Foundation Stone of Rheinmetall’s New Factory Laid in Szeged

Head of Rheinmetall Power Systems division Christoph Müller noted at the ceremony that Szeged will be the group’s first hybrid site, where the civil business and defence technology activities will operate under one roof. The initial step will be the construction of a 15,000 square metre plant on the 85,000 square metre area adjacent to the ELI ALPS laser research centre, providing jobs for three hundred highly skilled professionals.

(L-R) French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk join hands at a press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on 15 March 2024.

Macron and the Dangers of Strategic Uncertainty

‘Strategic uncertainty is not a universal elixir, but merely one of the tools in a politician’s and a strategist’s toolbox. It is important to know when to use it, but it is perhaps even more important to know when not to. For strategic uncertainty to be an effective tool, serious kinetic action must sometimes be added to the bluffing and the show of force.’

Jan Brueghel the Younger, Allegory of War (1640s). Private collection

How Democracies and Autocracies Fight Wars

‘For material, political, and geopolitical reasons, democracies trend towards long-duration, remote, low-exposure, naval, air, and space warfare. An absent-minded reading might leave a reader with a sense of dissonance between democratic tendencies and democratic victories in two world wars. In fact, the world wars were distant and long-lasting for the few democracies that won in the end.’