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Ulrike Franke Profile picture
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30 Mar, 5 tweets, 2 min read
What a discussion between German Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU, President of Bundestag) and ⁦@GoulardSylvie⁩ (LREM, former MEP, former French defence minister)! 😮

Schäuble: „Deutsche wären bereit, auf nationale Armee zu verzichten“ - WELT welt.de/politik/deutsc…
A Franco-German interview that *starts* with questions about security and defence? Where things actually go beyond “we’re striving to create a European Army... eventually”? Pretty neat!
Schäuble: “I regret that the Aachen Treaty did not include more on the cooperation on the military level. That this is missing today wasn’t Paris fault.”
Schäuble (no really): “as long as the [European defence community] remains a Franco-German initiative, Paris should take the lead.”
Schäuble: “Germans would be up for [a united European Army]. They’d be willing immediately to give up the national army for that.”

He’s got a point there - I am just not sure how much this has to do with Europe enthusiasm and how much with scepticism towards armed forces.

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More from @RikeFranke

Ulrike Franke Profile picture
28 Mar
I found this point really interesting so I went and checked - and unless I am missing something there actually hasn’t been a change: the 2015 review also only mentioned NATO allies in the nuclear context.
While the UK was part of the EU, it was bound by the EU‘s mutual defence clause (article 42.7, basically the EU‘s article 5). But (like with article 5) there is a lot of leeway there re national commitments. And the UK never really saw that to include its nuclear capabilities.
Finally, it’s important to recognise that while these debates matter for deterrence purposes, if we ever actually face a situation in which the UK might use its nuclear weapons discussions over which treaties apply probably won’t be #1 priority.
Read 4 tweets
Ulrike Franke Profile picture
10 Mar
Interesting @CSIS report by @ToddHarrisonDC on #drones.
csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pu…
"The data indicate that remotely piloted AISR aircraft have not reduced demand for crewed aircraft. Rather, these new aircraft have been used to satisfy previously unmet demand that existing crewed aircraft could not surge to meet."
These are really interesting findings!
Unmanned systems still need quite a few people to fly them, and so (in the US) the personnel cost per system is the same as for manned aircraft. Per flight hour, however, costs are lower.
Read 6 tweets
Ulrike Franke Profile picture
10 Mar
Alright, here we go!
#DigitalCompass
At first reading I must say I'm a bit underwhelmed, and a bit confused. There's quite a lot in there but not very concrete or focused.
#DigitalDecade
Admittedly, it looks like a more concrete "Digital Compass" is in the works.

So let's see what's in this Commission communication "2030 Digital Compass*: the European way for the Digital Decade"

*yes, I find this confusing too.
Read 34 tweets
Ulrike Franke Profile picture
9 Mar
Recently, I've gotten a surprising number of emails from students that I felt were pretty off - so I thought I'd do a thread on this.
This is supposed to help, not chide - I always try to say yes to student requests, but it's more fun if I don't feel annoyed at the start!😊
Form of address: Personally I'm totally fine with the "Dear Ulrike (if I may)" approach, but not everyone is, so better go for the title.
"Dear Ms" (or Mrs?!) actually annoys me.
And "Dear sir or madam" is just ... what?
Say in one sentence what you are working on. And then say in one sentence why you want to talk to me about it.
Sometimes I get these emails and just wonder: you've found me somehow, so you must know my topics, but yours doesn't match mine so what's the link? Don't make me ask.
Read 6 tweets
Ulrike Franke Profile picture
3 Mar
Reading for today sorted - the US National Commission on #AI has published its final report
So what does it say?
Report here: nscai.gov/wp-content/upl…
It certainly starts gloomy: "the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) is delivering an uncomfortable message: America is not prepared to defend or compete in the AI era. This is the tough reality we must face."
#AI Image
Read 19 tweets
Ulrike Franke Profile picture
20 Jan
.@ecfr (with YouGov) has done a poll in 11 European countries on their view of the US.
Some results (thread)
ecfr.eu/publication/th…
54% of Europeans* think that "the world is in a worse place because of Trump's presidency". 18% disagree.

*11 countries polled: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK.
32% of Europeans among the countries polled say that "after voting for Trump, Americans cannot be trusted". 27% disagree.
Support for this statement is *by far* the highest in Germany, with 53% (!) saying Americans cannot be trusted, and only 15% disagreeing.
Read 5 tweets

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