Sam Wilkin
@samwilkin.bsky.social
Editor of The Sentinel, a new publication tracking Europe's rearmament. Read and subscribe: www.the-sentinel.media
The American operation to capture Nicolás Maduro was not as unusual as we like to think. But for the first time, we have a US president who doesn't see Europe as an ally - and is just as willing as his predecessors to use force. open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...
The Sentinel Weekly: America unbound
Plus tanker seizures, UAE-Ukraine investment, Belgian air defence and more
open.substack.com
Europe's fragmented arms industry is much more pronounced on land than in the air, with companies like Airbus showing what cross-border integration could look like, writes Aurora d'Auria from Finabel in this guest op-ed: open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...
Op-ed: For interoperability lessons, look up
The regulatory environment that created Airbus should be replicated on land
open.substack.com
Donald Trump's National Security Strategy has jolted Europeans from their strategic slumber - but perhaps not in the way the US president hoped for. Rather than falling into line as usual, European leaders have started to see the US itself as a destabilising force. open.substack.com/pub/thesenti...
The Sentinel Weekly: Europe wakes up
Plus FCAS crisis talks, another tanker strike, the risks of appeasement and more
open.substack.com
Introducing The Sentinel, a new publication tracking Europe's rearmament. The US surrender plan for Ukraine shows that the time has come for Europe to look to its own defence. The Sentinel will be following. Free newsletter now, and full launch in 2026. www.the-sentinel.media/p/the-sentin...
The Sentinel Weekly: Professionals study logistics
Plus Russian strategy, sabotage in Poland, FCAS crisis talks and more
the-sentinel.media
I'm going to set up a new page here for The Sentinel. Does anyone have a list of accounts to follow on European defence, please?
I have entered the air conditioning discourse open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
AC<DC
Air conditioning is a poor substitute for district cooling.
open.substack.com
Some things I learned living in the Middle East, travelling in India and studying lots of languages - and why they're more relevant than ever today. www.theleopard.eu/p/race-relig...
Race, religion, politics, faith
How cultural Christians misunderstand the wider world.
theleopard.eu
Good morning, America! I need you to like this essay so people in Europe can read it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
American flywheel
The only way to reach Europe’s single market.
theleopard.eu
What a viral essay taught me about Europe's economy: If you want to conquer Europe, get big in America first. www.theleopard.eu/p/american-f...
American flywheel
The only way to reach Europe’s single market.
theleopard.eu
Jeremy Corbyn splits the UK left with a new pro-Palestine vehicle, helping Nigel Farage on his way to Number 10. And it just so happens that I had drafted an essay on how Palestine activism has taken over the European left: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Everything is Palestine
A distant conflict devours the European left.
open.substack.com
A big chunk of creative work is done away from the office. As AI takes away mundane tasks and frees us think more deeply, spending eight hours at the office isn't just unnecessary - it's a hindrance to the creative process. New essay: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Working 12 to 5
A better way to make a living.
open.substack.com
The Liverpool ramming attack wasn't entirely apolitical - it was the natural extension of embedded, and sometimes violent, driver entitlement. New essay: www.theleopard.eu/p/militant-c...
Militant car brain
Driver entitlement is a violent ideology.
theleopard.eu
Why do so many people in the West hate their own civilisation? I argue it's because of a lopsided teaching of history and culture, where the West gets an interrogation and other peoples get a hagiography. New essay: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Those who hate the West
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
open.substack.com
The global flood of misinformation could revive a dying breed: the foreign correspondent. Not long ago, the value of having a trusted reporter on the ground was in freefall as reliable information flowed on social media. Fake news is reversing that trend. open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Return to trust
The rise of misinformation could revive the business model of eyewitness reporting.
open.substack.com
Too much stuff? Most cities in Europe provide you with a large storage space in front of your house for a token fee. You can put anything there so long as it's in a car.
The most dangerous racists are the people who think they can't possibly be racist. This week's essay: open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Racist, moi?
Antisemitism is gentrifying. We should be alarmed.
open.substack.com
I want my 55% tax back (Nala loves it but she doesn't pay tax)
An essay on the joy and toil of writing essays, with a digression into the Substack economy. Tl/dr: Work is really busy so I can't publish every week for the next few months. Going to prioritise quality over quantity and slow down a bit. open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
Slowing down
Good writing takes time. I have a limited amount.
open.substack.com
The death of Twitter left a void that hasn't adequately been filled. I've previously written (/moaned) about BlueSky and now it's the turn of LinkedIn - a place where people are posting more and more about politics but haven't shed their corporate masks. open.substack.com/pub/theleopa...
The groupthink codex
LinkedIn is the repository of bland, inoffensive views.
open.substack.com
My pet hate is when websites lock their language options to the country you're in. Why?!
Europeans are too often passive consumers of technology, media and culture made by and for Americans. This not only makes us dependent on the US, it impoverishes our culture and stops us reaching our full potential. This week's essay: www.theleopard.eu/p/the-inesca...
The inescapable nation
American tech and media have captured European minds.
theleopard.eu
Good example of the awful journalistic habit of writing 'Brussels' when you mean 'EU' (which is shorter!) I read the first half of this headline and thought the city was doing an amnesty to stop the gun crime epidemic. Why not just 'EU proposes collective weapon purchases for member states'?
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last yr.Breaking news: Brussels has proposed buying weapons collectively on behalf of EU member states, in what would be a major shift in decision-making power in response to Donald Trump’s policies. www.ft.com/content/2914...
The importance of security to sustainable urbanism. Alternatives to car ownership are unviable in the absence of law and order. Stolen bicycles and violence on the metro drive people back into cars. Vandalism kills scooter and car rental companies. This is how Green politics lost Brussels.
The Brussels Times@brusselstimes.com · last yr.Car-sharing service Miles to leave Belgium due to vandalism, theft and misuse
Welcome to Brussels, where the enforcement of the law is rare enough to be newsworthy. Next up, drunk driver fined €10 and told to be careful driving home!
The Brussels Times@brusselstimes.com · last yr.Several people fined for illegal dumping in Brussels
Trees vs cars - which would you rather in your city? One year since my last spring clean, these are my windows. On the left faces a courtyard with lots of trees. On the right faces a street with cars. We tolerate this so one-half of people can 'just get to work' in a massive metal box.
Very good essay by @ldfreedman.bsky.social here. Perhaps we should start calling POTUS the 'follower of the free world', that might just trigger the Americans enough.
Dear hivemind, can anyone recommend books or podcasts on the rise of Mussolini and Italian fascism? Realised that I know the German history very well but almost nothing about Italy in the same period. Thanks in advance.
