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Adrian Monck

@amonck.bsky.social

1.7K followers 340 following 3.1K posts

Weekly geopolitical intelligence • 255 editions • Former WEF MD https://7thin.gs/

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · Jun 2

📩 7 THINGS: Your weekly dose of geopolitical intelligence that actually makes sense.

Each Thursday, I break down 7 critical global developments – foreign policy, security trends, tech disruption. All done with just enough clarity to make an unpalatable world digestible. Subscribe below 🔗👇
7thin.gs

7 THINGS | Substack

7 THINGS delivers weekly geopolitical insights with wit and clarity. Each edition unpacks seven critical global developments spanning foreign policy, security trends, tech influence, and strategic shi...

7thin.gs

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 1d

We are all going to die no matter what we do. But that is no way to live. You have to admire flippant media commentary masquerading as wisdom.

The Verge @theverge.com · 1d

"You have elected to take a job where the primary purpose is for you to eat shit and own the death of broadcast TV news, a thing that is going to die no matter what you do. Nice work!"

Read more from @lopatto.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/business/793...

A photo of Bari Weiss over a headline: "Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You're doomed"

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 1d

7thin.gs/p/japan-bond...

The Creditor Generation Dies: How Japan’s Bond Crisis Signals the End of the Postwar Order

Where geopolitics, demographics, and fiscal mathematics collide

7thin.gs

Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 1d

New newsletter is out ($) 👇 – don’t be put off by the nerdy title.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 3d

“Narcissistic individuals’ reduced ability to feel compassion for others and their desire for intense experiences made them more interested in stories about harm and conflict, and less interested in stories about cooperation and kindness.”
www.psypost.org/these-facts-...

These facts about dark personalities seem too weird to be true but are backed by science

We often imagine people with dark personalities as obvious villains. But science reveals a far stranger truth, showing how these traits influence everything from head movements to vulnerability to ema...

www.psypost.org

Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 3d

NATO by a thread.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘I’m leaving,’ Trump said. ‘There’s no reason to be here any more’: inside the meeting that brought Nato to the brink

Former secretary general Jens Stoltenberg recalls the rollercoaster ride of dealing with Donald Trump – and how close the US president brought the alliance to the point of collapse

www.theguardian.com

Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 4d

RIP to this crazy diamond. Incredibly demanding, quite bonkers, but also very kind.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 5d

Lally Weymouth was known for her tough questioning of news subjects, and almost as much for her lavish parties. She died Monday of pancreatic cancer, at age 82.

Lally Weymouth, Who Questioned Dictators and Hosted High Society, Dies at 82

A member of the family that owned the Washington Post, Weymouth pursued a career in journalism.

on.wsj.com

Reposted by Adrian Monck

Jean Mikhail @jeanmikhail.bsky.social · 6d

Absolute Leseempfehlung um zu verstehen, was in den USA und in Teilen auch hierzulande passiert

Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 7d

Stephen Miller’s Parallel Pentagon >> new newsletter open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

The Miller-tary: Stephen Miller’s Parallel Pentagon

How a MAGA ideologue built a parallel command system to direct military strikes, purge resistant officers, and prepare troops for domestic deployment

open.substack.com

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 6d

🙏

Reposted by Adrian Monck

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 7d

The redoubtable @sjwrenlewis.bsky.social with a useful reminder that you can't have your cake and eat it too. (Source: mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu...)

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 6d

So Britain’s political Ragnarrok will also be a battle between serious and disappointing democrats vs comedic aspirant authoritarians. And match commentary will be of the good-natured, tongue-in-cheek variety. Until that light too goes out.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 7d

Stephen Miller’s Parallel Pentagon >> new newsletter open.substack.com/pub/7thing/p...

The Miller-tary: Stephen Miller’s Parallel Pentagon

How a MAGA ideologue built a parallel command system to direct military strikes, purge resistant officers, and prepare troops for domestic deployment

open.substack.com

3 5

Reposted by Adrian Monck

Matthias Huss @matthias-huss.bsky.social · 7d

Remember the catastrophic rock-ice avalanche of Blatten 🇨🇭 this May?
This incredible image comparison shows like nothing else the darkening of mountain peaks.
And along with the disappearance of snow, ice and permafrost, new hazards come along
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

12 Next crisis, the lock can be unpicked. Miller can deploy Guard units in hours. Officers who might resist have already been purged. Those promoted through Scheller’s system know what loyalty means.

a man in a suit and tie is smiling and says thank you and goodnight

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is smiling and says thank you and goodnight

media.tenor.com

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

11 This is a toolkit: fitness standards that remove anyone on demand, promotions controlled by someone court-martialled for insubordination, and Miller’s HSC deciding when troops deploy domestically. Each piece is necessary.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

10 Maybe this is just civilian control working as designed. Remove policies that weakened readiness. Make sure generals are fit. Put someone willing to challenge bureaucracy in charge of promotions. But who’s been fired?Pattern’s pretty clear.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

9 In June, Trump federalised 4,200 California Guard troops without Governor’s consent. 700 Marines deployed. Federal judge ruled it violated the law barring military from domestic law enforcement, called it an attempt at ‘a national police force with the president as its chief’.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

8 Miller personally approves strikes on Venezuelan drug boats. Officials sometimes learn hours before attacks happen. That’s not how national security normally works. Defence, State, and intelligence coordinate through the NSC. Miller’s HSC bypasses that. He authorises military action directly.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

7 Stephen Miller now runs the Homeland Security Council. Trump’s first-day memo merged HSC/NSC functions. Miller controls immigration enforcement, counterterrorism, and domestic troop deployment. Rubio’s NSC handles foreign policy. Miller handles when military force gets used INSIDE America.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

6 The no beard stuff? Shaving waivers mostly go to Black service members. Razor bumps are a painful medical condition. A study from 2021 showed airmen with waivers got promoted slower. Hegseth isn’t fixing the discrimination, he’s making life harder for black servicemen.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

5 In September, Hegseth cancelled the Army’s Command Assessment Programme. CAP used cognitive tests, emotional intelligence scores, 360 feedback to pick commanders. Army data showed CAP actually selected white men more often than women or minorities. taskandpurpose.com/news/army-en...

Army axes promotion boards that weighed opinions of peers, subordinates for commanders

The Army's now-defunct Command Assessment Program considered how peers and subordinates view officers selected for command positions.

taskandpurpose.com

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

4 Scheller was punished for criticising Biden’s team. Now he decides who advances. Officers who challenged Biden leadership are truth-tellers. Officers who might question Trump?

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

3 In July Hegseth put Lt Col Stuart Scheller in charge of reviewing how officers get promoted. Scheller was court-martialled in 2021 for attacking leaders over Afghanistan withdrawal. The Marines convicted him. Now he controls the promotion ladder. www.militarytimes.com/news/your-ma...

The unmaking of Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller

Part 2: What you didn't know about the "accountability" Marine.

www.militarytimes.com

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

2 “War” Sec Hegseth used the gathering to announce that every officer will take PT tests twice yearly. Four-star generals included. ‘Male-level’ standards for combat roles. On paper, it’s about readiness. In practice, any general can now be forced out for failing a fitness test.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

1 Nearly 800 generals and admirals ordered home from posts worldwide. No explanation given. At Quantico, they discovered why: America’s cities would now become military training grounds against ‘the enemy within’ – a phrase borrowed from Stephen Miller’s mentor David Horowitz.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 8d

🧵THREAD: The Quantico Address – How Stephen Miller Is Remaking Military Command

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

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