Tim Benbow

Putin selling Russia's future to China because he has none. 😬

The president who has believes that Italian military satellites were used to hack voting machines in a joint CIA-Chinese operation has sent his intelligence chief to look for evidence of voter fraud. What could go wrong? www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Glen has nailed what is happening to UK universities (again). All the grand strategists pontificating about the UK's future in a post-rules based international order need to realise that one of the critical sectors they tout as "world leading" is on the verge of collapse.

OK, I think that there really is an operational level of war... but that is very funny. Nice work.

Congratulations, Anand; glad King's isn't losing you completely.

Cold case. The Ukrainian Holocaust survivor who froze to death at home in Kyiv amid power cuts in the depths of winter — Novaya Gazeta Europe No one knows exactly when Baba Zhenya died. They only know that she froze to death. A Kyiv native who managed to survive the Holocaust, Baba Zhenya, or rather Yevhenia Mykhailivna Besfamilnaya, finall...

A deeply harrowing, but necessary, read. The people of Ukraine are making a terrible sacrifice for the protection of Europe – yet, over a year on from Trump's inauguration, Europe continues to act as if it is a secondary player in a conflict without any real implications for its own security.

This week I was in London for a live sequel to Sky News' podcast 'The Wargame'. On stage we had former British ministers Ben Wallace, Jack Straw and Amber Rudd, and former Commander of Joint Forces Command General Sir Richard Barrons, playing out another round of simulated attack from Moscow.

[1/9]

What was it about the famously prickly pain in the arse, Charles de Gaulle, that so often led allies to pull stunts like this? A mystery for the ages, that one...

Nearly half of countries on Trump’s Board of Peace banned from entering US The Board of Peace is expected to try and mediate global conflict and has been accused of trying to replace the UN

Lol

Earlier this week the government used its majority to strip out an amendment to require a plebiscite of the Chagossians before the deal can go through. It is beyond disgusting for a supposedly progressive party and government to deny the Chagossians' right to self-determination.

Old joke truer then ever

​A large russian patrol is marching through the snowy woods near the border when they hear a voice shouting from behind a nearby snowbank:
"One Finnish soldier is better than ten russians!"

Great recommendation! Just listened to the Halestorm one - maybe the best cover of a Metallica track I've heard. (Their one on the Dio tribute album was also pretty good.)

For reasons unknown, my first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, is on sale for £28.99 on Amazon UK - a 62% reduction in price! It would be rude not to at that discount! H/T to @jfb1066.bsky.social www.amazon.co.uk/British-Gran...

NATO did not "stay a little back, off the front lines."

Danish, British and Estonian troops served in Helmand, and Canadian forces in Kandahar - the two most dangerous Afghan provinces.

Denmark, UK, Estonia & Canada suffered amongst the highest per‑capita soldier death rates when defending the US.

Trump might be wrong on Greenland but is correct about Chagos surrender The government’s decision to give upcontrol of the archipelago, which is home to the military base on Diego Garcia, is sheer madness

The Times: Chagossians "are owed at least as much respect as the Greenlandic Inuit, whose rights Sir Keir claims to champion. But again, Britain is preparing to fail them." www.thetimes.com/article/95a4...

OTD in 1932 the Soviet Union signed a non aggression pact with Finland. We preferred one with the Nazis that had a secret clause cos 7 years later we invaded Finland.

But please trust us over treaties now. We've honored them all since then, just ask Ukraine, Georgia & Moldova.

The stupidity is annoying but it’s the lack of historical understanding that I find especially inexcusable.
The USA’s successes have all come with allies, nor despite them.
Even Reagan’s victory in the Cold War during the 80s was not a US success alone but built on the strength of its alliances

Listening to Trump presser for 40 mins. Rambling, repetitive stream of consciousness. Narcissistic in extreme. Every thought linked back to whether the person or entity voted for or likes Trump. If Biden had delivered this there would have been serious concern about his health.

FWIW, the one and only time Article 5 has formally been invoked was following 9/11 -- by NATO and on behalf of the United States, without it having to make any request.

A great speech by Carney in Davos on the transformation of the international system, which is primarily if not exclusively driven by the radical remaking of America grand strategy. The United States over the post-War and post-Cold War period pursued an overarching grand strategy of liberal hegemony.

Three coffins wrapped in Danish flags are carried by 4-6 soldiers each; a cargo aircraft is in the background

I think a good strategy for your non-leftist social media presence (ie everywhere but here) is to give this photo - the remains of Danish soldiers returning in coffins after being killed in America's war in Afghanistan - as wide an audience as possible. Remind people who we're betraying

Not the sort of letter committed to paper by a well man. "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"

2026 is seeing that the U.S. Army is mobilizing a unit specialized for winter conditions, but not knowing if the intended mission is violent repression of an American city or stealing territory from a U.S. treaty ally.

Well I'm convinced. In this case we thus need a new theory to explain why the USSR shot a man for rescuing Jews, just as the Nazis did.

Although our excuse was he collaborated with western intel to do it. As comrade *no doubt* knew. Lol.

Trump's latest tantrum is a sign he knows he can't actually invade Greenland - as he doesn't have support from the Senate or the military.

Obviously Europe can't trade Greenland away so they'll have to try and mollify him some other way or take the hit.

A thought, looking forward, at the strategy of the anti-Trump coalition, given the pattern we've seen, DHS will begin probably soon, drawing down forces in Minneapolis and going to harass some other place.

It'll be useful to frame this as 'ICE defeated' and a 'retreat' - they are 'fleeing.'

Why the U.S. Navy Doesn’t Build Battleships Anymore On Apr. 7, 1945, aircraft from the U.S. Navy’s fast carrier task force sank the largest battleship ever built, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Yamato.

I have thoughts about the recent announcement that the US Navy will build battleships once more. @warontherocks.bsky.social was kind enough to publish them.

warontherocks.com/2026/01/why-...

The House of Lords has voted a regret motion to the Chagos Islands surrender bill. The House of Commons has another chance of doing the right thing and to reject this horrid deal, which betrays the national interest solely for the sake of making the prime minister's friend happy.