I know several former Soviet dissidents, such as Edward Lozansky, who moved to the United States, where he worked with former American presidents. Lozansky asked me if I could produce some recorded online lectures on geoeconomics. I asked my university here in Norway, but they were opposed to the idea because it could cause a lot of problems. I told Lozansky that I could not contribute, as recording online lectures for an American-Russian university established to improve relations between Russia and the West would give Norwegian journalists too much ammunition for smears and to threaten the reputation of my university. What is the purpose of articles like this? What exactly have they managed to catch me out on? This is a continuation of six years of intimidation since I returned to Norway. Always go after the person, never the argument. Make life as difficult as possible for your opponent, and do it publicly, so that everyone stays in line. My great crime is arguing that Russia considers NATO expansion an existential threat, something that should be entirely uncontroversial given the extensive documentation supporting this position. Why do I believe it is important to acknowledge this? Russia will use force to push NATO back, and for Ukraine, this means that without a diplomatic solution that takes Russian security concerns into account, Russia will seize strategically important territory and destroy the remaining infrastructure so that Ukraine cannot be used by NATO as a front line. If I am right, NATO's policies will lead to the destruction of Ukraine and potentially to a nuclear war between NATO and Russia. It is not easy to determine whether I am right, because debate in Norway has been criminalized by labelling dissenting voices as “Russian propaganda.” Unfortunately, arguments and evidence no longer matter in Norway today, where we are only allowed to discuss the supposed evil intentions of those who disagree with us. The freedom of academic discourse must be restricted because all dissent is dismissed as an attempt to “legitimize” the enemy. In the past, we had journalists who discussed the security concerns of the opposing side. Today, we have journalists who investigate those who discuss the security concerns of the opposing side. How can we improve our own security in Norway when we are not even allowed to discuss the security concerns of Russia, China, Iran, and other countries of that kind? When acceptable debate is reduced to a narrative of a struggle between good and evil, weapons become the path to peace, while diplomacy and mutual understanding are portrayed as weakness and betrayal. The punishment for academic dissent in Norway is endless personal attacks and derogatory name-calling. Journalists and NGOs affiliated with the state repeatedly contact my employer. Every time I am invited to give a talk, the event is cancelled. Journalists only email me to demand that I respond to accusations without providing any serious justification for them. Journalists investigating me in search of something they can use against me recently gained access to my university records. The only thing they had to use against me was that I had asked about producing some online lectures for Lozansky on political economy. Other recent articles about me have focused on my request to reduce my position at the university to 80% after journalists complained about my outside activities, as well as fake news claiming that I congratulated Putin on the election victory. I do not believe it is a coincidence that "An Enemy of the People" was written by one of our own, Henrik Ibsen. Outside Norway, there are academic debates in which opposing arguments are presented without vicious personal attacks. Outside Norway, there is political opposition in which every member of parliament is not required to support arms shipments to a war and boycott diplomacy. Outside Norway, there are diplomats who believe in diplomacy and journalists who believe in journalism. My advice to young Norwegian academics in security studies or political economy who argue for positions that are not supported by the political and media bubble is this: Get out of the country.

Trump on Iran: Let 'em take out Los Angeles and San Diego, it's a small price to pay

Today, NATO will be awarded the International Peace of Westphalia Prize. The jury is 11 men, including Friedrich Merz and the literal Prince of Prussia and Head of the House of Hohenzollern. nd-aktuell.de/artikel/119529…

Former President Obama says Democrats made a mistake by making goals materialistic and instrumental: "What people are starved for at the moment is the ability to tell a moral and ethical story about how we live together in this moment."

Deeply diverging views and narratives persist, for instance on origins of some sites and would need to be addressed between 🇦🇿 and 🇦🇲 to also overcome this aspect of past conflict as part of their broader reconciliation efforts. (5/6)

Together with the diplomatic corps, we visited the Ganjasar and Khudavang churches — an integral part of the ancient Albanian Christian heritage. Ganjasar was established in the 13th century by Hasan-Jalal Dawla, the Caucasian Albanian ruler, and stands as an important testament to the centuries-old Christian heritage of Caucasian Albania. During the years of occupation, these monuments were subjected to external interventions under the guise of makeshift “restoration,” compromising their architectural authenticity and original character. Every historical, cultural and religious monument on the territory of Azerbaijan, irrespective of its origin or religious affiliation, forms an integral part of our country’s rich cultural heritage. The Azerbaijani state is committed to their protection, preservation and restoration. Azerbaijan’s experience in safeguarding its multicultural and multireligious heritage has earned international recognition. We stand ready to share this experience with other countries, including our neighbors. We also invite media outlets engaged in spreading fake news and misleading narratives on this issue to visit these sites and see the reality on the ground for themselves. Seeing is believing. #ChristianChurch #Christianity

To my dear friend Mike Huckabee, No one doubts where your heart is. Your support for Israel is unwavering and historic. There is violence in Judea and Samaria — there has been for many years. But Jews don’t wake up in the morning saying “I’m going to go kill a Palestinian today.” The opposite, of course, is not true — hundreds and hundreds of Jewish residents of J&S have been murdered by Palestinian terrorists. Most Palestinian residents of J&S cheered 9/11, 10/7, support Hamas and want to push the Jews out of all of Israel, not just J&S. So of course there is violence between Jews and Arabs in Judea and Samaria. But the two questions are 1) why does it exist, and 2) how is it being used by Israel’s enemies? It exists for the reasons described above — Jews need to defend themselves. Some acts of defense are debatable, some may be inappropriate. But they are acts of defense nonetheless against ruthless thugs that simply refuse to live in peace on any terms with their Jewish neighbors. The “settler violence” libel is being used, as you recognize, as part of a coordinated PR effort by the same people who falsely accuse Israel of genocide. The Palestinian-Americans who had no difficulty building beautiful houses in the area are now draping American flags on their houses so that attacks against them — which they instigate — can be filmed as attacks against America. It’s all a cynical campaign and its roots go back more than a century. Of course I agree that settler violence hurts Israel’s “standing” in the world, but it hurts less than giving Palestinian terrorists free rein to kill more Jews. Unfortunately, labeling the Jews who fight back as “terrorists” is a win for the anti-Israel PR machine who then create a moral equivalency between both sides. Your correct observation that the Jews committing acts of violence are a tiny fraction of the total Jewish population is a distinction entirely lost on the media, who have a false narrative to uphold.

Ukrainian media report new Trump peace plan brought by Kushner & Witkoff: • complete ceasefire •withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas & part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast with possible deployment of UN contingent there •Ukraine's non-aligned status and renouncing NATO accession •referendum and elections •constitutional amendments •Kyiv renouncing the forcible return of territories that would come under Russian control •:imitations on the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces •agreements on language issues •and the signing of a full-fledged peace treaty by the new Ukrainian government, followed by ratification through a special procedure at the UN.

Sikim fələstini , mene fələstin lazım deyil, İsrail olmasaydı Qarabağ helede ermenide idi, fələstin getsin ermeni soyqırımını tanısın.

Netanyahu told Trump to start the new phase of economic warfare against Iran. Any neighbor of Iran that adheres to Trump's demands to target Iranian citizens with economic warfare will be severely punished militarily and all US economic assets in these regimes will be destroyed.

Good morning, Asia. While you were sleeping, one of our most-read stories was about comments made by Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardline settler previously convicted of incitement to racism. ft.trib.al/WRx5vNI