Andrew Stroehlein
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andrewstroehlein.bsky.social
Andrew Stroehlein
@andrewstroehlein.bsky.social
Subscribe to my free newsletter, "International Affairs for Normal People": https://www.internationalaffairsfornormalpeople.eu/
Other links: https://linktr.ee/andrewstroehlein
"Fromm argued that the rise of fascism could be explained in part by people preferring to surrender their freedom in exchange for the reassuring certainty of subordination. AI offers a new way of surrendering that burden of having to think & decide for yourself"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Our king, priest and feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages | Joseph de Weck
Since the Enlightenment, we’ve been making our own decisions. But now AI may be about to change that, says Joseph de Weck, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by Andrew Stroehlein
The banality of evil.
“Like Prime, but with human beings.”
December 26, 2025 at 5:31 AM
"Only the bullies & petty fascists of the Trump administration could miss the irony of decrying 'speech suppression' while using state power to silence critics engaging in protected speech."

Indeed. The Trump regime is in a haze, drunk on abusing power.

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Two British anti-hate speech campaigners sanctioned by US state department – UK politics live
Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford among five Europeans hit with visa bans over claims they wish to ‘suppress American viewpoints they oppose’
www.theguardian.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:21 PM
A must watch - particularly because they tried to censor it.

The Trump regime is sending people to be tortured.
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 7:54 AM
If you attend a performance here, if you perform here - you are collaborating in the establishment of authoritarianism in the US.
edition.cnn.com/2025/12/19/p...
Kennedy Center gets new signage bearing Trump’s name | CNN Politics
New signage is being installed at Washington, DC’s performing arts center on Friday to include President Donald Trump’s name.
edition.cnn.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Understandable. It's not just a matter of doing a find-and-replace for "Trump" to change it to "Redacted". There are email addresses and photos and all sorts of things that need fixing.
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
DOJ won’t meet Friday deadline to release all the Epstein files
The delay means the White House is in apparent conflict with a law President Donald Trump signed in November.
www.politico.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Nostalgia for past dictators is strange - but explained well here:
www.spectator.com.au/2025/12/a-la...
A late Congolese ruler with a new following | The Spectator Australia
At the exit of the National Museum in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a whiteboard…
www.spectator.com.au
December 19, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Is anyone on Monnett ?
December 19, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Right or left, right or wrong, whatever you thought of the USA over the past few decades, you surely thought it was at least a serious country with a serious government. That’s all gone now. And all the wolves waiting in the wings see that clearly, too.
December 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Sycophants wreck decency and democracy. The level of national embarrassment is off the chart.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, White House says
The board of the performing arts centre, which was appointed by Trump, voted to rename it to honour him, the White House press secretary says.
www.bbc.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:20 PM
This is disturbing. A foreign power - cough, cough, Russia - was trying to get remote control of a huge ferry?
www.rfi.fr/en/internati...
France probes 'foreign interference' after malware found on ferry
France is probing possible foreign interference after a Latvian national was arrested and charged over the discovery on a passenger ferry of malware capable of allowing the vessel's operating systems…
www.rfi.fr
December 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Andrew Stroehlein
In Memory of Gyula Balog (1959-2025), an inspiring housing rights and anti-poverty activist

Here is a brief reflection on behalf of @hrw.org to express our condolences, as Gyula’s friends and colleagues lay him to rest today in Budapest.

Rest in power, Gyula bacsi!

www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...
December 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
"...authors [of the new US security strategy] focus on one enemy ideology. ...not Chinese communism, Russian autocracy, or Islamic extremism but rather European liberal democracy ... people who talk about transparency, accountability, civil rights, & rule of law"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Longest Suicide Note in American History
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy targets liberal democracy itself.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Andrew Stroehlein
“When they compare notes, everyone analysing a country develops a similar mindset. The status quo seems unshakable. Regimes seem firm, not fragile.
And then, they fall apart.”
Another great read from Andrew. Although I never get anything wrong, so…
December 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Andrew Stroehlein
OTD in 2021 Russian MFA denied any preparations against Ukraine or aggressive intentions.

She was half right. We weren’t prepared.
December 16, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Is this a real commitment? Or is it a worthless Trump promise?
www.politico.eu/article/volo...
Zelenskyy: US considers giving Ukraine security guarantees corresponding to NATO Article 5
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also hailed a ‘really big step forward.’
www.politico.eu
December 15, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Bizarre, yet fully in line with the absurd distraction and other-blaming the Trump regime is well-known for.

The idea that undocumented immigrants - people who can't even vote - are responsible for the fact that the US has the worst healthcare system in the industrialized world...

Who buys this?
December 14, 2025 at 5:10 PM
"Americans, especially those in positions of power, must find the courage to stand up for what is right, even when doing so carries personal risk."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I’m a Chinese pro-democracy activist. Here’s how to find courage to oppose Trump | Yaqiu Wang
While acting on your moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Interesting summary of the "Palmoli affair" in Italy - a look at "the political utility of moral panic."
translatormag.substack.com/p/dispatch-4...
Dispatch #44 - Guest Edited by Jamie Mackay
Read about a rural custody case weaponised by the right, Venice’s transformation into a monitored playground, and how maranza panic became Italy’s latest racialised moral crusade.
translatormag.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
"I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate & division. They are given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness & empathy seem to be scarcer & scarcer. I felt I couldn’t pamper myself with the luxury of silence.”
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...
Comedian Robin Ince quits Radio 4 show, claiming BBC found his views ‘problematic’
Ince says he resigned as co-host of Infinite Monkey Cage because of what he described as his lack of ‘obedience’
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:24 AM
"...19 photos, some of which have been seen before, represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee looking into actions & connections of Epstein..."
And this is the so-called "opposition party"?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
House Democrats release Epstein photos with Trump, Bannon, Clinton and others
Notable figures in the batch of images include Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Woody Allen and Bill Gates
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Andrew Stroehlein
You cannot "out far-right" the far-right: 🧵
December 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This - or maybe like thinking, if I just let the croc rip my leg off, it may not eat the rest of me.
I heard that strategy called feeding the crocodile. You keep going until you run out of food, and then the croc eats you.

Keep following Reform further and further to the right until you can go no further. Then you have nomalised all of that bad stuff and people vote for them anyway.
December 12, 2025 at 5:17 PM