Heine Paus

The End of Aid Archives The U.S. Agency for International Development saved lives and promoted American interests around the globe. As the Trump administration abandons the decades-long approach to soft power, ProPublica inv...

ProPublica's @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy have won a George Polk award for international reporting for “The End of Aid,” a series that investigated the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and its consequences around the world.

Read the full series here:

Gratulerer til innbyggerne i Minneapolis med fredsprisnominasjonen! Julie nominerte dem nylig for deres fredelige demonstrasjoner mot ICE og autoritære krefter i USA. Kampen de kjemper minner oss om at vi aldri må ta demokratiet for gitt.

Let me correct this for you Reuters.

Anne Applebaum, so often read for her insightful work on authoritarianism and democratic decline, writing beautifully about Henry James's Venice instead. Delightful.

The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred.
It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become

Fem år siden stormingen av Kongressen, og vi kan vel konkludere med at den største feilen som har blitt begått i USA i dette århundre var å ikke straffeforfølge Trump og slenge alle involverte i fengsel. Demokratier som ikke klarer å forsvare seg selv, dør.

De gikk til voldelig angrep på det amerikanske demokratiet. Trump satte dem fri - Filter Nyheter Flere 6. januar-opprørere var del av ytre høyre-militser, hadde rulleblad fra tidligere, eller var så voldelige at de ble nektet løslatelse fra varetekt.

I dag er det fem år siden det høyreekstreme angrepet på Kongressen i USA, som var kulminasjonen av trumpistenes kuppforsøk etter det tapte 2020-valget. En av Trumps første ordre da han ble president på nytt i fjor var å sette alle voldsmennene fri. Les om 15 av dem her (fra juli 2025):

EU-medlemskap gir Norge et bedre forsvar på flere måter.

Den helt umiddelbare effekten er at som EU-medlem er vi en *høyere prioritert alliert* for land som Frankrike, Tyskland, Polen, Italia osv.

Det gir bedre muligheter for at vi eksempelvis får *nok hjelp* til å håndtere aggresjon mot Svalbard.

It’s been a long and tough year. I hate NYE / NYD because of unrealistic expectations at times, that deflate us as the year rolls out. But this year, I want hope for everyone. An end to armed conflict for everyone. A commitment to community and not isolation. Building alongside one another. HNY!

KRONIKK: 2026 blir et prøvelsens år for EU og Europa Oppgavene står i kø, skriver Jozef Bátora og Iver B. Neumann.

2026 blir et prøvelsens år for EU og Europa. Også vi i Norge må henge med i svingene. Bra av Iver B. Neumann & Jozef Bátora.

The story was always already about an impoverished unmarried couple facing a pitiless bureaucracy, having a baby in a barn, and then having to hide from a tyrant. The baby grew up to say that the poor were blessed and the neighbor is he who shows mercy. You can’t hide from the politics of all that.

Fin video å ha når AI-bobla sprekker. Da kan vi bruke den som eksempel på et par ting. Ikke fyll organisasjonen din med religiøse bullshitere. Og helt spesifikt, ansett en fagperson og ikke en milliardær som sjef for Oljefondet.

4/ They put this video on LinkedIn on purpose. And I can’t tell if they had a zoomer video editor trolling them (and they didn’t notice), or if this is an actual honest to god reenactment of the LinkedIn influencer who wakes up at 3 am to drink a green smoothie, hashtag hustle culture or whatever.

YouTube video by Interintellect Anna Gát and Anne Applebaum: The Autocratic Moment: Myth or Reality?

A very interesting talk with Anne Applebaum

‘It’s frightening’: How far right is infiltrating everyday culture Extremist messaging now woven into music and YouTube videos, with one expert saying: ‘You can be radicalised sitting on your couch’

C-REX affiliate @drkondor.bsky.social tells The Guardian how extremist messaging is woven through cultural aspects of everyday life, both online and offline. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Kristina Gjerde, defender of the deep ocean, has died Half the planet lies outside any country’s border. In those waters, rules have long been thinner than the myths: freedom to fish meant freedom to take; “out of sight” became “out of mind.” The deep oc...

Kristina Gjerde was a mentor to me in high seas policy. I, and many others, owe our careers to her.

May her memory be a blessing.

news.mongabay.com/2025/12/kris...

ICC strongly rejects new U.S. sanctions designations against two ICC Judges The International Criminal Court deplores the announcement of new designations for sanctions by the US administration against Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze (Georgia) and Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin (Mongolia). These additional designations follow the earlier designation of nine elected officials of the Judiciary and the Office of the Prosecutor, drawn from all regional groups.These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its States Parties from across regions. Such measures targeting judges and prosecutors who were elected by the States Parties undermine the rule of law. When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.As previously stated, the Court stands firmly behind its personnel and behind victims of unimaginable atrocities. It will continue to carry out its mandate with independence and impartiality, in full accordance with the Rome Statute and in the interest of victims of international crimes.The ICC values the consistent demonstrations of solidarity of States Parties, civil society and all those who support the rule of law and justice for the victims of international crimes. The Court will continue its work, with all partners, to ensure the effective and independent implementation of its mandate.For more information, please contact the ICC Public Affairs Unit: PublicAffairs.Unit@icc-cpi.int. You can also follow the Court’s activities on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Flickr

Norway deeply regrets new US sanctions against judges of the International Criminal Court.

Norway unequivocally supports the ICC and urges all states to refrain from actions that could compromise its ability to perform its mandate impartially and independently #ICC

www.icc-cpi.int/news/icc-str...

Very interesting analysis of a recent universal jurisdiction case from Finland. Recommended reading!

I feel like a broken record telling media, universities, and think tanks that falling in line and enabling an authoritarian takeover won't save you from the authoritarian's reprisals. It just marks you as an idiot who can be squeezed for more concessions.

YouTube video by Munich Security Conference Kaja Kallas on #Russian Negotiation Tactics #shorts

Everyone should see this YouTube Short with EUs top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Russian Negotiation Techniques.
youtube.com/shorts/u1cTR...

This period of history is going to suck. All CEOs and politicians have turned into the most annoying Blockchain Bros.

If anyone is wondering why the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is funding this bubble…

Poland’s Rule-of-Law Repair: Trapped in Institutional Paralysis? Summary

🇵🇱 Two years since taking office in Poland, the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has made limited progress in repairing the rule of law.

GMF’s ReThink.CEE Fellow Anna Wójcik explains how political stalemate and looming elections leave Poland stuck in a limited phase of repair.

Elon Musk making a nazi salute

I have - in all seriousness - a retired European Commission Director General arguing on my LinkedIn that European Commissioners should keep posting on X as "could you chart the right policy course without being immersed in the whole range of the debate"

What bit of this from Musk does he not get?

Trump’s National Security Strategy: Atlas Shrugs Hopefully the policy document won’t have much to do with the administration’s actions.

The 1930s called, they want their foreign policy back

This Jewish Playwright's Show Was Cancelled Because of Anti-DEI Initiatives:

Zoe Senese-Grossberg's play 'Boy My Greatness,' a historical fiction piece about the boys who played Shakespeare’s women, was cancelled at the University of Central Oklahoma due to anti-DEI initiatives: buff.ly/6JxwjNt

Holly Case · Thin Pink Glaze: Habsburg Legacies We still live in the long shadow of Habsburg disintegration. In addition to the lingering legacy of 19th-century state...

A wise review by Holly Case of an excellent book by Iryna Vushko.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonas Bals med nye råd til antifascistisk arbeid Nå handler det om å stoppe normaliseringen av hverdagsfascismen, mener Jonas Bals

Ikke bidra til å normalisere fascisme.

Blitt intervjuet av Fri Fagbevegelse:

same

Oh look lawfare against political opponents

The Grift Bubble A Political Theory of American Collapse

"The Grift Bubble: A Political Theory of American Collapse"
"Those who work against the grifters... may be acting from love, or from law, because they know that these things are real. And so they should also know, in acting thus, that they are the patriots."
snyder.substack.com/p/the-grift-...