Ulrike Franke

God this is dystopian. Ad in Paris Metro for an AI “friend”.

Macron Wants to Put Europe Under France’s Nuclear Umbrella The changes to France’s nuclear posture that Macron announced this week could reshape nuclear deterrence in Europe for years to come.

Macron’s announcement of a new French nuclear posture—including the possible deployment of French nuclear-capable aircraft to allied territories—represents a momentous shift for European deterrence, WPR columnist @rikefranke.bsky.social writes.

Ok but again, how has WOTR changed “not for the better”? I am genuinely curious.

Thanks! Will read. But to be clear, do you reckon WOTR shouldn’t have published it?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

What do you take issue with?

When you look at the website it’s just 😳

“Less needy than a dog”, just 🫠

God this is dystopian. Ad in Paris Metro for an AI “friend”.

Spot on

Macron Wants to Put Europe Under France’s Nuclear Umbrella The changes to France’s nuclear posture that Macron announced this week could reshape nuclear deterrence in Europe for years to come.

My latest column for @wpr.bsky.social in which I argue that Macron’s nuclear speech really was groundbreaking and should get more attention

(and please: I did not chose the title! All mistakes in the text are mine, but the title is not.)

Chasing True AI Autonomy: From Legacy Mindsets to Battlefield Dominance Western militaries are still arguing over what “autonomy” means while Russia and China are already building machines that don’t need GPS, data links, or

This article would not have been possible only a few years ago – and I don’t mean from a tech viewpoint, but from an ethical one. 5 years ago, this article would have numerous references to ethical debates, discussions at the CCW in Geneva and more.
warontherocks.com/2025/12/chas...

Macron Wants to Put Europe Under France’s Nuclear Umbrella The changes to France’s nuclear posture that Macron announced this week could reshape nuclear deterrence in Europe for years to come.

The changes to France’s nuclear posture that Macron announced this week could reshape deterrence on the continent for years to come, @rikefranke.bsky.social writes.

Who can reply: anyone, nobody, people who can be normal about it.

trying out a new feature, lmk if it works

Gotta love how academic books don't earn you money, but LLMs can make money off of stealing them in the aggregate and if you write enough, they can also profit from stealing your personality after you are dead.

AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases

“In 95 per cent of the simulated games, at least one tactical nuclear weapon was deployed by the AI models. “The nuclear taboo doesn’t seem to be as powerful for machines [as] for humans,” says Payne.”

www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

Rutte 👇

Swiss defence ambitions run into ‘political blockade’ Push for more assertive role in European security clashes with Switzerland’s ‘debt brake’ and neutrality politics

Things are moving on Swiss defence, but it’s not straight forward

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Swiss defence ambitions run into ‘political blockade’

La dissuasion avancée : le discours intégral d'Emmanuel Macron « Nous entrons sur le chemin de la dissuasion avancée. » Alors que 6 Européens sur 10 soutiennent l’extension de la dissuasion nucléaire française à toute l’Union, dans son discours de l’île Longue, ...

Full text of the speech. The deployment of nuclear armed aircraft to other Europeans is quite something.

legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2026/03/0...

French nukes: It's hard to overstate how much of a sea change it is that countries such as the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Germany are open to talking with France about nuclear deterrence. We have been getting used to it — but it's a major, major shift.

Swiss defence ambitions run into ‘political blockade’ Push for more assertive role in European security clashes with Switzerland’s ‘debt brake’ and neutrality politics

Things are moving on Swiss defence, but it’s not straight forward

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Swiss defence ambitions run into ‘political blockade’

Raytheon Executive: I know you’re skeptical about buying American again. But hear me out. The MIM-104 Patriot is the only surface to air missile system with a proven track record of success against the US Air Force.

Danish Defense Minister: Continue.

EN DIRECT, discours d’Emmanuel Macron sur le nucléaire : le chef de l’Etat annonce que la France va augmenter le nombre de ses têtes nucléaires « Nous ne communiquerons plus sur les chiffres de notre arsenal nucléaire », a dit le chef de l’Etat, annonçant également qu’un futur sous-marin nucléaire, “l’Invincible”, « naviguera en 2036 ». Il a ...

You can watch Macron’s nuclear speech here:

www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

I am not joking when I say that in the last three years in Paris I have waited for longer in supermarket queues than in my 12 years in London. In total minutes I mean.

I can *so* relate to a lot of this! (despite not being Irish).

Cool new reading.
By @laurederoucy.bsky.social

Trump’s State of the Union Speech Put His Contradictions Front and Center Trump’s isolationist leanings are continually in conflict with his belief that America, under his leadership, is still the “indispensable nation.”

Does Trump want an America focused on guarding the Western Hemisphere, or an America focused on saving the rest of the world?

His State of the Union address, columnist @profpaulpoast.bsky.social writes, suggested Trump himself may not even know.

one fascinating thing about modern culture is that international militias now do promo trailers to announce their aims

Ireland signs agreement with France for joint military training and intel sharing Up to €2 billion of military equipment to be purchased from France in coming years

On this topic

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Ja exakt in der Mitte der französischen Winterferien… 😳

"If we look at Ukraine, one or two drones equates to about 20 rounds of artillery in lethality and accuracy."

Alistair Carns MP on how the lessons from drone warfare in Ukraine are being applied to UK defence strategy and procurement⤵️