Senior Lecturer for European Politics and History at King's College London. Opinions my own. RT not always endorsement. Also at @aphclarkson.bsky.social
Berlondon
Joined December 2011
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After a long road I'm proud that my book "Die Macht Der Diaspora" for @Ullstein, which explores the history of diasporas in Germany will be on sale from 29 September. It looks at diasporas from Ukraine, the Western Balkans, Turkey, Iran and the Arab World
amazon.de/Die-Macht-Diaspora…
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
This is more evidence for Congress, which can easily determine if Ukraine violated any terms of service. It also constitutes a tacit admission by Musk that he played a part — if not the central role — in throttling Starlink.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
🚨The speed of the Elon Musk owned Starlink satellite system which is used by the Ukrainian military has been fully restored after two weeks of restrictions, the Ukrainian ministry of defense said in a statement on Saturday
AIVD as Europe's Slough House
the hilarious thing about the Dutch spies is that, unlike serious countries who base their spies with an inspiring view of the capital (eg MI5), the Dutch AIVD is based in Zoetermeer, a depressing hellhole.
it's full of decaying 70s buildings, has nothing to do, and is strategically equidistant from the nearby cities anyone would actually want to live in.
To really inspire the spies and make them patriotically defend the fatherland or whatever they then stick them in this grey brutalist horrorshow of a building opposite the ring road and some big box stores; originally it was the education ministry but they decided it sucked in Zoetermeer, went back to The Hague and palmed off the building on the spooks. Oh and the spooks are not paid well either lol.
It's a miracle there isn't a constant stream of Dutch double agents betraying their country that clearly doesn't value them in the slightest
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
AI is more and more overtly acting like a mafiosi shakedown of the rest of the economy + governments: "See, we made agents. Wouldn't want the agents to ...trouble... you, right? Well give us more money then."
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Andrey Pertsev for @RiddleRussia breaks down what the government reshuffle means for PM Mishustin and Putin’s personnel policy as a whole
ridl.io/a-prime-minister-wit…
It would be peak 2020s banter heuristic if in Germany the CDU/CSU uses all its prestige and power in a quest to prevent die Linke from taking apartments or anything else in state hands only for Democrats in America to nationalise SpaceX
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Tom Barrack going nuclear on Hijri.
Known for his outspokenness, he's the first US official at this level to acknowledge Hijri's links to the international Captagon trafficking.
Hijri-held #Suwayda was bombed by Jordan in May & airstrikes targeted both manufacturing & storage facilities.
This last area outside Damascus' control, protected by Israel & still hosting a significant number of former Regime elements, is a key hub for smuggling Captagon into Jordan & subsequently to the Gulf.
Since July 2025, these cartels launched 100s of Captagon-loaded balloons across the Jordanian border, making it the main smuggling methods - much safer than sending smugglers across the border like under Assad.
One detail often overlooked: Hijri also collaborates with Hezbollah-linked cartels in Lebanon, from which he obtains some supplies, such as chemical precursors & guided balloons.
U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack on Syria:
The Druze can arm themselves with the money that they're making from the Captagon trade. This Captagon is something, and it's like manufacturing meth.
So Syria has been very cautious. It knows that if it bites on one of these incursions, the fire is going to explode.
So it's been very patient in allowing Israel to protect its "buffer zone" by coming across and having the Druze conduct themselves inappropriately.
To the extent that this Sheikh is intimating to people that he has the U.S. backing, it's absolutely wrong.
Source: @MarioNawfal
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
NEW!! GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer says he received a briefing today from Air Force Sec. Troy Meink on Starshield, raising concerns over U.S. reliance on SpaceX.
“Fighting wars” can’t be so dependent on private companies, he says.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
As it happens I'm more optimistic about long term US reliability through a renegotiated alliance framework in 6-8 years time, because after Minneapolis so many Americans are pushing back against Trumpian corruption and bullshit. But we face long phases of US paralysis until then
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
The more Trump and the US government engage in wild flailing to demonstrate that America still has its old imperial strength the more Trump's malicious incompetence and the US government's structural dysfunction make America look weak, weak, weak.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
One thing that happened today at Sheremetyevo airport today during Ukrainian drone attacks was that passengers waiting for their flights were evacuated to shelters at the airport. We're at the next stage of civilian air travel disruption for Russians.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
So Trump called Musk to lift restrictions on Starshield speeds in Ukraine, and a day later Zelensky’s chief drone adviser says the restrictions still largely remain in place. Which raises the question: who’s in charge?
The more Trump and the US government engage in wild flailing to demonstrate that America still has its old imperial strength the more Trump's malicious incompetence and the US government's structural dysfunction make America look weak, weak, weak.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Also das gleiche konservative Elend wie vor 1933 (teils bis in die 40er): Man unterschätzt die Toxizität und enthemmende sozialpsychologische Dynamik zu brutalsten Abgründen hin so lange, bis es zu spät ist. Inhaltliche Schnittmengen korrumpieren Klarsicht & ethische Konsequenz.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Mal ganz davon abgesehen, dass beim historischen Nationalsozialismus als Messlatte das Vollbild mit KZs, industriellem Massenmord, Weltkrieg etc. assoziiert wird, nicht NSDAP vor 1933. Höcke und Co raunen ja bisher "nur" von wohltemperierter Grausamkeit und unschönen Szenen.
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Gestern Udo di Fabio bei Welt-TV. Für ein AfD-Verbotsverfahren fehlt ihm NSDAP-Kongruenz. In Jura scheint man nicht zu lernen, dass die je konkrete Gestalt von Rechtsextremismus in seinem Jahrhundert natürlich variiert, ein anderer Phänotyp also doch analoger Genotyp sein kann.
One of the more irritating aspects of how this petty haggling within or between parties undermines the integrity of the Bundesversammlung is that it detracts from how someone like Ilse Aigner would probably make quite a decent Bundespräsident
Interessanter Moment. Später spricht Markus Söder auf dem CSU-Parteitag - erwartet wird, dass er sich zur Steinmeier-Nachfolge äußert. Aus CDU-Kreisen höre ich gerade sehr deutlich, die CDU habe den Anspruch, einen eigenen Kandidaten oder Kandidatin zu benennen @POLITICOEurope
Alexander Clarkson retweeted
Next level der Hilflosigkeit 🤦
Die sich abzeichnende Berliner Landesregierung droht unserem Land großen Schaden zuzufügen. Es ist das Gegenteil dessen, was die überwiegende Mehrheit der Menschen in unserem Land will: Noch mehr Zuwanderung, weniger Polizei und Sicherheit, ein Wahlrecht für Ausländer ohne jede Voraussetzung, milliardenschwere Enteignungen und vieles mehr. Mit einer solcher Regierung drohen in Berlin bald Pariser Verhältnisse. Wir sind in Gesprächen mit Hessen und mit Baden-Württemberg über eine Extremismusklausel für den Länderfinanzausgleich. Diese würde besagen, dass Länder, die extremistisch regiert werden, nicht von den Geberländern unterstützt werden. Betroffen wären Sachsen-Anhalt und Berlin, wenn die Regierungsbildungen dort wie erwartet ablaufen.
