“Scholz raised expectations that he would revitalize 🇩🇪’s beleaguered armed forces, announcing a dramatic shift in defense policy and a special fund of 100 bn €
Instead, 🇩🇪donations to 🇺🇦have further diminished supplies of its long-neglected armed forces” washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/…2/ “As months have passed, more than 10% of the special 100 billion-€ fund for the military has been lost to inflation & interest payments. And even a Bundeswehr wish list derived from before the war remains unfulfilled.”
Feb 21, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
"Yes, the German fear of nuclear war, which of course always comes in and is well exploited by Russian propaganda."
Interesting interview with Marcus Keupp about the weakness of the Russian 🇷🇺army & the German 🇩🇪one — self deterrence
2/ “But look at it historically: Feb 2022, it was said: if you deliver weapons, there will be nuclear war. What happened? Nothing. May 2022 it was said: If you deliver artillery, there will be nuclear war. What happened? Nothing…
Feb 21, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
“Lithuania’s foreign minister says Munich Security Conference #MSC2023 reinforced some of his worries about the thinking of Western countries.” politico.eu/article/west-m…2/ #MSC2023 “reinforced rather than eased some of his anxieties—as well as those of his Baltic compatriots—re the staying power of all 🇺🇦’s Western partners…bc ever since Putin launched his invasion—despite [support]— allies haven’t really agreed on any clear war aims.”
Feb 21, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Biden’s trip to 🇺🇦is a demonstration of a thoughtful clear eyed strategy
Insightful from @anneapplebaum
“The president’s surprise visit sent a message to Moscow—and to European leaders.”
2/ This isn’t a President concerned with one-upmanship or photo ops, but rather with foreign policy & international relations — the big picture & the details on all fronts.
Feb 20, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Interesting @djrothkopf piece on President Biden’s trip to Ukraine 🇺🇦 thedailybeast.com/bidens-trip-to…2/ This looks a lot like the Biden administration has understood the leadership shift in Europe — that thoughtful, values-based leadership is moving from “Old Europe” to the East and North
If so that would be an encouraging development …
Dec 1, 2022 • 30 tweets • 4 min read
“It’s gotten cold in Europe, the economy is tanking & the natives are getting restless. There’s only one answer: Blame America” politico.eu/article/eu-us-…2/ “Pointing across the Atlantic has long been a favorite diversionary tactic for Europe’s political elites when things start to get dicey on the Continent
Whether it’s the war in 🇺🇦(🇺🇸 shouldn’t have expanded NATO), natural disasters (too many 🇺🇸SUVs fueling climate change)…
Sep 6, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Politico’s new German owner Mathias Dopfner has a ‘contrarian’ plan for American media
Mathias Döpfner has global ambitions for what he calls a more ‘nonpartisan’ kind of journalism — even as his own politics are hard to pin down
…dripping arrogance… washingtonpost.com/media/2022/09/…
Döpfner to closest colleagues:
“Do we all want to get together for an hour in the morning on November 3 and pray that Donald Trump will again become president of the United States of America?“
Jul 22, 2019 • 9 tweets • 7 min read
@MarkOfTheRedX@JaneMayerNYer Unfortunately, I think we’ve seen ample evidence that there was a series dynamics happening simultaneously that was unhealthy for all of us. People were unaware of the facts and jumped on the slothful sloganeering from politicians...1/
@MarkOfTheRedX@JaneMayerNYer Our press was maxed out and unable to deal with the Trump administration in a healthy way. (That’s still often the case.) Many in the press dealt with the accusations like they were dealing with the Trump administration –...2/
Aug 2, 2018 • 13 tweets • 14 min read
@peterdaou@djrothkopf@SenGillibrand 1/ As a woman, as a feminist, I am thankful to women who have come forward and to reporters who have meticulously investigated – I’m relieved that #MeToo has created at least some space for women (and men) – and allies – to begin to heal and to right wrongs.
@peterdaou@djrothkopf@SenGillibrand 2/ That said, I am disconcerted and distraught that @SenGillibrand showed such poor judgmen in dealing with the accusations made about @SenFranken She blew an opportunity to lead, to demonstrate that process and fairness are hallmarks of democracy and democratic processes,...
Jun 16, 2018 • 15 tweets • 15 min read
@voxdotcom 1/ To be clear, what @SenGillibrand demonstrated in dealing with @SenFranken, made it clear to me, a feminist, she is not someone I want representing me in any capacity.
@voxdotcom@SenGillibrand@SenFranken 2/ Gillibrand circumvented democratic process – the ethics investigation @SenFranken himself asked for. And it’s especially egregious at this critical time when process is being trampled by Trump and the Republicans in Congress - it’s how we got Gorsuch.
Jun 12, 2018 • 13 tweets • 13 min read
@Eugene_Scott@thefix To be clear, what @SenGillibrand demonstrated in dealing with @SenFranken, made it clear to me, a feminist, she is not someone I want representing me in any capacity.
@Eugene_Scott@thefix@SenGillibrand@SenFranken 2/ She circumvented democratic process – the ethics investigation @SenFranken himself asked for. While unwilling for that investigation to go forward, she is apparently satisfied with the ethics process for Senator Menendez,
