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bentonra.bsky.social
Professor of International Relations at UCD Dublin; Dundrum Methodist Church; Royal Irish Academy; Azure Forum; IDSA and Gym Dad. Mix of Mayo, Kerry, West Virginia and suburban Maryland.
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US:Russia talks aren’t about peace. They’re about Trump 1. His infatuation with Putin drives desire to normalise relations & end sanctions 2. He wants to extort 500 billion from Ukraine in metals/minerals 3. He wants US troops, bases out of Europe and end ‘subsidy’ to NATO That’s his agenda

submitted 6 hours ago • 0 comments

Time for all EU Institutions and all EU national government agencies to turn off their X accounts. @ec.europa.eu @consilium.europa.eu

submitted 7 hours ago • 8 comments

Europeans are in grave danger. We need a defence-industrial strategy targeted at not only deterring but defeating Russia if necessary - & positioning us to compete long-term. We need a 🌊'Smart Wave' focused on emerging defence tech not just a 💥'Big Bang that pumps money into govt-defence nexus.

submitted 17 hours ago • 12 comments

America will have to live with the shame of what's happening here for years. www.wsj.com/world/europe...

submitted 13 hours ago • 56 comments

Powerful & heartbreaking from @lukeharding1968.bsky.social on Trump’s attempts at extortion of Ukraine’s wealth. Essential reading. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

submitted 13 hours ago • 13 comments

The EU needs to be willing to hold the line on this, up to and including banning US owned companies that refuse to comply with EU law (ideally in cooperation with other major markets)

submitted 13 hours ago • 0 comments

‘The US Is Doing Russia’s Work’ Say Ecstatic Propagandists Putin’s mouthpieces are in a lather of excitement over the US administration’s willingness to make a deal to their liking. My latest for @cepa.org: cepa.org/article/the-...

submitted 4 days ago • 40 comments

If true then the US is now a genuine Russia-style mafia state. Russia extorts with energy-, the US with tech-dependence. I trust the conclusions we draw from this will also turn into a semblance of policy.

submitted 1 day ago • 44 comments

This is the US threatening to subvert Ukraine’s defence and consciously aid Russia’s invasion. Despicable

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Finland demonstrates its commitment to address the most extreme scenarios. Good discussions w Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen and Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman how we can build up on 🇫🇮 experience in preparing the White Paper, ramping EU defence industry & developing EU space ecosystem.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Yes! More of this please

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Take the assets now… set against war reparations from Russia to Ukraine later

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Trump’s agenda is openly hostile to the existing European order, columnist @stephenwalt.bsky.social writes.

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

Medicaid is not for sale. NASA is not for sale. The Post Office is not for sale. America is not for sale. We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.

submitted 1 day ago • 2403 comments

Just to remind people that tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of Putin’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine. His planned 3 day “special operation” is still being slogged out, costing Russia about 1 million men (dead and injured) courtesy of Ukrainian courage. Be there if you can to support them 🙏

submitted 1 day ago • 7 comments

Good God @nytimes.com get your headlines right: “Gov Janet Mills vowed to defend her state in court against President Trump’s threats.”

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

It’s exasperating that some people hold to the (ambiguous) text of NATOs Art V as if it were a talisman or a child’s comfort blanket. The text means nothing when the signatory party actively subverts and undermines it. Its credibility has been blown away in the last week.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

"Betrayed. First Zelensky, and soon us? The radical rejection of the US by its allies" – today's cover of the German Der Spiegel

submitted 1 day ago • 56 comments

Russia is seeking to pervert elections across Europe. When will concerted action be taken?!

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Ah, Suez strikes again again 😏

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

A question that no-one in Whitehall dare ask. What happens if Trump decides to turn off Britain's nukes? A column in the FT... www.ft.com/content/762c...

submitted 1 day ago • 26 comments

Zelensky is perhaps the defining figure of our age. Brave, ingenious, pragmatic and defined by his convictions. They hate him because he kills fascists.

submitted 1 day ago • 61 comments

The enemy within

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

What multiverse are we when relying on French far-right to stand up to US governing Nazis?

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

French far-right leader cancels CPAC speech over Steve Bannon’s ‘Nazi’ salute

submitted 1 day ago • 50 comments

President Macron: "Russia is already aggressive towards the whole of Europe.It's started.It's got a strong army,it's attacking us on information,cyber,migration.I can mention other things.It's destabilizing us,it's attacking our interests in Africa,it's provoking us,testing us at sea,in the air"

submitted 1 day ago • 94 comments

www.kyivpost.com/post/47568

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Le Monde: Macron tries to prepare public opinion for an unprecedented war effort President Macron, prime minister Bayrou and a dozen representatives of political parties and parliamentary groups met for 4 hours at the Elysée on Thursday to discuss & share highly sensitive geopolitical information

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Agreed. I think we are witnessing the end of the American ‘ally’. But this means that Europe has to now contend with a belligerent America alone. The ‘west’ is over. In the Trumpian era, Europe is on its own www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

/r/CanadianForces sub is interesting to read rn

submitted 2 days ago • 11 comments

Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service reports that Russia is expanding its armed forces in a way that prepares for a potential future war with NATO. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/intelligence...

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

Pure, excoriating anger from Francis Fukuyama. Every word correct. Apart from the end- the Americans who voted for Trump knew exactly what they were doing- they just didn't care. We have to hope they start to care soon. open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

Even if Europe’s leaders can unify to shore up collective defence, it is far from clear whether that will be enough to deter an aggressive, badly mauled Russia.

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Euronews: Tusk calls for EU to confiscate Russian assets to finance Ukraine www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Powerful message from Orest Drymalovsky, a Ukrainian soldier. In his previous life he was a TV host.

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

Macron has just urged the French to join the military reserve. “We are entering a new era”. France will have to spend more on defence. “The threat that Russia represents imposes choices on us” (Live exchange on social media)

submitted 2 days ago • 169 comments

Looking for the first scholarly paper on "Normative Power America: US milieu goals in the 21st Century"

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

"Waltz described the minerals deal as "the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition" arguing it would see the US invested in the country" Utter garbage More likely a side-deal with Putin to respect such a 'deal' post Russian invasion/occupation.

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment