Paul T. Levin
@paultlevin.bsky.social
Director of the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies. Managing Director Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey. Docent (Assoc. Prof.) of and pontificator on international relations. Opinionated. Painter.
Pinned
Paul T. Levin
@paultlevin.bsky.social
· Nov 1
I wrote my first Substack piece! In it, I ask if Turkey isn’t a better comparison to a second Trump administration than Nazi Germany. What can the US learn from an already autocratized Turkey? That the Washington Post is a precursor of what may come.
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
Very useful overview of the extensive Turkish operations against ISIS this year. Costly (in terms of lost lives of law enforcement personnel) operations in late December were intended to prevent alleged terrorist attacks planned for Christmas & New Year‘s eve celebrations.
Major 2025 counter‑ISIS operations in Turkey
This post is not a definitive account of ISIS activity in Türkiye in 2025, but an open-source synthesis of publicly reported operations, arrests, and one lethal confrontation. It reflects what is visible through media and official statements as of 31…
This post is not a definitive account of ISIS activity in Türkiye in 2025, but an open-source synthesis of publicly reported operations, arrests, and one lethal confrontation. It reflects what is visible through media and official statements as of 31…
Major 2025 counter‑ISIS operations in Turkey
This post is not a definitive account of ISIS activity in Türkiye in 2025, but an open-source synthesis of publicly reported operations, arrests, and one lethal confrontation. It reflects what is visible through media and official statements as of 31 December 2025, and should be read as provisional. We have witnessed a law enforcement mobilization around ISIS cells in Türkiye in 2025.
erkansaka.net
December 31, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Very useful overview of the extensive Turkish operations against ISIS this year. Costly (in terms of lost lives of law enforcement personnel) operations in late December were intended to prevent alleged terrorist attacks planned for Christmas & New Year‘s eve celebrations.
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
#UkrainianView
Yesterday, russia has revealed, step by step, how the announced 20-point security guarantees plan for Ukraine would actually work.
You can’t trust the Trump/Putin duo. It would be a suicide.
Yesterday, russia has revealed, step by step, how the announced 20-point security guarantees plan for Ukraine would actually work.
You can’t trust the Trump/Putin duo. It would be a suicide.
December 31, 2025 at 9:57 AM
#UkrainianView
Yesterday, russia has revealed, step by step, how the announced 20-point security guarantees plan for Ukraine would actually work.
You can’t trust the Trump/Putin duo. It would be a suicide.
Yesterday, russia has revealed, step by step, how the announced 20-point security guarantees plan for Ukraine would actually work.
You can’t trust the Trump/Putin duo. It would be a suicide.
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
Islamic State for the first time since January 2024 attack on a Church in Istanbul claims an event in Turkey. Yesterday's Turkish anti-terror police operation is being depicted as having being conducted against Islamic State forces in that village. #Turkey
December 30, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Islamic State for the first time since January 2024 attack on a Church in Istanbul claims an event in Turkey. Yesterday's Turkish anti-terror police operation is being depicted as having being conducted against Islamic State forces in that village. #Turkey
Subscription to my Substack is free and the numbers are small but growing. I intend to post more seldom here, so join me over there for fewer but more well-developed thoughts and comments on Turkish & international affairs, the fight for democracy, and other stuff like philosophy and art.
December 30, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Subscription to my Substack is free and the numbers are small but growing. I intend to post more seldom here, so join me over there for fewer but more well-developed thoughts and comments on Turkish & international affairs, the fight for democracy, and other stuff like philosophy and art.
Democratic leaders in Europe now have to simultaneously shift spending to defense (and away from other things) AND win elections against the populist far right parties that Putin sponsors. And that’s just one of the dilemmas they face. It’s a tall order.
Is Russia Winning? Part 4
Dilemmas for European Democrats
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Democratic leaders in Europe now have to simultaneously shift spending to defense (and away from other things) AND win elections against the populist far right parties that Putin sponsors. And that’s just one of the dilemmas they face. It’s a tall order.
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
It’s interesting how the risk awareness that dependence on US systems - be it in digital services, defence, or payment methods - has been internalised fairly quickly in Europe.
National Bank of Sweden chief says Sweden is too dependent on MasterCard and Visa and needs non-American alternatives
National Bank of Sweden chief says Sweden is too dependent on MasterCard and Visa and needs non-American alternatives
Riksbankschef Erik Thedéen: Sverige för beroende av amerikanska kreditkortsföretag - Ekot
Riksbankschef Erik Thedéen anser att Sveriges betalsystem är för beroende av amerikanska kreditkortsföretag som Mastercard och Visa.I nuläget tycker Erik ...
www.sverigesradio.se
December 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
It’s interesting how the risk awareness that dependence on US systems - be it in digital services, defence, or payment methods - has been internalised fairly quickly in Europe.
National Bank of Sweden chief says Sweden is too dependent on MasterCard and Visa and needs non-American alternatives
National Bank of Sweden chief says Sweden is too dependent on MasterCard and Visa and needs non-American alternatives
Russia is economically weak & inferior in conventional military capabilities. But as Gen. Philip Breedlove noted at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, it “is waging the most amazing information warfare blitzkrieg we have ever seen in the history of information warfare.“
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
Is Russia Winning? Part 3
The Skeptics Miss the Plot
open.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Russia is economically weak & inferior in conventional military capabilities. But as Gen. Philip Breedlove noted at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, it “is waging the most amazing information warfare blitzkrieg we have ever seen in the history of information warfare.“
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
In case you thought people like me have been exaggerating about the transatlantic rupture, the US Vice President just said that European democracy is a potential threat to the United States because the French & Brits have nuclear weapons and could elect Jihadists to power in the future.
"France and Britain have nuclear weapons. If they allow themselves to be overwhelmed with destructive moral ideas, then you allow nuclear weapons to fall in the hands of people who can actually cause very, very serious harm to the US."
December 26, 2025 at 11:21 AM
In case you thought people like me have been exaggerating about the transatlantic rupture, the US Vice President just said that European democracy is a potential threat to the United States because the French & Brits have nuclear weapons and could elect Jihadists to power in the future.
In Turkey, the regime introduced online forms and an app with which students more easily could report their teachers and professor. It is of course a sign of a healthy democracy that values free speech when the government encourages informants to report educators who engage in Wrongspeak.
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
In Turkey, the regime introduced online forms and an app with which students more easily could report their teachers and professor. It is of course a sign of a healthy democracy that values free speech when the government encourages informants to report educators who engage in Wrongspeak.
Season’s greetings from Stockholm! 🌟🎄❄️☃️
December 24, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Season’s greetings from Stockholm! 🌟🎄❄️☃️
The plans for regime change in Venezuela were hashed out in a series of meetings between the U.S. Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor. And they say there’s no interagency process!
December 24, 2025 at 9:27 AM
The plans for regime change in Venezuela were hashed out in a series of meetings between the U.S. Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor. And they say there’s no interagency process!
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
We continue to stand in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. (1/2)
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. (1/2)
December 22, 2025 at 5:21 PM
We continue to stand in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. (1/2)
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. (1/2)
Greta is a terrorist? I once wrote a course paper about civil disobedience. It was eons ago but I remember enough to be able to identify this as a textbook example of civil disobedience done well: Drawing attention to an absurd law by making the authorities arrest & charge you for violating it.
Greta Thunberg was arrested on Tuesday under terrorism laws in Britain for holding a sign that the police said showed support for the banned group Palestine Action, her lawyer and organizers of the protest said.
Greta Thunberg Arrested in U.K. at Protest Supporting Palestine Action
The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was arrested after holding a sign that the police said showed support for the group, which Britain banned this year.
nyti.ms
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Greta is a terrorist? I once wrote a course paper about civil disobedience. It was eons ago but I remember enough to be able to identify this as a textbook example of civil disobedience done well: Drawing attention to an absurd law by making the authorities arrest & charge you for violating it.
Is Russia Winning? Part 2:
Putin's war on American democracy and the Realignment of American Grand Strategy.
Putin's war on American democracy and the Realignment of American Grand Strategy.
Is Russia Winning? Part 2.
Russia's War on American Democracy.
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Is Russia Winning? Part 2:
Putin's war on American democracy and the Realignment of American Grand Strategy.
Putin's war on American democracy and the Realignment of American Grand Strategy.
Indeed. The multipolar world that is emerging as the USA retreats to its hemisphere offers opportunities for entrepreneurial and unscrupulous middle power leaders, but a world without order or rules is very dangerous for everyone.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
December 23, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Indeed. The multipolar world that is emerging as the USA retreats to its hemisphere offers opportunities for entrepreneurial and unscrupulous middle power leaders, but a world without order or rules is very dangerous for everyone.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
I’m outraged at having been so blatantly ignored by @pftompkins.bsky.social @scottaukerman.bsky.social. Had you listened to my timely reminder, we would have had all new numbers now. @cbbworld.bsky.social We are all a little poorer for it.
I have it in my calendar to remind @scottaukerman.bsky.social and @pftompkins.bsky.social to record new numbers today. This is no joke. There need to be new numbers. @cbbworld.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 11:42 AM
I’m outraged at having been so blatantly ignored by @pftompkins.bsky.social @scottaukerman.bsky.social. Had you listened to my timely reminder, we would have had all new numbers now. @cbbworld.bsky.social We are all a little poorer for it.
Detta gäller svenska ”fredsivrare” lika mycket som Trump. Som om det varit möjligt att stoppa kriget bara genom att samtala med Putin.
The "WE MUST DIALOGUE" crowd never quite explain the concrete process and sustainable outcomes dialogue should serve.
Treating dialogue as an end in itself is how Europe got in this mess in the first place.
Treating dialogue as an end in itself is how Europe got in this mess in the first place.
December 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Detta gäller svenska ”fredsivrare” lika mycket som Trump. Som om det varit möjligt att stoppa kriget bara genom att samtala med Putin.
These remarks by the Kremlin spokesman contain the usual Russian propaganda.
"Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine."
December 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
These remarks by the Kremlin spokesman contain the usual Russian propaganda.
Macron should name a special envoy for Louisiana.
US President Donald Trump named Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as his special envoy for Greenland, underscoring his determination to take control of the vast Arctic island from Denmark. ft.trib.al/4ioDzx3
December 22, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Macron should name a special envoy for Louisiana.
It is of course pure coincidence that Bari Weiss is pulling a news segment that happens to be critical of the Trump administration.
BTW, this is almost verbatim how I described that it would happen in the U.S., based on our knowledge of government media control & self censorship in Turkey.
BTW, this is almost verbatim how I described that it would happen in the U.S., based on our knowledge of government media control & self censorship in Turkey.
‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:36 AM
It is of course pure coincidence that Bari Weiss is pulling a news segment that happens to be critical of the Trump administration.
BTW, this is almost verbatim how I described that it would happen in the U.S., based on our knowledge of government media control & self censorship in Turkey.
BTW, this is almost verbatim how I described that it would happen in the U.S., based on our knowledge of government media control & self censorship in Turkey.
Det är på sin plats med lite Europa- patriotism just nu. Fint skrivet av EU-Ylva.
Nä, nu droppar vi den ryska och den amerikanska myten om Europa ett tag, hörni
www.expressen.se/ledare/ylva-...
www.expressen.se/ledare/ylva-...
YLVA NILSSON: Gå inte på myten om Europas undergång
Europa har haft ett år nedtyngt av kritik och självrannsakan. Men ta ett steg tillbaka och se – vi är världsbäst på det som räknas.
www.expressen.se
December 22, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Det är på sin plats med lite Europa- patriotism just nu. Fint skrivet av EU-Ylva.
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
You may have to add Spain to that list. Far right party Vox has been financed at the tune of 6.5M by Russia via a "loan" by Hungarian bank MBH Bank Nyrt (Hungary always the intermediary). Vox keeps increasing its vote share and it may end in a coalition with the centre-right at the next election.
December 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
You may have to add Spain to that list. Far right party Vox has been financed at the tune of 6.5M by Russia via a "loan" by Hungarian bank MBH Bank Nyrt (Hungary always the intermediary). Vox keeps increasing its vote share and it may end in a coalition with the centre-right at the next election.
Putin’s war on European democracy.
Is Russia Winning? Part 1.
Russia's war on European democracy
open.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Putin’s war on European democracy.
Reposted by Paul T. Levin
Looking forward to reading the whole series.
I wonder what we can do against troll factories, money to politicians trough many, many slippery hands, shadow fleets, companies, deep fakes and shadow media and all that lot. What kind of laws, SOPs, awakenings and policing would counter it.
I wonder what we can do against troll factories, money to politicians trough many, many slippery hands, shadow fleets, companies, deep fakes and shadow media and all that lot. What kind of laws, SOPs, awakenings and policing would counter it.
December 20, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Looking forward to reading the whole series.
I wonder what we can do against troll factories, money to politicians trough many, many slippery hands, shadow fleets, companies, deep fakes and shadow media and all that lot. What kind of laws, SOPs, awakenings and policing would counter it.
I wonder what we can do against troll factories, money to politicians trough many, many slippery hands, shadow fleets, companies, deep fakes and shadow media and all that lot. What kind of laws, SOPs, awakenings and policing would counter it.
Yes, I fear that Russia is winning. But not against Ukraine. (Read before responding angrily.)
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
December 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Yes, I fear that Russia is winning. But not against Ukraine. (Read before responding angrily.)
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...