Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 15h

My column, The Telegram, includes reporting from Dublin on Ireland’s unique plight as an essentially defenceless EU nation with tiny armed forces and a tradition of neutrality at odds with Irish support for Ukraine after its invasion by Russia. 2/2

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 15h

It’s a familiar/fair charge that many European govts spent little on defence, free-riding on US security. Lots also have the wrong sort of armed forces: expeditionary forces to fight alongside USA & peacekeepers. Now they must build homeland defences 1/2

economist.com/internationa...

Europe struggles to put homeland defence first

Years of expeditionary operations leave it vulnerable if America abandons the continent

economist.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 7d

Governments across the West are digging out Cold War manuals on escalation management and deterrence, as they navigate a world of ambiguous threats and reckless adversaries. My column, The Telegram. Can the West survive an age of brinkmanship?

economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

Can the West survive an age of brinkmanship?

It is time to relearn the cold-war arts of escalation management

economist.com

3 18

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 15d

China now accounts for 30% of all global manufacturing, or more than America, Germany, Japan and South Korea put together. A record surge of exports is alarming foreign rivals and governments. My column, The Telegram, on the juggernaut Trump can’t stop economist.com/internationa...

A Made-in-China plan for world domination

Donald Trump is failing to stop China’s rise as a manufacturing superpower

economist.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 22d

The U.S.-led West is struggling to deter China, Russia and other powers. Allies’ dwindling trust in America is one reason, but not the only one. My column, The Telegram

economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

Cold war deterrence doesn’t work any more

Why the West is finding it so hard to deter China and Russia

economist.com

2 5 19

Reposted by David Rennie

Andrew Tait @taitster.bsky.social · 23d

Interesting lessons from the Korean War for current 🇷🇺🇺🇦 conflict but I think the parallels with Dayton 🇧🇦 90's peace talks are most pertinent in this pragmatic #telegram from @dsorennie.bsky.social Continuation of the conflict: 'peace by other means' neatly sums it up.

Shashank Joshi @shashj.bsky.social · Aug 26

Telling detail in @dsorennie.bsky.social’s
column. “Fully 45% of American casualties [in the Korean war] occurred after talks began. Veterans recalled deadly night-time skirmishes on hills overlooking the floodlit negotiation compound.” www.economist.com/internationa...

The wrong way to end a war

Dark lessons from history that explain Vladimir Putin’s “peacemaking”

www.economist.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 28d

Polls show Trump is unpopular in most of Europe and the rich world. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is positioning himself as leader of the anti-Trump progressive resistance. That’s not translating into greater international clout: why?
My column, The Telegram economist.com/internationa...

Meet the leader of Europe’s anti-Trump resistance

For Spain’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, opposing Trump is a lonely endeavour

economist.com

2 8 26

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Sep 3

My column, The Telegram, cites a fascinating paper by Angela Huyue Zhang of USC, showing how strict Chinese censorship and content controls co-exist with business-friendly lax enforcement of rules on privacy, data security and safety www.jtl.columbia.edu/volume-63/th...

The Promise and Perils of China's Regulation of Artificial Intelligence — Columbia Journal of Transnational Law

Angela Huyue Zhang* In recent years, China has emerged as a pioneer in formulating some of the world’s earliest and most comprehensive regulations concerning artificial intelligence (A.I.) services. ...

www.jtl.columbia.edu

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Sep 3

Alongside the tech race for AI leadership there’s a global contest underway to set rules for AI governance. For all the Western predictions that Chinese AI will be hobbled by censorship and political control, China thinks its model has wide appeal
economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

Who is winning in AI—China or America?

China offers the world a values-free, results-based vision of AI governance

economist.com

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Reposted by David Rennie

Shashank Joshi @shashj.bsky.social · Aug 26

Telling detail in @dsorennie.bsky.social’s
column. “Fully 45% of American casualties [in the Korean war] occurred after talks began. Veterans recalled deadly night-time skirmishes on hills overlooking the floodlit negotiation compound.” www.economist.com/internationa...

The wrong way to end a war

Dark lessons from history that explain Vladimir Putin’s “peacemaking”

www.economist.com

4 31 100

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 27

Ending conflicts is hard, especially when belligerents use a peace process to advance war aims by other means. My column, The Telegram, on historical lessons from Korea and Bosnia for the Ukraine war - and how Putin grasps them better than Trump

economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

The wrong way to end a war

Dark lessons from history that explain Vladimir Putin’s “peacemaking”

economist.com

1 7 9

Reposted by David Rennie

ECFR @ecfr.eu · Aug 23

José Ignacio Torreblanca, Senior Policy Fellow and Head of ECFR's Madrid Office, on the challenges Europe faces in protecting its democracy and markets from external influences at this year's Annual Council Meeting #ACM25
🔗 https://bit.ly/4fIuDW5

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Reposted by David Rennie

Aaron Connelly @connellyal.bsky.social · Aug 20

“Some of the clearest thinking about this swot’s predicament can be heard in Singapore, a paternalist city-state that has risen from poverty to great wealth with the help of hard work, diligence and lots of rules about civilised behaviour—like a giant prep school with its own army and airport.”

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 19

Singapore is the model pupil of the world economy. It grew rich by studying hard, doing its homework and riding the wave of late 20C globalisation. Now it fears a global economy where FDI and trade flows follow politics and tariffs set by Trumpian caprice. My column
economist.com/internationa...

Was globalisation ever a meritocracy?

The Trumpian assault on globalism, as seen from Singapore

economist.com

2 7

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 19

Singapore is the model pupil of the world economy. It grew rich by studying hard, doing its homework and riding the wave of late 20C globalisation. Now it fears a global economy where FDI and trade flows follow politics and tariffs set by Trumpian caprice. My column
economist.com/internationa...

Was globalisation ever a meritocracy?

The Trumpian assault on globalism, as seen from Singapore

economist.com

2 7 19

Reposted by David Rennie

Fernanda Pirie @fernandapirie.bsky.social · Aug 6

Delighted #TheRuleofLaws gets a mention in The Economist though the laws of war don’t feature highly. Tricky subject!

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 6

With nods to Grotius, earning his second mention in The Telegram, and to a fine book on the 4,000 year history of legal codes by Prof @fernandapirie.bsky.social profilebooks.com/work/the-rul...

The Rule of Laws - Profile Books

profilebooks.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 6

With nods to Grotius, earning his second mention in The Telegram, and to a fine book on the 4,000 year history of legal codes by Prof @fernandapirie.bsky.social profilebooks.com/work/the-rul...

The Rule of Laws - Profile Books

profilebooks.com

3

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Aug 6

The post-1945 liberal order is crumbling. Time to study the long history of laws regulating war for alternatives that might work. My column, The Telegram
economist.com/internationa...
from The Economist

How to write laws of war for a wicked world

The post-1945 order is crumbling. History offers a glimpse of alternatives that might work

economist.com

3 3 14

Reposted by David Rennie

Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · Jul 31

Our cover this week.
economist.com/briefing/202...

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Reposted by David Rennie

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Jul 30

Meanwhile, South Africa’s China-induced attempt to downgrade and push the Taiwanese representative office out of Pretoria has led Taipei to threaten export restrictions on its advanced chips…

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Jul 29

Taiwanese government mulls chip export restrictions amid South Africa mission name change row – Focus Taiwan: ‘While Taiwan produces the majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors, it is not considered a significant supplier of chips to South Africa.’

Taiwan mulls chip restrictions amid South Africa name change row - Focus Taiwan

Taiwan is considering restricting semiconductor exports to South Africa in response to what it described as a "crude" downgrade of its diplomatic presence in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affai...

focustaiwan.tw

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Jul 30

South African leftists long to play the China card and tell the West to get lost. Centrist political & business leaders say Chinese trade and investment is too skewed in China’s favour to replace the West for now. My column, the Telegram, reported from S Africa
economist.com/internationa...

Can China save South Africa from Donald Trump?

South African leftists dream of telling the West to get lost

economist.com

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Reposted by David Rennie

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Jul 24

What Europe means to China in a changing world – Matthias Hackler’s Cross Purposes: ‘Tellingly, [MSS-linked CICIR’s] Zhang Jian’s first point in this section is Europe’s market, specifically its consumption capacity, which he emphasizes as crucial to China’s development.’

What Europe means to China

in a changing world

crosspurposes.substack.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thank you

Reposted by David Rennie

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · Jul 23

Lots of juicy details in here about

- Kallas-Wang post-Brussels meet in Malaysia
- Wang Yi's lecture on Chinese vs Western museums
- An important linguistic change in EEAS' docs on China
- What the new EU budget means for Beijing

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · Jul 23

High stakes, low expectations as EU and China face off in Beijing

My preview of tomorrow's summit

BIG NEWS as of an hour ago: they have a joint statement on climate, negotiations finished, goes to Coreper today for approval

www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

High stakes, low expectations as EU and China prepare for summit in Beijing

Hopes of a reset in relations rose in the first quarter but came back to Earth with controls on critical minerals.

www.scmp.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Jul 23

Some America Firsters seem tempted to let allies go nuclear, to let the U.S. off the hook for their security. Cold War history suggests that’s a grave mistake. My column, The Telegram, with lessons from Sweden’s secret cold-war nuclear weapons programme

economist.com/internationa...

The surprising lessons of a secret cold-war nuclear programme

America is sick of policing the world. More nuclear-armed states will not help

economist.com

1 19 68

David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · Jul 19

Are you tweeting about a party while at the party?

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