Ian Kearns

Former National Security Advisor to UK Parliament. Co-Founder @theeln. Former Deputy Director, @ippr. Had to create a new account.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

Don’t try to explain it away as a response to a legitimate problem. There was no threat to Russia. One day there was peace, the next war. What is required here is for Putin and the Russian people to understand they are not special, don’t own the neighbourhood and can’t just crush other peoples at will. If you want to look for peace, start there.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

The Europeans are asking for this humiliation with their public dithering. It should be #Kallas. She is sound in her approach, will not betray the key principles of the European security order and the Russians need to be forced to talk to the EU. https://t.co/lfNFurEFVD

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

I’m sorry. You say this as though the invasion was almost an act of nature, brought about by the absence of a security order. It wasn’t. It was a criminal act led by a mentally ill man in the Kremlin who is obsessed with a mythical notion of what Russia is and what it should be allowed to do to others. It was a choice. Nothing more or less.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

@russianforces Russia learning to play by the rules. There will be no new Yalta or Potsdam. And if Russia wants to pursue that fantasy, there is nothing to talk about.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

The point would be to deliver the message, Pavel. The message the rest of the continent understands. There is a European security order. The only country violating it is Russia. There needs to be a ceasefire. A peace settlement in Ukraine and then we can all sit down together and discuss a better future based on…

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

@haynesdeborah @geoallison @RMBandService @RoyalMarines @RoyalNavy @HMSPWLS Great job, Deborah. You pulled it off!

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

“Senior Ukrainian officials told the FT they believed the speed restrictions were imposed in an effort to pressure Kyiv during the latest peace talks with Russia”. https://t.co/tGwO1yhsZs

[Ben Buchanan @BuchananBen]

I remember the first time I walked into the Oval Office to brief President Biden. I'd just been appointed as the White House Special Advisor for AI. The President sat behind the Resolute desk and began with a single question: "What is the worst harm that AI could enable?"

I had no shortage of worries. We talked about the pace of technological progress — how, thanks to better chips and algorithms, what was cutting-edge that day would be commonplace within a couple of years. We talked about how high the ceiling on intelligence was, and about the dangers that AI would likely bring in areas like cybersecurity and bioweapons. We talked about how technology was fast and government was slow.

Then he asked about the benefits. He cared about ending cancer as much as anything in the world, and AI — managed well — offers more hope for that than anything else.

Most of all, we talked about what became the argument of the book my White House colleague @TantumSCollins and I have written: that democracies must lead in inventing this technology, turn that lead into a lasting advantage, and do it all without betraying their own values. Achieving all three at once will be a bitter struggle. Every choice pits security against liberty, speed against caution, power against principle.

Today THE BITTER STRUGGLE is out from Crown, in hardcover, ebook, and audio. It’s our account of what happened, what’s coming, and what’s at stake. We don’t pretend the answers are easy — in some ways we’re more worried than when we started. But these questions are too important to be debated only behind closed doors, including the door to the Oval Office. We hope you will join the debate.

https://t.co/shdmbLbAdh

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

“Senior Ukrainian officials told the FT they believed the speed restrictions were imposed in an effort to pressure Kyiv during the latest peace talks with Russia”. https://t.co/tGwO1yhsZs

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

Very good thread on why Kushner’s ‘ideas’ have zero chance of going anywhere.

[Ruth Deyermond @ruth_deyermond]

Lots of discussion on here and elsewhere about the Kushner/Kremlin ideas for a "new European security architecture", but the idea this is the moment to rethink European security is profoundly unrealistic (and un-Realist, for what that's worth). A few points:

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

Good piece by @TimRoss_1 on the Finnish-Norwegian call to #Putin. But the whole episode smacks of a lack of seriousness in European diplomacy. We don’t need some leaders doing their own thing. BUT, it is also ridiculous to argue that…https://t.co/ERs5ayQrzz

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

What matters is what message you deliver. And the real story here is the Europeans can’t agree on one.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

Good piece by @TimRoss_1 on the Finnish-Norwegian call to #Putin. But the whole episode smacks of a lack of seriousness in European diplomacy. We don’t need some leaders doing their own thing. BUT, it is also ridiculous to argue that…https://t.co/ERs5ayQrzz

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

talking to Putin is some sort of reward for him. It is not. We talked to the Soviets regularly during the Cold War. You have to talk to adversaries as well as friends. Sometimes communication is important to ensure an adversary does not miscalculate or underestimate your resolve.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

About 2.33 into this video clip, @kajakallas nails it with regard to the talk of new European security architecture. Well worth a listen. #Russia #Ukraine #OSCE #NATO

[Kaja Kallas @kajakallas]

We already have a European security architecture in place.

This includes international agreements under which Russia has undertaken obligations, including with regard to sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The problem is that Russia is not respecting these agreements.

All our focus should be on ensuring that Russia actually fulfils the obligations it has already undertaken.

My press remarks at the @G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting ↓

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

I think we all know this process is going nowhere because the US negotiators remain delusional about the Russians being willing to accept things they would consider a strategic defeat. And without that willingness, there is nothing here that helps to secure Ukraine or the rest of Europe. It is theatre.

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

This piece, by @PesuMatti is one of the best I’ve read on Europe taking more responsibility for its own defence. Not least because it addresses the elephant in the room and suggests things that amount to a hedge against #NATO inaction in a crisis. https://t.co/nIP9yXvkLb

[Ian Kearns @IPKSecurity]

And I think the rest of Europe is giving Russia the answer. End the totally unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Get out. Then talking about wider European security issues can begin. You don’t get to invade a neighbour, ruin millions of lives, and only when stalled suggest negotiations.