Since it’s that time of year again, 12 end-of-year and start-of-new-year thoughts about Russia’s war against Ukraine and its implications. A long 🧵

During the Munich conference I was asked why I am so gloomy. Well, somebody has to tell it like it is, so here’s how it is: Things are not going well. 🧵

Two years. It's been two years since that fucking night of February 24. We knew -- well, we've been told "it's not 100% confirmed yet...but THIS is possibly due at 4 am or 5 am, stay put." A half-glass of single malt whisky with ice poured into a glass, the final hours alone

scandinavia this week:

1/5 Why did Macron change its public stance on Russia? A net assessment based on 4 reasons. 1. He was mugged by reality. The fact is that Putin lied to him, proved deaf to attempts to how goodwill, while Russia doubled down on aggression.

Having returned from a whirlwind tour of 9 intense days of meetings in Beijing, reflecting on my discussion with Xi Jinping:

The only way to understand the Arctic is to look beyond the legends, to talk to those who live there — and to place the Arctic Ocean in its global context. ow.ly/qCPx30sC9jx

A thread of recommendations from 800 days ago, at the start of Russia's all-out attack on Ukraine.

Baltics + Iceland FM in Georgia today. After wild day of debunking oligarch & GD lies in real-time, they joined the demonstrators in the streets Powerful speech from Lithuanian FM, who asks/warns in Georgian at the end: Where do we go? (Sad mivdivart) /1

How to identify ultra-processed foods wapo.st/3X7u7Ke Góðar þumalputtareglur hér

Welcome to France, heroes.

Duran Duran single packages now available on streaming ✨ Listen here : duranduran.lnk.to/CompleteCollec…

These have undoubtedly been the wildest 72 hours in French politics in my lifetime. Pretty incredible stuff. A 🧵

Obviously, as it often is, President Biden, not VP Harris, took the lead on foreign policy, including in Europe. But we have some clues about what President Harris might do in Europe, and they are all excellent clues, in my view. THREAD 1/

To celebrate the reissue of Duran Duran's first 5 albums, British graphic designer & Creative Director Malcolm Garrett discusses the designs for several releases. You can watch the entire video on the band's YouTube AND order any of these reissues here: duranduran.lnk.to/Reissues

Michel Guérard, chef, 1933-2024 ft.com/content/0b17d6…

Exceptional analysis from Phillips P. OBrien Great Sunday morning read. He explains why so many media and doomers are wrong about the actual situation of the war, particularly when comparing Russian opns vic Pokrovsk with Ukrainian opns vic Kursk. open.substack.com/pub/phillipspo…

Superbe et émouvant survol de Paris au Moyen Âge : avec ses 200 000 habitants, nos ancêtres avaient bâti la plus grande ville d'Occident. Notez : - la facade peinte de Notre-Dame - le clocher de l'église Saint-Germain-des-Près, seul vestige de l'abbaye - le Louvre château-fort

1/ Who lost DeepSeek?

Germany votes tomorrow. 1 in every 5 voters will vote far right. How can this be in the country of ‘never again’? Could Nazis really rise to power here again? The answer: Oh ja. German comedian Jan Böhmermann breaks down why (in English):