The Crisis Europa Review: What a Week That Was
What you should read and listen to this week.
Dear Subscribers,
There are weeks when decades happen. This time last week, I was making plans for the results of Romania’s presidential election, only for the country’s top constitutional court to force it to be re-run; martial law was declared and lifted in South Korea, and the Assad regime in Syria fell after over a decade of bloody civil war as rebels swept to the capital in a matter of days.
And that’s before we even think about the US.
I want this Substack to be a place where you can come to read thoroughly-researched analysis of aspects of European security you may not have thought about. That research takes time that I have to carve-out between my full time journalism job and part time degree. Accordingly, on the weeks when I do not have such an article, which I aim to publish every other week, I will recommend timely articles, books and podcasts that I think will be of interest to Crisis Europa’s readers.
About Romania
Who is Călin Georgescu, the far-right TikTok star leading the Romanian election race? – Politico
There’s a very real possibility that this man could be the next President of Romania after the election is re-run next year. In the meantime, he is furious at what he sees as the courts thwarting his presidency. Georgescu fits into the populist mould that we’ve seen across this year’s many elections. If elected, both the EU and NATO could be shaken as one of the alliance’s most strategically important members becomes less cooperative.
Romania’s Political Crisis Evolves – Moldova Matters
Romania and Moldova share a language, and many Moldovans – including President Maia Sandu – hold Romanian passports. Moldova is significantly affected by the politics of its neighbor. David Smith’s Substack is a useful and accessible resource for people who want to learn more about this small but important country, an aspirant EU and NATO member state with 1,500 Russian troops stationed in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
About Syria
The Collapse of Alawite Solidarity – Disorder
There’s no shortage of analysis arguing that the Assad regime fell because Russia and Iran were too distracted by other conflicts. But there is far less examining the role of Syria’s complex internal composition. The first ten minutes of this episode are a neat summary of how the Alawites came to the fore in Syria, and the role of religious bonds in perpetuating the civil war.
Hope Not Fear by Hassan Akkad
Would Europe have seen a populist resurgence without the Syrian Civil War and hostility to the refugees who fled the country? It is impossible to know such a counterfactual. But Hassan Akkad’s memoir of his burial imprisonment for protesting the Assad regime, his near-death journey to Europe and the dislocating experience of settling into a new country is an important reminder that there are millions of human stories behind the headlines.
About Last Week’s Crisis Europa
Two books formed the backbone of my research for last week’s article.
Who Will Defend Europe? An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent by Keir Giles
Even if you knew Europe have dropped the ball on its security, the true scale of the issue is far larger than you thought. Giles, an expert on the Russian military, argues that the only way for Europe to ensure that Russia does not push further into the continent is to demonstrate that Europe has the capability and the will to fight back. While Eastern Europe has got this message, many capitals “West of Warsaw” have not.
Attack Warning Red! How Britain Prepared for Nuclear War by Julie McDowall
What would Britain do if the bomb fell? Not that much to protect its population, it turns out. McDowall’s history of British civil defense left me with the realization that Britain inherited a far weaker resilience infrastructure than its Nordic neighbors because the government decided making contingency plans to protect the whole population from nuclear war was futile. But that is not the only threat we face today, and we have a lot of catching up to do.
What would you recommend people read to understand the past week? Leave your recommendations in the comments and come back next week for the next installment of Crisis Europa.