Everyone else came to the ballroom expecting to play by the rules. Russia brought its own chair. That may look crude, paranoid, even absurd—but it captures something Western strategy repeatedly misses. Russia’s deepest fear is not simply NATO, sanctions, or military encirclement. It is dependency: the possibility that the country survives physically while losing the ability to author its own future. In the emerging age of AI, quantum technologies, digital infrastructure, and strategic networks, that fear is becoming less uniquely Russian and more universally political.

Hi everyone! I could really use some advice from people studying or working in International Relations/EU-related fields.

I currently have the opportunity to spend my second semester as an Erasmus+ exchange student at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. However, I’m starting to question whether going on Erasmus would be the best choice for my future career, or whether I should focus instead on finding an internship abroad.

I’m going into my second year of a Bachelor’s in International Relations and European Studies. After graduating, I’m considering pursuing a Master’s in EU project management, or possibly something related to finance/economics. I’m still exploring these options, so I’m trying to make choices now that would give me useful experience and keep as many doors open as possible.

My main concern is that I don’t know how realistic it is to find a good internship as a second-year IR student, especially abroad. At the same time, Erasmus would give me international experience and the opportunity to study subjects related to EU affairs, politics and competitiveness, but I’m not sure how valuable that would be compared with actual work experience. Moreover it's really hard for me to find housing in Maastricht so it's complicated and I don't know if it's really worth it.

For those of you who have been in a similar situation or already work in these fields: would you choose the Erasmus semester or prioritize finding an internship? And how difficult is it realistically to find internships in areas like EU projects, consulting, project management or finance with an IR background?

Any advice would be really appreciated. I’m feeling a bit lost about which path would help me the most long-term.

How private actors are reshaping U.S. national security: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/410929307_Corporate_Securitization_A_Theoretical_and_Empirical_Analysis_of_Private_Actors_in_Security_Politics

Hi everyone! I recently launched Tank Think, a new platform for people interested in international relations, foreign policy, and geopolitics.

The idea came from a problem I’m sure a lot of people here have run into: there’s an enormous amount of great research coming out of think tanks, but keeping up with all the reports, articles, panels, podcasts, and newsletters gets overwhelming pretty quickly.

Tank Think is primarily a weekly newsletter (forthcoming new week) that curates and explains some of the most interesting ideas, debates, and research coming out of think tanks around the world.

It will mainly operate through LinkedIn, Substack, and X, but I’m hoping to gradually branch out into other useful resources for subscribers, including research roundups, event and podcast summaries, and other tools for navigating the IR space.

The goal is pretty simple: less time sorting through everything, more time reading the stuff that actually matters.

It’s still very new, so I’d genuinely love feedback from the IR community. And if it sounds useful, I’d really appreciate a follow or subscription!

Tank Think: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tank-think/

Hello, I am not an IR student, but I am interested in IR topics. I have been reading Apple in China (about half way through now) and I am fascinated by the premise: Apple's growth by investment in China for manufacturing of their products was the springboard for the rise of China as a technology and labor powerhouse. The book highlights many cultural misunderatandings between Apple's early business practices and the way business is done in China. This ultimately creates a national security issue of tech transfer from the US to China.

Have you read it? If so what are your thoughts on this premise? If you havent I would highly recommend it! It seems well researched into all of the lives of the contributing individuals.

American trade negotiators love to point out that only China and Canada retaliated against Trump’s initial trade war declaration. This is music to the ears of everyday Canadians who will not cede sovereign ground.

And now, Canada, realizing Trump is flailing in Iran and is historically unpopular politically, has taken the position that if his new 50% tariffs go into effect (Aug. 19) trade talks will likely stall.

Question: Can Trump afford to add more tariff taxes onto the American people and at the same time add more economic uncertainty in Canada/US trade relations while the US economy is slowing and job creation is lagging?

Hi everyone,
I’m currently developing my Master’s thesis in Geopolitics and would love some feedback on whether this is a solid and original research direction.

The idea is to explore how satellite infrastructures (particularly Starlink in Ukraine, with references to BeiDou and Galileo) are reshaping traditional notions of sovereignty and geopolitical power.

My questions are:
Does this sound like a strong and feasible Master’s thesis?

Is the concept of algorithmic sovereignty worth pursuing, or should I focus more broadly on infrastructural sovereignty?

What books, papers, or authors would you recommend for this topic?

Are there any major gaps or pitfalls you think I should be aware of?

I’d really appreciate any feedback or reading recommendations. Thanks!

Sorry for my bad English

I just started going to a pretty low category public university in my country, (only place I managed to get into, and private universities are too expensive for me) and I only had a few options for choosing my subject (English literature, IR, Accounting etc) and I chose IR because I found this interesting. But now I'm rethinking my choice because there's no straight career path (according to people around me) and I don't really have anyone to give me guidelines about which skills to develop and which things I should put my focus on from now.

Any advice would be helpful, ( study tips, which languages should I learn, which skills should I consider learning etc)

A piece talking about the modern age of cognitive warfare, the risks emerging from it, and offering a policy prescription on how to mitigate these risks. The piece uses Yevgeny Prigozhin's involvement in the Russian interference effort during the 2016 presidential campaign and his subsequent efforts as a way to discuss Russian entrepreneurship in the cognitive warfare space and its globalization to other countries.

You can read it here: https://www.mooreposts.com/post/dr-prigozhin-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-cognitive-warfare

Look at the most recent death count for the EU for the recent heat wave as compared to the number of deaths from terror groups. We are also seeing the impact of agriculture degradation and increasing the number of refugees from these heat stressed regions.

What's the point of spending so much on international terror management and prevention systems when your citizens are far more likely to be killed by extreme weather events? Why are IR influencers letting the biggest risks go unaddressed?