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Nicholas Lokker

@nlokker.bsky.social
235 followers 100 following 89 posts

Adjunct Fellow, Center for a New American Security | PhD student at American University SIS | Transatlantic Russia policy | European integration | International norms & institutions | Duke and GeorgetownSFS alum | nicholaslokker.com

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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
"Only the kind of Russia that the democratic opposition seeks to build can provide Europe with lasting and sustainable security...Would it not be wiser, then, to build constructive relations with that part of Russian society that is capable of creating such a country?" bit.ly/4gtnDhK
themoscowtimes.com
Russia’s Exiled Opposition Wants What’s Best for Europe. It’s a Better Future For Russia, Too. - The Moscow Times
Opinion | A recent article in The Spectator by the British former diplomat Nigel Gould-Davies raises an important question about the relationship between the European Union and Russia’s democratic opp...
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
"Russia has intensified covert efforts to undermine the leader of Armenia’s bid for re-election next month, fearing his victory could lock in the former ​Soviet republic’s realignment with the West, according to Western intelligence and government officials." www.reuters.com/world/import...
reuters.com
Exclusive: Imported voters, fake websites: Russia's covert efforts to stop Armenia's pivot West
Russia has intensified covert efforts to undermine the leader of Armenia’s bid for re-election next month, fearing his victory could lock in the former ​Soviet republic’s realignment with the West, ac...
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
"Nothing (and no one) is forever, and it is only a question of time when Russia gets another chance to turn the page on this shameful period and launch democratic reforms. If this chance is to succeed, reforms must be accompanied by a robust process of transitional justice" shorturl.at/aKv8o
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | What Putin is trying to erase in Russia
Without transparency and accountability, yesterday’s secret police become tomorrow’s rulers.
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Excellent article from Adam Thomson for @theeln.bsky.social — I would endorse his recommendation that "instead of focusing on 'substance principles', we should develop and insist upon a set of “process principles” to guide Russia-Europe relations." europeanleadershipnetwork.org/commentary/a...
europeanleadershipnetwork.org
After Ukraine: Six principles for managing Europe’s security divide
ELN Senior Associate Fellow, Sir Adam Thomson, explores how Europe and Russia might navigate security after the war in Ukraine. Before debating end-states or shared rules, both sides should first agre...
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
“Putin is determined to curtail Ukraine’s sovereignty...keeping Ukraine within Russia’s sphere of influence and preventing its Euro-Atlantic integration is paramount,” says Lokker. Some comments from me on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. www.firstpost.com/world/four-y...
firstpost.com
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Anthropic's co-founder on AI's current state: "The way that I think of these systems now is that they’re like little troublesome genies that I can give instructions to, and they’ll go and do things for me. But I still need to specify the instruction just right" www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
"Nearly 40 percent of Russia’s federal budget is now devoted to the military and security. Another 9 percent goes to interest payments on the debt that Mr. Putin has decided to take on to finance the war, a departure from years of tight fiscal discipline." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/w...
nytimes.com
Russia Remade Its Economy for War, but It’s Come at a Huge Cost
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
"Listening to Rubio, the reality is that the US seeks to move to a 19th-century concept of the world, as a duty to those who need to be rescued from non-Western civilisation, by force." www.euractiv.com/opinion/rubi...
euractiv.com
Rubio's dream of imperialism | Euractiv
Rubio's message at the MSC was: In the name of a Western Christian civilisation, go out and conquer. For this he was applauded by Europeans
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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Rubio has a personal interest in saying nice(ish) things to Europe; the Trump administration as a whole has a strong interest in Europe not acting on the rupture the White House has created. None of this means an actual change of direction in US foreign policy.
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
🚨🚨 #NATO SG Mark #Rutte is to my mind massively undermining European #unity and efforts to build up their #defence and #security in what I see as a statement which only plays in the hands of #Putin and #Trump. 🧵https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-defense-nato-mark-rutte-us-politics-threats-gdp/
politico.eu
Europe can’t defend itself without the US, NATO’s Rutte warns
The EU should stop dreaming of creating a European pillar for NATO and continue to build ties with the U.S. despite Trump, the alliance secretary-general said.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Abolish ICE is now the moderate minimum position, Prosecute ICE is where Dems should be at next.
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 24/01/2026
Border Patrol murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this morning. He was a 37-year-old ICU nurse, a U.S. citizen, a legal gun owner. Video shows he was holding a phone when they killed him. This is the second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis in 17 days. A legal thread 🧵
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Dave Keating @davekeating.substack.com · 15/01/2026
To Atlanticists who've insisted for years that Giorgia Meloni is not far right, I ask: why is she appearing in a video alongside 🇫🇷Le Pen, 🇩🇪Weidel, 🇮🇱Netanyahu & 🇪🇸Abascal? And why is this supposed friend of Ukraine endorsing Orban for re-election so he can keep blocking 🇪🇺 aid to 🇺🇦?
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Sophie in't Veld @sophieintveld.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Insane it had to come this far, but it is the right move and a major step for Europe’s security
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Mads Korsager @madskorsager.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
BREAKING part 3: Denmark is not acting alone. Several European allies are in dialogue with Copenhagen about providing military reinforcements to Greenland. Preparing for the arrival of allied forces is a key task for the advance unit now on the ground. www.dr.dk/tjenester/ki...
dr.dk
LIVE: Storpolitisk drama mellem USA, Danmark og Grønland
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Having seen several abductions up close, it is really hard to convey how much the thing they’re doing is roaming in military convoys until they see someone who is alone and isn’t white, and then jumping out in large numbers, pulling them into a van, and screeching off, all in 90 seconds or so.
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Dan Nexon @dhnexon.net · 09/01/2026
It's a repeat of Trump's business failures. You can ride the attention economy — all the way to the presidency, it turns out — but if all of your "productive" ventures have a negative return on investment? You'll eventually go bankrupt.
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
With BRICS cooperation formally expanding to the military domain, this serves as an important reminder that the #AxisofUpheaval continues to strengthen. www.scmp.com/news/china/d...
scmp.com
China to lead joint naval drills with Brics nations in South African waters
It is the first defence cooperation under the Brics framework, with the Russian and Iranian navies reportedly taking part.
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Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
There's "compartmentalising" the transatlantic relationship... and then there's the mental gymnastics required to reconcile this ⬇️ with any sort of meaningful US security guarantees for Ukraine. Europe's on its own.
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Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Realism. Restraint.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
It’s just kids playing Risk now. 🤡
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
"For Donald Trump, the preservation of something close to the status quo makes sense, given that his goal is extortion, not political transformation. Rather than the moralistic imperialism of George W. Bush, Trump’s foreign policy is imperialistic gangsterism." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Don’t Call It Regime Change. This Is Something Else Entirely.
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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Pretty sure this is the plan
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Michael Kagan @michaelgkagan.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
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Martin Sandbu @martinsandbu.ft.com · 19/12/2025
What to make of the EU decision on funding for Ukraine? It is a good outcome in my opinion. Here is why:
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Max Bergmann @maxbergmann.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
There’s gonna be a lot of hyperbolic talk about EU failing to meet the moment, yada, yada. But a 90 BILLION EU loan is a huge step for the EU and Ukraine! Europe just borrowed for war! EU crossed the joint borrowing rubicon. And they can still do the reparations loan in 2026.
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Putin is in no mood to compromise. Under current conditions, there is no realistic peace deal that preserves Ukrainian sovereignty and the broader norms underpinning global stability. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Vladimir Putin predicts European ‘swine’ backing Ukraine will lose power
Russian president vows to liberate ‘historic lands’ in hardline speech, showing no signs of compromise on invasion goals
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
The war in Ukraine is a critical inflection point for the norm against conquest. Preserving this principle requires a settlement that upholds Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, ensuring the costs to Russia of its aggression outweigh the benefits. My analysis for @inkstickmedia.com:
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
🚨🚨This is worse than we could have imagined: Full version of #Trump's national #securitystrategy reportedly calls for “pulling Poland away from #EU”. 🧵 notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/10/f...
notesfrompoland.com
Fuller version of Trump security strategy reportedly calls for "pulling Poland away from EU"
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Gustav Meibauer @meibauir.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
People continue to be surprised by this stuff as if we don't already know that the main point of strategy documents for the Trump admin is throwing far-right talking points together in exactly the way that produces maximum trolling.
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Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
The Trump National Security Strategy is an act of vandalism against the things that actually make our country strong, safe, and prosperous.
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Jana Puglierin @jpuglierin.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Europeans are waking up this morning to find the new US National Security Strategy (quietly) released. And what it has to say on Europe could not be clearer. On the „stark prospect of civilizations erasure“ for example. 👇
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Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The OSCE was established to keep war away from Europe. Yet, Russia blatantly violates international law and OSCE principles. The EU will stay the course. Only more pressure on Russia and more support to Ukraine will change the balance. My statement at OSCE Ministerial Council ↓
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Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Part of a pattern with Hegseth. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Pete Hegseth told US soldiers in Iraq to ignore legal advice on rules of engagement
Defense secretary shares anecdote in The War on Warriors and rails against ‘rules and regulations’ governing war
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Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where they need to negotiate. Extract from my press remarks following today’s informal Foreign Affairs Council ↓
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Dave Keating @davekeating.substack.com · 25/11/2025
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. 🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states. This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
reuters.com
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
“It is America, not China, that seems determined to spring Thucydides’ trap…As its primacy fades, the United States now faces a choice: meet rising nations as respected partners in building a new, more equitable multipolar world or seek the costly, brittle power that comes from domination.”
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Nahal Toosi @nahaltoosi.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
What if it was ChatGPT’s peace proposal?
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 23/11/2025
It isn't even clear that the Kremlin likes this plan
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Van Jackson @vanjackson.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
“MAGA’s policy agenda is the reactionary technocrat’s attempt at slavishly trying to impose coherence on the whims of a mad king who does not feel beholden to the form or content that the new technocrats treat as religion.” www.un-diplomatic.com/p/washington...
un-diplomatic.com
Washington’s Elbridge Colby Problem is Elbridge Colby’s Washington Problem
Hey, there!
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Glad to have offered some thoughts to this @euronews.com piece on the U.S. approach to EU enlargement. While enlargement has largely been out of focus of the Trump administration, supporting it nonetheless remains in the U.S. interest. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...
euronews.com
Spoiler or supporter? Trump silent on EU enlargement process
Washington has historically supported the enlargement process on the basis that more member states joining the EU means more business and influence. Not anymore. Donald Trump couldn’t care less, exper...
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
🚨🚨Things are just getting worse. 🧵 www.politico.eu/article/us-a...
politico.eu
US accused of threatening EU diplomats during bid to kill green shipping rules
Negotiators at shipping talks in London were told both they and their countries could be punished unless they voted with the U.S.
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Interesting news from Northern Cyprus -- a potential opening to resolve a frozen conflict that has posed a headache for the European Union for decades. on.ft.com/470be0h
on.ft.com
Pro-reunification candidate wins north Cyprus election
Tufan Erhürman’s victory deals a blow to Turkey’s influence on the island
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
"Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation withdrawing Russia from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, marking another step in Moscow’s systematic exit from Western institutions since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine." meduza.io/en/news/2025...
meduza.io
Putin signs law finalizing Russia’s withdrawal from European anti-torture convention — Meduza
Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation withdrawing Russia from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, marking another step in Moscow’s systematic exit from Western institutions si...
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
As Albania makes rapid progress toward EU accession, PM Edi Rama says of the European Union: "This is an empire we want to be part of, an empire of values, rights, and security." www.eunews.it/en/2025/09/1...
eunews.it
Albania races toward the EU. Rama calls it 'The Empire of Values and Rights'
The socialist premier in Brussels to officially open the fourth negotiation cluster, the fifth in 11 months. Marta Kos: 'Positive change is possible'. Goal remains to close all chapters by 2027
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...
substack.com
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
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Nicholas Lokker @nlokker.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
"Contrary to what top US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have suggested as major concessions, Lokker says that there is little evidence that Russia’s stance has changed following Trump’s separate talks with Putin, Zelenskyy, and other European leaders." bit.ly/467qszZ
firstpost.com
Did Putin outplay Trump at Alaska summit? What Russia’s response to peace proposals tells us
As Russia continues to press for its demands to be met for next stage of peace talks while the US looks impatient for Ukraine truce, geopolitics experts say that the post-Alaska summit developments in...
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Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
In this morning's newsletter, I wrote about an under-appreciated problem for liberalism — its total failure to cultivate young talent www.vox.com/on-the-right...
vox.com
How conservatives help their young thinkers — and why liberals don’t
Liberalism has a serious pipeline problem.
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Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
To put it simply: Putin played Trump. Again. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Limits of Trump’s diplomacy clear as Moscow balks at Ukraine plan
Moscow has resisted a Putin-Zelensky summit and security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump claims that the Kremlin’s position has changed, leaving analysts puzzled.
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