Anne Applebaum

staff writer @theatlantic.com and senior fellow @snfagora.bsky.social. author of GULAG, IRON CURTAIN, RED FAMINE, TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY and AUTOCRACY INC
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Last Notes

2026-04-26 05:18:51 UTC

Trump and Elon Musk destroyed most of the global H.I.V. program that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Zambia.
Now the US is threatening to cut remaining support, unless Zambia gives access to the country’s mineral resources.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/h...
AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Z...

2026-03-31 08:22:09 UTC

"All this time Putin had, and still has, a mole in all European and NATO official meetings. If the integrity of these meetings is to be maintained, it would be appropriate to ban Hungary from all of them. Every generation has a Kim Philby”
theins.press/en/inv/29091...
Kremlin hotline: Hungary collu...

2026-03-30 20:32:40 UTC

From the libertarian CATO Institute: How Viktor Orban eroded free markets and the rule of law.
www.cato.org/policy-analy...
How Viktor Orbán’s Hungary Ero...

2026-03-27 20:48:39 UTC

Inside the European Union, one country's intelligence services were monitoring the conversations of a journalist. In Hungary, of course
@szabolcspanyi.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy
www.politico.eu/article/hung...
Orbán’s spies were hunting me,...

2026-03-27 17:05:11 UTC

At Rheinmetall, the German defense company, the CEO still thinks drones aren't important
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Building Tanks While the Ukrai...

2026-03-27 14:51:22 UTC

Viktor Orban wants Hungarians to re-elect him, even though he has turned Hungary into the most corrupt and one of the poorest countries in the EU. To do so, he is telling Hungarians to fear sabotage, thievery, or even a military attack from … Ukraine
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The First Post-Reality Politic...

2026-03-26 14:55:50 UTC

"With the smoke of war and a total internet shutdown having closed over Iranian society since 28 February 2026, debate on this conflict is missing the voices of a group of its main stakeholders: the people of Iran"
From Ladan Boroumand
www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...
Iran’s Democratic Hopes Amid t...

2026-03-25 21:44:28 UTC

"Russia is close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine and food to Iran, according to western intelligence reports that detail Moscow’s efforts to keep its embattled partner fighting"
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Russia sending drones to Iran,...

2026-03-23 17:52:01 UTC

The history of Ukraine helps explain the present - if you want to understand how we got to where we are now, the Holodmor
Research and Education Consortium has created a free course in the history of the Ukrainian famine. Sign up here:
www.coursera.org/learn/holodo...
Famine as Genocide: The Holodo...

2026-03-21 16:24:47 UTC

To tilt Hungarian election, the Russians proposed staging an assassination attempt
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
To tilt Hungarian election, Ru...

2026-03-20 08:34:50 UTC

A transformational shift in public opinion is happening in Germany, France, Canada and the UK, away from the US and towards China
www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreid6h7336ammuav4wh5exjlhmdu3e54unvryltdy2i7yqu27fvbici

2026-03-19 03:15:50 UTC

This is one of the best descriptions of the Ukrainian drone war, and its significance for all of us, that I have read
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
The new world war

2026-03-18 04:43:40 UTC

Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. Allied leaders know that if they help him in the Gulf, he won't be grateful, or even remember
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Everyone but Trump Understands...

2026-03-08 20:16:39 UTC

The Trump administration keeps using Putin's language. from Anton Troianovski @nytimes.com@bsky.brid.gy
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/u...
How Trump’s War in Iran Has Ec...

2026-03-08 02:59:32 UTC

A Distric Court judge has ruled that Kari Lake was not legally in charge of the US Agency for Global Media, and that actions she took while claiming to be in that role are also not legal, including her attempts to fire people
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreibeg6byzcekp34up2waznls63lwil2x23767beijsekqm5lmdauwq

2026-03-04 17:14:55 UTC

The US Agency for Global Media, which is run by Kari Lake, has just failed an audit. The organization's finances are too chaotic even to assess.
www.stateoig.gov/report/aud-f...
Independent Auditor's Report o...

2026-03-03 09:33:14 UTC

Translation: he didn't have enough weapons to fight his war of choice and so he is blaming Ukraine
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreiar5yrhhs7kkzmhdnpyzjwkqlp2vquyfqn6c25dr7fjly65zbaqaq

2026-03-01 20:49:20 UTC

"A stable, law-abiding Iran will help build a stable, law-abiding Middle East. But in order to achieve that, Iran needs not a new dictatorship but self-determination and a pluralist government that respects basic rights. Right now, the Trump administration is not trying to build one."
#nevent1q…jm8w

2026-03-01 15:29:51 UTC

The fate of the Iranian people has never been of great concern to American administrations, and this one is no exception
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump Has No Plan for the Iran...

2026-02-28 18:41:37 UTC

The American bombardment of Iran has been launched without explanation, without Congress, without public support. Above all it has been launched without a coherent strategy for the Iranian people, and without a plan to let them build a legitimate Iranian state.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump Has No Plan for the Iran...

2026-02-25 21:31:14 UTC

Russian embassy, Washington DC.
To mark the fourth anniversary of the full scale invasion
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreid6k2k6sinlhepvqy7ohppig5vg7tvavtst4d73hma6ma5t7jif3u

2026-02-25 21:27:49 UTC

Viktor Orban is now 20 points behind in the polls - and so he has ordered the military to guard “key energy facilities” against a possible Ukrainian “attack.” Hungarians fear he plans a fake national security emergency or false-flag incident before the April 12 election
apnews.com/article/hung...
Hungary's leader orders extra ...

2026-02-24 09:58:54 UTC

Four years have passed since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia was supposed to win in three days. Instead, Ukraine reinvented modern warfare, built a drone industry, and can destroy a thousand Russian soldiers in a day. Ukraine can win.

2026-02-20 06:02:04 UTC

There is no reason to believe Trump's foreign policy is designed to benefit America or Americans
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreifw422ndsgjpdycrbwzl3vezvbxandvxu4srajxvutbzfsgpnkeai

2026-02-20 05:10:10 UTC

A popular app in Denmark identifies American products so that Danes know not to buy them
www.independent.co.uk/tech/us-boyc...
App for boycotting US products...

2026-02-17 06:47:52 UTC

From 2017
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreickkceewty3k2kwwxlb2wzkqir73imvjx2robdecr74il7g25dpbe

2026-02-09 16:17:07 UTC

"While his father Steve Witkoff acts as President Trump’s all-purpose special envoy, 32-year-old Zach Witkoff now heads up World Liberty, which has doled out at least $1.4 billion to both families"
extraordinary reporting from @wsj.com@bsky.brid.gy
www.wsj.com/finance/curr...
One Generation Runs the Countr...

2026-02-05 14:38:07 UTC

I grew up with the Washington Post, wrote editorials for the Washington Post and published a column there for more than 15 years. To watch its owners destroy it, seemingly deliberately, in just a year and a half is devastating.

2026-01-14 13:36:14 UTC

And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.

2026-01-09 06:35:24 UTC

Asked which was more important, the acquisition of Greenland or the preservation of NATO, he didn't answer

2026-01-03 10:44:14 UTC

Remember that there is a legitimately elected president of Venezuela: Edmundo Gonzalez. He won the election in 2024.

2025-12-31 12:18:40 UTC

Main problem with this long and well-documented article is that it leaves out the semi secret business negotiations

2025-12-26 19:25:11 UTC

Not sure I understand why the Trump administration cares about Christians in Nigeria and not Christians in Ukraine

2025-12-11 00:37:01 UTC

If the US can seize a Venezuelan tanker carrying sanctioned oil, then can other tankers in other places, say the Baltic or the Black Sea, also be seized?

2025-11-29 06:01:07 UTC

“A European intelligence agency distributed a hard-copy report in a manila envelope to some of the continent’s most senior national security officials...inside were details of the commercial and economic plans the US had been pursuing with Russia, including jointly mining rare earths in the Arctic.”

2025-11-27 01:49:10 UTC

The war will end when Russia stops fighting. Therefore, pressure has to be put on Russia, so that they stop believing that they will win. Why is that so hard to understand?

2025-11-20 18:29:23 UTC

I think the American public has the right to see the secret protocols of the Witkoff-Dmitriev pact. What business deals have been agreed?

2025-11-09 18:23:14 UTC

Had to fly across the US today, changing planes, and found pleasant camaraderie...everyone wishing one another luck making their flights

2025-10-30 12:39:13 UTC

Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success

2025-10-12 03:30:05 UTC

youtu.be/Q_oFL_b719g?...
You Don't Own Me - Bette Midle...

2025-10-10 12:42:28 UTC

Nobel Peace Prizes have often been awarded to people who fight autocracy. Maria Corina Machado fits right into that tradition
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Why María Machado Deserved the...

2025-10-07 01:50:28 UTC

update: "video appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire on her"
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
Attorney for woman shot by Bor...

2025-10-06 08:06:16 UTC

ICE agents shot a U.S. citizen Saturday on Chicago’s South Side
They are creating chaos
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Federal agents shoot woman in ...

2025-10-01 00:15:29 UTC

The commander-in-chief is not ok.
read @radiofreetom.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
The Commander in Chief Is Not ...

2025-09-30 19:23:18 UTC

Pfizer "secured a three-year grace period from President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs on pharmaceuticals" and in return will "sell some drugs at a 50% average discount on a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx"
looks like state capitalism to me
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Pfizer Gets Three-Year Repriev...

2025-09-08 11:43:18 UTC

This is the best advice for the Democrats that I have read
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
Opinion | Stop Acting Like Thi...

2025-09-06 12:38:22 UTC

There is a global information war, and America is unilaterally disarming: The U.S. is reorienting its foreign policy to help autocratic governments manipulate and suppress information.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
America Surrenders in the Glob...

2025-08-23 05:12:12 UTC

John Bolton is a brave and clear critic of Donald Trump. We interviewed him for season one of Autocracy in America, for the episode on alliances and kleptocracy
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
The Kleptocracy Club

2025-08-22 14:29:25 UTC

Sloppy, careless, toxic DOGE unfairly targeted an Afghan who was working with the US, and now his family are in Taliban prisons
www.propublica.org/article/doge...
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreifqpwy6o5lpshtbfzkqwj7woikd5aqjmsgbphf45zhe7qnv55y32u

2025-08-21 08:01:20 UTC

Can you imagine a US envoy handing a Nazi medal to the family of an American who died fighting for Hitler? Because this just happened:
www.cnn.com/2025/08/20/p...
Witkoff delivered Russian meda...

2025-08-19 21:02:08 UTC

Hard to believe it, but we are progressing quickly towards a full blown imaginary conspiracy, complete with prosecutions
nypost.com/2025/08/19/u...
nypost.com/2025/08/19/us-...

2025-08-19 19:20:56 UTC

Follow the Kleptocracy Tracker! It's on my Substack, and also now @snfagora.bsky.social
snfagora.jhu.edu/our-work/res...
Kleptocracy Tracker Timeline

2025-08-08 07:03:50 UTC

"memory is fragile. Every time we recall the past, we reshape it, filter it through what we’ve heard, what we’ve lost, and what we choose to believe. Repeated messages from those in power can overwrite what we thought we knew"
from @codastory.bsky.social
www.codastory.com/rewriting-hi...
Why Georgia's National Memory ...

2025-08-07 07:10:31 UTC

Please read this excellent, point by point refutation of the claim that there was a "Russia hoax"
From @noupside.bsky.social
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/from...
From Russian Interference to R...

2025-08-05 16:49:57 UTC

"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel"
from a letter signed by former leaders of Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hundreds of Israeli ex-officia...

2025-08-04 08:50:02 UTC

On the one hand, a patriot with decades of experience defending America. On the other hand, a conspiracy theorist who hates Americans and American institutions. Presented here as "two visions of America under Trump"
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...
A Fight Over a West Point Job ...

2025-08-03 11:18:03 UTC

The most corrupt White House in history. Here is an account of what people are paying, directly to a PAC called MAGA Inc, in order to meet the president, get pardons, change policy
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/u...
Donor List Suggests Scale of T...

2025-07-27 10:09:49 UTC

As Ukrainian forces were advancing in Kherson province in September 2022, Elon Musk cut off Starlink
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Musk ordered shutdown of Starl...

2025-07-23 13:37:15 UTC

"the real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence"
from the former American ambassador to Budapest www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...
Opinion | I Watched It Happen ...

2025-07-23 04:48:31 UTC

This, on the US giving up power and influence to China, is very good
From @ishaantharoor.bsky.social
wapo.st/4m1fxNw
Column | China’s strategy? Let...

2025-07-21 09:26:04 UTC

The French government has launched a criminal investigation into Elon Musk’s X over “the alleged manipulation of its algorithm” and “fraudulent” data extraction @financialtimes.com
www.ft.com/content/2181...
France has launched criminal p...

2025-07-18 19:16:16 UTC

Very amusing to watch multiple journalists around the world try to explain the Epstein story to their bewildered readers

2025-07-17 05:35:29 UTC

The Trump decision to send a group of migrants to a small African country was just horror theater: Eswatini will now repatriate them
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/w...
African Nation Says It Will Re...

2025-07-16 17:06:52 UTC

the historic parallels here are not good
#nevent1q…3uea

2025-07-16 14:18:27 UTC

seems like convenient timing

2025-07-16 14:15:45 UTC

curious headline: "Netanyahu's testimony in his corruption trial cut short due to Syria clashes"
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
At least 93 Gazans killed in p...

2025-07-15 16:12:32 UTC

even more comprehensive, from @wsj.com: China taking advantage of the destruction of US broadcasting
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
China Gets More Airtime Around...

2025-07-14 13:21:39 UTC

The future of warfare is here
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
A Never-Ending Supply of Drone...

2025-07-03 13:12:47 UTC

I had to read this twice to believe it...Meloni, who ran for office on an anti-immigration platform, has now announced plans to let in hundreds of thousands of immigrants, in order to deal with the Italian labor shortage
www.reuters.com/world/italy-...
Italy to issue half million no...

2025-07-02 11:29:34 UTC

Trump is slowly, quietly, lifting sanctions on Russia. And halting previously allocated munitions too.
Without an announcement, US policy is beginning to favor not a ceasefire, but Russian success
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...
Lack of New U.S. Sanctions All...

2025-06-25 13:17:29 UTC

If you have JD Vance meme on your phone you might be stopped at the US border, held in a cell, strip-searched and sent home
www.dublinlive.ie/news/world-n...
Man 'refused entry into US' as...

2025-06-22 19:28:32 UTC

The Russians, who have been murdering Ukrainian civilians and bombing cities for three years, are suddenly very worried about "gross violation of international law" and "global and regional security"
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/22/r...
themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/22/rus...

2025-06-19 09:05:06 UTC

Another way to put this: Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, is unable to help its partners
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/w...
Despite Close Ties With Iran, ...

2025-06-12 04:26:47 UTC

"Reducing US military aid to Ukraine will neither lead to a sustainable peace in Ukraine nor compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to reassess his theory of victory" understandingwar.org/backgrounder...
Institute for the Study of War

2025-06-11 17:14:44 UTC

Fulbright board members are resigning “rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission"
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...
Fulbright Board Quits, Accusin...

2025-06-10 05:36:29 UTC

Read David Pepper’s list of Trump grifts open.substack.com/pub/davidpep...
Trump's Top 10 Grifts as Presi...

2025-06-07 20:29:58 UTC

Neo-nazi group with clear Russian links expands activity in the US
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Neo-Nazi group ‘actively seeki...

2025-05-28 14:49:56 UTC

The Heist
By @davidfrum.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Trump Presidency’s World-H...

2025-05-25 05:51:42 UTC

“Alphonse Capone was a monster. He was a very hardened criminal. I went through more investigations than Alphonse Capone, and now I'm talking to you as president. Can you believe this?”
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Trump gives rambling speech ab...

2025-05-11 12:51:18 UTC

"No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State"
- U.S. constitution
abcnews.go.com/Politics/tru...
Trump administration poised to...

2025-04-16 10:25:49 UTC

The DC attorney nominee has appeared dozens of times on Russian state media
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Trump’s D.C. U.S. attorney pic...

2025-04-09 11:17:29 UTC

In any other administration, the president would already be huddled with advisors trying to stave off collapse
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreih755jxu5lmqndc2mhvkeht5pdgy4xhwsmhk7vodj7mhwmvzw2muu

2025-04-03 12:47:46 UTC

"This might be the single stupidest thing any of us will ever see. It is stupid in every way: presentationally, intellectually, politically, methodologically, morally and of course economically...It’s as if we’ve attained a new state of human mindlessness, a kind of species milestone."

2025-04-02 20:36:30 UTC

just randomly inflicting economic hardship on different groups of Americans, as well as foreigners, for no particular reason

2025-03-24 17:24:04 UTC

What happened when the editor of @theatlantic.com was included on Mike Walz's group chat
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The Trump Administration Accid...

2025-03-15 21:33:59 UTC

The world's richest man stole food from the world's poorest children. Now they are beginning to die
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | Musk Said No One Has...

2025-03-13 11:42:16 UTC

Surprise! The Russians, who have repeatedly said they don't want a ceasefire, have once again said they don't want a ceasefire

2025-03-13 00:00:41 UTC

Read my former colleague Ruth Marcus, explaining why she left the Washington Post
www.newyorker.com/news/essay/w...
Why I Left the Washington Post

2025-03-07 12:13:42 UTC

Since writing this article, I have received messages from federal civil servants who tell me it is accurate, and that they are frightened. Please share this with anyone who doesn't understand the scale of the transformation.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
There’s a Term for What Trump ...

2025-03-07 11:04:05 UTC

US technology, provided by private companies, just ceased to be reliable
https://shimeji.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:lafbr3dznxdyvgup2umwssht&cid=bafkreiclqorn3nhah7lyzyq6hecs5t7tvbwlaeernugsvl2fmw42l652am

2025-03-05 14:53:03 UTC

Europeans are mystified, disappointed and frightened by a country they thought they knew
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Trump and Vance Shattered Euro...

2025-02-26 06:45:23 UTC

"Experts cannot recall a precedent for the United States, or any other country, extracting cash or resources from its own allies during a time of war"
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/w...
Trump’s Ukraine Mineral Deal I...

2025-02-22 17:03:35 UTC

Musk, Vance and their support for the anti-American, pro-Russian German far-right
From Jamie Kirchik
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/o...
Opinion | The Trump Administra...

2025-02-17 19:49:09 UTC

The @telegraphnews.bsky.social says it has the document Zelensky was asked to sign
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
Revealed: Trump’s confidential...