The uproar in Europe over the United States’ new national security strategy, which pledges support for European parties resisting the EU’s supranational power, misses a simple fact: these parties, such as Germany’s AfD and France’s National Rally, are already at the height of their influence, shaping the EU’s agenda from within. Just last month, a united front of right-wing parties in the European Parliament, from "extreme" to moderate, voted to weaken environmental regulations, exempting 80% of companies from the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting rules. More recently, the EU agreed to allow member states to establish asylum processing centers in non-EU countries. In short, even without US meddling, Europe is already drifting away from supranational rulemaking by the EU and toward greater national sovereignty.
When Bitcoin launched in 2009, it was designed as a form of money that could not be devalued by governments through inflation – unlike dollars and euros that can be created by central banks. Gold has historically served a similar role as a hedge against the eroding value of government-backed currencies, which is why bitcoin enthusiasts have long called it "digital gold". Yet comparing the price development of gold and bitcoin shows a stark contrast: while gold's value is relatively stable, bitcoin has become an extremely volatile asset over the past 17 years, suggesting it does not function as originally intended. A new study indicates that bitcoin also plays a different role. For a growing number of people, cryptocurrency has become a lottery ticket to homeownership. The research shows that among homeowners, crypto ownership rises gradually with wealth, but among renters it is highest among those with the lowest wealth – pointing to a "gambling for redemption" motive: risk-taking as a last resort to become a homeowner.
In today’s great-power conflict, many observers cast China as almost a mirror image of the Soviet Union, shaping the narrative that we are living through a “Second Cold War.” Yet one crucial difference between the Soviet Union then and China now is almost never acknowledged: China enjoys a far more favorable image among Western publics than the Soviet Union ever did. Throughout the Cold War, positive views of the USSR rarely exceeded 20% in Europe, whereas in 2025 favorability toward China in some European countries is approaching 50%. A shift is especially pronounced among younger generations, with major social media influencers such as Hasan Piker and IShowSpeed traveling to China in 2025 and telling a positive story about China to their tens of millions of followers – despite accusations of propaganda – focused on China's cutting-edge innovation in robotics and vehicles.
