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Noah Barkin

@noahbarkin.bsky.social
9.4K followers 789 following 2.5K posts

Watching 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 from Berlin. Try my newsletter: noahbarkin.substack.com

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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The movie “Don’t Look Up” is playing out in real time, replete with Silicon Valley villains who have completely lost the plot
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Would Le Pen pivot to the center once in power like Meloni did? On the economy perhaps - given the dire state of France’s finances. But on the big foreign policy challenges - Russia, China, US - I suspect she could be far more damaging. www.ft.com/content/7783...
ft.com
Why Europe’s centre will hold
The 1930s are not a good guide to the politics of the 21st century
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
US camel exports are poised to explode: “The Chinese list of US products that will receive favourable treatment covers 1,619 items, including many agricultural products such as chilled foie gras, rabbit hair and camels as well as whales and dolphins for breeding” www.ft.com/content/b1ba...
ft.com
US and China agree $60bn low tariff regime for goods from foie gras to camels
Board of trade will lower levies on non-sensitive goods as superpowers seek to ease tensions
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We’re in a strange world where the US president is actively undermining vital American strategic interests on multiple fronts and no one in Washington is doing anything about it www.ft.com/content/8b46...
ft.com
Trump asked Xi if China wanted to buy American weapons, US envoy says
Administration denies delaying sale of a $14bn arms package to Taiwan to appease Beijing
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It's unnerving for the EU to watch Xi Jinping being feted in Washington at a time when the bloc is veering towards a trade conflict with China. My comments to @scmpnews.bsky.social www.scmp.com/economy/glob...
scmp.com
Why Xi’s US trip leaves Europe relieved by trade truce – but wary of the future
The summit in Washington eases near-term uncertainty over rare earths, but analysts fear the bloc could have less say over decisions shaping its economic interests.
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Reposted by Noah Barkin
Pierre Briançon @pierrebri.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Hey, New York Times: Who gives a flying f… ?
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Germany and France are finalizing a paper which will call on the European Commission to develop a powerful new tool to deter China. The paper points to a new consensus between Berlin and Paris - and a willingness to think out of the WTO box. nbarkin.substack.com/p/watching-c...
nbarkin.substack.com
Watching China in Europe - October 2026
Merz and Macron want the EU to develop a powerful trade tool to deter China. A joint paper due this week points to a new Franco-German consensus and a willingness to think outside the WTO box.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Anyone who thinks Abdul El-Sayed is too radical to support should listen to this podcast podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
The Ezra Klein Show
Society & Culture Podcast · Updated twice weekly · Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the ...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
What credibility is one at risk of burning? www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Trump’s diesel threat risks burning U.S. credibility
European officials say the prospect of a U.S. cutoff is exposing the risks of relying on American fuel.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Good piece from @spignal.bsky.social on why Europe’s populists haven’t demonized China. I think the main reason is that they are too busy demonizing their own governments. Paying attention to (and talking about) foreign countries is a step too far. economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com
Why Europe’s populists don’t criticise China
An ideal target gets a free pass from the demagogues
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Johann Wadephul's message to Sergei Lavrov in the first encounter between German and Russian foreign ministers in four years: “We can defend ourselves, we can fight back and we will do so" www.ft.com/content/ec92...
ft.com
German and Russian foreign ministers meet for first time in over four years
Johann Wadephul said he warned Sergei Lavrov about drone incursions and urged de-escalation in Ukraine in ‘intense conversation’
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Tony Blair is ethically challenged. We all know that. But this story, which seems to want to remind us of this, misses the mark www.ft.com/content/1ca9...
ft.com
Tony Blair’s think-tank offers political access to $25,000-a-year corporate members
BP, Uber and Amazon are among corporate members of the non-profit’s membership programme, the Global Network for Change
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
In the epic contest between democracy and autocracy, Trump has long given the impression that he may be on the other side. But rarely has that been brought home as starkly as this week, as he punishes news outlets for being too “negative” while embracing Xi and Putin www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/u...
nytimes.com
In Trump’s White House, China’s Dictator Is Welcome. American Media, Less So.
The showdown over President Trump’s partial media ban played out as he welcomed President Xi Jinping, whose government is ranked among the most repressive in the world.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump celebrates America’s biggest geopolitical rival and has nothing to show for it except some pandas. Win-win: Beijing wins twice www.ft.com/content/cdff...
ft.com
Pomp prevails over substance as Donald Trump hosts Xi Jinping
Fanfare masks some of the US president’s own troubles, including his war in Iran and plummeting domestic popularity
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Peter Thiel, receiving the Axel Springer award in Berlin, describes journalism as a "left-wing hate factory"
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Bari Weiss, Alex Karp ... and Markus Söder celebrating Peter Thiel in Berlin tonight #axelspringeraward
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
US attitudes towards China are softening. Trumpian chaos at home and a perception of relative order, stability and economic advancement in China is likely playing a role. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
As Trump Welcomes Xi, More Americans Have a Positive View of China
Experts attribute the changing mood to fading memories of the coronavirus pandemic, awareness of China’s tech innovations and disaffection with President Trump’s trade wars.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Would the Europeans come to a G20 attended by Putin? I would hope not
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Haven’t seen a headline quite so inane in a while
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There’s more: “What we want to do, I believe, is to channel all of our worries into helping people be inspired by this technology and use it”. Translated: the embrace and development of AI should be our overarching aim.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Jensen Huang lost me in less than a minute with this: “Today, or soon, we’ll be able to know everything or do anything”. Divorced from reality. In a billionaire tech bubble podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
The Ezra Klein Show
Society & Culture Podcast · Updated weekly · Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic ...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Peter Thiel will be honored in Berlin tomorrow with the Axel Springer Award. Bari Weiss is also on the program. Previous recipients include Zuckerberg, Musk and Bezos. Enough said. www.axelspringer.com/en/ax-press-...
axelspringer.com
Live-Übertragung am 24. September: Axel Springer Award 2026 für Peter Thiel
Verleihung im Berliner Axel-Springer-Hochhaus / Livestream ab 19:00 Uhr (MESZ) auf YouTube via go2.as/award und WELT.de verfügbar
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If you are serving a president who has weakened the US hand on China like no other leader in recent memory, can you still describe yourself as a hawk? Or have you become a dovish enabler? www.ft.com/content/5b7d...
ft.com
Has Donald Trump caged his China hawks?
Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington this week to find a US president wary of jeopardising their détente
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
29% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs edition.cnn.com/2026/09/22/p...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The US-China AI dialogue is apparently a figment of Scott Bessent’s imagination www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
‘The scientific, technical term is BS’: Inside the new Bessent-China AI hotline
It is not, at least for now, a broader formal system for the two governments to report or jointly respond to AI threats.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A quarter of the US population is brain dead
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Quite stunning: US public debt topped $40 trillion last month, double what it was when Trump first took office in 2017. Can anyone else smell the mother of all financial crises looming? Perhaps Trump’s departing gift
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
And then there were none… www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Trump Summit With Xi Unlikely to Include Chinese CEOs
The likely absence of a Chinese corporate delegation highlights the low expectations for significant business results from the meeting.
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Reposted by Noah Barkin
Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
AfD now fully 10 points ahead of CDU/CSU in national polling...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“There’s no way to apply the cordon sanitaire to the French Republic" - Meloni ally in the European Parliament tells Politico www.politico.eu/article/gior...
politico.eu
Meloni’s EU lieutenant urges Brussels to work with Le Pen
Nicola Procaccini say he is “optimistic” that French far-right leader will not be destructive for the EU.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"My citing these numbers by no means implies endorsement of Rhodium" - China Daily www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202609/14/...
chinadaily.com.cn
Fallacy of 'China Shock 2.0'
The European Union's threat of a trade war against China — harsher trade measures unless upcoming trade negotiations yield concrete results — builds on the fabricated foundation of a "China Shock 2.0"...
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Trump and Xi represent rival nations. But, unfortunately, the two leaders have many of the same flaws — narcissism, nationalism, narrowness of vision. The world needs far-sighted leaders. That is not what is on offer." @gideonrachman.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/aa1d...
ft.com
Trump and Xi are the wrong men at the wrong time
The world needs far-sighted leadership but the US and Chinese leaders are unlikely to provide it
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Regional CDU leaders met for two hours last night in Berlin without Chancellor Friedrich Merz - a sign that his attempt to nip an internal party revolt in the bud may not have worked. The results from Berlin and Meck-Pomm could not have been much worse for him.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Monday in Germany: - Merz fighting for his political life - AfD celebrating another regional triumph - Nationwide protests in the auto sector - Volkswagen ejected from European blue-chip index - My U-Bahn delayed because man becomes aggressive with dark-skinned woman with child
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Nationwide protests in the German auto sector today: “More trade protection and local content! If you want to sell here, you need to produce here!” www.igmetall.de/presse/termi...
igmetall.de
Zukunft statt Kahlschlag – Zusammenhalt ist unsere stärkste Marke
Bundesweit Aktionen in der Automobilindustrie. „Zukunft statt Kahlschlag – Zusammenhalt ist unsere stärkste Marke”.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Lamy has taken a very long time, I would say far too long, to come around to this view.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Volkswagen, its shares at a 16-year low, has been ejected from the Euro Stoxx 50 index www.ft.com/content/1886...
ft.com
Volkswagen ejected from European blue-chip index in blow to crisis-hit carmaker
German company falls out of Euro Stoxx 50 after its shares dip to 16-year low
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A blue wave in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, with the AfD over 50% in several voting districts
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Berlin: a lefty core sandwiched between a conservative west and far-right east www.tagesschau.de/inland/innen...
tagesschau.de
Berlin: Karte mit den Ergebnissen der Abgeordnetenhauswahl 2026
Wer liegt in welchen Wahlkreisen, Bezirken und Wahlbezirken vorne? Welche Partei hat wo ihre Hochburgen? Die interaktive Karte zeigt detaillierte Ergebnisse der Abgeordnetenhauswahl 2026 in Berlin.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The disaster scenario for Merz today was that the CDU would 1) be ejected from the state assembly in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and 2) be ejected from the government in Berlin. The first now looks likely. The second could take some time to materialize.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Support for the CDU in Meck-Pomm is eroding as the results come in. Now at serious risk of being ejected from the state parliament - which would be a first in the postwar era and increase the risks for Merz
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A final note on the German state elections: In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, we may be in the unprecedented situation of needing four parties (SPD-Greens-Linke-CDU) to form a government with a majority in the state assembly. This would be the case if the far-left BSW makes it above the 5% threshold. Ugly
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Merz trying to nip any talk of his ouster in the bud. He says he wants to push ahead with his reform agenda. No sign that he might be considering stepping aside - despite more bad news for the CDU in state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Merz giving a press conference within minutes of the first regional election exit polls - a sign of how much pressure he is under
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Additional context: - The AfD will not enter government in Meck-Pomm even if it stays on top. An SPD-Linke-Greens coalition is most likely - The CDU is too close to the 5% threshold for comfort. If they fall below 5% the risks for Merz rise - In Berlin: Linke-Greens-SPD or CDU-Greens-SPD likely
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Exit polls from the German state elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin are not great news for ChancellorFriedrich Merz In Meck-Pomm - AfD on track to be top vote getter ahead of the SPD - CDU on just 5.5% - lowest ever regional result Berlin - Far-left Linke in front of the CDU
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
France’s RN feels the need to get tough on Russia: “We will never tolerate any foreign power, in this case Russia, hoping to dictate our country's policy, directly or indirectly, through intimidation, threats, destabilisation or psychological pressure” rassemblementnational.fr/communiques/...
rassemblementnational.fr
Communiqué de Marine Le Pen et Jordan Bardella sur la détérioration de la situation sécuritaire en Europe et les actions hybrides russes
Communiqués - Rassemblement National - 19 septembre 2026
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Trump plans to greet Xi Jinping as he gets off his plane next week. He has only done this for one other leader in his second term. Three guesses who that was.
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
If there’s a silver lining for Germany, it’s that this could achieve what Merz was unable to: Reichexit
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Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Far-left or far-right? The choice, it seems, in Germany these days www.ft.com/content/7cf5...
ft.com
Red lipstick and expropriation: anti-capitalist seeks power in Berlin
Elif Eralp could become first mayor of Turkish origin in the German capital
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