Ralph Janik
@ralphjanik.com
| International Law | EU | International Relations
| Assistant Professor @SFU Vienna
| everything is political
| Assistant Professor @SFU Vienna
| everything is political
Pinned
Ralph Janik
@ralphjanik.com
· Nov 16
Ok @mikeschmitt.bsky.social made me realise there was no proper international humanitarian law starter pack so I’ve created my first one. It is far from being complete so please feel free to mention yourself and/or others who should be included!
go.bsky.app/N6Bw1E7
go.bsky.app/N6Bw1E7
if Austria wasn't a landlocked country our navy would have no vessels at all
Despite these high stakes, Ireland has no dedicated intelligence agency, just four working navy vessels and the smallest defence budget in the EU. In fact, the only thing the Irish navy can do when it spots a suspicious ship lurking is say “hello”.
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
if Austria wasn't a landlocked country our navy would have no vessels at all
spontaineously had to think of the "I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers" @theguardian.com article
November 25, 2025 at 10:09 PM
spontaineously had to think of the "I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers" @theguardian.com article
Reposted by Ralph Janik
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
November 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
"European countries flourished under this umbrella—they built robust welfare states and became the world’s largest trading bloc and America’s closest economic partner.
That geopolitical consensus is now history."
That geopolitical consensus is now history."
How Europeans can go beyond “limiting unpredictability” and respond to the MAGA doctrine: ecfr.eu/article/how-...
How Europeans can go beyond “limiting unpredictability” and respond to the MAGA doctrine
European leaders must draw up their alternative to the MAGA doctrine and drive deeper integration in the EU…
ecfr.eu
November 25, 2025 at 9:25 PM
"European countries flourished under this umbrella—they built robust welfare states and became the world’s largest trading bloc and America’s closest economic partner.
That geopolitical consensus is now history."
That geopolitical consensus is now history."
neue #Rechtpolitisch Podcastfolge: Ich habe mit Professorin Anuscheh Farahat über 10 Jahre Fluchtherbst 2015 gesprochen, über die böse EMRK, den bösen EGMR, über die Kooperation mit den Taliban (!) oder die Frage, was vom Recht auf Asyl noch übrig ist (wenig).
open.spotify.com/episode/4zxc...
open.spotify.com/episode/4zxc...
Flüchtlingsrecht im Wandel (mit Prof. Anuscheh Farahat/Uni Wien)
open.spotify.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
neue #Rechtpolitisch Podcastfolge: Ich habe mit Professorin Anuscheh Farahat über 10 Jahre Fluchtherbst 2015 gesprochen, über die böse EMRK, den bösen EGMR, über die Kooperation mit den Taliban (!) oder die Frage, was vom Recht auf Asyl noch übrig ist (wenig).
open.spotify.com/episode/4zxc...
open.spotify.com/episode/4zxc...
instead of being fired and sent to jail for collusion with a US enemy (at least pre-Trump), Witkoff gets to travel to said US enemy
edition.cnn.com/world/live-n...
edition.cnn.com/world/live-n...
November 25, 2025 at 9:18 PM
instead of being fired and sent to jail for collusion with a US enemy (at least pre-Trump), Witkoff gets to travel to said US enemy
edition.cnn.com/world/live-n...
edition.cnn.com/world/live-n...
that could/should have happened to Trump
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro begins serving 27-year prison sentence.
November 25, 2025 at 9:06 PM
that could/should have happened to Trump
Witkoff: "listen to what I’m saying. I just want you to say, maybe just to say this to President Putin, because you know I have the deepest respect for President Putin."
Witkoff is a helpless, vapid, incompetent ass-kisser
Witkoff is a helpless, vapid, incompetent ass-kisser
"Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere."
-- Steve Witkoff, in his call to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov
Read the whole transcript of the Oct 14 call. It's amazing.
Gift link (for 7 days) ⤵️
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
-- Steve Witkoff, in his call to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov
Read the whole transcript of the Oct 14 call. It's amazing.
Gift link (for 7 days) ⤵️
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff Discusses Ukraine Plans With Key Putin Aide: Transcript
The following is a transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call lasting just over 5 minutes between Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, and Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s most senio...
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Witkoff: "listen to what I’m saying. I just want you to say, maybe just to say this to President Putin, because you know I have the deepest respect for President Putin."
Witkoff is a helpless, vapid, incompetent ass-kisser
Witkoff is a helpless, vapid, incompetent ass-kisser
"The credibility of NATO has been built on an impressive US presence in Europe and the credible prospect that if Russia used nuclear weapons the US would too. That credible prospect has become a known unknown, and that change has shifted the military balance in Europe decisively in Putin’s favour."
derrickwyatt.substack.com/p/perhaps-no...
There is a joke about King Harold at Hastings, who is hit in the eye with an arrow
Friends advise “Keep blinking, H, it will work its way out”
NATO allies are blinking for all they are worth
But with his nuclear arsenal
And his friend in the White House...
There is a joke about King Harold at Hastings, who is hit in the eye with an arrow
Friends advise “Keep blinking, H, it will work its way out”
NATO allies are blinking for all they are worth
But with his nuclear arsenal
And his friend in the White House...
Perhaps nothing can stop Putin now
Politics, geopolitics and law. EU, European security, UK relations with Europe and NATO. On X at @BlogWyatt and Bluesky at @blogwyatt.bsky.social
derrickwyatt.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
"The credibility of NATO has been built on an impressive US presence in Europe and the credible prospect that if Russia used nuclear weapons the US would too. That credible prospect has become a known unknown, and that change has shifted the military balance in Europe decisively in Putin’s favour."
Nothing is "long-standing": Russia's "objectives have been numerous and varied significantly through the first year of the war"
See Samuel Charap and Khrystyna Holynska, Russia's War Aims in Ukraine: Objective-Setting and the Kremlin's Use of Force Abroad, available at www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
See Samuel Charap and Khrystyna Holynska, Russia's War Aims in Ukraine: Objective-Setting and the Kremlin's Use of Force Abroad, available at www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
November 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Nothing is "long-standing": Russia's "objectives have been numerous and varied significantly through the first year of the war"
See Samuel Charap and Khrystyna Holynska, Russia's War Aims in Ukraine: Objective-Setting and the Kremlin's Use of Force Abroad, available at www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
See Samuel Charap and Khrystyna Holynska, Russia's War Aims in Ukraine: Objective-Setting and the Kremlin's Use of Force Abroad, available at www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
nicht nur dem Völkerrecht mangelt es an Durchsetzungskraft...
Die EU hat den Digital Services Act beschlossen, um Social Media-Konzerne besser zu regulieren.
Praktisch alle haben ihre EU-Zentrale - aus Steuergründen - in Irland.
Aber das irische Justizministerium verweigert regelmäßig die Arbeit.
Und die EU-Kommission schaut dabei zu.
Praktisch alle haben ihre EU-Zentrale - aus Steuergründen - in Irland.
Aber das irische Justizministerium verweigert regelmäßig die Arbeit.
Und die EU-Kommission schaut dabei zu.
How it started. How it ended.
November 25, 2025 at 12:27 AM
nicht nur dem Völkerrecht mangelt es an Durchsetzungskraft...
We will need lots of civil disobedience and refusals of order in the next few years
If only Donald Trump could read:
“OUR AMERICAN CODE OF MILITARY OBEDIENCE REQUIRES THAT, SHOULD ORDERS AND THE LAW EVER CONFLICT, OUR OFFICERS MUST OBEY THE LAW.”
“OUR AMERICAN CODE OF MILITARY OBEDIENCE REQUIRES THAT, SHOULD ORDERS AND THE LAW EVER CONFLICT, OUR OFFICERS MUST OBEY THE LAW.”
November 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM
We will need lots of civil disobedience and refusals of order in the next few years
Most Germans or Austrians wouldn’t realise that Russia isn’t their friend if
T-80 tanks rolled into Berlin and vienna
T-80 tanks rolled into Berlin and vienna
Attention, Europe!
Russian propagandists basically admit Russian sabotage work in Europe and promise to do more of the same.
(This video is from the end of October)
Russian propagandists basically admit Russian sabotage work in Europe and promise to do more of the same.
(This video is from the end of October)
November 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Most Germans or Austrians wouldn’t realise that Russia isn’t their friend if
T-80 tanks rolled into Berlin and vienna
T-80 tanks rolled into Berlin and vienna
the hard truth is that the European system is not made for this world. We prefer social security, free time and holidays over hard work. We love the few children we have and would thus rather leave Europe or surrender than defend it. I'm afraid this 80s/90s mindset no longer works in 2025.
The full text of General Fabien Mandon's speech at the Congress of Mayors of France, calling on mayors to help prepare the citizenry for a potential war against foreign enemies.
www.frenchdispatch.eu/p/if-our-cou...
www.frenchdispatch.eu/p/if-our-cou...
"If our country falters because it is not ready to accept losing its children" - General Mandon's full speech
The full text of General Fabien Mandon's speech at the Congress of Mayors of France, calling on mayors to help prepare the citizenry for a potential war against foreign enemies.
www.frenchdispatch.eu
November 23, 2025 at 10:56 AM
the hard truth is that the European system is not made for this world. We prefer social security, free time and holidays over hard work. We love the few children we have and would thus rather leave Europe or surrender than defend it. I'm afraid this 80s/90s mindset no longer works in 2025.
keep in mind that Witkoff knows nothing about Ukraine and Russia. He thinks everyone who speaks Russian is Russian. He probably thinks that Austrians and Swiss are German because they speak (sort of) German. In his world, Austria and Switzerland should become part of Germany if Germany wanted it.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Marco Rubio arrived in Geneva for negotiations on the Ukraine peace plan, Reuters reports.
November 23, 2025 at 10:48 AM
keep in mind that Witkoff knows nothing about Ukraine and Russia. He thinks everyone who speaks Russian is Russian. He probably thinks that Austrians and Swiss are German because they speak (sort of) German. In his world, Austria and Switzerland should become part of Germany if Germany wanted it.
keep in mind that all those defending the Ukraine capitulation plan essentially defended a Russian plan. Revealing. VERY revealing.
According to Republican Senator Mike Rounds, Rubio told senators that the 28-point peace plan drawn up by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev, was actually a Russian plan that the U.S. had agreed to pass along to Ukraine.
Rubio facing scrutiny after telling US senators that 28-point plan is a Russian proposal passed along to Ukraine
The U.S. bipartisan Senate delegation attending the Halifax International Security Forum had received a phone call from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In it, Rubio was quite frank.
According to Rep...
kyivindependent.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:47 AM
keep in mind that all those defending the Ukraine capitulation plan essentially defended a Russian plan. Revealing. VERY revealing.
As a lifelong Pistons fan it has been a bumpy ride but here we are, they’re a great team again and I feel they can continue the ‘04 legacy
November 22, 2025 at 10:40 PM
As a lifelong Pistons fan it has been a bumpy ride but here we are, they’re a great team again and I feel they can continue the ‘04 legacy
Reposted by Ralph Janik
no one has even bothered trying to convince us there’s a threat from Venezuela. no weapons of mass destruction. nothing. just a war of choice because why not.
US operations against Venezuela to begin within days.
Covert ops the first move.
Covert ops the first move.
www.reuters.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
no one has even bothered trying to convince us there’s a threat from Venezuela. no weapons of mass destruction. nothing. just a war of choice because why not.
Definitely Nobel peace prize worthy behaviour
US operations against Venezuela to begin within days.
Covert ops the first move.
Covert ops the first move.
www.reuters.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Definitely Nobel peace prize worthy behaviour
Having grown up with Hollywood movies portraying the FBI as this super professional institution it is difficult to realise it’s run by a an idiot whose biggest achievement was starting a Podcast
"The process of FBI deprofessionalization underlines some important points about the direction American government is going under Trump: loyalty matters more than merit; retribution trumps performance; control is more important than accountability."
open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
How the FBI Became the Face of Deprofessionalization
What research tells us about national security under authoritarianism
open.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Having grown up with Hollywood movies portraying the FBI as this super professional institution it is difficult to realise it’s run by a an idiot whose biggest achievement was starting a Podcast
Reposted by Ralph Janik
This excellent WSJ annotation of the Molotov/Ribbentrop … sorry, Witkoff/Dmitriev … “peace deal” for Ukraine shows how ridiculously vague and utterly unworkable this thing is
Free link
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Free link
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine, Annotated
Here’s a breakdown of some of the key points in the plan and how Ukraine and its European allies might respond.
www.wsj.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:42 PM
This excellent WSJ annotation of the Molotov/Ribbentrop … sorry, Witkoff/Dmitriev … “peace deal” for Ukraine shows how ridiculously vague and utterly unworkable this thing is
Free link
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Free link
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
This guy wrote the Ukraine capitulation plan 👇🏻
November 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
This guy wrote the Ukraine capitulation plan 👇🏻
Europe has never been weaker and will only get weaker. The revenge of history.
In a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán says he will block "any further [EU] financial assistance to Ukraine in any form" and calls on Europeans to back Trump's 28-point plan "immediately and unconditionally." www.politico.eu/wp-content/u...
www.politico.eu
November 22, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Europe has never been weaker and will only get weaker. The revenge of history.