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Jonathan Rosenthal

@journalistjon.bsky.social
27K followers 303 following 171 posts

International Editor at The Economist Previously covered Africa, banking, European business & finance

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This is a great opportunity for anyone wanting to get a foot in the door in journalism. Please share with anyone you think might be interested in working @economist.com www.economist.com/britain/2026...
economist.com
The Economist’s digital-journalism internship
We are offering two year-long, paid placements
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This week I wrote in The Economist about the incredible progress that we have been making against dementia. Though total numbers are rising (because we are living longer), the actual rate at every age has been coming down sharply for decades. A short 🧵
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Reduced immigration will have huge consequences for US demography. Fascinating map by @brookings.edu
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Opening Pandora’s box: This week in @economist.com I wrote about how the old nuclear order, underpinned by America, is collapsing and that in a might-makes-right world, many countries may conclude that only nukes can keep them safe www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
economist.com
How to think about new risks of nuclear proliferation
In a might-makes-right world, many countries may conclude that only nukes can keep them safe
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Amazing how voters on the right, who might have been expected to be supportive of defence, are actually the most squishy on this issue. www.thetimes.com/article/fb20...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
For this week's issue of @economist.com I got to think hard about something I've not had to think about for more than 20 years: the world of dating and singles. What I found shocked me. Rates of singlehood (singledom) have been rising for decades, but have suddenly accelerated in recent years. 1/
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Yikes
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 09/10/2025
Great piece. The only thing I worry about is that cycling (esp ebike hires) replace bus/ metro journeys, not car trips, and thereby worsen the economics of public transport without changing streets much. But hopefully I am wrong @dlknowles.bsky.social
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport This week we have a change of pace in the International pages of @economist.com we have a great piece by @dlknowles.bsky.social where he takes a look at how pedal power is booming around the world, but also spinning up a new culture war. 1/
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Gibby @thegibbon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The stuff in the Baltic isn't really getting the traction over here it might. We're currently doing seabed surveys off Gdansk in Poland but have lost well over a week now to GPS jamming and spoofing originating in Kaliningrad making the vessel's systems show it as being off Sweden.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Russia's grey-zone conflict against the West is escalating at sea as well as in the air, as evident in drone incursions in Denmark and a the boarding of Boracay by France This week in @economist.com we look at the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet, and NATO efforts to counter it. A short 🧵 1/3
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Come on @crisisgroup.org You have chosen to hold a discussion on the New Middle Eastern order on the one day in the year (Yom Kippur) that pretty much all Jews will be unable to attend. I don’t believe you deliberately intended to exclude Jews, but that’s what you’ve done.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
America’s new plan to fight a war with China economist.com/internationa... This week’s International section in The Economist.
economist.com
America’s new plan to fight a war with China
Readying for a rumble in the jungle
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
"Worse than showing indifference, many Israelis deny the clear realities: that Gaza is in chaos and teetering on the edge of widespread starvation, and that Israel has played a major role in bringing about this terrible state." This is worth reading www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Reasons Israelis Have Closed Their Eyes to Gaza
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
I'm writing this week on the crisis in international law and have just come across the most spectacular example of judicial activism (in an ICJ case), where in two paragraphs a judge explains that he voted for something, even though he thinks it has no basis in law. www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Thank you.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Horrifying milestone of 150,000 deaths in Africa linked to jihadists groups over the past 10 years. africacenter.org/spotlight/en...
africacenter.org
Africa Surpasses 150,000 Deaths Linked to Militant Islamist Groups in Past Decade – Africa Center
Fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in Africa have surged by nearly 60% since 2021.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
I’m completely in favour of closer EU defence co-operation and procurement, but if France wants to insist that the UK pay a % on all contracts to UK companies, then we should start charging the EU a fee for our contribution to collective security (and France for fishing our waters).
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Lessons from Ukraine "Innovation does play a role…but quantity has a quality of its own. Mass is not going anywhere. We need to adopt and adapt faster than our adversaries, but that does not replace the need for us to outproduce them on ammunition: Benedetta Berti, Director, Policy Planning, NATO
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Very punchy comments by General Ben Hodges at Chatham House conference #CHLondon on European NATO defence spending: "Europe is itself a super power. It should quit whining and act like a superpower." Also thanks for the shoutout to @economist.com 1/
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Speaking in London at a Chatham House event, Sir John Sawers (former head of MI6) thinks it likely that America will intervene in Iran and bomb nuclear facilities. Argues it should get on with it, as delays give Iran time to move material out. Argues UK should stay out. #CHLondon
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Surprising line by John Sawyers (former head of MI6) that "Israel is achieving its goals" in Iran, considering it has barely touched the deeply-buried enrichment sites at Fordow and Natanz (as far as we know). www.ft.com/content/45bf...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
This week in the International pages of @economist.com we point out that on current trends Russian casualties in Ukraine will pass the 1m mark in the next few weeks. 1/2 www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
Putin’s sickening statistic: 1m Russian casualties in Ukraine
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
This is a masterclass is trolling - whether it is true or not, you will now have FSB agents across Russia smashing down the doors of their neighbours.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
When I started reading this I thought it was satire. Sadly not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | The Signal chat’s big takeaway? Trump has built an effective team.
Americans got a fly-on-the-wall view of a group working together to execute the president’s policy.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
And wrapping up this week's International Section in @economist.com is the always-brilliant @dsorennie.bsky.social with a nuanced look at the history of the refugee convention, and why judgments about who deserves protection have always been subjective. www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
The right way to fight nativists
A revealing new history of the cold-war crisis that inspired modern refugee law
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Also in my pages at @economist.com is an excellent piece @antonlaguardia.bsky.social on why the shutdown of VOA, RFE/RL and other broadcasters weakens America and supporters of democracy.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
The Five Eyes spy pact is the world's most successful SIGINT (or signals intelligence) alliance in history. Is Donald Trump putting it at risk? This week in the International pages of @economist.com we have a crunchy look at how it works by @shashj.bsky.social www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
Donald Trump v the spies of Five Eyes
Will America’s president damage the world’s most powerful intelligence pact?
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Fascinating insights on a new CSIS report on Ukraine using AI in drones. A short 🧵 1/ "The Ukrainian military’s objective is to remove warfighters from direct combat and replace them with autonomous unmanned systems. This goal reflects the need to conserve a limited human force"
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Are you kidding me! Has the WSJ's editorial board slept through the past 30 years? Do they not remember the Bush tax cuts of 2001, which overwhelmingly helped the rich, or the Trump tax cuts in 2017, which increased inequality?
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
At what point do we decide that Elon Musk is a clear threat to European/UK security. And if he is, then what do we do about it? Discuss.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Also in this week's International pages of @economist.com is an excellent piece by our Telegram columnist @dsorennie.bsky.social who points out that: "No, Donald Trump’s Putin-wooing is not like Nixon going to China...Kissingerian cunning it is not." www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
America’s self-isolating president
No, Donald Trump’s Putin-wooing is not like Nixon going to China
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Can Europe confront Vladimir Putin’s Russia on its own? This is the question we asked in this week's International pages of @economist.com The answer is grim. A short 🧵
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Trump's Pentagon looks like it is full of snowflakes who can't take any criticism: "Saltzman bars Space Force staff from Mitchell Institute events - The order follows a Mitchell report criticizing Saltzman's overarching theory of space power" breakingdefense.com/2025/02/salt...
breakingdefense.com
Saltzman bars Space Force staff from Mitchell Institute events - Breaking Defense
The order follows a Mitchell report criticizing Saltzman's overarching theory of space power, dubbed "Competitive Endurance," as too focused on defensive operations rather than offensive actions.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Wait till he finds out
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
This really is becoming the sum of all our fears www.ft.com/content/ac1d...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Well this puts my usual troubles (no milk for my morning coffee) into perspective www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
China’s stunning new campaign to turn the world against Taiwan  www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
China’s stunning new campaign to turn the world against Taiwan
Seventy countries have recently backed “all Chinese efforts” to take the island
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The proliferation of armed and suicide-drones has huge implications for international law, since they are routinely being used to kill injured soldiers who may be "hors de combat" and entitled to protection under the Geneva conventions 1/4
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Many dismiss the value of teaching/studying literature. But maybe, just maybe, it might be less embarrassing to read Tolkien before quoting Tolkien.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
This is going to be fantastic from everything I’ve heard. Looking forward to listening and confidently recommending it even before I have listened.
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
This is pretty damning: "German workers are sick on average 15 days a year compared with eight days for the EU as a whole....In 2022 the average Briton took only six sick days. " The reason is because Germany is now “the world champion when it comes to sick days”. www.economist.com/business/202...
economist.com
Germans are world champions of calling in sick
It’s easy and it pays well
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
please read this thread about our new piece in @bmj.com about further consequences for US withdrawal from WHO and its suggestion of setting up an alternative health body...
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Rwanda's invasion of Congo is a crisis for Goma, and the wider region: "A world in which the strong seize territory from the weak would be a scarier, more violent place...If blatant breaches of borders are allowed to stand, there will be more of them. " www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
economist.com
Rwanda does a Putin in Congo
To understand the seizure of Goma, consider a parallel with Ukraine
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Why people over the age of 55 are the new problem generation: Among those for whom time’s winged chariot is hurrying a little nearer, drug and alcohol use—and abuse—have surged. So have STIs www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
Why people over the age of 55 are the new problem generation
Baby-boomers are keeping their bad habits into retirement
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Oops. I had to scroll down to the first paragraph to figure out what they meant by "cross misconduct"
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Women warriors and the war on woke - an excellent piece by my colleague @shashj.bsky.social showing why Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for defence secretary, is wrong when he says that women should not serve in combat roles. www.economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
Women warriors and the war on woke
Trump’s Pentagon pick wants women off the battlefield
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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
What has four stomachs and could change the world? This week in the International pages of The Economist we take a look at cows, and how bridging the "dairy divide" could reduce poverty, slow climate change and nourish the development of children's brains. www.economist.com/internationa...
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