Excellent op-ed from Hanna Notte on how Europe "risks a self-fulfilling prophecy over the threat from Russia." A good balance of addressing "adversarial relations with Russia" as "a fixture of the European security landscape" while stressing the dangers of post-2022 "overcorrection."

Client Challenge

if it weren't for ignorant and unfairly harsh American criticism of the EU, i think the union would have collapsed long ago. it's so weak and dysfunctional, after all.

Oof, Roscosmos has ditched its fancy plans for the future "Russian Orbital Station" and embraced a scheme to use 30-year-old ISS scrap instead. "Clearly a money-saving move" but "remarkable even for Russia’s threadbare space program," writes Eric Berger.

Ars Technica

Russia is about to do the most Russia thing ever with its next space station

Russia, meanwhile, will be left to carry on the legacy of the ISS, with all its problems."

For yesterday's newsletter, I finally sat down and wrote a brief comparison of this month's dueling Foreign Affairs essays by Sergey Radchenko and Thomas Graham. It's remarkable how both scholars can agree on so much while arriving at mostly opposite policy recommendations.

Meduza

This was Russia today Thursday, December 18, 2025 — Meduza

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

whenever i read about how popular tiktok is and about how people working in mass media need to be where the audience is, my mind melts away, and all that's left is that Principal Skinner meme where he knows that, no, it's the children who are wrong

Moscow is waking up to the good news from Brussels.

"Given the risks of raising further debt, [...] most, though not all, EU countries still see using Russia’s frozen assets as the 'most preferred' option. Joint debt was likely floated as a 'scarecrow' option to force countries to move." — Politico on Oct 27. Ah, what a difference two months makes.

Europe’s Plan B for Ukraine – POLITICO

Yesterday: "Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence" Today:

the EU is ready to take on Russia, just as soon as it finds the balls to stand up to Belgium