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The Simple Truth will be published on January 5th 2023. It's available to pre-order now... just saying 😎
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james buckler
656 posts
james buckler
@jamesbuckwriter
Crime Writer, Dog Companion, Longboarder and Cornish Pasty Connoisseur. Author of LAST STOP TOKYO. THE SIMPLE TRUTH out Jan 2023 #TheSimpleTruth #LastStopTokyo
Katılım Ağustos 2021
1.9K Takip Edilen643 Takipçiler
@ruth_deyermond In this, as in so many other areas, government clarity and decisiveness seems to be a rare commodity. I’m reading Robert Kaplan’s ‘Wasteland’. His idea of a global Weimar Moment seems very apt. (Un)fun times ahead
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@jamesbuckwriter Good question. It's a mixed picture, I think.
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"How can we be trusted as an ally if only one political party is committed to fulfilling our commitments?" This is why I keep saying that, as this opinion piece notes, it's unrealistic to expect US-rest of NATO relations to return to normal after Trump.
David French@DavidAFrench
"I don’t think Americans fully appreciate the extraordinary cost of Trump’s bluster and blunders. It should go without saying, but once you threaten to invade an allied country, you don’t just place the existence of the alliance in jeopardy; you raise the possibility of allies turning into mortal enemies. You can also trigger the kind of insecurity and scramble for power that contributed to the start of World War I. In practical terms, it’s hard to see how alienating American allies puts America first." nytimes.com/2026/04/26/opi…
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@ruth_deyermond I recall another quote about the Bourbons as ‘people who learned nothing and forgot nothing’. Seems quite apt at the moment
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👇I suspect another factor explaining Washington's current anger is a failure among people with the knowledge levels and worldview typical of this administration to understand the huge benefits of NATO to the US. So NATO just looks like welfare for an ungrateful Europe.
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@ruth_deyermond It seems that a lot of our present problems are due to people knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing
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The administration's failure to understand that NATO was created as, and remained, a collective security alliance founded on US self-interest is most obvious in Trump himself. As with many other things, he seems incapable of understanding even the most basic aspects of NATO.
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Please read this thread in full. It’s another brilliant and insightful (but tough) wake up call from @ruth_deyermond . Time for all of Europe and the UK to finally start looking after ourselves. This can be a positive moment if we choose wisely.
Ruth Deyermond@ruth_deyermond
Trump is saying this now because he's angry that other NATO members aren't doing what he wants. But there are also medium- and longer-term questions about NATO's viability that everyone needs to face up to. 🧵
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@ruth_deyermond The feeling in his bones is telling him to manipulate the market
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Trump now not even able to stick to the same messaging for a couple of hours. If you want to calm the markets, "otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out" is not the way to do it.
Jennifer Jacobs@JenniferJJacobs
Trump says US wants "the nuclear dust" from Iran -- the enriched uranium -- and peace in Middle East. "If it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out," he said.
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@ruth_deyermond The title of your course - Russia and its West - seems worryingly apt Ruth. It seems like they’ve taken full possession of a certain Western country now
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By the way, if you think this administration is ever going to re-impose sanctions on Russian oil then I have a degree from Trump University to sell you.
Ruth Deyermond@ruth_deyermond
Given that the Trump administration has made it clear that it's unconcerned by Russia helping Iran target US forces, this is correct.
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@ruth_deyermond If military victory is defined as forcing the enemy to conform to your political will, then the ‘Victory Over America’ parade in Moscow will take place any day now
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@ruth_deyermond Incoming quid pro quo - Russia will offer to stop sharing intelligence with Iran if the US stops sharing with Ukraine
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Have to say that while I expected the Trump administration to claim the reports were lies and/or that Trump would avoid answering (which he did), I didn't expect the Defense Secretary to basically admit it's true but that the administration doesn't care. x.com/i/status/20300…
Republicans against Trump@RpsAgainstTrump
Garrett: Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on US positions and movements. Pete Hegaeth: “We're tracking everything…The American people can rest assured their Commander in Chief is well aware of who's talking to who…We’re not concerned about that”
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@ruth_deyermond This relationship is starting to resemble a cuckooing scenario where criminals take over a victim’s home and abuse the occupants while demanding protection money. Not long until the US starts extorting us for the privilege of letting them stay
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If all this is really about bolstering Greenland's capabilities, as Graham is claiming, why is the White House so angry about other NATO states bolstering Greenland's capabilities?
Yaroslav Trofimov@yarotrof
Senator @LindseyGrahamSC tells me in Davos he has little patience for European hand-wringing and is confident that the issue of Greenland 🇬🇱 would be resolved to everyone’s benefit. “We are not going to transfer title under a force-of-arms threat, but the idea of finding a way to bolster Greenland’s capabilities and to have more control by us is coming together,” he said. “Enough with the Greenland drama. It’s all going to work out.” wsj.com/world/europe/t…
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@ruth_deyermond Perhaps we could give him some kind of gold medal for incoherence?
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It's been a long time since I watched a Trump press conference live. A Putin press conference is inevitably longwinded, pompous, dull and mendacious, but a model of clarity, structure, and intelligence compared with this.
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@ruth_deyermond @DrRadchenko It’s a cliche, but no fiction writer could get away with these kinds of plot twists
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Is it time to
a) laugh hysterically?
b) sprinkle ashes on one’s head?
c) hide in a cave?
Nick Schifrin@nickschifrin
NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials: Dear Ambassador: President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state] “Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
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@ruth_deyermond It’s going to be a painful break up but it could be the best thing that happens to Europe in the long run. A closer Europe, maybe even full federalism, is essential now for a full seat at the table, otherwise we’re on the menu
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White House decision-makers seem to see Europe in the same way Russia does: as weak, corrupted, and easy to coerce. They are going to keep pushing because they think they can, until they find they can't. They are not going to turn the US back into an ally of the rest of NATO.
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I know we all know this is nonsense, but if Trump's problem is really a lack of defence capabilities in Greenland and if he is, as he says here, wanting to "buy" it, not invade it, why is he so unhappy about other NATO states having a military presence there?
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@ruth_deyermond This is a great example of the storytelling foundation of MAGA - a fairytale narrative designed for people who don’t read books 📚
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Whoever writes Trumps tweets about Greenland is not being honest, and/or lacks knowledge and understanding of contemporary international security, and/or has been misinformed about Russia's capabilities, and/or has spent way too much time playing Risk.
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The idea that Russia - a state that has spent almost four years throwing everything it has at conquering its neighbour, and failing - is remotely capable of invading Greenland, or is going to be in the foreseeable future, is ludicrous.
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@ruth_deyermond Re Greenland - I wonder if the real aim is to force a withdrawal of US troops from Europe?? Congress may have disallowed a presidential removal decree but they can’t prevent the Europeans not wanting US forces here anymore?
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Yes, European and Canadian security has been tied to the US for all of our lifetimes, yes the business of detaching from it is going to be horrendous. But you don't make yourself safer by pretending an extinct security alliance is still working.
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It's not that NATO will collapse if the US invades Greenland; NATO is already dead. The Trump admin could not have been clearer about that over the last year. They refer to NATO as if they're not part of it. They've been threatening at least 1 NATO ally since they took office.
Deborah Haynes@haynesdeborah
Donald Trump is serious about Greenland. And Stephen Miller is right that no NATO country will fight the US militarily for control of the territory - because they’d lose. But if/when this takeover happens and if/when it happens in a way that’s unacceptable to the rest of NATO, then not only does the alliance collapse but the ability of individual allies - in particular the UK - to fight is also profoundly compromised because of their inherent reliance on the US to enable their own armed forces to operate. So it is quite a bind
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Imagination is the most powerful weapon we have. A vital thread by @samagreene about how to resist authoritarianism. Start by imagining your own freedom 💪
Sam Greene@samagreene
I study authoritarianism for a living, so I do not say this lightly: America isn't facing an authoritarian future. America is living an authoritarian present. (A long 🧵) /1
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@ruth_deyermond What was that line about history, tragedy and farce??
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From Stupid Watergate to Stupid Iraq.
Michael Weiss@michaeldweiss
Trump: "We are going to run [Venezuela] until such time that we can guarantee a safe... transition."
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Essential reading!! The most clear sighted, informed and entertaining (always crucial!!) assessment of the Ukraine War I’ve read in a long time. Well worth the long thread 🧵
Ruth Deyermond@ruth_deyermond
It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
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@ruth_deyermond Great thread!! Just what a rainy New Year’s Day needed. Knowledge is as important as hope right now
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And I think the path to a safer Europe lies through and with Ukraine.
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It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
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