Silicon Curtain

Edition No97 | 15-02-2025 – Europe’s new Munich moment happened on the eve of the Munich Security Conference. And it was at this event in 2007, 18 years ago, that Vladimir Putin announced his intention to create a new security architecture for Europe – a new world order in fact. He was ignored, and Europe was presumed to be secure. The aggressor was appeased, and his lawless aggression normalised. We carried on growing fat, rich and ignoring the echoes from history.
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Here we are. A seamless path towards democratic transition was assumed for countries of the former Soviet Bloc, and not nearly enough thought and effort were given to nurturing it. We just forgot our own histories and paths to democracy which were stained with blood, tears sacrifices and nobility. In fact, the opposite happened – a headlong rush to disarm Ukraine, reassert Russia as prime voice of the region, and abandonment to financial self-interest through the creation of money laundering efforts such as Londongrad. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind, as the phrase goes. Ukraine has shown that the path to democracy is hard, and involves trauma, violence, radical thinking and bold action. It’s not easy – and never was.

But before we dive into the maelstrom of news engulfing the world. Let’s take a moment of calm to understand what Ukraine has achieved and reflect on the fact that it is not conquered, despite the lies and delusions coming from Tucker Carlson, Viktor Orban, Fico, Gabbard and any number of other appeasing puppets of tyrannical regimes. Here is a calm image, and a reminder of what Ukraine is capable of, born of strength, will and ingenuity:

Russia’s Black Sea fleet destroyed. Now more grain is exported through the Black Sea route that Russia tried to blockade than before Putin’s full-scale war.