Marion Messmer

Me this morning

YouTube video by Chatham House Roberta Metsola – A new Westphalia to avoid western failure

Keynote address | A new Westphalia to avoid western failure

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola (@president.europarl.europa.eu) delivers the keynote address at our 2026 Security and Defence conference.

Watch the livestream ⤵️

I'm constantly trying (/failing) to get this point across.

If you're a trained expert in a field, then it may be worthwhile to question the scientific consensus of your peers.

If you're not, the scientific consensus is absolutely the best you can do and it's arbitrary foolishness to disregard it.

I have just ordered a few of your UK editions - looking forward to reading :) I hope 2026 is going to turn out to be a better year for you and your family.

Pentagon aggressively lobbies EU against Buy European weapons push In previously unreported remarks, the U.S. administration warned Brussels that it will retaliate if Europeans “strong-arm American companies out of the market.”

A lot of this incoming, basically:

www.politico.eu/article/wash...

Work in arms control, have heard literally no one claim this www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02...

Ukraine regained more territory than it has since 2023, largely because of Musk’s belated decision to deny Russian forces the use of Starlink. Which shows in turn how Musk has empowered Russian forces for the last two years.

There have been a few European developments recently that are good both for security and for the environment. I've been wanting to write a longer piece about this for a while now - this could become a interesting part of the European security offer.

New piece on the strategic vacuum in Washington when it comes to understanding what a more independent, sovereign Europe actually means.

I worry that even a more transatlantic-minded future administration will adapt very poorly to no longer being able to call all the shots in the alliance.

🧐 interesting!!!

"If you look at EU membership benefits, I think it's a net positive for every member of the European Union."

Oana Țoiu Minister of Foreign Affairs for Romania on the importance of EU membership.

Watch the event➡️ bit.ly/4qtpMvL

Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz - Reden von Rubio, Wan Yi und von der Leyen

„In der Substanz ist das das Gleiche wie bei Vance“ – dafür gab es „stehende Ovationen“. Stephan Detjen ist die Irritation deutlich anzuhören. Selten gab es eine so klare Einschätzung zu dem Sachverhalt wie heute im DLF.

I was thinking that. The message is a bit thin - and it is a fundamental challenge for allies if the US political system is polarised in a way that means you have to accept that an ally will threaten you every other election cycle.

Democrats seek to reassure Europe about post-Trump America Opposition politicians flocked to a summit in Munich to offer an alternative to America First - and stake a claim as future party leaders.

This is not as reassuring or optimistic as they think it is.

Major statements from Munich yesterday:

🇫🇮: Putin has suffered strategic defeat, Ukraine is winning
🇩🇪: Rules-based international order is over, Germany will build strongest army in EU
🇫🇷: EU must become geopolitical power which includes the French nuclear deterrent

It's the perfect mix of super serious while being very much not serious 😄

This is the perfect content for me

📹 Oana Țoiu, Romania’s Foreign Minister spoke at @chathamhouse.org on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, NATO deterrence, European rearmament & defence coordination in a panel chaired by @mgmessmer.bsky.social.

Watch the full recording here: www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/s...

British prime minister Keir Starmer hangs on – but for how long? - Monocle Phil Tinline and Marion Messmer discuss Keir Starmer’s staying power and impressions of the UK prime minister abroad: Plus: Will...

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @mgmessmer.bsky.social and @philtinline.bsky.social on Starmer's chances and the day's other stuff, and another excerpt from Monocle in Milan, our Olympic-adjacent pop-up show. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

📣 Event: Defending NATO’s Eastern Flank | 9 Feb, 17:30

Oana Țoiu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, will speak at @chathamhouse.org on support for Ukraine, European security, & tackling the Russian threat.
Moderator: @mgmessmer.bsky.social

Register at:
www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/s...

When Your Ally Turns Narcissistic: A Self-Help Manual for Europe Navigating Transatlantic Relations This study applies insights from psychological research on narcissism to offer a new approach to understanding — and countering — the unprecedented way the US currently wields power vis-à-vis its alli...

Fits Trump’s narcissistic policy patterns (internationally and domestically) - and adequate response strategies (including unity and resolve), grounded in psychology and applied to the administration-level @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social : gppi.net/2025/10/12/w...

"China is worrying about its own supply chain, worrying about its own sustainability in terms of its economic resilience."

Yu Jie on China's key priorities going into this year.

⬇️

I am beyond horrified to read this.
We live in a world where women are at risk of being systematically bullied out of public life.
This is despicable.

Amazing! I love those finds.

When normalised by population size, the death toll of US troops in Afghanistan is broadly similar to that of four other countries, including the UK... and Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaliti...

Death toll in Afghanistan when NATO answered the US’s call:
- 453 Britons
- 158 Canadians
- 89 French
- 59 Germans
- 53 Italians
- 44 Danes
- 17 Spaniards
“Stayed a little back, off the front lines “!
No one in the media will call him out over this lie or any of the others he spouts.

How South Korea can balance its US commitments with global engagement The key foreign policy challenges for the Lee government

South Korea’s new government faces significant challenges in stabilizing the country’s foreign policy – particularly in the face of a transactional United States and assertive China. https://bit.ly/45Wbg8l

The Prime Minister of Belgium speaks:

Stephen Miller Channels Hans Morgenthau President Donald Trump’s closest advisor has an intuitive grasp of the hard realities of global power politics.

It sure does feel like everyone only ever reads the first chapters.

Hans Morgenthau, of Jewish descent (!), spent a career concerned about how to LIMIT and AVOID whatever Stephen Miller is doing. He'd turn in his grave seeing his name cited as inspiration.

nationalinterest.org/feature/step...