The Tim Pool/Tenet Media story is obviously fascinating. But... An FBI affidavit unsealed this week says the Russians are maintaining an active list of 2,800 influencers, 600 of whom are in the US The FBI has not released the list Who else is on it? wired.com/story/project-…

Power Plays: Europe’s Response to the Energy Crisis csis.org/analysis/power… "Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered a severe energy crisis in Europe. The shock represented a test not just of Europe’s energy sector but of the resilience of Europe’s

I’m not sure I could explain this political development to 20 something me

Koizumi Shinjirō, a young man in a hurry. My analysis of the launch of Koizumi's leadership bid: observingjapan.substack.com/p/koizumi-gets…

Some personal news: my journey as a visiting fellow at CSIS has come to an end. It has been a mindboggling immersion into the DC 🇺🇸 think tank ecosystem. An absolute privilege and a truly rewarding experience. Some acknowledgements and observations👇

I couldn't be luckier to land at CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program to navigate this peculiar environment. I am so grateful to Max Bergmann, my role model for "bald thinking", for his kindness and guidance, and to the colleagues of the EREP happy family for their constant support and enthusiasm.

Bill Burns and Richard Moore joint op-ed: “Beyond Ukraine, we continue to work together to disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe being waged by Russian intelligence, and its cynical use of technology to spread lies and disinformation” on.ft.com/3ARFNaX

Italy - along with Germany - is the single biggest source of transshipments of Western goods to Russia. Just like Germany, these exports are a rounding error for Italy's export machine. No harm will come to Italian industry from prohibiting exports to Russia and its satellites...

And now, sabotage of machinery & a break-in at the Swedish mining giant LKAB. And sabotage attempts against Swedish defence companies & parcels catching fire in Germany cepa.org/article/russia…. As the heads of CIA and MI6 warned yesterday: hostile-state sabotage is spreading.

It's Draghi report day. Beyond its contents, it is notable in EU circles as an important document that was seen by dozens of people but basically did not leak. Draghi has imposed a central bank's discipline on an organisation that usually leaks about as much as the Titanic.

‼️In case you missed our scoop: EC has prepared decision to trigger conditionality mechanism vs Slovakia - final decision in Ursula von der Leyen’s hands, we’re told. Decision would target its cohesion funds (nearly €13bn) but RRF also in sight. W Daniel Hornak bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The #Draghi report is out. Here are some very first takeaways from this impressive masterplan to reboot European competitiveness.

You could read Mario Draghi's 400-page report on EU competitiveness. Or you could read the 1,250-word summary he has written for us. economist.com/by-invitation/…

🚨 Gloves are off: Mario Draghi blasts EU tech laws for hampering innovation and imposing "ex-ante" practices to avert "potential yet undetermined risks," like the AI Ac. "With this legislation we've given ourselves, we're actually self-defeating, we're killing our companies."

The Draghi report contains one of the most spot-on critiques for the current state of EU industrial policy I have read so far. And it comes with some solid ideas on how to move forward. Here are the three main takeaways.

The Draghi report is a big deal. It is a remarkably detailed plan for the EU, coming right as a new, and potentially empowered Commission under VDL is taking shape. The report seems primed not just to shape the debate in Brussels but to set the EU's course.

I did not expect the Draghi report to contain lines like this... "Europe will also face, in the current geopolitical context, a serious issue of nuclear deterrence." A document DC needs to read.

Draghi even gives a shout out to the State Dept's Political-Military Affairs Bureau.

The defense industrial sections of the Draghi report will give the US defense industry a heart attack.

The Draghi report calls for bold EU action on defense. Both more EU investment and more Eu-ization of the defense industry. What makes this different is that it isn't coming from the usual defense/fp wonks but the economists. IOTW, the issue has broken out of its policy silo