Podcasts

Paquebot Trump & Co Arctique — Illustration © European-Security
In Focus

In Anchorage, the Kremlin Master’s Ascendancy over the Drunken Ship of American Diplomacy

25 August 2025
The Anchorage Summit, held on August 15, 2025, between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, is presented by Laure Mandeville as a tragicomic illustration of American diplomatic failure. Far from being a negotiation, it was a « meticulously executed Russian psychological operation » resulting in a « strategic triumph for the Kremlin and a profound, self-inflicted humiliation for the United States. » The summit exposed the « ascendancy of a calculating master of the Kremlin over the « drunken boat » of American diplomacy, » with Putin using Trump as a « prop in a drama of his own country’s debasement. » The core message is that the US, driven by presidential ego and strategic incompetence, inadvertently legitimized Putin, eroded its own credibility, and dangerously imperiled the European security order by pressuring Ukraine to accept territorial concessions.

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And Now for the Peace Nobel Prize the Winner Is…

23 August 2025
Suggesting the Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump is an act of magnificent audacity, almost as absurd as demanding the Nobel Prize for Virtue for Rocco Siffred. The latter has little chance of ever seeing the light of day because, since 1968, it has no longer been possible to expand the categories. Greta Thunberg will therefore not be getting a Nobel Prize for environmental activism either. Of course, audacity knows no bounds, especially when big egos are wallowing in the swamp of self-importance.

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Donald Trump Alligator — Illustration © European-Secucity
Special Reports

A Call for Strategic Lucidity in the Diplomatic Fog

18 August 2025
Putin’s objective is clear: to use the US president as an accomplice, whether conscious or not, to force Ukraine to make territorial concessions and capitulate. The meeting, which was supposed to be about ‘pursuing peace’ in Anchorage, turned into ‘self-inflicted humiliation’ for Washington, without any concessions in return. Fascinated by the former KGB officer, Trump offered him spectacular legitimisation on American soil. If the worst, a ‘Yalta of the Arctic’,[1] seems to have been avoided for the time being, European leaders are expected at the White House this evening to try to reason with a president who advised Ukraine to ‘accept the deal’ by summoning Zelensky to the Oval Office, alone, to better make him bend, who will then be joined by several leaders who have come to support him. What Europeans should remember is that they are in a position of strength, as historian Françoise Thom pointed out in an article published in Le Monde,[2] because Russia is economically dependent on Europe. However, these leaders must prove themselves equal to the task, unlike their predecessors in Munich. This would be an excellent start for the ‘new diplomacy’ referred to yesterday by Emmanuel Macron. After the fine words, it is now time to take action by supporting Ukraine and thwarting such a crude and despicable trap set by a country that we still want to believe is our ally.

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Poutine radieux, Trump le regard vide — Photo kremlin.ru
Press Review

Symbols Anchored, Substance Loose

16 August 2025
The August 15, 2025, summit in Anchorage, Alaska, between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has emerged in American media analysis as a case study in political theater. Designed to produce a major diplomatic breakthrough, it primarily generated symbolic and narrative outcomes while failing to achieve its main stated objective: ending the war in Ukraine. US press coverage, across the ideological spectrum, has largely defined this summit not by what was agreed upon, but by what was missing. The narrative crystallized around the stark contrast between a grandiose, high-stakes staging and the glaring absence of a concrete agreement.

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PX Biker_Beate Bachmann
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It’s Time to Duck Donald

2 August 2025
Trump’s entire approach, from his personal brand to his governance and foreign policy, is a coherent expression of a strategy focused on perception, repetition, and a disregard for conventional norms. The world, preparing for war after decades of relative peace, is left to wonder how America will eventually “wake up” from this “deconstruction” and what the future holds. Not to forget a skillful exploitation of perception rather than facts, all in the service of a quest for personal power, ”unable to distinguish his personal interests from those of the nation,” as his former National Security Advisor John Bolton so

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Robert Maxwell
Françoise Thom

Cesspool and Chaos: the Russian Connection in the Epstein Affair

30 July 2025
In this explosive article, French historian Françoise Thom highlights the close relationship between the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and the father of his accomplice Ghislaine, Robert Maxwell, the late British press magnate, on the one hand, and the upper echelons of Soviet and then Russian power on the other. This raises a troubling question: what if it was the FSB that held the infamous “list” of Epstein’s clients? What better way to compromise the American elite than to possess evidence of participation in orgies with minors?

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Sergio Gor walking with Donald Trump — White House Photo by Daniel Torok
Intelligence

The “Serpent”

28 July 2025
Laurence Saint-Gilles’s paper delves into the “Gor affair,” a political firestorm ignited by a New York Post investigation into Sergio Gor, President Trump’s powerful personnel chief. Tasked with vetting thousands of officials, Gor has suspiciously avoided submitting his own mandatory security clearance form, the SF-86. This refusal, amplified by accusations from his rival Elon Musk, has fueled speculation that Gor may be a Russian mole—a “ghost in the Trump machine.” Saint-Gilles dissects the glaring inconsistencies in Gor’s biography, from his fabricated Maltese identity and mysterious parents to his original Russian surname. The analysis scrutinizes the “agent theory” and traces Gor’s calculated political ascent through the GOP’s ultraconservative wing. Ultimately, the paper highlights the profound national security risk posed by a potentially compromised individual with access to the sensitive data of America’s top government officials.

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Trump et Poutine devant la carte de l'Ukraine — Photo © AI-E-S
Ukraine

Desk Russia: Geopolitics, Society, and War Analysis

6 July 2025
Desk Russia frequently delves into complex geopolitical relationships and strategies that challenge conventional narratives. The platform offers various content formats such as analysis, documents, essays, opinions, inter-views, and tribunes. Such a variety enables a deeper exploration of topics, moving beyond mere news reporting to provide insightful interpretations and expert perspectives.

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