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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1h

Political power ultimately rests with those who control the men (and women) with guns. It's not about judges, journalists or civil servants. When push comes to shove, everything depends on soldiers, policemen and spies. Going forward, Democrats should keep that in mind

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 3h

I'm incredibly honoured to say that my book has been translated into Ukrainian. Being translated is always going to be extraordinary, but this one feels especially meaningful. It really is an honour

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 7h

"At least 24 people were killed and 47 wounded while protesting against Myanmar's military government after an army motorised paraglider dropped two bombs on the crowd, a spokesperson for the government-in-exile told BBC Burmese."

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Myanmar: At least 24 killed as army paraglider bombs Buddhist festival

Locals tell the BBC the carnage has made it hard to identify victims of the military attack.

www.bbc.com

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

I am once again begging people in Berlin to just decide things. You're in charge of the 3rd largest economy on earth, you can do stuff

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

A year after the German government launched a €1 billion critical raw materials fund, not a single project has been approved

www.gmfus.org/news/watchin...

Watching China in Europe—October 2025

www.gmfus.org

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

A year after the German government launched a €1 billion critical raw materials fund, not a single project has been approved

www.gmfus.org/news/watchin...

Watching China in Europe—October 2025

www.gmfus.org

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

"But many observers suspect Trump’s counter-narcotics crusade is really a pretext to depose Maduro, either by sparking an internal rebellion against Hugo Chávez’s authoritarian heir or perhaps through direct military intervention within Venezuela itself."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Venezuela on edge over Trump regime change whispers: ‘If it does happen we are ready’

Allies of President Nicolás Maduro vow to resist any military intervention but experts suspect Venezuela’s leaders were rattled by Trump’s decision to bomb Iran

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

Pavel Lokshin @lokshin.bsky.social · 1d

Nobody looks great, true. But nobody but Merkel defends her failed policies so nonchalantly

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

Merkel was Chancellor and that means she's ultimately responsible for this historic failure of German foreign policy

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

The failure isn't just Merkel's, of course, because they were largely consensus positions in Germany. Christian Democrats got it wrong, Social Democrats got it wrong. The Greens were right on Russian gas but wrong on the importance of military power. Nobody looks great here

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

It makes absolutely no sense. If Merkel had seen things this way, rearmament should've been a priority. It never was. German dependence on Russian energy increased, giving Moscow yet more power over Berlin. Construction of NS2 began after (!) Russia's invasion of Ukraine

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

If you think that's true and there's risk of a massive war in Europe, why on earth would you let Germany's armed forces fall into disrepair? It's always easy to blame Social Democrats but Merkel invested essentially no political capital into strengthening the Bundeswehr

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

If you think there's a serious chance of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, why would you not provide military support to Kyiv? Okay, she might argue that this would've been provocative and cause Putin to attack earlier. Let's assume that's true for a moment

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

The core problem with Merkel's argument remains the same it's always been: If you believe that (a) Russia was a significant threat and (b) that good relations with Moscow were necessary to buy time for Ukraine, why would you prepare neither yourself nor Ukraine for conflict?

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

Merkel never said that Poland and the Baltics are to blame for the invasion. I don't know why she does these interviews or why she seems to be incapable of recognising that her Russia policy failed, but there's no point in being angry at her for something she didn't do

Ilya Lozovsky @ichbinilya.bsky.social · 1d

You've probably seen a lot of angry posts today about how "Angela Merkel blamed Poland and the Baltics for the Ukraine war" in a recent interview.

They're far off the mark — she did no such thing! 👇

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 1d

Merkel never said that Poland and the Baltics are to blame for the invasion. I don't know why she does these interviews or why she seems to be incapable of recognising that her Russia policy failed, but there's no point in being angry at her for something she didn't do

Ilya Lozovsky @ichbinilya.bsky.social · 1d

You've probably seen a lot of angry posts today about how "Angela Merkel blamed Poland and the Baltics for the Ukraine war" in a recent interview.

They're far off the mark — she did no such thing! 👇

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 2d

So far, polls unanimously find voters are blaming Republicans more than Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown www.gelliottmorris.com/p/all-the-po...

All the polls on the government shutdown so far | Weekly roundup for October 5, 2025

Also this week: Dems lead in Virginia election polling; economic sentiment is down; people are turning against sports betting; + more!

www.gelliottmorris.com

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 2d

Immigrants make up roughly 15% of America's population. If you add second-generation Americans, you're at 28%. That's an estimated 93 million people.

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported

About four-in-ten immigrants (43%) say they worry a lot or some, up from 33% in March.

www.pewresearch.org

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · 2d

I am not a #Merkel fan (as many of you know), but the headlines following her interview with Partizan are complete nonsense.

She does not blame Poland or the Baltics at all.

Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 @reshetz.bsky.social · 2d

We do not hate merkel enough

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 2d

In case you missed it: I sent out a reading list last week. Some great book recommendations

thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...

The Hundred 2025 Winter Reading List

Books, Books, Books

thehundred.substack.com

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 2d

UK government undermined China spying probe to protect Beijing ties, say officials on.ft.com/42u7bqq

UK government undermined China spying probe to protect Beijing ties, say officials

Prosecution case collapsed after senior security advisers said they would not testify that China was an ‘enemy’

on.ft.com

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 2d

The French have informed me that they don't understand French politics either. Turns out nobody does

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 2d

I don't understand French politics

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 2d

I don't understand French politics

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

Franz-Stefan Gady @hoanssolo.bsky.social · 2d

~60% of deep strikes on Russian territory are carried out by Ukrainian Fire Point FP-1 drones (range ≈1,500 km, cost ≈$55,000 each, now churned out >100/day.) Ukraine also uses Lyutyi (range 2,000 km)👇 economist.com/europe/2025/...

Ukraine’s hellfire is intensifying the Kremlin’s fuel crisis

Almost half of Russia’s refineries have been hit by drones and missiles

economist.com

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Reposted by Marcel Dirsus

Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 6d

I recommended two favourites for this, check it out if you need some TBR inspiration for the cosy evenings

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 6d

I asked friends of the newsletter for book recommendations. There were no restrictions, so these books are old and new, fiction and non-fiction. If you like to read, take a look:

(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)

thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...

The Hundred 2025 Winter Reading List

Books, Books, Books

thehundred.substack.com

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 6d

With recommendations from @seva.bsky.social, @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social, @gelliottmorris.com, @salisbot.bsky.social and @alanderminna.bsky.social

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Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 6d

I asked friends of the newsletter for book recommendations. There were no restrictions, so these books are old and new, fiction and non-fiction. If you like to read, take a look:

(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)

thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...

The Hundred 2025 Winter Reading List

Books, Books, Books

thehundred.substack.com

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