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Iain King

@iainbking.com
2.3K followers 5.7K following 381 posts

Director of the Centre for Ethical Foreign Affairs, www.cefa.org. Author, former Director of NATO Mission Iraq, diplomat and academic. Fascinated by philosophy and thrillers. CBE, likes tea.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 1h
Grok (on X) now very pro-Putin. Absolutely shocking:
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 28/09/2026
It’s fascinating to have your previous views changed. There was much in this article which was new to me: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Britain knew about the Holocaust as it happened. A new exhibition reckons with that truth
Research draws upon reporting and witness testimony, while a permanent memorial is planned for London
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 27/09/2026
I feel sorry for Monica Grenfell. She did her duty as a civil servant, by reporting her evidence relating to alleged war crimes committed by serving special forces officers (allegations which first emerged from SAS members) and everyone is mocking and ridiculing her. Awful.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 26/09/2026
Great article by Johanthan Freedland on 7Up: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The makers of the 7 Up series set out to prove a point about class. What they achieved is far more profound | Jonathan Freedland
The epic documentary series reveals much about the shifting social attitudes of the last 60 years – and much more about the quiet mystery of human life, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 18/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The spectre of ‘remigration’ is haunting Europe. Slovenia in 1992 gives us a blueprint for this state terror | Miha Mazzini
In February that year, the Slovenian government officially deleted 25,000 citizens, turning them overnight into illegal immigrants, says writer and film-maker Miha Mazzini
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 14/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Warning: our democracy won’t survive the death of reading. Read on if you still can | John Harris
While fascists protest in UK ports and purvey nonsense and poison online, ever fewer people have the perspective or analytical tools to challenge them, says Guardian columnist John Harris
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 30/08/2026
Excellent post by @samfr.bsky.social on how cynical arguments are used to undermine ‘Net Zero’ and other sensible policies: samf.substack.com/p/how-to-kil...
samf.substack.com
How to kill a popular policy
Opposing action to tackle climate change is getting tricker.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 23/08/2026
On the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, here’s something I wrote on it in 2019 - even more salient now, following Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine: www.csis.org/analysis/pas...
csis.org
Is Past Prologue? The Eightieth Anniversary of the Start of World War II and a Secret Pact Between Great Powers
Eighty years after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which precipitated the invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II, CSIS’s Iain King discusses the lessons we should learn from ...
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 22/08/2026
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
engelsbergideas.com
The forgotten Forever War
The trauma of the Vietnam War dominated American culture for decades, yet the nation's longest war – in Afghanistan – has largely vanished. Why?
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 13/08/2026
It's today when we're meant to show off about getting A-level results decades ago, and patronise young people with humblebrags, right?
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 25/07/2026
Never, in the history of opinion polling, has a question lent itself more to empirical testing.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 25/07/2026
The Guardian excels at one-star reviews… www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
Boris Johnson: Into Ukraine’s Kill Zone review – the self-serving narcissist ruins this documentary
Just by his being there, the ex-prime minister undermines the honour of every brave fighter he meets in this tour of the war’s frontline. It should never have made it to TV
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 23/07/2026
Very OD.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 16/07/2026
I watched the England vs Argentina match, but only now - the next day - feel radicalised by the scandalously poor refereeing, after seeing social media posts. It’s a funny feeling.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 30/06/2026
Great article on the ethics within AI, and how philosophers have shaped the evolution of non-human decision making: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
theguardian.com
‘There’s this deep mystery of what, actually, is this thing?’: the philosopher inside Google DeepMind
The long read: Since 2017, Iason Gabriel has worked at the tech giant, trying to anticipate – and think through – the impact of AI. But as commercial and geopolitical pressures escalate, can ethicists...
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21/06/2026
If Andy Burnham (born 1970) becomes British Prime Minister, it means Liz Truss will no longer be the only PM from Generation X.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 12/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Subterranean fungi networks more than 100 quadrillion km in length, study finds
First ever global mapping of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi shows scale of hyphal systems that sustain plant life
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 10/06/2026
Macdonalds has David Beckham on their World Cup merchandise, implying he’s still a player.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 06/06/2026
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 28/05/2026
Good to see some accountability, but yet again its a woman who may be punished for Epstein-related actions : www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ma...
theguardian.com
‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant
The long read: She was quick, polite, relentlessly positive, military-grade efficient. A trawl through the Epstein files raises the troubling question: what did Lesley Groff know?
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 01/05/2026
Excellent new public art from Banksy in central London. Clever, contemporary, controversial, well executed, and a great prompt for discussion.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 19/04/2026
A long read, but worth it: www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...
theguardian.com
The impossible promise: are we witnessing the return of fascism?
Some of today’s far right is openly violent and undemocratic – and even in its less extreme forms, far-right populism is a profound threat. But that doesn’t mean it is just a re-run of history
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 04/04/2026
On the front lines, Russian soldiers pay officers to stay alive - The Economist. apple.news/AB_qTtdUPT7a...
apple.news
On the front lines, Russian soldiers pay officers to stay alive — The Economist
The war against Ukraine has created a corrupt economy of blood money
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 07/02/2026
“Each communications revolution rewrotes the political order it inherits” - very insightful piece, well worth a read: engelsbergideas.com/notebook/aft...
engelsbergideas.com
After the Eighth Great Power
Each communications revolution rewrites the political order. Democracies will not survive by clinging to broadcast certainties or chasing every viral falsehood.
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Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Maybe Greenland could invade us instead?
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 11/01/2026
To mark the 250th anniversary of the publication of his world-changing pamphlet ‘Common Sense’, here’s a biography of its author, the quixotic Thomas Paine: www.military-history.org/feature/thin...
military-history.org
THINKERS AT WAR - Thomas Paine | Military History Matters
Iain King evaluates the life and work of journalist, politician, and firebrand Tom Paine.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 05/01/2026
Vaccines do not cause autism - in fact, there’s a greater correlation between autism and people who haven’t been vaccinated : www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
acpjournals.org
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 170, No 8
Background: The hypothesized link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake. Objective: To evaluate whether the MMR vaccine i...
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 04/01/2026
If he’s found Not Guilty, will they let him go?
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 23/12/2025
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
theatlantic.com
There’s No Such Thing as Free Will
But we all may be better off believing in it anyway.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21/12/2025
Excellent article : Singapore (perhaps the UK’s greatest defeat in WWII) offers important lessons for today: engelsbergideas.com/notebook/nat...
engelsbergideas.com
NATO’s 1937 moment
In 1937, British officers tried – and failed – to challenge orthodox assumptions about the defence of Singapore. Their experience offers a warning for how NATO should think about Russia today.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 15/12/2025
Brilliant analysis by Peter Kellner, which explains the long term decline in productivity (in the UK and elsewhere ) and says where to point the finger (not where you think - read to the end): kellnerp.substack.com/p/rachel-ree...
kellnerp.substack.com
Rachel Reeves’s biggest crisis isn’t over
Productivity remains a headache. Blame big tech, not just the Tories
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 09/12/2025
Sobering talk on how the human rights movement can be corrupted, but also on how it can be saved. By the ever-excellent Gerald Knaus youtu.be/nSxXjp6_54g
youtu.be
Why The Human Rights Movement Needs To Be Reinvented | Gerald Knaus | TEDxGraz
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 27/11/2025
Great article: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Do you feel lucky? Why acknowledging our own good fortune would make the world a better place | Julian Richer
I have been fortunate, and I know it. Now I’d like more successful people to admit that meritocracy is a myth, says Julian Richer, founder of Richer Sounds
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Reposted by Iain King
Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
So the line is that he wasn't getting paid for any of this
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 22/11/2025
A doomed attempt to establish peace in Europe, initiated by a once-defeated superpower keen to restore its credentials, and sponsored by the aloof world hyperpower, focussed on its own economy. 100 years since the Locarno Treaty. Prescient. engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...
engelsbergideas.com
The Locarno Pact's enduring legacy
The Locarno Pact of 1925 provided the foundations for a more just, durable and peaceful European order. Although its early promise was snuffed out by the global crisis of the 1930s, the pact's guiding...
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21/11/2025
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Nathan Gill: How WhatsApp messages revealed ex-Reform politician's pro-Russian bribes
The former leader of Reform UK in Wales has admitted bribery and will be sentenced on Friday.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 15/11/2025
Grok labels GB News impartial and suggests the BBC is propaganda:
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 11/11/2025
There’s a solution to this. It’s called fiction.
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Reposted by Iain King
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 07/11/2025
Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 06/11/2025
Detailed expose into how X secretly promotes pro far-right bias in the UK: news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 31/10/2025
This shocking image shows a settlement in Sudan where widespread killing of unarmed civilians is believed to have taken place this week. The brown-red is blood. (Full story by Kaamil Ahmed in The Guardian)
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 29/10/2025
Is it just me, or has Threads going the way of Xitter? Many more bots spouting thoughtless material, political ragebait, and less humanity?
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 19/10/2025
Excellent journalism from Carole Cadwalladr - well worth a read www.thenerve.news/p/nathan-gil...
thenerve.news
The glamorous TV host, the web of influence and a mysterious trip to Moscow – inside the downfall of Reform’s disgraced MEP
Ahead of a critical Welsh byelection for Reform next week, part two of our investigation into Nathan Gill uncovers the web of Russian influence that encircled him – and asks why it took so long to cha...
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 18/10/2025
Paul McCartney is probably the greatest composer of the 20th century. (If he isn’t, who is?)
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 18/10/2025
Is there any way to assess - ideally, to get rigorous data on - the algorithm on X? (I’m sure it’s changed again, with politically-dubious posts promoted even more than before).
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 18/10/2025
If large, official accounts have opened on Bluesky, then X may collapse sooner.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 15/10/2025
Lowest ever murder rate in London:
Graph showing falling murder rate in London
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 05/10/2025
I’ve not watched BBC news for a week. It’s far too obsessed with immigration. I haven’t missed it.
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Iain King @iainbking.com · 01/10/2025
Quoted from my 2006 book on Kosovo, but named as 'Liane King' www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
haaretz.com
Trump's Gaza peace plan sounds promising in theory, but clashes with reality on the ground
In Exchange for the Immediate Release of Hostages, Trump's Plan Excludes Israel's Primary Objective of the War: Destroying Hamas. Although Hamas Will Not Serve in Gaza's Interim Civil Administration, ...
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