Annelien De Greef
@anneliendegreef.bsky.social
Journalist and feature writer@De Standaard
🇧🇪🇪🇺🇨🇳🇹🇼
“And there’s no shortage of tyrants, and no shortage of fools”
🇧🇪🇪🇺🇨🇳🇹🇼
“And there’s no shortage of tyrants, and no shortage of fools”
Imagine posting the wrong messages on social media before travelling to the former land of the free… www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump Escalates Higher Ed Fight With Review of Student Visas
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the Trump administration weighs stricter vetting of applicants’ social-media profiles.
www.bloomberg.com
May 28, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Imagine posting the wrong messages on social media before travelling to the former land of the free… www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
After more than 2.5 decades , some pro-democracy advocates and experts suggest that Indonesia's reforms may be over, or at least nearing their end, as the nation drifts further from the spirit that defined the Reformasi era in 1998 www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/20...
Reform era draws to a close - Politics - The Jakarta Post
Twenty-seven years after Indonesia emerged from the shadow of authoritarian rule, the nation now stands at a crossroads, as it reaches what some pro-democracy advocates describe as “the end of politic...
www.thejakartapost.com
May 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
After more than 2.5 decades , some pro-democracy advocates and experts suggest that Indonesia's reforms may be over, or at least nearing their end, as the nation drifts further from the spirit that defined the Reformasi era in 1998 www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/20...
But then again, in other countries, like Canada and Australia, the anti-MAGA vote was also very significant…
Three elections, one message: Europe’s Maga populists are on the rise
https://www.ft.com/content/d74e82f9-d3c1-4828-ad63-1fd3fa118a45
https://www.ft.com/content/d74e82f9-d3c1-4828-ad63-1fd3fa118a45
Three elections, one message: Europe’s Maga populists are on the rise
Being pro-Trump pays dividends as European politics swings sharply to the right
www.ft.com
May 20, 2025 at 6:53 AM
But then again, in other countries, like Canada and Australia, the anti-MAGA vote was also very significant…
Mario Vargas Llosa is overleden. De Nobelprijswinnaar was een en al hartelijkheid toen ik hem in Madrid ontmoette. Zijn ideologische onverzettelijkheid dwong hem soms tot rare kronkels, maar hij bleef vechten tegen populisten, nationalisten ‘en andere idioten’.
www.standaard.be/economie/beu...
www.standaard.be/economie/beu...
‘Literatuur is het beste wapen tegen manipulatie’
De Peruaanse schrijver Mario Vargas Llosa kan het niet laten. De tachtig voorbij blijft hij vechten tegen populisten, nationalisten ‘en andere idioten’. Hij blijft ook verliefd worden. Op de koffie bij de Nobelprijswinnaar in Madrid.
www.standaard.be
April 14, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Mario Vargas Llosa is overleden. De Nobelprijswinnaar was een en al hartelijkheid toen ik hem in Madrid ontmoette. Zijn ideologische onverzettelijkheid dwong hem soms tot rare kronkels, maar hij bleef vechten tegen populisten, nationalisten ‘en andere idioten’.
www.standaard.be/economie/beu...
www.standaard.be/economie/beu...
Verslag vanuit Taiwan, waar het gevoel “eerst 🇺🇦 dan 🇹🇼” al langer leeft, en de vernedering van Zelensky in het Witte Huis daarom nog meer als een grote schok kwam.
www.standaard.be/buitenland/t...
www.standaard.be/buitenland/t...
Tijdbom Taiwan: wordt het land aan zijn (Chinese) lot overgelaten door Trump?
Nu Amerika zich terugtrekt als beschermheer, wordt Taiwan een alsmaar begeerlijkere prooi voor China. Is er een nieuw Oekraïne in de maak? Verslag van de volgende frontlijn tussen democratie en autocratie.
www.standaard.be
April 1, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Verslag vanuit Taiwan, waar het gevoel “eerst 🇺🇦 dan 🇹🇼” al langer leeft, en de vernedering van Zelensky in het Witte Huis daarom nog meer als een grote schok kwam.
www.standaard.be/buitenland/t...
www.standaard.be/buitenland/t...
View on a geopolitical frontline, from the sunny beach of Kinmen, Taiwan 🇹🇼 🇨🇳
March 28, 2025 at 10:01 AM
View on a geopolitical frontline, from the sunny beach of Kinmen, Taiwan 🇹🇼 🇨🇳
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
SCOOP: Brussels is facing a new corruption scandal. Belgian police raided 21 homes today as part of a corruption probe into Huawei’s EU lobbying. Lobbyists for the Chinese tech giant are suspected of bribing MEPs in exchange for their public support. #HuaweiGate
www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...
www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...
Huawei targeted in new European Parliament corruption probe
Chinese tech giant Huawei is at the centre of a new corruption case in Europe’s capital. On Thursday, Belgian police raided the homes of its lobbyists, Follow the Money and its media partners Le Soir ...
www.ftm.eu
March 13, 2025 at 8:30 AM
SCOOP: Brussels is facing a new corruption scandal. Belgian police raided 21 homes today as part of a corruption probe into Huawei’s EU lobbying. Lobbyists for the Chinese tech giant are suspected of bribing MEPs in exchange for their public support. #HuaweiGate
www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...
www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
Met Roeland Termote dook ik in post-covid madness! Toen de lockdowns eindigden wilden we alles zo snel mogelijk vergeten. Vreemd, want daarvoor spraken we over het "grootste experiment uit de geschiedenis". Dat experiment was een catastrofe voor het gezond verstand. www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20250...
De waanzin na het virus: de machtsgreep van de complotdenkers na covid
Vijf jaar geleden zaten 3,9 miljard mensen tegelijk in quarantaine. De naweeën van dat sociale experiment werden geopolitieke schokgolven. Trump, Musk, Poetin en de tol van postcovid.
www.standaard.be
March 1, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Met Roeland Termote dook ik in post-covid madness! Toen de lockdowns eindigden wilden we alles zo snel mogelijk vergeten. Vreemd, want daarvoor spraken we over het "grootste experiment uit de geschiedenis". Dat experiment was een catastrofe voor het gezond verstand. www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20250...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
MAGA are mad at Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit for an official White House meeting.
Meanwhile:
Meanwhile:
February 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
MAGA are mad at Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit for an official White House meeting.
Meanwhile:
Meanwhile:
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
“As far as Trump is concerned, Russia is not responsible for the war that has devastated its neighbor. Instead he suggests that Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion of it. He gives a version of reality that would never have been heard from any other US president. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/u...
Trump’s Pivot Toward Putin’s Russia Upends Generations of U.S. Policy
As peace talks opened in Saudi Arabia, President Trump made clear that the days of isolating Russia are over and suggested that Ukraine was to blame for being invaded.
www.nytimes.com
February 19, 2025 at 7:27 AM
“As far as Trump is concerned, Russia is not responsible for the war that has devastated its neighbor. Instead he suggests that Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion of it. He gives a version of reality that would never have been heard from any other US president. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/u...
“You should have never started it”. Trump not talking to Putin but to Zelensky. Meet the president of the USA. Formerly known as the “leader of the Free World”.
"You should have never started it" -- Trump to Ukraine, which very much did not start the war
February 19, 2025 at 6:58 AM
“You should have never started it”. Trump not talking to Putin but to Zelensky. Meet the president of the USA. Formerly known as the “leader of the Free World”.
Dat we ooit dachten dat de Braziliaanse instellingen wankeler waren dan de Amerikaanse want “jonger”. Herinnering aan dictatuur is krachtig wapen in verdediging democratie. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...
Brazil Charges Bolsonaro With Plotting a Coup After 2022 Election Loss
Brazil’s attorney general accused former President Jair Bolsonaro of overseeing a scheme to try to hold on to power. The Supreme Court will decide whether he is arrested.
www.nytimes.com
February 19, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Dat we ooit dachten dat de Braziliaanse instellingen wankeler waren dan de Amerikaanse want “jonger”. Herinnering aan dictatuur is krachtig wapen in verdediging democratie. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
Het is belangrijk om het hart terug te brengen in het gesprek, zei Elif Shafak tegen me. "We hebben empathie, zorgzaamheid en mededogen nodig. Dat laatste wordt zo ondergewaardeerd. In de wereld van Trump wordt het gezien als een zwakte. Dat moeten we bevechten.”
Schrijfster Elif Shafak: ‘Ik meen het als ik zeg dat boeken ons kunnen redden. Het is mij ook overkomen’
Elif Shafak: In haar internationaal geprezen romans vertelt de Turks-Britse schrijfster de grote en kleine verhalen die door de geschiedenisboeken verzwegen worden. „We hebben empathie, zorgzaamheid e...
www.nrc.nl
February 12, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Het is belangrijk om het hart terug te brengen in het gesprek, zei Elif Shafak tegen me. "We hebben empathie, zorgzaamheid en mededogen nodig. Dat laatste wordt zo ondergewaardeerd. In de wereld van Trump wordt het gezien als een zwakte. Dat moeten we bevechten.”
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
"We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waving the American flag."
This speech by Ronald Reagan is worth your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1T...
This speech by Ronald Reagan is worth your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1T...
President Reagan's Radio Address on Canadian Elections and Free Trade on November 26, 1988
YouTube video by Reagan Library
www.youtube.com
February 10, 2025 at 7:54 AM
"We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waving the American flag."
This speech by Ronald Reagan is worth your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1T...
This speech by Ronald Reagan is worth your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1T...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
How do you call people who don't want to "end racism" again? 🤔
The NFL is removing 'End Racism' from its Super Bowl end zone
Here's what the decision by America's favorite sports league tells us about "anticipatory obedience."
www.npr.org
February 10, 2025 at 1:05 AM
How do you call people who don't want to "end racism" again? 🤔
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
If you don’t stand up for rule of law, nothing else matters. It’s the mechanism of accountability in democracies. If Trump can do anything he wants with shutting down agencies, it’s naive to imagine he will follow the rules in elections and beyond. Preserving rule of law is existential to democracy.
February 5, 2025 at 5:11 AM
If you don’t stand up for rule of law, nothing else matters. It’s the mechanism of accountability in democracies. If Trump can do anything he wants with shutting down agencies, it’s naive to imagine he will follow the rules in elections and beyond. Preserving rule of law is existential to democracy.
“The extent to which the 🇺🇸 is embroiled in a major political crisis would be obvious if these events were unfolding in another country. Unfortunately, this country’s elites have a difficult time believing that anything can fundamentally change for the worse. But that, is what’s happening right now.”
Opinion | There Is No Going Back
The president’s opponents, whoever they are, cannot expect a return to the Constitution as it was.
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
“The extent to which the 🇺🇸 is embroiled in a major political crisis would be obvious if these events were unfolding in another country. Unfortunately, this country’s elites have a difficult time believing that anything can fundamentally change for the worse. But that, is what’s happening right now.”
We’re witnessing the implosion of a democracy. It’s cruel.
"Elon Musk is not the president, but it appears that he—a foreign-born, unelected billionaire who was not confirmed by Congress—is exercising profound influence over the federal government of the United States...It is nothing short of an administrative coup."
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government
Elon Musk’s bureaucratic coup is under way.
www.theatlantic.com
February 4, 2025 at 11:31 PM
We’re witnessing the implosion of a democracy. It’s cruel.
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
Our deep dive into Musk's takeover: Even some officials who like what Musk is doing feel helpless to hold him accountable. His allies are diving in to agencies, gaining access to systems, planning layoffs, and proposing a sweeping AI initiative to review contracts. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/u...
Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government (Gift Article)
The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Our deep dive into Musk's takeover: Even some officials who like what Musk is doing feel helpless to hold him accountable. His allies are diving in to agencies, gaining access to systems, planning layoffs, and proposing a sweeping AI initiative to review contracts. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/u...
Reposted by Annelien De Greef
If illiberal leaders tell you they are going to “purge” the government, they mean it. I have been sharing this historical truth for a while now, and always some smug, semisophisticated pundit just waves it away telling not to overreact (in the Netherlands we have a lot of those)…
This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...
Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say
Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
www.reuters.com
February 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
If illiberal leaders tell you they are going to “purge” the government, they mean it. I have been sharing this historical truth for a while now, and always some smug, semisophisticated pundit just waves it away telling not to overreact (in the Netherlands we have a lot of those)…
Bitter Butterfly effect: hoe de beslissing van 1 man in Washington 1000 x 1000 mensen treft van Thailand tot Soedan. “In a capital on the edge of starvation 434 of the 634 soup kitchens have closed down. For most people it was their only meal. Until last week, the 🇺🇸 was the largest source of money.”
How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze
President Trump’s order to halt most foreign aid has intensified humanitarian crises and raised questions about the United States’ reliability as a global leader.
www.nytimes.com
February 1, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Bitter Butterfly effect: hoe de beslissing van 1 man in Washington 1000 x 1000 mensen treft van Thailand tot Soedan. “In a capital on the edge of starvation 434 of the 634 soup kitchens have closed down. For most people it was their only meal. Until last week, the 🇺🇸 was the largest source of money.”
“Je kunt eigenlijk niet meer iets beleven zonder het voor het oog van de wereld te tonen en vast te leggen. Alles wat (zelf)reflectie vereist en langetermijndenken, wordt gezien als iets dat in de weg zit.” Het lezen waard.
'We kijken liever op een scherm naar iemand die kookt dan dat we zelf koken. Sowieso kijken we het liefst naar anderen, uren per dag. We laten ons innerlijk vullen met beelden omdat we onze gevoelens hebben uitbesteed aan apps die beloven ons nog beter te maken.'
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Bas Heijne: we moeten weg van de digitale wereld en weer risico’s durven nemen
Essay: In The Extinction of Experience wijst Christine Rosen op het gevaar van een algoritme dat ons beter kent dan wij onszelf. De menselijke ervaring dreigt zo uit zicht te verdwijnen.
www.nrc.nl
January 31, 2025 at 8:32 AM
“Je kunt eigenlijk niet meer iets beleven zonder het voor het oog van de wereld te tonen en vast te leggen. Alles wat (zelf)reflectie vereist en langetermijndenken, wordt gezien als iets dat in de weg zit.” Het lezen waard.