Michael Shurkin @MichaelShurkin Twitter profile

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Michael Shurkin

4 months

It was my profound honor to have been awarded today France's National Order of Merit by the French Ambassador to the United States.

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Last Seen Profiles

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 months

Someone needs to write a book about how Turkey developed a successful drone industry while Europe failed.

International Defence Analysis

@Defence_IDA

4 months

#Turkish Bayraktar TB3 Drone with a wide range of weapons.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

1. Fantastic interview in French with General Michel Yakovleff about the performance of the Russian military in Ukraine. Some highlights:

IRSEM

@IRSEM1

2 years

#Podcast 🎙️I Dans ce nouvel épisode du Collimateur, le général (2S) Yakovleff analyse les ressorts des contre-performances de l'armée russe en #Ukraine . ▶️À écouter ici :

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

I can't stand this sort of nonsense. Yes, 🇫🇷 has/had gold mines. No, as far as I know, colonial 🇫🇷 did not engage in mining in #Mali , and if so at a small scale. Today's big gold mines in Mali are Canadian. Industrial mining only started in the 90s.

Context Hunter

@githii

11 months

Did you know? France, with its fourth largest gold reserves of 2.436 tons, doesn't even have a single gold mine within its borders. Meanwhile, Mali, a country once occupied by France, doesn't hold any gold reserves in its banks, despite having a staggering 860 gold mines and an…

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

French president's Concord over Djibouti, 1989. A dissertation could be written about this image. Title: "Modernism, Technology, and the Pursuit of Grandeur in Post-Colonial France."

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Those tunnels. I have questions. 1. Why aren't Gazans sheltering in them? 2. How much did they cost to build? 3. Where does the power for the lights come from? 4. If Gaza was blockaded for 20 years, how did Hamas get the materials to build them?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

What an image.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

12 days

Here's one take on France's nuclear strategy.

Etienne Pellegrino

@epelgrino

12 days

@Mmxs68389252 @MichaelShurkin

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

Fun fact: there are no French mining operations in Mali, and France is at most a bit player in the African mining sector.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

I'm not sure how I"ll explain this to future generations.

North Atlantic Fella Organization

@Official_NAFO

2 years

I'm having such a good time 🎶

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 months

Can I brag? My son just got an appointment to the US Military Academy (West Point) class of 2028. I'm really proud.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

Poland is set on a course to become the military giant of Europe. If it pulls this off, this could have interesting ramification re: the balance of power in the EU and NATO. (Meanwhile, Germany gazes at its navel).

Poland to Buy 1,000 MBTs. Minister Błaszczak Also Outlines a Plan To Procure Extra F-35s or F-15s...

Currently, no option to procure new F-16s exists, due to the manufacturer's policy - as Lockheed now focuses on the F-35. I have talked about this multiple times, with our US partners. We cannot...

defence24.com

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

What have 🇫🇷 troops been doing in Niger? * Training 🇳🇪 troops to fight jihadists * Fighting jihadists alongside 🇳🇪 troops * Targetting and killing jihadists What have 🇺🇸 troops been doing? * Training 🇳🇪 troops to fight jihadists * Helping 🇫🇷 target and kill jihadists

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

19. Because Americans, he said, are fundamentally incapable of planning operations that do not assume air superiority. Let that sink in for a moment.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

1. A major reason why ppl like me respond negatively to criticism of Israel is that it very often turns into a debate about Israel's very existence. No other country has to justify its existence. None.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

NATO now knows it could beat Russia in a conventional war, the opposite of what was the case during the Cold War. The problem is that Russia knows NATO knows. Russia needs to reassert deterrence.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

20. Bottom line: Ukraine has already won the war.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

These, not F-35s, are what make America powerful.

USTRANSCOM

@US_TRANSCOM

1 year

Launch the Fleet! The U.S. enjoys a strategic comparative advantage due to our ability to project and sustain combat power globally. Our assigned air mobility forces include aerial refueling, inter-theater airlift, and intratheater airlift forces. #TogetherWeDeliver

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

13 days

Macron is wrong about this. France in the 70s had tactical nukes, and its doctrine called for their use.

Shashank Joshi

@shashj

13 days

Macron on nuclear forces: "France has always rejected the use of tactical nuclear weapons, our doctrine being one of unacceptable damage and not that of limited nuclear war. You are right to ask the question, but I am right not to give you a clear answer"

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

My kid's summer uniform.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

@omarrahman Barak's failure at Camp David? That's a weird way to spell Arafat. Is Barak Arafat's middle name?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

France should join AUKUS just because of the joy it would give us adding the F to the beginning.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Her pants. She's 17.

Yossi Goldstein

@YossiGoldstein8

7 months

Never forget

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 months

Well, that's something. Basically a full French heavy brigade. That's not just trip wire.

Dacian Draco🇪🇺🇷🇴

@RealDacianDraco

3 months

BREAKING: The French-led NATO battlegroup Romania will be raised to brigade level (4000 troops) and 50x extra Leclerc tanks will be deployed @DefenseRomania

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

11 months

While the wisdom of the NATO intervention is debatable, I have no patience for whitewashing Gaddafi. He was a blood-soaked tyrant. Plus, Libyans killed him, not NATO.

Rev Laskaris

@REVMAXXING

11 months

NATO murdered an innocent man. When will NATO pay for what they did to Gaddafi and his people?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

11. Why? Because a culture of training requires a "culture of truth." Training can't happen in an army where people can't speak the truth.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

@DavidBegnaud They appear to have long guns. Who drives around (one in the back of the pick up) armed like that? Why?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

17. Crucially, Ukrainians trust subordinates and encourage them to improvise. They value them. The opposite of the Russians.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

9 months

The dumbest thing I'm seeing are people saying Wagner will fight the French. Wagner, if it goes to Niger, will keep its distance, as it did in Mali. If it picked a fight it would lose that fight.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

Why can't "senior officials" keep their mouth shut?

The New York Times

@nytimes

2 years

Breaking News: The U.S. has provided intelligence that has helped Ukraine target and kill many Russian generals who have died in the war, officials said.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

5 months

@danielsusskind @RoryStewartUK She has phenomenal talent.

Maggie Rogers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson | August 7, 2017 -- Maggie Rogers became a viral star on the strength of a video in which Pharrell Williams raves about a demo of what's bec...

www.youtube.com

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

I realize China's the great adversary and all, but can you imagine how freaked out we would be if China had all those allies bases off our coasts? Would we be arming ourselves to the teeth with anti-ship missiles? Yes, yes we would.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

8 months

Why do people listen to this clown?

📣🇫🇷MacronardsFM🇮🇱 📻📣📻

@MacronardsFM

8 months

👉 Le dérapage de trop ? Pour Melenchon, "Macron et Borne ont le même visage bestial" que celui de Pinochet, de ceux qui ont fomenté l'assassinat de Salvador Allende et des Chicago boys. C'etait lundi à Paris. Analogie politique immonde La preuve en images. 👇🏼👇🏼

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

Ok, I read Macron's Echos interview about China. He said nothing new, and nothing the French haven't been saying for decades. What Americans should take away is that the IRA pisses off Europeans. We need to deal with that.

Emmanuel Macron : « L'autonomie stratégique doit être le combat de l'Europe »

Sans autonomie stratégique, l'Europe risque de « sortir de l'histoire », prévient le président de la République dans un entretien réalisé lors de sa visite d'Etat en Chine.

www.lesechos.fr

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

16. They, for example, dispersed their air assets to keep them safe. They have figured out how to homebrew drones and use them. They have integrated new, foreign weapons systems far faster than anyone believed possible. They have maneuvered.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

The French Air Force laughs at your F-35s.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

15. Yakovleff went to great lengths to credit Ukrainians for doing things right: He insisted NATO training helped, but really only a few received it, and for brief periods of time. Meaning, it's the Ukrainians.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

It turns out that it matters what Presidents say.

CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt

@CNNThisMorning

3 years

A South Dakota ER nurse @JodiDoering says her Covid-19 patients often “don’t want to believe that Covid is real.” “Their last dying words are, ‘This can’t be happening. It’s not real.’ And when they should be... Facetiming their families, they’re filled with anger and hatred.”

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Please remember that Hamas doesn't want peace, a two state solution, or a happy liberal binational state replete with unicorns. And they aren't concerned with the occupation of lands conquered in '67. For them, it's all occupied and must be expunged of Jews.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

I have questions.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

UK commentators re: Brexit and Good Friday need to understand that however much the US values the UK, Ireland has a unique and special place in American culture and politics. Asking Washington to chose between them is unwise.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

18. Yakovleff also rejected the idea that anyone but Ukrainians themselves planned their big operations. Certainly not Americans. Why not?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

1. I am very proud of this latest in my series on modern French military thinking, this time the work of a contemporary, Gen. Guy Hubin.

Kill the Homothetic Army: Gen. Guy Hubin’s Vision of the Future Battlefield - War on the Rocks

No one wants to show up at the next war prepared for the wrong war. The mistake can be catastrophic. The Great Powers marched confidently into battle in

warontherocks.com

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

The strategist.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 months

This is true. The French have been right all along.

Sophie Pedder

@PedderSophie

3 months

France was right. But its challenge now will be to remake its longstanding case for European strategic autonomy in a way that is not perceived as self-serving and that works through alliances both within the EU as well as with the UK and Ukraine

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

Actually, it took a French fleet in the Chesapeake. But go on.

NRA

@NRA

4 years

Freedom wasn’t won with a registered gun. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

5 months

Note that the Chinese don't appear interested in doing anything about the Red Sea, even though they probably have more at stake there economically than the rest of us. Everyone's basically waiting for the USN to deal with the problem. That includes the EU.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

1. I keep seeing hand-wringing in the French press about its military's ability to do high intensity, major wars. In terms of skill and capabilities, they are among the best in NATO and perhaps the best in Europe.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

A hell of a speech. Laying it all on Russia's feet, accusing it of dragging us into a world where the balance of power is all that matters.

Emmanuel Macron

@EmmanuelMacron

2 years

Aux Nations unies.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

13. The newly mobilized "second army" is not being subject to a training program. It's not being trained. And the Russians aren't pulling officers out of the first army to provide a framework (encadrement) for the new one. Plus the new recruits have terrible morale.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

The French military at this point should welcome leaving Africa as an opportunity to advance efforts to recalibrate for high-intensity warfare.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

Thread: The French Army Chief's new vision, or, what's the deal with the Legos?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

12. He said the Russians had already lost the war (again, the comparison with France in 1940). The "first army" currently engaged is already broken and dying.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

This is an amazing image. The Russian Army past and present.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

7. What he saw instead was NO joint maneuver. In fact, the Russian Air Force had been largely useless, when that should have been a major advantage.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

Egypt will soon have a better rail system than the US.

Mahmoud Gamal

@mahmouedgamal44

3 years

Siemens Mobility signed a landmark MoU worth $23bn to install a 1000km high-speed rail transportation network across Egypt. The high-speed rail network will be implemented by Siemens in cooperation with two local companies, Orascom Construction & the Arab Contractors.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

Details of what happened in Moura, #Mali are horrifying. Wagner has been doing precisely what we all predicted it would do, and precisely what they were hired to do.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

4 years

Sign of the times.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

One day some graduate student will write a paper deconstructing this.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

1. They're dropping too many bombs! 2. Really? What's the correct number of bombs? 1. Zero. 2. So, we go directly to a ground offensive? 1. No, that would be bad. People are there. 2. So let's have ppl evacuate. 1. Make ppl move? How dare you. 2. So what should Israel do? 1. Die.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

4. Once the war started, it was clear that, he said, Russia had made bad assumptions and would never get Kiev. The multipronged offensive only made sense if there was no real resistance. But there was.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

14. He also said that Russia's tending to throw the recruits into the broken units piecemeal rather than form new, whole maneuver units. (Reminds me of Pershing's refusal to let France feed Americans into French units to plug holes.) Russia's wasting them.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

8. He saw little to no proficient use of combined arms maneuver. Indeed, there was little maneuver of any kind. He compared the situation to France in 1940, which though still huge could not maneuver in the face of the German offensive.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

10. He was also struck by the fact that the Russians didn't seem to have trained in the lead-up to the war. He compared this to the French army in the run-up to 1991. They had worked hard; they were ready. The Russians in contrast "had no culture of training."

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Breaking; Eisenhower calls off D-Day for fear of civilian casualties.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

9 months

1. I really, really don't like this article. It demonstrates an irrational paranoia on the part of some French that I think is beneath them. It also suggests both a desire on the part of the US to see 🇫🇷 leave Africa, and it...

Conflits

@revueconflits

9 months

#USA #France #Afrique 🇺🇸🇫🇷🌍 Spécialiste américain du Sahel et de l’armée française, Michael Shurkin vient d’écrire l’oraison funèbre de la France en Afrique⤵️

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

3. He freely admits that he didn't think Putin would go to war, as he was convinced that he had already achieved what he wanted, which was to destabilize and discredit Ukraine/Zelensky and make a clear statement to the West. He only had to wait for all this to yield fruit.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

9 months

Something I wish more Sahelians understood: France, for all its faults, has as a core objective bringing security to the Sahel. This has never been a Russian objective.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

1 year

Hey, British and French people. (Canadians, Germans and Australians, Dutch, Italians etc. can also play). Are you less free than us Americans because you have gun control? Are you oppressed because you lack AR-15s? Are you cage rats?

Sean Quigley 🇺🇸

@Sean_Quigley87

1 year

@MichaelShurkin @BDHerzinger Yes, they are less free. Their rights are being violated by government in the name of “safety” Rats in cages are “free” because their handlers provide all their needs..

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

Even if this were true, I can't get my head around the notion that when one's country is being burned down by jihadi rebels, the smart move is to pick a fight with the country doing the most to help you.

Going Underground

@GUnderground_TV

10 months

African military leaders who are rebelling against French neocolonialism: 1. Burkina Faso’s🇧🇫 Captain Ibrahim Traore 2. Mali’s🇲🇱 Colonel Assimi Goïta 3. Guinea’s🇬🇳 Colonel Mamady Doumbouya 4. Niger’s🇳🇪 General Abdourahmane Tchiani

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

An irony of the "France is behind it all" theories is that France repeatedly has allowed its preferred partners to fall without intervening. If anything, this proves that France does not act like a colonial power. It could intervene when things don't go its way. It does not.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

1. What shocks me (but does not surprise me) about many of the reactions to the Burkina coup is that so many mistake France for the enemy, as if it is France that is slaughtering civilians in Burkina and Mali and has made large swathes of the countryside unlivable.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

9. He saw no evidence the Russians were learning and getting better.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

8 months

Mainly I'm just jealous of David Brooks. I really, really want someone to pay me a lot of money to crank out essays about whatever happens to be on my mind, with no obligation to do research or have any facts. I sort of do that now on this platform, but no one is paying me.

David Brooks

@nytdavidbrooks

8 months

This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

20 days

People who condemn Israel for being an "ethno-state" are full of crap. Their remedy is replacing Israel with a Palestinian ethnic state. Which strongly suggests they don't have a problem with ethno-states per se, but rather with certain "ethnos."

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

Some reasons why #Nigeria has a better shot at defeating Boko Haram than the US did with the Talbian. @cchukudebelu . A thread.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

8 months

UK mil Twitter, don't be envious of the Poles. Poland has very good reasons to be a mighty land power. The UK not so much. Worry about the state of the RAF and RN.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

Hivemind: what's with this dog image that I see all the time in Ukraine-related posts?

matthew.

@iAmTheWarax

2 years

honey, it's himars o'clock — time for your daily structural flattening

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

For all our talk about MDO, Soviet operational art, and Kesselschlachten, Russian strategy now amounts to siege warfare and slaughtering civilians. Instead of Gerasimov, we're back to the 30 Years' War and the tactics of Pappenheim and Tilly.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

This is amazing, the sort of thing historians of past conflicts can only dream of...to have this exchange on video like this. And yes, it puts in a bad light criticism of some of Macron's diplomatic efforts.

Eleanor Beardsley

@ElBeardsley

2 years

Macron speaks to Zelensky the morning of the invasion. This is the beginning of Zelensky’s transformation from mild-mannered president to war chief.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

We know almost nothing about Ukrainian military losses. Makes analysis very challenging.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Extraordinaire. #Mali #Wagner

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

9 months

Me responding to people who insist France/US/"NATO" are motivated by the Sahel's natural resources. Or, "it's all about uranium."

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

5. Nonetheless, he expected the Russians to perform better because since Grozny Russian military reforms had ostensibly included a strengthening of joint and combined arms maneuver capabilities.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

1. The Russian military's shabby performance should not be taken as proof that Europe and the US need not worry about Russia, or that Finland and Sweden need not question their "neutrality." Why not?

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

1. Ex-CIA guy speaking hear: I'm angered by the nit picking over whether any of the classified docs in Trump's possession may really have represented a danger. The whole idea of classification is that the info, if made public, represents a danger.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 months

You misspelled the French Navy under de Grasse.

PNWGUERRILLA

@pnwguerrilla

3 months

America only exists, Because of Armed and Dangerous Civilians.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Israel is an apartheid state, says the queen of a country that barely survived a Palestinian insurrection and is protected by Israel. By the way, Jews can't become citizens of Jordan. It's Jew free.

Simon Ateba

@simonateba

7 months

EXPLOSIVE: Queen Rania of Jordan explodes, grants an interview to CNN's @amanpour , tells her she's outraged the world is silent when Palestinians are bombed to death in Gaza, calls Israel "apartheid state", says it's "occupier" vs "occupied". WATCH

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

2. First, who's Yakovleff? He's one of the French Army's luminaries. He wrote this book, which is something of a strategy and tactics manual. He puts a lot of thought into what he says. Ahem @PrincipeDebase

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

11 months

It's fascinating to me that many Malians are convinced France wasn't an ally fighting a war against Mali's mortal enemies.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

3 years

In the Pacific chosing UK over France as an ally makes no sense. But really the dumbest thing is to make it an either/or. The right answer is both.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

8 months

I suppose if I were French I would be Macronist by default (like many French). I'd look to the left and then to the right and shiver. Still, the country needs sane and healthy left and right parties. Here's to hoping they revive.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

10 months

FFS stop this nonsense.

Garland Nixon

@GarlandNixon

10 months

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

8 months

The future of the Franco-German tank project, meant to replace the Leopard II and the Le Clerc, is looking dim. To the surprise of no one. It's nearly impossible to reconcile the two countries' mil and industrial policies.

À Berlin, on doute de plus en plus de l'avenir du char franco-allemand de nouvelle génération -...

Lancé en 2017 par la France et l'Allemagne , le programme MGCS vise avant tout à mettre différents systèmes d'armes en réseau grâce à un "cloud" de

www.opex360.com

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

The 🇨🇵 intervention was NEVER going to be sufficient to defeat jihadists, but it DID act as a break and limited jihadists' freedom of action. IS blossomed in Mali after 🇨🇵 left. Will blossom now in Niger.

Wassim Nasr

@SimNasr

8 months

It’s quite predictable to witness more and more attack since there’s no more support from the French either by air or SOF. Thursday’s attack occurred in an area where #IS is active and where French SOF were actively supporting #Niger ’s forces on the ground

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

Those who think 🇨🇵 is pulling all the strings should note that between Mali and Burkina this is the 5th coup in 10 yrs that has been directly contrary to 🇨🇵 interests...and yet 🇨🇵 has not intervened.

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

7 months

Qatar funds Hamas. My modest proposal is crashing Qatar's economy. Makes more sense than bombing Gaza. So no thanks, I won't be investing in Qatar.

Invest Qatar

@Investqa

8 months

Introducing Invest Qatar Gateway, our next-generation digital platform that connects you with Qatar’s investment community. #InvestQatar #InvestmentOpportunities #InvestQatarGateway

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Michael Shurkin

@MichaelShurkin

2 years

6. He also had seen evidence that the Russians could learn and improve.

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