Agathe Demarais
@agathedemarais.com
Geoeconomics & tech @ecfr.eu • Prof. @collegeofeurope.bsky.social Columnist @foreignpolicy.com • Author, Backfire @columbiaup.bsky.social Global economy, trade wars, economic statecraft, geopolitics of AI 💌 agathe.demarais@ecfr.eu | 🖥️ agathedemarais.com
Moscow will not run out of cash anytime soon, but it is certainly running out of politically affordable ways to raise it, writes columnist @agathedemarais.com.
The Kremlin’s Easy Money Is Gone
Russia still has assets to tap for its war, but the political costs are growing.
foreignpolicy.com
I realise your minds are elsewhere but this is a good FT editorial on the US administration’s destructive approach to science and research on.ft.com/3DYLOoa
A dark hour for American science
Other countries have a chance to attract US talent driven out by Trump’s policies
on.ft.com
Pondering whether Russia's economy will collapse is in fashion, but it may be the wrong question - for @foreignpolicy.com I weigh another one: how many pots of politically affordable money does the Kremlin have left to finance war & social stability (hint: not many) foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/27/r...
The Kremlin’s Easy Money Is Gone
Russia still has assets to tap for its war, but the political costs are growing.
foreignpolicy.com
From strategic fortresses to economic powerhouses, here are the nine most consequential islands in Iran’s arsenal—and what a U.S. military campaign could conceivably achieve. An @foreignpolicy.com explainer! foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/27/i...
Iran’s Arsenal Starts With Its Islands
From strategic fortresses to economic powerhouses, Iran’s islands may be the key to any full-scale invasion. Here’s a guide to Tehran’s nine most consequential territories.
foreignpolicy.com
Pondering whether Russia's economy will collapse is in fashion, but it may be the wrong question - for @foreignpolicy.com I weigh another one: how many pots of politically affordable money does the Kremlin have left to finance war & social stability (hint: not many) foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/27/r...
The Kremlin’s Easy Money Is Gone
Russia still has assets to tap for its war, but the political costs are growing.
foreignpolicy.com
"On average, participants went from having moderate asthma symptoms to having mild symptoms. Emergency room visits & hospitalizations for asthma fell by 70%. Missed days of work or school because of asthma dropped by about 80%. At the same time, indoor levels of nitrogen dioxide decreased by 70%" ⚕️
Replacing gas stoves with electric stoves greatly reduces asthma symptoms
People with poorly controlled asthma may be able to breathe easier by making a change in the kitchen.
theconversation.com
Want a concise view on why the launch of Kimi 3 AI model by China's Moonshot has spooked Silicon Valley, here you go - Richard Waters here on why the US might find it hard to shrug off the model launch as.ft.com/r/7abe9361-9...
The US may find it hard to shrug off Moonshot’s AI shockwaves
The latest Chinese models such as Kimi K3 look set to bring greater price competition
as.ft.com
China’s working-age population – those aged 16 to 59 – is contracting • In 2025 that age group made up 61% of total population, down from >70% a decade earlier • Ratio of working-age people to those over 65 – currently about 4:1 – could halve within two decades www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
🚨What happens after the Bank of England has declared balance-sheet victory? www.ft.com/content/38a4...
What happens after the Bank of England has declared balance-sheet victory?
It’s been a long road
ft.com
The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has said that there are some issues with fuel deliveries to farmers but hopes they will be overcome. If a ministry has to announced there are some regions with problems it means they are practically widespread.
Turkey's defence industry is booming and eyes EU markets • Over half of Turkey’s US$10bn of defence exports went to Nato countries last year • Turkey has long strived for self-sufficiency in defence; state backing for firms is funnelled via special off-budget defence fund www.ft.com/content/cf39...
China is betting hard on industrial robots • In 2024 Chinese firms installed more than half (54%) of world robots, and it accounts for 43% of global stock • Robotics shift will help with shrinking population, but it could also kill jobs fast - thus weighing on consumption www.ft.com/content/c873...
Europe is building fewer cars and many of them are actually Chinese • Years of subsidies have left EU with more carmakers than market can support • Tariffs aimed at slowing rise in imports of Chinese EVs, but instead they created incentives to set up shop in EU www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
V sad to see the low score for Iguanodons (the best dinosaur). The polling I’d like to see: how many dinosaurs can people name? My theory is that your peak time for knowing lots of dinosaurs is when you have young children interested in dinosaurs.
YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 3w agoWho doesn't like dinosaurs? Certainly not the person who paid a record-breaking $50m for a T-rex skeleton at auction on Tuesday Our 2024 poll found 15% of Britons love dinosaurs, and 34% like them - only 3% dislike or hate them, while 47% are indifferent yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
At purchasing-power parity, China’s R&D spending surpassed America’s in 2024 • China's R&D spending grew by ~10% per year over past decade (vs. ~5% in US) • Chinese researchers now publish as many papers as their American, British, German and Japanese peers combined www.economist.com/interactive/...
China could be leading the next big tech revolution after AI: quantum computing • Chinese institutions publish around two-thirds of global patents related to quantum • Quantum computers could solve some AI problems faster, reducing the energy costs associated to regular AI www.ft.com/content/7e46...
China's real estate sector looks nowhere near out of the woods • Home prices have dropped by~30% nationwide compared to their 2021 peak • Homeowners are often unable to sell without taking a loss, while heavily indebted developers are saddled with unsold flats www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"The EU used to be the leader of the rules-based trading system" Brussels still thinks it is virtuous, but is actually building on previous unpopularity over regulatory overreach with a panic about China, that is not helping it win friends. www.politico.eu/article/savi...
Saving Europe’s steel strains critical friendships abroad
In sharply curbing EU steel imports, Brussels tested relationships with the very trading partners it needs to counter China and the United States.
politico.eu
AI models tend to be extremely secular and liberal (unless they’re Chinese) • Worldview of ChatGPT is more secular than average in any country • China's models are mandated to “uphold core socialist values” and are barred from contradicting official narratives www.economist.com/briefing/202...
Hormuz crisis has exposed fragility of Europe's jet fuel supplies • Home countries of carriers like Ryanair (IE), British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa (DE), Easyjet (UK) are net importers • In May the UK issued allowed imports of jet fuel made from Russian oil www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
1/7 Great to see our "EU Semiconductor Geopolitical Risk Survey: Outlook for 2026-2031" covered by @reuters.com, @politico.eu, Rare Earth Exchanges! To make good industrial/trade policies, policymakers must graple with how industry perceives the geopolitical/internal threat landscape...
In developed economies, majority of population thinks AI regulation matters more than fast rollout • US export controls on American frontier models would deal blow to US AI firms • G7 co-operation on AI is extremely thin, and collaboration with China virtually non-existent www.ft.com/content/16ac...
“The shift has been driven largely by cost, as companies try to curb ballooning AI bills. But in Europe it has taken on a sharper geopolitical edge after the Trump administration last month imposed export controls on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models”
Companies turn to Chinese AI models to cut costs
DoorDash, Siemens and Airbnb are among those seeking to curb ballooning bills and reduce reliance on US technology
giftarticle.ft.com
For our summer issue, @agathedemarais.com writes of the EU’s waning relevance in the wake of continued inaction. ip-quarterly.com/en/avoiding-...
In US Chinese firms are divesting clean-energy assets at fire-sale prices • Since 2025 Chinese firms have cancelled or sold renewables projects worth US$9bn, at discounts of up to 40% • In 2025 change in US tax law aimed at reducing Chinese presence in clean energy www.economist.com/china/2026/0...
It's @foreignpolicy.com free week: all pieces are free to read, with no paywall or need to log in - on this occasion I'm re-upping my third most popular column ever, outlining how strains on the Russian economy were accumulating last Fall (and it's now much worse)
Putin’s Fear of a Humiliating Economic Crisis
Greater sanctions pressure could finally bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
foreignpolicy.com
Women’s use of AI is perceived as a sign of incompetence, while men’s use of AI is seen as an indication of initiative. 🤦🏻♂️
Women Who Use AI Seen As Incompetent; Men Who Use AI Seen As Pragmatic
A 2026 study found that when women and men use AI tools to create identical resumes, evaluators view the women as less competent, while crediting the men with initiative.
forbes.com
AMERICA SHOULD NOT IMPRISON FRONTIER AI I have a leader in @economist.com this week on the lessons from Fable, for America and everybody else. A few core ideas in a thread below, and you can read the full leader here: www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
America should not imprison frontier AI
Fable is free. But the technology desperately needs better regulations
economist.com
