More than six years ago, I read the book Wirtschaftskriege (Trade Wars) for the first time. I remember that it made me emotional; how could we let all this happen?
Today, we are in even deeper waters. And still, I feel like a lot of people do not realize the extend to which geopolitics is real: To which your neighbor does not want the best for you.
An estimated 20 000 cubans have signed up to fight for Russia in the Ukraine war. North Korea has also sent many thousands of troops to support Russia.
Meanwhile it is trying to invoke havoc in Europe: Drones over airports, sabotages, espionage. Even the German Foreign Office tweeted this, very clearly attributing recent incidences to Russia. While Russia is not winning the war, it's military has learned a lot since the beginning of the invasion. This is why Ukraine is of strategic relevance even to those who do not want to see Russia lose.
Over the summer of 2025, China increased its exports of fiber-optic cable to Russia tenfold, and made climbed to a new high in lithium-ion battery exports to Russia. It is a "decisive enabler" of the war.
And the trade wars between the United States and China are intensifying. Europe must choose a side, or become one on its own (unlikely, currently it is far too weak). China has weaponized its near-monopoly on rare earth metals, especially their refinery. This comes right as Europe is rearming. They do not want to give up this dependency of the rest of the world on them, and have not only export controls for the materials and products, but also for the technology to process them. Someone will take advantage of your dependency.
There is no conclusion. The cited events all happened just in the last week alone. What is safe to say: It will take a lot of effort for Europe to come out stronger on the other side of this struggle.