the international forces that financed his regime. icij.org/investigations…

Reminded of this tweet by Colby as US complaints about Europe seeking to bolster its own defense industry ramp up again.

🆕 Janes analysis: #China is strengthening its A2AD posture in the Indo Pacific with new anti ship missiles including YJ15, YJ17, YJ19 and YJ20 — faster, longer range and harder to intercept. ➡️ Full report 🔗 loom.ly/LPX03aM #Janes #OSINT #DefenceIntelligence

The complexity of setting up high tech plants in the US gives Saudi a competitive advantage in its plans to set up large data centers.Of note also in this article that even the US needs to import large numbers of Taiwanese staff. nytimes.com/2025/12/04/bus… vi

This is ridiculous, corrupt, and as the article says, degenerate. Polymarket has no business allowing bets on things like this.

We have a package of stories in this week's The Economist looking at Syria one year after the fall of Assad. First this by Gareth Browne grading Ahmed al-Sharaa's performance: - he's been a skilled diplomat and a pragmatist who held the country together - he's cannibalizing the

.Yassin Al Haj Saleh always writes with clarity. An essential read for Syrians & others on the 1st anniversary of the Assad downfall, for New Lines Magazine. ‘To understand the challenges facing the new Syria, it's helpful to look back at three previous beginnings.’ newlinesmag.com/essays/the-unr…

Everyone should read this

Simon Karam's naming as head of Lebanon's negotiating team is a poisoned gift. It will involve a delicate balancing act of preserving what remains of Lebanon's sovereignty, keeping Nabih Berri onside, and probably negotiating under fire. Mine for Diwan: carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/di…

60.000 SIXTY THOUSAND. That's the latest estimation of the number of people who were slaughtered in El Fasher by the RSF these past weeks. The people of Sudan 🇸🇩 are suffering from genocide and the world is letting it happen. theguardian.com/global-develop…

12,000 retweets, 43,000 likes and over 1.1 million views for what's very clearly an AI-generated video.

Russia blocked X entirely, for comparison.

It’s all just pure trolling at this point. They click “post” and howl with laughter at people stupid enough to believe a word they’re saying. And there are many, many takers. occrp.org/en/investigati…

You’ve probably never seen Syria’s gas pipeline network mapped in this much detail... and that’s because our brilliant colleagues at Karam Shaar Advisory Limited designed. In the latest issue of Syria in Figures, we unpack the structure and future of Syria’s gas pipeline network, the