Thorsten Benner
@tbenner.bsky.social
Director, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), Berlin
www.gppi.net
www.gppi.net
Pinned
How Trump made Xi the winner of the year 2025.
My Handelsblatt column.
My Handelsblatt column.
„China’s advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and manufacturing pose real challenges for the US. But the larger risk is the extent to which American psyche internalizes a Beijing-driven narrative of U.S. decline, often without understanding China’s own weaknesses.“
December 26, 2025 at 1:22 PM
„China’s advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and manufacturing pose real challenges for the US. But the larger risk is the extent to which American psyche internalizes a Beijing-driven narrative of U.S. decline, often without understanding China’s own weaknesses.“
Die verteidigungspolitische Rede von Björn Höcke von Anfang Dezember ist nur eine Seite lang und lohnt die Lektüre.
December 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Die verteidigungspolitische Rede von Björn Höcke von Anfang Dezember ist nur eine Seite lang und lohnt die Lektüre.
I am so exasperated by these petty debates on Macron vs Merz.
The only real question is: what are both willing together to ensure Europe takes over critical enablers for European defense from US & deal with China shock for core industries.
The rest is noise.
The only real question is: what are both willing together to ensure Europe takes over critical enablers for European defense from US & deal with China shock for core industries.
The rest is noise.
December 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I am so exasperated by these petty debates on Macron vs Merz.
The only real question is: what are both willing together to ensure Europe takes over critical enablers for European defense from US & deal with China shock for core industries.
The rest is noise.
The only real question is: what are both willing together to ensure Europe takes over critical enablers for European defense from US & deal with China shock for core industries.
The rest is noise.
Ich würde sagen, dass es von Anfang an darum ging, das Schlimmste zu verhindern. Und dass dies unter riesigen Kosten bislang gelungen ist: Ukraine besteht weiter als Staat. Moralisierender Druck auf Scholz & Co., über das Stöckchen "Ukraine muss siegen" zu springen, war fehlgeleitet.
December 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Ich würde sagen, dass es von Anfang an darum ging, das Schlimmste zu verhindern. Und dass dies unter riesigen Kosten bislang gelungen ist: Ukraine besteht weiter als Staat. Moralisierender Druck auf Scholz & Co., über das Stöckchen "Ukraine muss siegen" zu springen, war fehlgeleitet.
Reposted by Thorsten Benner
too soon to say this was wrong?
December 21, 2025 at 2:10 AM
too soon to say this was wrong?
How Trump made Xi the winner of the year 2025.
My Handelsblatt column.
My Handelsblatt column.
December 18, 2025 at 4:47 PM
How Trump made Xi the winner of the year 2025.
My Handelsblatt column.
My Handelsblatt column.
Reposted by Thorsten Benner
The choice EU leaders face today is not the reparations loan vs. "Eurobonds". The choice is agreeing on a workable solution that rapidly gives a lot of money to Ukraine vs. going back to the drawing board with no clear idea where to go next while Ukraine's money is running out.
Should be obvious.
Should be obvious.
Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan?
It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way.
But there isn't. Here is why:
It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way.
But there isn't. Here is why:
December 18, 2025 at 6:35 AM
The choice EU leaders face today is not the reparations loan vs. "Eurobonds". The choice is agreeing on a workable solution that rapidly gives a lot of money to Ukraine vs. going back to the drawing board with no clear idea where to go next while Ukraine's money is running out.
Should be obvious.
Should be obvious.
„Wir sind in einem Ideenwettbewerb. Wir sollten das ernst nehmen“.
@lianebednarz.bsky.social bei der Vorstellung der wichtigen Studie zu den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD von Jacob Ross gemeinsam mit Peter Neumann @mariamlau.bsky.social @dgap.org
@lianebednarz.bsky.social bei der Vorstellung der wichtigen Studie zu den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD von Jacob Ross gemeinsam mit Peter Neumann @mariamlau.bsky.social @dgap.org
December 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
„Wir sind in einem Ideenwettbewerb. Wir sollten das ernst nehmen“.
@lianebednarz.bsky.social bei der Vorstellung der wichtigen Studie zu den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD von Jacob Ross gemeinsam mit Peter Neumann @mariamlau.bsky.social @dgap.org
@lianebednarz.bsky.social bei der Vorstellung der wichtigen Studie zu den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD von Jacob Ross gemeinsam mit Peter Neumann @mariamlau.bsky.social @dgap.org
„Taiwan is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of East Asia. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before”.
December 17, 2025 at 4:36 AM
„Taiwan is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of East Asia. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before”.
Why the reparations loan is the least distortionary and most effective way to fund Ukraine now.
Lucas Guttenberg with some very clear, level-headed points.
Lucas Guttenberg with some very clear, level-headed points.
December 16, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Why the reparations loan is the least distortionary and most effective way to fund Ukraine now.
Lucas Guttenberg with some very clear, level-headed points.
Lucas Guttenberg with some very clear, level-headed points.
Die Studie von Jacob Ross zu den außenpolitischen Positionen der AfD lohnt sich.
Ein wichtiger und überfälliger Debattenbeitrag. Hoffentlich Ausgangspunkt für eine stärkere Auseinandersetzung auch in Think Tanks mit den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD.
dgap.org/de/forschung...
Ein wichtiger und überfälliger Debattenbeitrag. Hoffentlich Ausgangspunkt für eine stärkere Auseinandersetzung auch in Think Tanks mit den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD.
dgap.org/de/forschung...
December 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Die Studie von Jacob Ross zu den außenpolitischen Positionen der AfD lohnt sich.
Ein wichtiger und überfälliger Debattenbeitrag. Hoffentlich Ausgangspunkt für eine stärkere Auseinandersetzung auch in Think Tanks mit den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD.
dgap.org/de/forschung...
Ein wichtiger und überfälliger Debattenbeitrag. Hoffentlich Ausgangspunkt für eine stärkere Auseinandersetzung auch in Think Tanks mit den außenpolitischen Debatten der AfD.
dgap.org/de/forschung...
A horrific antisemitic attack on a peaceful Chanukah celebration.
December 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A horrific antisemitic attack on a peaceful Chanukah celebration.
Die 100% staatseigene Deutsche Bahn will Hunderte BYD-Elektrobusse kaufen.
Man braucht gar nicht von Sicherheitsrisiken anfangen, dass sich staatseigene Busse im Konfliktfall von Russlands Verbündeten China manipulieren lassen.
Es ist ein unglaubliches industriepolitisches Totalversagen.
Man braucht gar nicht von Sicherheitsrisiken anfangen, dass sich staatseigene Busse im Konfliktfall von Russlands Verbündeten China manipulieren lassen.
Es ist ein unglaubliches industriepolitisches Totalversagen.
December 11, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Die 100% staatseigene Deutsche Bahn will Hunderte BYD-Elektrobusse kaufen.
Man braucht gar nicht von Sicherheitsrisiken anfangen, dass sich staatseigene Busse im Konfliktfall von Russlands Verbündeten China manipulieren lassen.
Es ist ein unglaubliches industriepolitisches Totalversagen.
Man braucht gar nicht von Sicherheitsrisiken anfangen, dass sich staatseigene Busse im Konfliktfall von Russlands Verbündeten China manipulieren lassen.
Es ist ein unglaubliches industriepolitisches Totalversagen.
This Windows 98 illustration is a very apt visualization of some of the Eurostack dreams.
December 11, 2025 at 10:09 AM
This Windows 98 illustration is a very apt visualization of some of the Eurostack dreams.
German 100% state owned Deutsche Bahn to buy hundreds of BYD buses.
The absolute travesty & short-sightedness of throwing struggling European manufacturers under the bus in favor of Chinese company.
This cannot stand. And we need regulation to prevent this.
www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/u...
The absolute travesty & short-sightedness of throwing struggling European manufacturers under the bus in favor of Chinese company.
This cannot stand. And we need regulation to prevent this.
www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/u...
December 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
German 100% state owned Deutsche Bahn to buy hundreds of BYD buses.
The absolute travesty & short-sightedness of throwing struggling European manufacturers under the bus in favor of Chinese company.
This cannot stand. And we need regulation to prevent this.
www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/u...
The absolute travesty & short-sightedness of throwing struggling European manufacturers under the bus in favor of Chinese company.
This cannot stand. And we need regulation to prevent this.
www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/u...
I guess we can count Beijing establishing the „Group of Friend of Global Governance“ at the UN as the official death knell of global governance.
The Group of Friends of Global Governance was officially established at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
Group of Friends of Global Governance established at UN headquarters in New York
The Group of Friends of Global Governance was officially established at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
news.cgtn.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:09 AM
I guess we can count Beijing establishing the „Group of Friend of Global Governance“ at the UN as the official death knell of global governance.
Macron this week proposed trading away export controls on European made semiconductor equipment.
Trump just weakened the US arguments against that.
Trump just weakened the US arguments against that.
December 8, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Macron this week proposed trading away export controls on European made semiconductor equipment.
Trump just weakened the US arguments against that.
Trump just weakened the US arguments against that.
„Europe wants to avoid becoming a museum of 20th-century manufacturing, we need an urgent reset and a long-term plan“.
Hard to disagree with the Ford CEO.
www.ft.com/content/4b9b...
Hard to disagree with the Ford CEO.
www.ft.com/content/4b9b...
December 8, 2025 at 11:40 AM
„Europe wants to avoid becoming a museum of 20th-century manufacturing, we need an urgent reset and a long-term plan“.
Hard to disagree with the Ford CEO.
www.ft.com/content/4b9b...
Hard to disagree with the Ford CEO.
www.ft.com/content/4b9b...
„Selbstbewusst aufzutreten – ohne zu eskalieren“.
Meine Kollegin @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social heute im STERN zu ihrer neuen Studie zum Umgang mit Trumps Außenpolitik.
www.stern.de/politik/ausl...
Meine Kollegin @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social heute im STERN zu ihrer neuen Studie zum Umgang mit Trumps Außenpolitik.
www.stern.de/politik/ausl...
December 6, 2025 at 7:51 AM
„Selbstbewusst aufzutreten – ohne zu eskalieren“.
Meine Kollegin @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social heute im STERN zu ihrer neuen Studie zum Umgang mit Trumps Außenpolitik.
www.stern.de/politik/ausl...
Meine Kollegin @sofielillistoffel.bsky.social heute im STERN zu ihrer neuen Studie zum Umgang mit Trumps Außenpolitik.
www.stern.de/politik/ausl...
European stupidity comes to bite us.
We had a year since Trump got elected (and in fact 9 years since he first got elected) to come up with our own timetable for burden-shifting on critical enablers for European defense.
We did nothing. And now we are being served an ultimatum.
We had a year since Trump got elected (and in fact 9 years since he first got elected) to come up with our own timetable for burden-shifting on critical enablers for European defense.
We did nothing. And now we are being served an ultimatum.
December 5, 2025 at 3:39 PM
European stupidity comes to bite us.
We had a year since Trump got elected (and in fact 9 years since he first got elected) to come up with our own timetable for burden-shifting on critical enablers for European defense.
We did nothing. And now we are being served an ultimatum.
We had a year since Trump got elected (and in fact 9 years since he first got elected) to come up with our own timetable for burden-shifting on critical enablers for European defense.
We did nothing. And now we are being served an ultimatum.
Reposted by Thorsten Benner
The unbearable lightness of strategy.
Jeremy Shapiro has an unrivaled ability to speak truth to bullshit.
blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
Jeremy Shapiro has an unrivaled ability to speak truth to bullshit.
blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
The Thinker VI
The Unbearable Lightness of Strategy
blueblaze.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The unbearable lightness of strategy.
Jeremy Shapiro has an unrivaled ability to speak truth to bullshit.
blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
Jeremy Shapiro has an unrivaled ability to speak truth to bullshit.
blueblaze.substack.com/p/the-thinke...
Reposted by Thorsten Benner
Wolfgang Schroeder, @tbenner.bsky.social & Elisabeth Winter eröffnen das Politische Symposium. Sie betonen: Die Selbstsicherheit des Landes wird von innen und außen in Frage gestellt. Zu diskutieren ist: Wie kann das Erfolgsmodell erneuert und neue strategische Handlungsfähigkeit gewonnen werden?
December 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Wolfgang Schroeder, @tbenner.bsky.social & Elisabeth Winter eröffnen das Politische Symposium. Sie betonen: Die Selbstsicherheit des Landes wird von innen und außen in Frage gestellt. Zu diskutieren ist: Wie kann das Erfolgsmodell erneuert und neue strategische Handlungsfähigkeit gewonnen werden?
Good to be back in Delhi. Thank you for the invite, Happymon Jacob, Raja Mohan & India‘s World.
Just had to get out of my room since the 🇷🇺delegation needs the whole floor ahead of Putin‘s arrival tomorrow. Left a few copies of the Ackermann/Cameron/Mathou piece for the new arrivals.
Just had to get out of my room since the 🇷🇺delegation needs the whole floor ahead of Putin‘s arrival tomorrow. Left a few copies of the Ackermann/Cameron/Mathou piece for the new arrivals.
December 3, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Good to be back in Delhi. Thank you for the invite, Happymon Jacob, Raja Mohan & India‘s World.
Just had to get out of my room since the 🇷🇺delegation needs the whole floor ahead of Putin‘s arrival tomorrow. Left a few copies of the Ackermann/Cameron/Mathou piece for the new arrivals.
Just had to get out of my room since the 🇷🇺delegation needs the whole floor ahead of Putin‘s arrival tomorrow. Left a few copies of the Ackermann/Cameron/Mathou piece for the new arrivals.
„I got the sense that the German military is more popular in Vilnius than in Görlitz“.
Isaac Stanley-Becker‘s story on Germany’s belated reinvestment into the Bundeswehr in the face of Russian threats and shrinking US commitment is well worth reading.
Isaac Stanley-Becker‘s story on Germany’s belated reinvestment into the Bundeswehr in the face of Russian threats and shrinking US commitment is well worth reading.
December 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
„I got the sense that the German military is more popular in Vilnius than in Görlitz“.
Isaac Stanley-Becker‘s story on Germany’s belated reinvestment into the Bundeswehr in the face of Russian threats and shrinking US commitment is well worth reading.
Isaac Stanley-Becker‘s story on Germany’s belated reinvestment into the Bundeswehr in the face of Russian threats and shrinking US commitment is well worth reading.
It is really quite striking that Witkoff sounds 100% like the German advocates of Nord Stream and business deals with the Kremlin as a bridge to peace and stability.
With the only difference that those doing the deals are now supposed to be Americans not Germans.
With the only difference that those doing the deals are now supposed to be Americans not Germans.
November 29, 2025 at 6:45 AM
It is really quite striking that Witkoff sounds 100% like the German advocates of Nord Stream and business deals with the Kremlin as a bridge to peace and stability.
With the only difference that those doing the deals are now supposed to be Americans not Germans.
With the only difference that those doing the deals are now supposed to be Americans not Germans.