Sascha Simon

Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...

America vs. the World President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.

This really is the article to read.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Feels like something cracked today in the transatlantic alliance. Europeans have been swallowing their pride, bitting their tongues, and bending the knee. That strategy may have bought them time but it has now clearly failed. It also had a major cost - it has made the WH think Europe will cave. 1/

Trump’s ‘American Dominance’ May Leave Us With Nothing The president’s moves in Venezuela foretell a new global system.

"American dominance" is our new foreign policy. And it will create a counter-reaction, everywhere.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

a sign that says " what is even happening " next to a dumpster ALT: a sign that says " what is even happening " next to a dumpster

Catching up on the national security podcasts' predictions for 2026 from like 5 days ago and they're all wrong already

Some thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address.

First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.

1/

Ukraine in the fourth year of the war Negotiations will go nowhere, unless the pressure on Russia increases: politically, economically, and of course militarily. The US is unwilling to act, and Europeans are indecisive.

To all my 🇬🇧 readers, I translated my recent article on the 🇷🇺-🇺🇦 war entering the fourth year into English and posted it on Substack.
substack.com/@gustavgress...

Most Europeans think state pensions will become unaffordable, polling shows YouGov survey finds many say payments are too low and oppose reforms such as raising retirement age or cuts

“Most Europeans believe their country’s state pension system will soon become unaffordable – but they also think the current scheme is not generous enough, and do not support options for overhauling it such as raising the retirement age.”

Make it make sense.

**BREAKING**

Images of a Chinese merchant vessel with containerised missile launchers, radar/comms and close in defense are legitimate. Collaborated via other sources. Sobering.

Merry Xmas

Folge #102 Blick in die Zukunft: Die große Vorausschau zum Jahresende | Buchempfehlungen - Sicherheitspod “Sicherheitshalber” ist der Podcast zur sicherheitspolitischen Lage in Deutschland, Europa und der Welt. In Folge 102, am Ende des Jahres 2025,  schauen Thomas Wiegold, Ulrike Franke, Frank Sauer und ...

Die letzte Folge des Jahres 2025 ist online. Wir packen die Glaskugel aus und schauen, was die nächsten 5 Jahre bringen könnten.
Plus Buchempfehlungen UND Sicherheitshinweise.

sicherheitspod.de/2025/12/20/f...

Wie autonome Waffen das Schlachtfeld verändern | Der Pragmaticus Autonome Waffen und künstliche Intelligenz verändern die Kriegsführung. Werden bald nur noch Maschinen über Leben und Tod entscheiden?

»Hätte man eine Zeitmaschine und sammelte jeweils einen Infanteristen aus den beiden Weltkriegen, dem Vietnam- und dem Irakkrieg 2003 ein, so wären die vier sich schnell einig, dass sie trotz der 90 Jahre Zeitdifferenz alle das gleiche Handwerk ausübten. Es ging – im Kern – um das Kämpfen auf Sicht«

“The EU will set up a ‘drone alliance’ with Kyiv, backed by €6bn in financing to ‘transform Ukrainian ingenuity into battlefield advantage and into joint industrialisation’, von der Leyen said.”

We made that argument almost a year ago, and I'm glad to see it gaining traction at the highest level.

Der Podcast zum Vortrag. Demnächst dann auch der Film zum Hörbuch. Alles Multiplattform, auf allen Socials, logo, klar, Hallo ihr Lieben. Like and Subscribe.

@rikefranke.bsky.social

'Russian bombers are burning en masse' — Ukraine's SBU drones hit 'more than 40' aircraft in mass attack, source claims "Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3," a source told the Kyiv Independent.

If even a fraction of this is true, it’s a remarkable achievement & a mark of how far Ukr deep strike has come. ‘An operation by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has hit ‘more than 40" Russian bombers at air bases “in the rear of the Russian Federation”…’ kyivindependent.com/enemy-bomber...

Ukrainian dep def minister says his country producing 10m drones per year. Drones do 80% of damage in battlefield he says. Ukrainian made FPV IS $500, he says, in contrast to $1,500 for foreign models. Low-cost interceptor drones at $5,000 “affordable alternative” to traditional SAMs.

Sehr guter Text, in dem @drfranksauer.bsky.social die "Realisten" zerlegt.

YouTube video by Hoog How to disable a robot dog if it attacks you

Public Service Announcement.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine is gaining expanded access to European intelligence and certain European ammunition stockpiles. He also mentioned an urgent meeting in a "close circle" regarding the troop contingent.

The original study is here:

www.ndc.nato.int/download/dow...

Climate change may make it harder to spot submarines The sound of their engines will not travel as far

Very flattered to see The Economist discuss the findings of the research that, together with my co-authors, we have carried out on the effects of climate change for submarine warfare.

www.economist.com/science-and-...

🧵Intercepting and neutralizing Russian recon and strike UAVs:

🛸The scope of ZSU FPV drone interceptions has rapidly grown.

Artem's new article breaks down a detailed dataset of these interceptions, providing insights into trends and technological advances. #FPVDrones

1/7

The hunt for Red October in warmer oceans - Climate change and anti-submarine warfare NATO Defense College news

Interesting on how climate change will affect anti-submarine warfare. "We find that acoustic detection will become more difficult in most areas but is going to become significantly more difficult in the North Atlantic than in the Western Pacific." www.ndc.nato.int/news/news.ph...

Bundeswehr: Ihre Bestellung wird ... vorbereitet 15 Jahre lang schafft die Bundeswehr es nicht, ein Flugzeug zu besorgen, das sie dringend braucht. Das Geheimprojekt Pegasus offenbart ein lebensgefährliches Versagen.

“In the best-case scenario, it will ultimately take almost twenty years before Germany has airborne signals intelligence again after the end of the Breguets in the summer of 2010. It is an unprecedented failure.”

ZEIT with a good long read on the Global Hawk/Triton/Pegasus… acquisition catastrophe

Russian accuses of Norway “militarising” Svalbard (www.reuters.com/world/europe...). A reminder of Russian activity in Svalbard from a few years ago, below (jamestown.org/program/russ...)

Keep calm and ReArm.

We should have no illusions: Just as it is now doing with Ukraine, the Trump administration will try to force the Europeans into line if they resist a deal on American (or rather Russian?) terms.

U.S. intelligence sharing with South Vietnamese forces continued until April 30, 1975—the day Saigon fell.

Dear Europe: You are next on the hit list. Good arguments, preemptive concessions, appeals to friendship, and flattery will not protect you. Discard those fantasies and prepare to hit back hard.