Rym Momtaz ريم ممتاز

A special moment: Returning home from international travel to find physical Advanced Readers Copies of my first book in the mail!

WE SHALL OUTLAST THEM is now available for pre-order @wwnorton.com. Out August 4.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

"France has implicitly recognized its dwindling ability to impose its will on others or shape its strat envt on its own. As such, it has softened its obsession with constantly leading and instead now seeks coalition-building and partnership, focusing on what it can do. Just as middle powers must."

It is the Chinese year of the horse. It is the same for the russian army.

Friedrich Merz says fighter jet project fails to meet Germany’s needs Chancellor’s comments contradict Emmanuel Macron and hint at probable unravelling of the Future Combat Air System

Not gonna lie, I found Merz’s comments on FCAS in this podcast incredibly weird. Like, you can’t jus casually mention, after 9 years and millions of Euros spent that maybe you aren’t looking for the same thing.

Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Attract Foreign Investment and Reduce Dependencies? EU member states clash over how to boost the union’s competitiveness: Some want to favor European industries in public procurement, while others worry this could deter foreign investment. So, can the ...

Can the EU reduce dependencies and attract foreign investment at the same time? Hot topic at today's informal European Council - my thoughts for @carnegieendowment.org 's 'Taking the Pulse': carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

Majority of Europeans sees the US as a necessary partner, but not an ally.
Gotta say, I did not expect Switzerland to be the most sceptical country of all.

Source: ecfr.eu/publication/...

Breakdown of today's vote in the EP on the Ukraine loan facility with a new type of graph by member state.

This shows neatly the huge support in the Nordics and Baltics, the low one in France (due to the RN) and the stark exception of Hungary, where even the opposition Tisza Party voted against.

With the clock ticking down on Trump’s tariff deadline, and EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič in Washington, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took a family vacation to Italy, according to Politico’s Brussels Playbook

www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

US trade deficit with the EU has climbed to record-high levels since Trump's return to White House
• US trade deficit with EU widened by 97% year on year in first quarter of 2025, to US$96bn
• Data highlight how US firms frontloaded imports ahead of implementation of Trump's tariffs

More of Lavrov's statements from an interview with a Hungarian Magyar Nemzet media. If you've been following the war for any time, you will see nothing new here. So Russia has no willingness to end the war.

Source: magyarnemzet.hu/kulfold/2025/0…

The bear beneath the ice: Russia’s ambitions in the Arctic Russia is rapidly developing—and militarising—its Arctic territory as a strategic priority, even amid its war on Ukraine. Add Trump’s coveting of Greenland to the mix, and the next confrontation in…

Away from the discussions at the BRICS summit today, Russia is pursuing an independent policy agenda in the arctic.
"Europeans need to situate Russia’s growing ambitions in the region within Moscow’s broader strategic aims", write Mikhail Komin and Joanna Hosa in their policy brief 👉

😁😁
Je ne sais pas si c'est bon signe ou mauvais signe vu les enjeux...

The Small Window for an EU-U.S. Diplomatic Push on Iran To turn U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program into a long-term resolution, Washington should seize the moment and cooperate with France, Germany, and the UK on diplomatic talks.

Despite their geopolitical impotence on UKR and Gaza, Euros cld be helpful on 3 central aspects:restoring inspections of Iran nuke facilities, influencing Tehran’s LT calculus, and helping get a broader agreement that reduces the ISR gov’s pretexts to resume war
carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

Sefcovic is the latest EU official to call time on the end of freewheeling global trade

"Those days are behind us"

OH the irony.

Razor-Thin and Deeply Divided: The Polish Election Shock The election of populist Karol Nawrocki as Poland’s president poses challenges to the country’s reform agenda and deeper EU integration. Yet, the narrow result underscores that Poland still has a stro...

Ahead of the July 11 Polish parliament confidence vote on Tusk's govt (which he called for), read this by
@susmonika.bsky.social assessing just how responsible Tusk and his coalition were for the presidential win by Nawrocki, the populist backed by PiS.
carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

🎙️ Excellent épisode du Collimateur d’ @alexjubelin.bsky.social avec @rmomtaz.bsky.social, @rikefranke.bsky.social et @elietenenbaum.bsky.social.
Discussions très pertinentes et éclairantes sur la place de l’Europe et la notion de pouvoir géopolitique.

Ukraine : ce que peuvent les négociations [Le Casque et la Plume #12] Alors que des négociations s'ouvrent une nouvelle fois à Istanbul entre Russie et Ukraine, le "Casque et la plume" revient sur leurs perspectives et le rapport de force, avec @RymMomtaz, @RikeFranke e...

le possible "une zone d'interdiction aérienne" ça ne se fait pas Pourquoi? Parce qu'on a peur des Russes nous dit @rmomtaz.bsky.social d'où les rodomontades européennes Excellent épisode merci @alexjubelin.bsky.social @elietenenbaum.bsky.social @rikefranke.bsky.social
lerubicon.org/collimateur-...

🇪🇺🇮🇱 Should the European Union suspend its association agreement with Israel?
@amelieferey.bsky.social, Research Fellow at Ifri's Security Studies Center, shares her analysis in @carnegieendowment.org's latest commentary. ⤵️
www.ifri.org/en/media-ext...

@rmomtaz.bsky.social

The Irresistible Plan Europeans Can Offer Trump to Save NATO At the next NATO summit, Europeans have an opportunity to set new conditions for decades to come. They can strengthen the alliance by committing to a timeline that allows for a U.S. drawdown while pre...

At the #NATO summit, Europeans have an opportunity to set new conditions for decades to come.

They can strengthen the alliance by committing to a timeline that allows for a US drawdown while preserving American strategic enablers, argues @rmomtaz.bsky.social.

carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

Moscow's way of signalling that "denazification" is still part of its game ( along with neutralisation, demilitarisation and annexation)

When they roll out and enforce the so-called "massive sanctions" *in coordination with the US* as they threatened Sunday then we can say they did it. Half measures and incremental measures aren't good enough anymore.

Also serving in the US military is one of the fast-tracks to citizenship for foreigners...

In the space of 5 days we’ve gone from a 24h ultimatum and “massive sanctions” bearing down on Russia, supposedly in coordination w/US, to Euros saying “we’ll continue to coordinate [with US etc] to define a united response”

START'EM YOUNG!

Rubio: only way to get breakthrough is for Trump and Putin to meet.
Basically rewarding Putin w/summit for rejecting every demand.

So much for terrible consequences the Euros threatened, claiming coordination w/US, if Putin refused unconditional ceasefire +no progress in TUR.

Narrator’s voice “Germany did not, in fact, spend 5% on defence”.

(This is still helpful in the debate)

Interesting but let's actually see how that would happen concretely.

Why Europeans Should Impose a Ceasefire in Ukraine The meeting of EU leaders in Ukraine underscored their reliance on the United States for game-changing actions to end Russia’s war. But Europeans can influence military efforts on the ground, includin...

FR FM says Euro sanctioning 194 RUS oil tankers, 31 entities providing weapons, banks etc.

Why not start by stopping Euro purchasing of RUS oil and gas. Since the price cap was intro, the EU as a whole has been the 4th largest purchaser as I wrote here:

carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...