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Mark Hibbs

@mark88.bsky.social
541 followers 168 following 193 posts

Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. They are in Washington, D.C. I'm in Berlin.

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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Germany's Pisa failure is no coincidence: years of low/no economic growth, climate of permissive lethargy on education, migration, social welfare, health care.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
That's fine, but as you know and Von der Leyen must also know, there is no such thing as "associate membership" in the EU Treaty. Under Article 49, Canada would not be considered a European state. NATO handles most Euro-defense issues; the EU has non-NATO members.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"Golden Arches Theory"--a permutation of the quaint post-Cold War convergence theory of International relations: "The more we trade with them and the nicer we are, the more they will become like us."
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
So this is about Assad's U3O8? Anything of more acute interest? A "US official" is cited here as saying there is something else at this location. What, then? Did they ask? Murky rumors that Turkey is mixed up in this? Pray, tell.
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Timothy Huyer @tim4hire.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Oh good grief. This is paranoia wrapped up in fantasy. Canada’s nuclear industry, including plans for new reactors, do not give any reasons that Canada may break or exit the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Aside from it being politically suicidal for the government, it remains practically impossible. 1/
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Reupping this, in light of the news that Iran has agreed to let IAEA inspectors back into the country. If true it's a good start, but as @mark88.bsky.social explained, the IAEA lost continuity of knowledge and an accurate baseline for safeguards after June 2025, and it's gotten worse since then.
worldpoliticsreview.com
Iran’s Nuclear Program Took a Real Hit. So Did IAEA Oversight of It
The U.S. attack on Fordow did real damage to the site. But it also set back the IAEA’s oversight of Iran’s nuclear program.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Turkey, Russia, Ethiopia, Egypt, UAE, Iran: All these states are profiteering from the civil war in Sudan. Both sides are getting their help in continuing the bloodshed. The Franco-German ARTE site summarizes it: www.arte.tv/de/videos/12...
arte.tv
Mit offenen Karten - Im Fokus - Krieg im Sudan: Die Konfliktparteien - Die ganze Doku | ARTE
Den Sudan nicht vergessen: Das Land befindet sich seit mehr als drei Jahren im Krieg. 15 Millionen Menschen wurden vertrieben, zehntausende getötet – laut UN eine der größten humanitären Krisen der We...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
How many people in Washington this week will tell their funders that they succeeded behind the scenes in convincing Rubio and Trump that the U.S. should "cooperate" with China?
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Chancelier Merz ne cesse de dire des choses qui vont lui attirer des ennuis...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
@chriswinedoctor.bsky.social Imbibed the first of 6 bottles of Pierre Menard's 2022 dry Anjou cuvées: Quarts de Gastines. If the rest are this good, wow. White chocolate, anise, coconut, lemon.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
@rosabalfour.bsky.social Hungarian election commission says Magyar has a 2/3 majority: Bad news for nuclear industry friends of @rosatom.bsky.social in Brussels, France, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
www.lemonde.fr/sport/live/2... Paris-Roubaix 2026. And in the field today is a team managed by George Hincapie, with years of experience in the doping network of former team member Lance Armstrong.
lemonde.fr
EN DIRECT, Paris-Roubaix : « l’enfer du Nord » a débuté, le peloton approche des secteurs pavés
Vainqueur des deux premiers « monuments » de la saison, Tadej Pogacar vise un premier succès sur Paris-Roubaix, dimanche. Mais d’autres prétendants peuvent également envisager un succès, à l’instar de...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
..and the ultimate challenge to the revolving-door career culture of Washington's permanent meritocracy. It could still take effective action.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Subversive interference by a foreign government in another country's democratic election process
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 26/03/2026
The EU wants to reestablish the nuclear power supply it once had, when nuclear provided about a 1/3 of the bloc’s electricity supply. But Europe's industrial capacity, financial challenges, & politics are major obstacles to a "nuclear renaissance."
thebulletin.org
Why politics, money, and construction capacity will limit any European turn toward nuclear power generation
The EU wants to reestablish the nuclear power supply it once had, when nuclear provided about a third of the bloc’s electricity supply. But Europe's industrial capacity, financial challenges, and…
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Beyond happy talk and tweaking bureaucratic rules, Europe has a very long road ahead if it aims to renew its nuclear industry capacity enough to make a difference. In this piece I and Miles Pomper of MIIS identify the big picture obstacles.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
It was Rembrandt who changed the complexion of European art by painting real Jews in biblical scenes. That was beginning in the 1630s. Here, in 1909, Mary looks extremely Ukrainian!
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Not convinced that greater defenses in Ukraine would have "ended" Putin's war. But there is no doubt that both US and Europe have failed to do specific things that would isolate, penalize, and defund Moscow's war machine.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
I also said that Moscow's demonstrative non-interference in Rosatom clients' politics was separate from Russia's efforts to access and influence these states' internal strategic decision making. www.dw.com/en/russia-oi...
dw.com
Beyond oil and gas: Russia's nuclear leverage explained
Russian oil and gas face sanctions, but nuclear energy is another story. DW shows how far Russia's influence extends, and why countries continue to turn to it for nuclear energy.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Global Entry should be terminated. At Islamabad airport, personnel request baksheesh to let you jump the queue. At US airports, it's the federal government that asks you to grease their palm for that 'service.' DHS should staff up and put an end to this form of institutionalized corruption.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
How will Leafs receive Austin Matthews when he returns to Toronto ice? editorinleaf.com/auston-matth...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
If Canada wins in Milan this afternoon, Trump will say: 1.) Canada stole the game from the US, and/or 2.) The referees were disloyal and unpatriotic.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
As a frame, worth recalling that yesterday at MSC German Chancellor Friedrich Merz quoted the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk: The 5-decade "holiday from world history is over."
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
No information here on who supplied the turbine generator equipment for A-2. France shipped it to Rosatom in a deal with Erdogan and Trump to brush off U.S. trade sanctions imposed after Putin's invasion of Ukraine? world-nuclear-news.org/articles/akk...
world-nuclear-news.org
Akkuyu 2's turbine generator stator installed
The 437-tonne turbine generator stator was moved on a special track before being lifted into place in the turbine hall of unit 2 at Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.  ;
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Perhaps this incident will prompt Sánchez and his Socialist Party base to take seriously from now on what NATO is facing on its eastern border.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
@chriswinedoctor.bsky.social U were generous in rating Ch. Plaisance Grand Lopin '21 at 87/100 but yr points still held in '25: Little sweetness, dense but opaque profile en bouche, thin, flat palette, sour finish. Nose improved since yr '22 tasting Their whites are better than this on average.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The IAEA contributed to what little is known about the impact of the June attacks on Iran's nuclear installations. But the challenges to the IAEA going forward in and with Iran will be mammoth. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-iran-nucl...
worldpoliticsreview.com
Iran’s Nuclear Program Took a Real Hit. So Did IAEA Oversight of It
The U.S. attack on Fordow did real damage to the site. But it also set back the IAEA’s oversight of Iran’s nuclear program.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Here in Germany if extreme polarization prompted justices of the Constitutional Court to make such accusations, the country's leadership & everyone else would engage on how to avoid/prepare for a national state of emergency (Innerer Notstand/Notstandsgesetze)
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Louis-Ferdinand Céline à Eugène Dabit, 1933: "La vie ne passe plus par la littérature. C'est une ville ancienne capitale comme Dijon abandonnée aux chats amputés...''
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/w... For the IAEA for 3 weeks management of this issue wasn't trivial. When the 12-day bombing got underway, I heard then, there were personnel in Israel, also in Tehran and in a location between Natanz and Fordo.
nytimes.com
Nuclear Inspectors Leave Iran After Cooperation Halted With U.N. Watchdog
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
Read Nicole's thread on Iran timelines. What she was maybe too polite or politic to say is that many op-ed estimates are ultimately less driven by analytical assumptions and more by DC-routine binary myopia: Trump loyalists claim all was destroyed. Trump's foes say Iran can get the bomb in months.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Grossi isn't guessing. The IAEA in fact has some quantitative evidence permitting the conclusion that the centrifuges at Fordo are broken.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
"Expert X says Iran could have nuclear weapons in a year." "Expert Y says Iran's nuclear weapons quest was set back between 2 and 5 years." "Expert Z says Iran's nuclear weapons program was virtually destroyed."
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
IAEA board on Monday could request Secretariat & Iran to re-verify, report on safeguards status of Iran's HEU inventory: All material accounted for? Safeguards continuity? Prerequisites: Iran's cooperation, halt to Israeli warfare in Iran.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Israël se prépare-t-il à mettre un terme aux bombardements?
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Das israelische Militär hat die Möglichkeit für den Iran, „eine Atombombe zu erlangen, bereits um mindestens 2 oder 3 Jahre verzögert“. www.berliner-zeitung.de/news/israel-...
berliner-zeitung.de
Israel-Iran-Konflikt aktuell: Was in der Nacht geschah
Dem israelischen Außenminister zufolge ist es der Armee gelungen, die Atombomben-Pläne des Irans um Jahre zurückzuwerfen. Israel und der Iran berichten derweil von neuen Angriffen.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
But a week of Israeli attacks which have disabled virtually all of Iran's above-ground strategic nuclear infrastructure won't incentivize Iran to have nuclear weapons?
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Le Figaro @lefigaro.fr · 19/06/2025
L’islamologue analyse les ressorts et les conséquences de la guerre qui oppose Israël et l’Iran. La chute du régime des mollahs représenterait, selon lui, un tournant historique aussi important que celui de la chute du mur de Berlin. →https://l.lefigaro.fr/S18
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Will the next US step be to provide bunker-busting bombs to attack underground nuclear sites in Iran, led off by Fordo? Are US Republicans on board with this US escalation? As long as Israel has command of Iranian air space, probably yes.
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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
This reads a lot like a threat to Khamenei. Kill Americans and we’ll take you out. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday.
"Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," said one of the sources, a senior U.S. administration official.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
What media on Friday morning called an Israeli attack to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons capacity 24 hrs later looks more like a military escalation prompted by still other aims and having a longer trajectory that may incentivize Iran to cross the line on nuclear arms.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
What media on Friday morning called an Israeli attack to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons capacity 24 hrs later looks more like a military escalation prompted by other aims and having a longer trajectory that may incentivize Iran to cross the line on nuclear arms.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Reported absence of detected radiation emissions is not an indicator for a military attack on a centrifuge enrichment plant.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
On the same day the German SPD left wing stumps for cooperation & peace w/Putin, Merz protests that Putin has arrested another Russian national politician for the crime of advocating a ceasefire. See this clip beginning at 8:50 www.arte.tv/de/videos/12...
arte.tv
ARTE Journal - 11/06/2025 - Tusk übersteht Vertrauensfrage in Polen und muss Netanjahu zittern? - Komplette Sendung | ARTE
In Polen übersteht der pro-europäische Ministerpräsident Donald Tusk eine Vertrauensabstimmung. Bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen hatte seine Regierung einen Rückschlag erlitten / In Israel stellt die Op...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
@ericasimov.bsky.social Excerpting a late comment I posted to your 4/21/22 piece: We were shocked by an expensive 2019 Viré-Cruzille from Julien Guillot. Sulfur nose, after 2 decantings still tasted like iron. Some Ziereisen whites also like this. What's behind this? Fundamentalist bio-winemaking?
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Tracking with the trend that a disproportionate share of Germany's irregular migrants/political asylum seekers are males between the age of 15 and 25...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo... "This newly available historical evidence shows that the U.S. was deeply involved...From the very beginning, government secrecy, obfuscation, lies, and the incomplete and contradictory statements of key American participants confused the record."
nsarchive.gwu.edu
A House Divided: Washington, Langley, Saigon, and the Plot Against Diem
Washington, D.C., May 22, 2025 - Early in the morning of October 7, 1963, the top leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gathered in the office of the Director of Central Intelligence (DC...
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Whatever the reason, there were more than 150 million eligible voters who in 2024 did not vote for the Democrats. It may be inevitable that so long as the Ds don't close on why they failed, there will be a lot of speculation to explain their loss.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
"Sweetness does not enter the Pythagorean universe." --Arthur Koestler, p. 13.
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Mark Hibbs @mark88.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
@chriswinedoctor.bsky.social We opened a bottle of Lieubeau's Chateau-Thébaud 2021 Muscadet: Wow. Meringue/vanille/white chocolate/light citrus, a terrific cuvée. Sufficient acidity. The light floral nose right out of the perfume counter at Printemps. lieubeau.com
lieubeau.com
Home - La Famille Lieubeau
La Famille Lieubeau Bienvenue dans la Famille Lieubeau. Notre histoire commence en 1816 avec Joseph Grégoire Lieubeau, enfant recueilli sous le porche de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Nantes, un beau-lieu auquel il...
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