Democrats: In the future best to pick the right issues and focus your message appropriately. There's a lot of territory and a lot of voters in between San Francisco and Washington, DC.

BARC & IGCAR have long pedigrees in India's non-safeguarded plutonium-driven strategic nuclear program. So consistent with previous bilateral understandings, the US ruling comes with what nonproliferation assurances/firewalls?

Only a matter of time before the Russian officials and fellow travelers whose social media posts since the invasion of Ukraine were offensive, false, and career-informed will be once again sought out by media and 'experts' to opine on the US-Russian 'reset.'

Is Berlin still a divided city? The poll results from yesterday say yes. Eastern districts' second vote (Zweitstimme) leaned toward hard-right AFD, SPD, and Left. In the west Greens and CDU predominated.

Israel’s frankly embarrassing appeasement of Moscow has brought no noticeable gains. On the contrary, Russia has repaid Israel by not only hosting Hamas leaders but by stepping up its cooperation with Israel’s arch-enemy, Iran. I wrote that back in Nov 2023, but even I couldn't

Henk Slebos' last words to me on the phone 20 years ago: "Ik heb je niets meer te vertellen." -- I don't have anything more to tell you. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Hakan Fidan, indeed, is not someone who has been inclined to tip his hand about his connections with, and actions toward, Iran. armscontrolwonk.com/archive/110316…

Es ist Zeit für die EU, Orban endlich den Stecker zu ziehen. x.com/KyivPost/statu…

2/2 So were Biden/Scholz determined to liberate Ukraine? No. They didn't want Putin to grab it all, but as the US for years in Afghanistan they didn't commit to expel the adversary, Scholz' "As long as it takes" address on 2/27/22 was open-ended. bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuel…

So in retaliation the EU will impose a like tariff making overpromoted hot wines from Ynez CA more expensive than fine 1er cru wines from the Côte de Nuits. Here in Old Europe we will cheer.

After 25 years, the last sentence is still a very speculative talking point.

I told Hannahkaviani هانا کاویانی that any new allegations of Iranian undeclared or clandestine actions would add to the West's already weighty agenda, making negotiation of a nuclear agreement with Iran still more difficult.

2/2: In the big picture, for nearly a quarter century effective on-off denial of cooperation permitted Iran to stall verification and 'restart' IAEA diplomacy over a trajectory of 80+ IAEA board meetings

Marco Rubio shows that he knows nothing about this issue.

2/2: Rubio knows nothing about this. The German Foreign Ministry corrects his errors for the record:

Sec. Rubio you are misinformed. Get your staff to translate: "Die Verfassungsschutzämter in Bund und Ländern verkörpern als Frühwarnsystem die Lehre der deutschen Geschichte: Nie wieder sollen Verfassungsfeinde durch die demokratischen Institutionen an die Macht marschieren."

Ukraine/Russia: If some people think that Leo XIV will be a kind of Francis II, tiptoeing around Putin, they may be dead wrong.

No idea whether this report can be confirmed. In run-up to JCPOA into late 2015 I was told by people in the room: "We know what Iran did." The outside world and the IAEA "don't need to go there."

Iran’s Nuclear Program Took a Real Hit. So Did IAEA Oversight of It worldpoliticsreview.com/us-iran-nuclea…

After the attacks IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️'s Iran challenge is massive: Accounting for all the broken pieces of Iran's declared nuclear program & reconstituting the safeguards baseline; getting full access & Iran's cooperation; securing HR/tech/fin resources for decades: worldpoliticsreview.com/us-iran-nuclea…