Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Peter Frankopan

Gerry Arthurs @gerryarthurs.bsky.social · 9h

Worth reading this thread, as always, from @peterfrankopan.bsky.social

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Belarus rarely makes Western headlines — but it should this week.
A quiet move by the Trump administration has just handed Alexander Lukashenka, and indirectly Vladimir Putin, an unexpected gift.
🧵👇

1 3

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 8h

Will do !

1 1

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Read my latest Global Threads piece on what’s really going on 👇

open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...

How Washington Has Handed Putin a Sanctions Lifeline

The curious case of carrots, olive branches and Belarus

open.substack.com

1 10 15

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

What looks like clever diplomacy may be naïve - or worse.

3 1 18

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Why would Trump threaten tougher sanctions on Russia one week and quietly ease them on its closest ally the next?

2 2 22

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

The result: Moscow’s sanctions pain just got lighter, courtesy of Washington

1 5 27

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Belarus and Russia share a customs union and near-seamless logistics.
Belavia can now legally source Western components - which can easily ‘leak’ across the border.

1 4 20

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

In reality, it opens a back-door supply line for Russia’s struggling aviation industry — starved of Boeing parts since 2022

1 5 26

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Sanctions on Belarus’s national airline, Belavia, were lifted by the US in exchange for the release of political prisoners.
Sounds like pragmatic diplomacy?

1 4 17

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 10h

Belarus rarely makes Western headlines — but it should this week.
A quiet move by the Trump administration has just handed Alexander Lukashenka, and indirectly Vladimir Putin, an unexpected gift.
🧵👇

3 52 57

Reposted by Peter Frankopan

Richard Mifsud @richmifsud.bsky.social · 6d

WTAF! This is why I love #history @peterfrankopan.bsky.social you absolute legend 🙌🏻. #books

1 2

Reposted by Peter Frankopan

Dr Victoria Bateman @vnbateman.bsky.social · 8d

🎉🎉🎉 My new book, #Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth & Power is published in the US today (Basic Books / Seal Press). A huge thank you to @benchu.bsky.social @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social @peterfrankopan.bsky.social @timharford.ft.com @enortonhistory.bsky.social for your kind endorsements.

2 5 14

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 14d

For this (and more!) open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...

Running on Fumes: What Russia’s Fuel Crisis Reveals

Donald Trump’s tone on Russia and Ukraine shifted dramatically last night.

open.substack.com

1 2 9

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 14d

For Putin, the risk may not just be higher prices. It’s that fuel scarcity erodes a key pillar of stability: affordable essentials. Trump smells weakness. History suggests crises born of shortage can trigger political earthquakes 4/5

1 1 10

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 14d

Ukraine’s drone and missile campaign has knocked out major refineries, cutting as much as 20% of capacity. Independent fuel retailers are collapsing under high interest rates. Shortages ripple through farming, transport - and daily life 3/5

1 1 6

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 14d

One clue: Russia is running short of fuel. In a petro-state, that is not supposed to happen. Yet strikes on refineries, shortages at pumps and queues stretching for hours tell a different story 2/5

1 1 7

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 14d

Donald Trump has shifted sharply on Russia. At the #UN, he called Moscow a “paper tiger,” said its economy was “teetering” and suggested Ukraine could win back all its lost land. Why the change in tone? 🧵1/5

2 3 16

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 19d

As if by magic, breaking this morning: Pakistan giving Saudi nuclear protection and allows its nukes to be ‘available' to Riyadh
www.reuters.com/business/aer...

1 6 10

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 19d

ore bombs mean more chances for disaster. The old balance is slipping away; a new nuclear age may be beginning. My piece in @spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-ne...

A new era of nuclear weapons is here

The world is moving into a more dangerous age. According to the Peace Research Institute Oslo, last year set a grim record, namely the highest number of state-based armed conflicts in more than seven ...

www.spectator.co.uk

5 9

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 19d

Drones, AI & great-power rivalry make war cheaper, riskier and harder to contain. To some, that makes nuclear deterrence look like the ultimate insurance #Geopolitics 3/4

2 3 8

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 19d

Turkey, Poland, Germany, South Korea, even Japan & Saudi Arabia - the list of countries weighing up nuclear options is growing fast. #Proliferation 2/4

2 4 8

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 19d

The nuclear order is cracking. More states are now openly debating whether having the bomb is a necessary form of protection in an increasingly dangerous world. #NuclearWeapons 1/4

5 10 33

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 20d

Me, on the rising threat of nuclear proliferation....

www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-ne...

www.spectator.co.uk

1 1 2

Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 21d

🙏🙏🙏

1

Reposted by Peter Frankopan

Dr Alison Ray @liber-ray.bsky.social · Sep 7

It was too cloudy to see the lunar eclipse tonight, so here’s some fun diagrams of eclipses from a 13th century astronomical compilation, now @bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Arch. Selden. B. 34, f. 47v 🌘

2 32 110