Democracy, Backsliding and the Need for a Weekly Radar

Introduction

In March 2026, the V‑Dem Institute published its tenth global Democracy Report: Unraveling the Democratic Era?

For the “ average global citizen ”, they conclude, the level of democracy is now back to where it stood in 1978. The gains of the so‑called “ third wave of democratisation ”, which began with Portugal’s Carnation Revolution in 1974, have been “ almost entirely eradicated ”.

ACTORS THE EU WILL NOT NAME

A FIMI-Methodology Assessment of US, Israeli and Aligned Network Interference in European Democracy

“those who want to destroy the Union are: Russia, American MAGA, and the European right wing led by Orbán. “1

(Donald Tusk)

1. A House of Cards Indeed
2. The Full OSINT FIMI Shadow Report
3. Open Letter to Kaja Kallas: The EU’S FIMI Blind Spot Is An Existential Threat
4. Footnotes

A House of Cards Indeed

Kaja Kallas is right that today’s wars are fought with lies and algorithms.

Engineering Escape Velocity - A 5 year Plan for Europe

This three-part Reckoning series began with a question about what China’s history, including its 19th-century failures and its 20th century successes, can teach Europe about its 21st-century moment of crisis. China failed to adapt to geopolitical changes in the 19th century and that mistake gave rise to a century of humiliation. China learned from that failure and is now a superpower.

The Stackelberg Trap and how Europe must deal with the American criminal enterprise, China & Russia

Continuing the series:

The Reckoning: A European Strategy For an Unstable World

1. The Stackelberg Trap — Europe Nearly Always Follows
2. The Opium Wars, Ambiguity & Chinese Realignment
3. A Network of Criminal Enterprises
4. Securing The Lagrange Point
5. The Age-Old Russia Question
6. Footnotes

" It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

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Part 1: The Search for a Stable Orbit and the Mathematics of Human Survival

The fourth article in the European Reckoning series. Following on from:

The Rape of Europa: Sovereignty, Security & The Ethical Tech Opportunity

Overview

The era of American security guarantees, which formed the bedrock of European stability since WW2, has transitioned into a “three-body problem” of unstable unpredictable gravitational interactions between Washington, Beijing, and Brussels. The war in Ukraine has accelerated Russian decline and it has been drawn closer to the Chinese geopolitical mass.

Introduction

There’s a point where impunity is not a failure of the system, it is the purpose of the system. Some things shake our belief in justice and government to the core, anyone who has spent anytime with the Epstein case will feel the same. Justice is too often institutional force applied to the weak and vulnerable by the strong: ‘the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must ‘.

**" Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite **
….**this is killing me “**1

In Part 2 we looked at the many risks arising from Elon Musk’s ownership of the social media platform X, his development of Grok and Grokipedia and his promotion of disinformation and hate.

In Part 1 we looked at how Musk takes all of the wrong lessons from the literary greats he apparently admires:

Elon Musk - Part 1: The Crusader Behind The Mask?

In this Part 2, we will examine the integrity of Musk’s views on free speech, and the engines of hate speech and disinformation he is developing.

1. Introduction
2. The Wizard Behind the Curtain?
3. Empathy or Moral Apathy
4. Misuse of Literary Heroes
   1. Tolkien’s Middle Earth
   2. Banks & The Culture Novels
   3. Dune & The Jihads
   4. George Orwell’s 1984
5. Techno-Villain Or Tragically Flawed Anti-Hero?
6. Masked Crusader Or Crusader Behind A Mask?
7. Footnotes

Introduction

Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He has become one of the most controversial and confusing figures of the 21st century. He is possibly the richest man in the world (with an estimated wealth of around $400-500bn) and also one of the most fascinating – but not because of his wealth.

Geopolitics, Technology, and Democratic Governance

The third article in the European Reckoning series. Following on from:

Europe United ? - The union is born

The Rape of Europa (c. 1560-62), Titian

Introduction

Europe is in great danger, it faces a moment of profound vulnerability (Titian ’s ‘Rape of Europa’ seemed apt).

This article has been created using a new public AI Notebook:

Climate Change, Ecological Disaster and Civilisational Risks

The Notebook features a range of key scientific and cultural sources. The complexity of these issues and depth of the data lends itself to a publicly available database for people to conduct their own queries. I hope it is useful, particularly for a new generation more interested in solving the problems we face than getting rich whilst watching the world burn.

Progress Update

1. AI Notebook
2. Introduction: A Democracy Staring at the Abyss
3. The Blueprint for Autocracy: Deconstructing Project 2025
   1. Central Ideology and Policy Goals
   2. Implementation and Funding
4. The Hungarian Model: An Authoritarian Blueprint
5. Progress Tracker Since Inauguration
6. Implementation By Executive Order
7. Implementation: Personnel and Structural Consolidation
   1. The Personnel Purge and Loyalty Appointments
   2. The Parallel Mechanism: Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
8. Key Policy Areas of Implementation
   1. Energy, Climate, and Environmental Deregulation
   2. Dismantling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
   3. Fiscal Control and Spending Cuts
   4. Education and Public Services
   5. Project Esther
   6. Immigration
9. Immigration and Border Security
   1. Targeting and Sensitive Locations:
   2. The Scale of Current and Planned Enforcement
   3. Arrest and Detention Capacity
   4. Policy Changes Driving Scale
   5. The Use of Foreign Prisons and Conditions for Deportees
   6. Intended Scope of Mass Deportations Envisioned by Project 2025
10. Divergences and Extensions Beyond the Blueprint
11. A New International Order: The Global Implications
12. A Call for Democratic Defence: The Path Forward
13. Conclusion: The Work of Millions
14. No Kings - October 18 2025
15. Footnotes

AI Notebook

I have created an AI notebook with many sources of information on Project 2025 and tracking how it is being implemented (which you can use to query aspects of the Trump & MAGA regime change). This overview of where we are has also been created using it (with minor tweaks).

Autocracy, Democratic Backsliding, and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism - The Forces Reshaping Europe

This blog post has been created for (and with the help of) anew Google Notebook on Autocracy & Democratic Backsliding - for students, journalists, policy makers and anyone interested to query key legal, academic and news texts and information on the current European democratic and developing socio-economic crisis.

I have created a public notebooklm as a resource to provide people with an accessible way to learn about AI as a technology and its ethical implications for humans. It includes most of the existing International AI laws, guidance and standards.

Aim: I hope it is a useful tool for analysts, technologists, AI developers, journalists, students, policymakers and anyone with a general interest in AI Law & Ethics.

“I feel that the four big AI CEOs in the U.S. are modern-day prophets with four different versions of the Gospel ..telling the same basic story that this is so dangerous and so scary that I have to do it and nobody else.”1

(Max Tegmark)

We enter a new age of AI , with some American snake-oil salesmen promising AI (and themselves) as a saviour to solve all of our ills (a new era of ‘psychohistory’ - but more Wizard of Oz style). Thank goodness for Demis Hassabis.

This collection of thematic AI news sources is provided in the hope that people will better understand the plight of Palestinians and the ethical degradation of Israel and its Western allies. There must be a better vision for the future of Israelis and Palestinians.

It might be hard for readers to believe, based on the below, but I actually consider myself pro-Israel (in the Gideon Levy vein) and pro-Palestinian (and one day a free Palestine) - but not the terrorists leaders of Israel or in Gaza. If you read my ‘Canto for David’, you can see my attempt to wrestle with god, godlessness and the recycling of suffering in the Israel-Palestine story and history.

1. Introduction – Geopolitical Competition
2. What is AI?
3. AI and Warfare
4. Current Applications of Warfare AI
5. China’s Rapid Ascent in AI
6. The US-Israel Alliance
7. Europe’s Emphasis on Ethical AI
8. Russia’s Pursuit of AI Amidst Sanctions
9. Spotlight on Russia-Ukraine: The Drone Wars
10. The Ethics of AI Warfare
11. Evolutionary AI - the law of unintended consequences
12. Conclusion
13. Footnotes

AI image

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. AI Video
3. The Atlas Network: Shaping the World Through a Global Web of Free Market Think Tanks
4. A History Rooted in Free Market Ideals
5. The Stated Goals: Promoting a Free Society
6. Funding the ‘Freedom’ Movement
7. Activities and Strategies for Influence
8. Global Impact and Effectiveness
9. The Driving Ideology: Neoliberalism and its Critiques
10. Controversies and Criticisms
11. Impact On Politicians, Laws & Law Enforcement
12. The Deeper Ideology Driving The Atlas Network
13. A Powerful Force In the World

AI generated image

How to use AI positively (and carefully)

AI art

If you are a creative, don’t run away just yet!

Actual real art is being made using AI by people like Refik Anadol:

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Will Europe Benefit From A US Brain Drain?
3. AI as a Force for Good: Resisting Authoritarianism and Countering Technofascism
4. Misuse of AI by Authoritarian Regimes
5. AI for Censorship
6. Deepfakes, Misinformation & Disinformation
7. Technofascism
8. AI as a tool for resistance
9. Encrypted communications
10. AI platforms to evade geo-restrictions & use of VPNs
11. Natural Language Search and Summaries
12. Deep Research
13. Conclusion
14. Works cited

Introduction

Other than this introduction and the section below on the coming US Brain Drain, this article was prepared entirely by AI (Gemini Deep Research) without any edits by me. For an example of how these Reports look when they are created and their depth of research see:

The Blueprint for an Authoritarian Regime

“a systemic, ruthless plan to undermine the quality of life of millions of Americans, remove critical protections and dismantle programs for communities across the nation, and prioritize special interests and ideological extremism over people.“1

(Democracy Forward)

The following article has been researched manually largely based on sources you can find and review here:

Russia, Israel, the USA and the far-right in Europe

1. Introduction
2. A new Axis powers?
3. United Nations vote
4. What is the European far-right?
5. What drives this rise of extremism?
6. The rise of the hard/far-right
7. Israel: Likud, Kahanism & the rise of a fascist state
8. Israel and Europe
9. Trump, MAGA & Russia
10. Russia’s involvement in Europe
11. Hungary: a key node
12. America’s influence
13. The UK (and Brexit)
14. An alliance of cannibals
15. Empathy
16. Footnotes

Introduction

This is an unofficial companion article to the recent European EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats.1

The second article in the European Reckoning series. Following on from:

Europe Is On The Menu

Introduction

Do you remember where you were when the union of Europe finally began?

It wasn’t in 1957 or even 1993.

It was the 27th of February 2025: the day that President Zelenskyy of Ukraine went to the White House and was ambushed live on TV1 by some mafia thugs. Terrorists in suits.

The first article in the European Reckoning series.

“**I’m here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States from being the primary guarantor of security in Europe. ”**1

US Secretary of Defence, February 12, 2025.

AI Podcast Version

I have also created an AI podcast version (if you are interested in trying it out):

Democracy Delayed

Like many poets and prophets, Leonard was (we hope) not wrong - just early.

**"It ’s coming to America first / The cradle of the best and of the worst / It’s here they got the range /And the machinery for change / And it’s here they got the spiritual thirst / It’s here the family’s broken / And it’s here the lonely say / That the heart has got to open / In a fundamental way / Democracy is coming to the U.S.A"**1

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Read by the author

They’ll try

To cut

The threads

That bind us

To freeze

The love that flows

Between us

So they can

Segregate or

Imprison us

They’ll try

To quell

Our ‘slave’ rebellion

They aim

To kill

Simple compassion

To make

Each heart

Cold tomb

And catacomb

Made ready

Table of contents

1. AI Podcast Version
2. Introduction
3. Towards an invariant foundation of ethics for life
4. Compossibility is key
5. Building axioms, laws and principles
6. Direct decentralised democracy
7. The Consensus Engine and DAO
8. Modern democracies are largely symbolic

AI Podcast Version

I have created an AI podcast version with additional information from my article ‘Direct Decentralised Democracy’:

Table of contents

1. AI Podcast Version
2. Introduction
3. Economics and the Use of Resources
4. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC)
5. Equality is not a useful aim
6. Freedom of action and inequality
7. Thomas Piketty
8. Useful vs Inefficient Inequalities
9. The Physics of Freedom
   1. The Optimal Equality Target: 0.5 (Gini 0.5)
   2. The Life-Time Analogy
10. Participatory democracy
11. Further reading
12. Footnotes