The ⁨Europe⁩ Variables

• Politics

World military spending hit $2.9 trillion. The surprise is who cut

SIPRI's 2025 numbers: an eleventh straight record year, Europe up 14%, Germany up 24%, Ukraine at 40% of its own GDP, and NATO signed up to 5% targets by 2035. The one major spender that fell: the United States, down 7.5%. The rearmament is real, and it is changing hands.

Sep 20, 2026 · 7 min read

• x=World, NATO & Europe
• y=Defense, Geopolitics & Institutions

• Economy

China builds the battery pack for $84. The West pays half as much again

BNEF's 2025 survey puts the average pack at a record-low $108 per kilowatt-hour, China at $84, and North America and Europe 44% and 56% above that. Two companies install a majority of the world's EV batteries. The cost gap is the industrial policy question of the decade, quantified.

Aug 15, 2026 · 7 min read

• x=China & Europe
• y=Renewables & Trade