Sam Wilkin

The Sentinel Weekly: America unbound Plus tanker seizures, UAE-Ukraine investment, Belgian air defence and more

The American operation to capture Nicolás Maduro was not as unusual as we like to think.
But for the first time, we have a US president who doesn't see Europe as an ally - and is just as willing as his predecessors to use force.
open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...

Op-ed: For interoperability lessons, look up The regulatory environment that created Airbus should be replicated on land

Europe's fragmented arms industry is much more pronounced on land than in the air, with companies like Airbus showing what cross-border integration could look like, writes Aurora d'Auria from Finabel in this guest op-ed: open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...

The Sentinel Weekly: Europe wakes up Plus FCAS crisis talks, another tanker strike, the risks of appeasement and more

Donald Trump's National Security Strategy has jolted Europeans from their strategic slumber - but perhaps not in the way the US president hoped for. Rather than falling into line as usual, European leaders have started to see the US itself as a destabilising force. open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...

The Sentinel Weekly: Professionals study logistics Plus Russian strategy, sabotage in Poland, FCAS crisis talks and more

Introducing The Sentinel, a new publication tracking Europe's rearmament.

The US surrender plan for Ukraine shows that the time has come for Europe to look to its own defence.

The Sentinel will be following. Free newsletter now, and full launch in 2026.
www.the-sentinel.media/p/the-sentin...

I'm going to set up a new page here for The Sentinel. Does anyone have a list of accounts to follow on European defence, please?

This would fit

AC<DC Air conditioning is a poor substitute for district cooling.

I have entered the air conditioning discourse open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

Race, religion, politics, faith How cultural Christians misunderstand the wider world.

Some things I learned living in the Middle East, travelling in India and studying lots of languages - and why they're more relevant than ever today.
www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...

This was good. I hope you expensed the Taittinger and a premium Bumble sub.

There's a metaphor in there somewhere

Just wait until you get promoted to movie editor-in-chief, where your job is to spike the plucky young reporter's stories because you're scared of the proprietor!

American flywheel The only way to reach Europe’s single market.

Good morning, America! I need you to like this essay so people in Europe can read it.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...

American flywheel The only way to reach Europe’s single market.

What a viral essay taught me about Europe's economy: If you want to conquer Europe, get big in America first. www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...

Go to Ghent. Go directly to Ghent. Do not pass Bruges. Do not collect 200 ecocheques.

Everything is Palestine A distant conflict devours the European left.

Jeremy Corbyn splits the UK left with a new pro-Palestine vehicle, helping Nigel Farage on his way to Number 10.

And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

Working 12 to 5 A better way to make a living.

A big chunk of creative work is done away from the office. As AI takes away mundane tasks and frees us think more deeply, spending eight hours at the office isn't just unnecessary - it's a hindrance to the creative process. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

Militant car brain Driver entitlement is a violent ideology.

The Liverpool ramming attack wasn't entirely apolitical - it was the natural extension of embedded, and sometimes violent, driver entitlement. New essay:
www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...

Those who hate the West A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Why do so many people in the West hate their own civilisation? I argue it's because of a lopsided teaching of history and culture, where the West gets an interrogation and other peoples get a hagiography. New essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

I never doubted you for a second @economist.com

It was, and I'd call this an anti-Muslim pogrom.

Why this framing? One sort of racism doesn't diminish or discount another.

Return to trust The rise of misinformation could revive the business model of eyewitness reporting.

The global flood of misinformation could revive a dying breed: the foreign correspondent.

Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend.
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

Good if you only want to talk to like-minded people, which is fine some of the time but not all.

What this graph tells me is that if you want to see a representative cross-section of views, you need to be on several platforms. No single service has replaced Twitter.

Too much stuff? Most cities in Europe provide you with a large storage space in front of your house for a token fee. You can put anything there so long as it's in a car.

Saw 1815 and brain immediately went to St Helena... but it seems you're closer to home!

Racist, moi? Antisemitism is gentrifying. We should be alarmed.

The most dangerous racists are the people who think they can't possibly be racist. This week's essay:
open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...

The markets right now

Call it what you like; if it's money forcibly paid to the state then it's a tax.

Setting up a company is under consideration - but of course this institutionalised tax-dodging by Belgians, while expat employees get milked, is a big part of why Belgium isn't fit to host the EU institutions.

Not necessarily, I don't know their pay and conditions. But if they're not being paid enough, then where the hell are my 55% taxes going?

I'm not and I did. Frequent debilitating strikes are a subset of inadequate public services.

You've been traumatised into low expectations! We're paying Scandinavian levels of tax. Public services should be impeccable.