Anthony Zacharzewski
@anthonyzach.be
Working to make European democracy work. "Refreshingly free of the usual platitudes". Belge par choix, Brits door opvoeding, Polish roots. President of Demsoc.org
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Corruption.
GOP operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, convicted election fraudsters, were paid $960,000 in the second quarter to secure a pardon for a former nursing-home operator who defrauded the government of $38 million. Trump pardoned the man, Joseph Schwartz, last month.
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Corruption.
Wrapped the last presents and reminded again how the cadeauverpakking service most shops here offer is a major aesthetic upgrade on what I have to offer.
December 25, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Wrapped the last presents and reminded again how the cadeauverpakking service most shops here offer is a major aesthetic upgrade on what I have to offer.
Merry Christmas everyone. Here is the most policy wonk decoration on our tree.
December 25, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Merry Christmas everyone. Here is the most policy wonk decoration on our tree.
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
How delicately a Romanesque angel uses the lightest touch of a finger to wake one of the magi, snuggled with the other 2 under their embroidered circular blanket at St Lazare, Autun, c1130 (& how beautifully the textures of pillow & blanket are represented).
Season's greetings to you all!
Season's greetings to you all!
December 25, 2025 at 7:01 AM
How delicately a Romanesque angel uses the lightest touch of a finger to wake one of the magi, snuggled with the other 2 under their embroidered circular blanket at St Lazare, Autun, c1130 (& how beautifully the textures of pillow & blanket are represented).
Season's greetings to you all!
Season's greetings to you all!
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Alle maskers vallen af. De EU moet kapot, vindt Trump-trouwe Denktank. Waarom? Omdat de EU als enige nog een vuist maakt in de westerse wereld tegen de techgiganten en Amerikaanse monopoliehouders. Als dat geen schallend compliment voor de kracht van de EU is! nos.nl/l/2595747
Trump-denktank pleit openlijk voor einde Europese Unie
"Ik zie geen enkel toekomstscenario waarin Europa beter af is mét het voortbestaan van de Europese Unie dan zonder", zegt Nile Gardiner, Europadirecteur van de Heritage Foundation.
nos.nl
December 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Alle maskers vallen af. De EU moet kapot, vindt Trump-trouwe Denktank. Waarom? Omdat de EU als enige nog een vuist maakt in de westerse wereld tegen de techgiganten en Amerikaanse monopoliehouders. Als dat geen schallend compliment voor de kracht van de EU is! nos.nl/l/2595747
Badge of hono(u)r
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
The State Department is barring five Europeans it accuses of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
apnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Badge of hono(u)r
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
People always yell at me when I say it's important to keep up on what's going on in the rural US, but it truly is if you want to understand larger cultural forces, and if you're not familiar with the constitutional sheriff movement, this is a good primer.
The Myth of the Constitutional Sheriff
How Richard Mack led the rise off the constitutional sheriff movement, one of the most serious threats to American democracy since the Civil War.
barnraisingmedia.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:38 PM
People always yell at me when I say it's important to keep up on what's going on in the rural US, but it truly is if you want to understand larger cultural forces, and if you're not familiar with the constitutional sheriff movement, this is a good primer.
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Really perceptive piece, by two of my brilliant @jhu.edu colleagues, @himself.bsky.social and @radchenko.bsky.social.
Trump and Putin share a craving for status. That’s why they both want to destroy Europe | Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko
Trump and Putin share a craving for status. That’s why they both want to destroy Europe | Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko
Liberal democracies view Putin’s Russia as a bully – and Trump’s US as an angry drunk with a bazooka. The response is pure venom, say Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko of Johns Hopkins
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Really perceptive piece, by two of my brilliant @jhu.edu colleagues, @himself.bsky.social and @radchenko.bsky.social.
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Pleased to see this piece. Personally, I find these uses of synthetic data v concerning and I find the traction and endorsements that this work has to be quite baffling, esp given the well-storied role of algorithmic targeting in undermining democracy
"We risk inheriting a future in which institutions answer to synthetic publics rather than real ones" rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/researc...
Research Radar: Synthetic Data Is Redefining Representation
As governments experiment with AI to simulate public opinion, new questions are emerging about who these systems truly represent. This Research Radar examines the Collective Intelligence Project’s Dig...
rebootdemocracy.ai
December 22, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Pleased to see this piece. Personally, I find these uses of synthetic data v concerning and I find the traction and endorsements that this work has to be quite baffling, esp given the well-storied role of algorithmic targeting in undermining democracy
Keeping the far right out of power is more about what the centre right do than about what socialists or liberals do - and it looks like the French centre right are totally failing the test. www.politico.eu/article/fran...
Could France’s conservatives really work with Le Pen? It’s no longer unthinkable.
Could Charles de Gaulle’s political heirs really partner with a party whose founders included Nazi sympathizers?
www.politico.eu
December 23, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Keeping the far right out of power is more about what the centre right do than about what socialists or liberals do - and it looks like the French centre right are totally failing the test. www.politico.eu/article/fran...
Time to PNG Jeff Landry, Denmark…
Trump says he’s appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as “special envoy” to Greenland.
Landry has previously expressed support for Trump’s plan to invade Greenland.
Landry has previously expressed support for Trump’s plan to invade Greenland.
December 22, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Time to PNG Jeff Landry, Denmark…
Entirely correct ranking, at least for the top one.
#145: What is the best commune in Brussels - 2025 edition
Rated and slated, here is the DEFINITIVE LIST of the best and worst communes in Brussels, from 19 to 1.
See you in the comments section...
Rated and slated, here is the DEFINITIVE LIST of the best and worst communes in Brussels, from 19 to 1.
See you in the comments section...
#145: What is the best commune in Brussels - 2025 edition
The definitive list of best and worst Brussels communes, from 19 to 1, RANKED.
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Entirely correct ranking, at least for the top one.
This is a very good briefing from @rusi.bsky.social - particularly worth noting the point that far right parties don’t need to win to weaken the resolve of Europe.
www.rusi.org/explore-our-...
«2025 offered the most generous potential off-ramp for putin. He rejected it.»
«2025 offered the most generous potential off-ramp for putin. He rejected it.»
Russia is Losing – Time for Putin's 2026 Hybrid Escalation
2025 offered the most generous potential off-ramp for Vladimir Putin. He rejected it.
www.rusi.org
December 21, 2025 at 8:02 AM
This is a very good briefing from @rusi.bsky.social - particularly worth noting the point that far right parties don’t need to win to weaken the resolve of Europe.
Been a while since I’ve been this high up. Opera Vlaanderen for Don Giovanni with @dzyrl.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Been a while since I’ve been this high up. Opera Vlaanderen for Don Giovanni with @dzyrl.bsky.social
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
This is someone you want to follow if you follow European geopolitics (perhaps this is more geofinance?)
A few quick thoughts about this morning's decision. Don't believe the spin from various Russians & others: it's a big deal. The EU has now unambiguously demonstrated that it is able and willing to provide the external financial support Ukraine needs, for as long and as much as it takes. (1/N)
December 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
This is someone you want to follow if you follow European geopolitics (perhaps this is more geofinance?)
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Why do citizens who say they support democracy tolerate leaders who dismantle it? Delighted to share my paper “Framing Democracy: How Elite Discourse Shapes Citizens' Understandings of Democracy and Enables Backsliding” is forthcoming in World Politics...(1/5, link at the end)
December 19, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Why do citizens who say they support democracy tolerate leaders who dismantle it? Delighted to share my paper “Framing Democracy: How Elite Discourse Shapes Citizens' Understandings of Democracy and Enables Backsliding” is forthcoming in World Politics...(1/5, link at the end)
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Text from my kid: Walking to ____ now
Suggested reply: Drive safe
I mean, yes, I do try to make it hard for my phone to spy on my so this is partially my fault. But also autofill cannot seem to figure out "walking" as a possibility.
Suggested reply: Drive safe
I mean, yes, I do try to make it hard for my phone to spy on my so this is partially my fault. But also autofill cannot seem to figure out "walking" as a possibility.
Because I don’t own a car and this is incomprehensible to US tech firms, Apple Maps keeps hinting that I might want to go back to my parked car (in the car rental return lot at Albuquerque airport).
December 19, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Text from my kid: Walking to ____ now
Suggested reply: Drive safe
I mean, yes, I do try to make it hard for my phone to spy on my so this is partially my fault. But also autofill cannot seem to figure out "walking" as a possibility.
Suggested reply: Drive safe
I mean, yes, I do try to make it hard for my phone to spy on my so this is partially my fault. But also autofill cannot seem to figure out "walking" as a possibility.
Because I don’t own a car and this is incomprehensible to US tech firms, Apple Maps keeps hinting that I might want to go back to my parked car (in the car rental return lot at Albuquerque airport).
December 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Because I don’t own a car and this is incomprehensible to US tech firms, Apple Maps keeps hinting that I might want to go back to my parked car (in the car rental return lot at Albuquerque airport).
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Because our politics is in such a terrible place, I think we downplay quite how awful Kemi Badenoch has been.
In any other era the leader of the Conservatives saying 'only migrants commit sex crimes - mass deportations now' would have not just been career ending but would've sunk the whole party
In any other era the leader of the Conservatives saying 'only migrants commit sex crimes - mass deportations now' would have not just been career ending but would've sunk the whole party
December 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Because our politics is in such a terrible place, I think we downplay quite how awful Kemi Badenoch has been.
In any other era the leader of the Conservatives saying 'only migrants commit sex crimes - mass deportations now' would have not just been career ending but would've sunk the whole party
In any other era the leader of the Conservatives saying 'only migrants commit sex crimes - mass deportations now' would have not just been career ending but would've sunk the whole party
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Ik gaf een nogal deprimerend eindejaarsinterview aan @markla94.bsky.social van het NRC Handelsblad.
Cas Mudde: ‘Mensen worden opgesloten in detentiekampen. Daar ben ik panisch voor’
Populisme: Zijn hele leven schreef politicoloog Cas Mudde, die al zeventien jaar in de VS woont en werkt, over radicaal-rechts populisme. Maar nu dat om hem heen de realiteit is, is hij stilgevallen. ...
www.nrc.nl
December 18, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Ik gaf een nogal deprimerend eindejaarsinterview aan @markla94.bsky.social van het NRC Handelsblad.
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
An inevitable outcome of monetizing social media content and prioritising engagement
December 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
An inevitable outcome of monetizing social media content and prioritising engagement
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Lol, I think the Labour Party is the only political organisation in the entire world with enough self-loathing to listen to a guy tell them that the last 80 years of their party, including every majority government they ever had, was a mistake and then make them head of strategy.
One interesting nugget in this piece could explain the (otherwise baffling) appearance of Ramsay MacDonald in a 2024 Labour Party Election Broadcast
December 18, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Lol, I think the Labour Party is the only political organisation in the entire world with enough self-loathing to listen to a guy tell them that the last 80 years of their party, including every majority government they ever had, was a mistake and then make them head of strategy.
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
That was called "freedom of movement"...
Nonetheless I've always thought we should have an Erasmus-like scheme for people who weren't in education. Just take a checkout worker at Aldi in Plymouth and let them be a checkout worker at Aldi in Bruges for a year or something. Never does harm to let people see a bit of the world.
Important point: university isn't just for posh kids; Erasmus+ gives non-posh kids same chance as posh kids to study abroad, which they otherwise wdn't have; & covers vocational & other non-university training & education exchanges. And if more students come to the UK, that increases UK soft power.
December 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
That was called "freedom of movement"...
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Quite funny - in the Brabant village of Wouw there is an angry campaign against plans to build an asylum centre (AZC). Facebook groups, protests, big banners saying “NO AZC HERE” by the road.
But there are no plans to build a centre and never have been. It’s an online fantasy
nos.nl/artikel/2595...
But there are no plans to build a centre and never have been. It’s an online fantasy
nos.nl/artikel/2595...
Spandoeken en petitie tegen azc in Wouw, terwijl de gemeente geen plannen heeft
"Ik snap niet waar de geruchten vandaan komen", zei wethouder Paul de Beer (Ruimtelijke Ordening) bij een raadsvergadering begin deze maand.
nos.nl
December 18, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Quite funny - in the Brabant village of Wouw there is an angry campaign against plans to build an asylum centre (AZC). Facebook groups, protests, big banners saying “NO AZC HERE” by the road.
But there are no plans to build a centre and never have been. It’s an online fantasy
nos.nl/artikel/2595...
But there are no plans to build a centre and never have been. It’s an online fantasy
nos.nl/artikel/2595...
Great news, but shame it's reported with images of Oxbridge colleges rather than a more normal university - or indeed someone at work, because the "plus" in Erasmus plus is about vocational learning - the perspiring dreams more than the dreaming spires.
British students will once again be able to take part in the EU's Erasmus+ exchange scheme from January 2027 — following a six-year hiatus due to Brexit.
UK rejoins EU’s Erasmus exchange scheme after Brexit hiatus
Brussels and London also say they will finish talks on carbon and agri-food deals by middle of 2026
www.politico.eu
December 17, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Great news, but shame it's reported with images of Oxbridge colleges rather than a more normal university - or indeed someone at work, because the "plus" in Erasmus plus is about vocational learning - the perspiring dreams more than the dreaming spires.