Rafael Loss

WOODINVILLE® BARREL-AGED MAPLE SYRUP Pure, grade-A, dark amber maple syrup, aged in our once used whiskey barrels. Breakfast never tasted so good.

This, from a Woodinville, WA distillery, is a banger with blueberry pancakes woodinvillewhiskeyco.com/products/woo...

What perfect album came out when you were sixteen? (Though no. 2, from the year prior, was more formative.)

Kürzlich sprach ich mit dem UNFASSBAR-Team über Europas Sicherheit und Deutschlands Beiträge. Nun ist die Folge erschienen:

Braucht Deutschland eine starke Armee? creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

Gut für den wochenendlichen Spaziergang, beim Bügeln oder Bad putzen,...

Leseliste für die August-Kabinettssitzung im Bendlerblock zu #Wehpflicht und #Sicherheitsrat auf der Seite des NATO Defense College von Roderick Parkes und meiner Wenigkeit: www.ndc.nato.int/research/pub...

Deutschland erhält im Gegenzug als erste Nation und beschleunigt neu produzierte PATRIOT-Systeme der neuesten Generation.

„Wir gehen erneut voran und verbinden diese Lieferung mit dem Apell an unsere Partner, ihrerseits weitere Systeme zeitnah zur Verfügung zu stellen.“

Deutschland liefert zwei weitere PATRIOT Systeme an die Ukraine Die Bundeswehr liefert in den kommenden Tagen in einem ersten Schritt weitere PATRIOT-Startgeräte („Launcher“) an die Ukraine.

Deutschland liefert zwei weitere PATRIOT Systeme an die Ukraine www.bmvg.de/de/presse/de...

Die Bundeswehr liefert in den kommenden Tagen PATRIOT-Startgeräte. Innerhalb der nächsten 2-3 Monate werden weitere Systemanteile übergeben, um die Batterien zu vervollständigen.

"Sozialpartner und Verbände" sollen an der nationalen Risikoanalyse beteiligt sein, aber "die Verwaltung" keinen "ungebührlichen" Einfluss auf das "Lagebild" nehmen.

Ich hofffe, das liest niemand in den Sicherheitsbehörden und stempelt _alle_ Think Tanker als ahnungslose Papierchenschreiber ab

Die USA wollen das Abschuss-System 'Typhon' in Deutschland stationieren - und die Bundeswehr hätte es gerne auch selbst:

"...kündigte Pistorius an, dass die Bundesregierung auch sogenannte Abstandswaffen in den USA zu kaufen plant. Hegseths Team wurde ein Schreiben übergeben, in dem um ein Angebot für Abschussrampen vom Typ Typhon gebeten wird, die Tomahawk-Raketen abfeuern können." www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/fast...

Screenshot eines Absatzes aus dem Text: „Noch keine Entscheidung hätten die USA über die von der Vorgängerregierung in Aussicht gestellte Stationierung von Mittelstreckenraketen in Deutschland getroffen. "Das werden wir abwarten müssen, aber die Signale sind gut", sagte der SPD-Politiker. Er rechne mit einem Beschluss im Herbst.“

Screenshot eines weiteren Abschnitts aus dem Text: „Nach dem Treffen mit US-Verteidigungsminister Hegseth hatte Pistorius erklärt, man erwäge den Kauf von Raketen in den USA als Übergangslösung. Später wolle man dann eigene Systeme entwickeln. Dabei handelt es sich um das Raketensystem "Typhon". Dazu sei eine Anfrage an die USA gerichtet, erklärte Pistorius in Washington. Eine Kaufentscheidung werde getroffen, sobald die USA dem Antrag zustimmten.“

Pistorius nach Gesprächen im Pentagon in den tagesthemen: zum 🇺🇸🇩🇪-Stationierungsvorhaben und einer möglicher Beschaffung eigener Langstreckensysteme vom Typ Typhon/Tomahawk www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amer...

NATO needs more long-range missiles to deter Russia, US general says NATO will need more long-range missiles in its arsenal to deter Russia from attacking Europe because Moscow is expected to increase production of long-range weapons, a U.S. Army general told Reuters.

"At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is expected to try to clarify whether [the US missile deployment] will go ahead now that Donald Trump is back in the White House." www.reuters.com/business/aer... @sasilink.bsky.social

NATO needs more long-range missiles to deter Russia, US general says NATO will need more long-range missiles in its arsenal to deter Russia from attacking Europe because Moscow is expected to increase production of long-range weapons, a U.S. Army general told Reuters.

"At a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is expected to try to clarify whether [the US missile deployment] will go ahead now that Donald Trump is back in the White House." www.reuters.com/business/aer... @sasilink.bsky.social

Thumbnail of the "Sirens: A Bombshell production" national security podcast by Loren DeJonge Schulman, Radha Iyengar Plumb, and Erin Simpson.

Cover of the book "How Good It Is I have No Fear of Dying: Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko's Fight for Ukraine" by Lara Marlowe. It features a photo of Mykytenko in body armour and ballistic helmet.

@ecfr.eu's annual summer entertainment list is out! 👉 ecfr.eu/article/ecfr... 🏝️😎

My picks: @sirenspod.bsky.social and Lara Marlowe's "How Good It Is I have No Fear of Dying"

Basically, Colby is running his own defense policy because his "bosses" don't know what they're doing and the interagency has effectively ceased to exist. www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

In the first plenary discussion ‘Boosting European Security through coalitions of the willing’, moderated by @SylvieKauffmann.bsky.social, Clément Beaune, @camillegrand.bsky.social, Thomas Bagger and John Sawers discuss a new European defence framework fit for today's geopolitical reality #ACM25

“Indicative of the Army’s desire to continue to prioritize building up capability in the Pacific Theater, two will be focused there: Multi-Domain Command Pacific and [MDC] Japan. Two others, [MDC] Europe and [MDC] Army, are taking shape as well.”

bsky.app/profile/jenj...

Great to be launching @ecfr.eu new European Security Programme at ECFR’s annual council meeting, this time in Warsaw, with @nicupopescu.bsky.social and @dmytrokuleba.bsky.social @camillegrand.bsky.social #ACM2025

The 56th Artillery Command and 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force are being combined, per Gen. Christopher Donahue.

“A strategy to address [A2/AD in the Baltics] has already been designed and presented to senior US and NATO leaders. The challenge now is implementation.”

www.stripes.com/branches/arm...

🗨️ #NATO: " #Germany was praised for raising #defense spending, but faces issues like inefficient procurement."

👉 @ecfr.eu‘s @rafaelloss.bsky.social

➡️Full show: f24.my/BGy3.x

@en.france24.com #Trump #Ukraine

Still flourishing. Need to moisturize.

Estonia’s FM Margus Tsahkna repeats at NATO summit public forum his call to hit back at Russia, deep, from the first moment of a conflict.

Ahead of the February election, only the Greens‘ candidate, @robert-habeck.de , advocated for 3.5% of GDP Defence spending, drawing criticism from Scholz and Merz remaining non-committal (signaling 2% might do). Now it’s (widely) accepted wisdom.

Photo of a capybara sitting in a pond. There are orange fruit floating in the water around the capybara. It balances one of the orange fruit on its head. The caption reads: “Unbothered. Moisturized. Happy. In my lane. Focused. Flourishing.”

Op naar Den Haag!

So, does that imply that NATO’s other European members don’t care about the welfare state, diplomacy, development aid, peace?

Army promises to deliver analysis on sweeping changes in 10 days The Army secretary has promised to show Congress the analysis behind its transformation plans within the next 10 days.

Army promises to deliver analysis on sweeping changes in 10 days www.defensenews.com/land/2025/06... @jenjudson.bsky.social

These considerations very much resemble what is in the initial U.S. Army Multi-Domain Operations Concept. 🧵 1/

Screenshot/excerpt of the text. The four paragraphs read: "At the NATO summit later this month, members will discuss not only increased defense budgets, but also new operational concepts to respond immediately to a Russian attack—including counterstrikes inside Russia—Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told Defense One at the GLOBSEC security conference. “The new concept is that if Russia is coming, then we will bring the war to Russia. That's what we are talking about,” Tsahkna said. “We have no time then to discuss whether we can use one of the other weapons or whatever. We have no time. We need to act within the first minutes and hours.” That new doctrine builds on the regional defense plans NATO adopted at its 2023 summit, which centralized more authority under U.S. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, to respond rapidly— in coordination with Eastern European members—in the event of a Russian assault. However, this year’s summit will go further. It is expected to outline the specific capabilities Europe must field to be ready for conflict with Russia the day of an attack. “Now we have [capability targets] for this concept,” Tsahkna said."

Interesting.

‘If Russia is coming, then we will bring the war to Russia’: Inside NATO’s muscular new deterrence plans www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...

Pictured is the first paragraph of the article. It reads: "What makes a good NATO ally? Debates over burden-sharing have “moved and shaken” the alliance ever since its foundation in 1949, says Rafael Loss of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank. Most recently, Donald Trump, in both his first and his present term, has justifiably railed against Europeans for not paying their fair whack while America keeps them all safe."

Opening an @economist.com article – that’s a first!

As the NATO summit approaches, more than cash is at stake. What it is spent on matters just as much www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

“The 56th [Artillery Command] is expected to become the Army’s first permanent multi-domain command in Europe, the 56th Multi-Domain Command Europe, combining traditional long-range fires with capabilities in space, cyberspace, land, air, and maritime domains.” www.army.mil/article/2862...

Die russischen Streitkräfte lernen aus ihren Fehlern in der Ukraine—ein mea culpa ist dabei nicht zu erwarten. Die Bedrohung durch Russland wird, auch wenn wir uns anderes wünschen mögen, langfristig bestehen bleiben. Entsprechend gilt es zu handeln.

internationalepolitik.de/de/gegen-den...