Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1h

“Almost half of respondents (48%) favoured the European Commission-coordinated defence investments, whereas 41% preferred the decision to be made nationally.”

www.euractiv.com/news/public-...

Public support for EU defence spending past its peak, says poll | Euractiv

Overall, 52% of Europe is unconvinced that the continent is prepared, in terms of military strength, for a prolonged conflict

www.euractiv.com

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Conor Sen @conorsen.bsky.social · 14h

A friend said to me years ago that the progression of crises is tech becomes industrials which becomes financials and then kaboom. Over the past month it feels like we’re doing the handoff from industrials to financials.

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Michael Liebreich @mliebreich.bsky.social · 1d

Transition-like-a-hare (global net zero by 2050) failed. Transition-like-a-tortoise rolls on, under the vapour trails of polarized rhetoric. #PragmaticClimateReset

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

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

Developing countries lead the historic clean energy charge but the US and EU rely more on fossil fuels than before, a think tank study shows.

www.bbc.com

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

👀
www.euractiv.com/news/eu-must...

EU must seize ‘unique opportunity’ to supplant US dollar dominance, says ECB president | Euractiv

“Geopolitical shifts and heightened policy uncertainty remind us that no currency's global position is guaranteed," Christine Lagarde told EU policymakers

www.euractiv.com

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

What are we doing here

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Joel Wertheimer @wertwhile.bsky.social · 1d

This is the problem with Sora! It's very bad! bsky.app/profile/drew...

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

The Sora AI disinfo nightmare is here

For more like this:
tiktok.com/@drewharwell
instagram.com/bydrewharwell

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

I'd love to see another Heatmap podcast on residential solar. W/ energy prices rising, demand for residential solar (even w/o subsidies) should rise, no? Also, since I assume we no longer care about having a domestic solar industry, s/dn't climate folks be pushing to remove tariffs on Chinese solar?

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 1d

There's a fascinating case study to be done on the different strategies of Macron and Sánchez. Both emerged, against the odds, from centrist milieux in the mid-2010s to lead their countries since 2017/18. But their fates are totally different.

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 1d

Matt Pottinger on US China policy under Trump 2.0: “Beijing is in a sweet spot right now. The White House seems
unaware that its TikTok policy and its weakening restrictions on
chip exports are massive, unilateral concessions to the Chinese
Communist Party"

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

China Hawks Grow Queasy Over Trump’s Push for Deals With Beijing

President Donald Trump rewrote Washington’s rules for dealing with China in his first presidency, embracing confrontation, launching a trade war and upending decades of policy. In his second term, Chi...

www.bloomberg.com

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

Bring them to DC!

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

Do they eat rats?

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 2d

What a shambles. And illustrative of the fundamental structural weakness of the Macron project: its failure to incorporate the social-democratic left.

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 2d

Breaking news: France’s prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned after rightwing allies indicated they would withdraw from his government. on.ft.com/4gWxifm

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 1d

Big new report from me and my colleagues in the CSIS Geopolitics department. To my Europe friends, yes read my piece, “Uneasy Peace,” but you will also find the other essays on the other countries and regions highly relevant for Europe as well! Everyone is coping w/ this disruption from this admin.

CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 1d

U.S. allies face new and paradigm-shifting challenges under the new administration. @geopolitics.csis.org explores how multiple actors are responding to and coping with U.S. policies in the context of disruptive changes to the global order.

🧵Read more: features.csis.org/responses-to...

Navigating Disruption: Ally & Partner Responses to U.S. Foreign Policy

U.S. allies and partners face new and paradigm-shifting challenges under the second Trump administration. This compendium explores how multiple actors are responding to and coping with U.S. policies i...

features.csis.org

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CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 1d

“Every government in Southeast Asia understood that a second Trump administration would bring significant policy changes. But they also thought they would be better able to navigate those shifts,” writes @seasia.csis.org expert Greg Poling.

Learn more: www.csis.org/analysis/sou...

Southeast Asia Navigates Trump’s Return: Quick Deals, Lasting Dread

Most Southeast Asian states are seeking to mitigate both the short- and long-term risks of partnering with the United States by seeking new partnerships to hedge against future U.S. economic pressure....

www.csis.org

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 1d

“There is presently an uneasy peace in transatlantic relations. Yet, this peace may not last, especially as new transatlantic policy collisions emerge,” writes @erep.csis.org expert @maxbergmann.bsky.social.

Read more about the current state of transatlantic relations: www.csis.org/analysis/tra...

Transatlantic Relations Under Trump: An Uneasy Peace

President Trump’s transactional stance and skepticism toward Europe has shocked transatlantic ties linking trade, security, and Ukraine. Europe has been cautious, but looming fights over defense, tech...

www.csis.org

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 4d

Not everything sucks! If you need power today, you build solar. Cheap Chinese solar panels should just be embraced. Because they’re a product, not a commodity no real dependencies are created.

on.ft.com/3VOGbOA

Solar shines in the rush for power in Africa’s largest petrostate

Nigeria has become a major importer of Chinese panels as buying on the continent begins to boom

on.ft.com

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 4d

Bottom line, stop blaming renewables, blame the grid for the outage. Very useful report.

Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · 5d

New stuff from @ember-energy.org on the Iberian blackout. drive.google.com/file/d/1UHSt...

Iberian Blackout - Factsheet for journalists.pdf

drive.google.com

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 5d

God this chart should haunt every French president from Chirac onwards, very much including Macron.

Where did all the money go?

Even accepting Germany should have run looser fiscal policy, it's still shocking to see French profligacy -- being broke makes "strategic autonomy" a distant dream.

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 5d

I loathe all Europeans with Yankee hats

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 5d

Definitely not a bubble

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 5d

Convicted moguls Sean Combs and Miles Guo consider AI platform after jail on.ft.com/488qZ6j

Convicted moguls Sean Combs and Miles Guo consider AI platform after jail

Chinese businessman tells judge ahead of rapper’s sentencing hearing they ‘sleep right across from each other’ in Brooklyn jail

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 5d

I disagree with parts of this (Fukuyama hugely underplays "cause #1") but agree best explanation for populism's 2010s-20s surge is social media.

There's an optimism for Europe in his thesis: we're the continent that sets democratic limits on digital giants.

www.persuasion.community/p/its-the-in...

It’s the Internet, Stupid

What caused the global populist wave? Blame the screens.

www.persuasion.community

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 5d

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are not unified actors, but recent years have shown that Washington and its allies should not discount their capacity to work together in opposition to U.S. and allied interests.

Read more from @chinapower.csis.org: www.csis.org/analysis/cri...

CRINK Security Ties: Growing Cooperation, Anchored by China and Russia

This brief utilizes data to explore the strengths and limits of security cooperation among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (CRINK), with a focus on lessons learned from Russia’s war in Ukraine and Iran’s conflicts in the Middle East.

www.csis.org

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 5d

Me after I open LinkedIn after like 3 months...

a group of men are sitting around a table with a pitcher of water on it

ALT: a group of men are sitting around a table with a pitcher of water on it

media.tenor.com

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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 5d

This shouldn't be shocking. The public sees Dems as the party that likes government. And Rs as the party that doesn't. Hence, if govt is shut its probably the fault of the party that doesn't like govt.

Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 5d

POLLS: Who do Americans blame for the gov't shutdown?*

WASH POST
47% blame Trump/GOP
30% blame Dems

MARIST
38% blame GOP
27% blame Dems

NYT/SIENA
26% blame Trump/GOP
19% blame Dems

MORNING CONSULT
45% blame GOP
32% blame Dems

[*all taken b/w late Sept & Oct 1]

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

Early polls show Trump and GOP taking more blame than Democrats for shutdown

The national surveys taken in the final days of September and the first day of the shutdown find that voters are more inclined to blame Trump and his party. But many are uncertain.

www.nbcnews.com

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Reposted by Max Bergmann

Sander Tordoir @sandertordoir.bsky.social · 5d

Hugely important perspective from Max.

The EU may not be directly seizing the Russian assets. The link to the Russian bank deposits in Euroclear is political I think.

But the glass is still more than half full - 140 billion in Ukraine funding is as big a deal as it sounds.

Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 6d

So much of the coverage of the EU is hyper-micro. It's all about the sausage making. So story out of Copenhagen European Council is "dithering," "all talk, no action," nothing fully agreed, etc. It's an effing meeting! Take a step back... they are moving on Eurobonds/frozen Russian assets. 1/

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