Trump vs NATO, Chat Control, and China's BIG Missile #151

Three topics this week, none of them reassuring. Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain at the NATO summit in Ankara, apparently unaware that EU trade is negotiated through Brussels rather than individual member states. Mark Rutte sat next to him in silence. We discuss what that silence costs Europe in the long run, and why Spain, of all countries, is quietly emerging as one of the diplomatic winners of the current moment.

The bulk of the episode goes to Chat Control 2.0, the EU directive that would mandate tech companies to scan private messages, including encrypted ones, for child sexual abuse material. The law was pushed through the European Parliament just before the summer recess using a procedural manoeuvre that required only the absence of an absolute majority to pass, rather than its presence. We go through the European Commission's own impact report, which acknowledges no clear link between the law and actual convictions and records a 30 percent drop in reported cases after Chat Control 1.0 came into force, a drop now being used to justify expanding the law to encrypted communications. Germany's largest child protection organisation has itself said the law undermines children's rights rather than protecting them. We discuss why it is still moving forward anyway.

We close with China's ICBM test from a submarine, which the West treated as a provocation. The United States conducted two similar tests this year to no comparable coverage. France tested nuclear weapons in the Pacific until 1996. We make the obvious point, and note that Beijing's only real mistake was failing to give sufficient warning to neighbouring countries, which damages the very diplomatic image China has spent a decade carefully building.

This podcast is an individual project between us, Dario Hasenstab and Balder Hageraats. We are supported by our producer Stefani Obradovic from Western Bubble Insights & Strategy. If you would like to get in touch with us, write us an email at thewesternbubble@gmail.com.