The Western Bubble

In this new trailer episode, we reintroduce the show with video and reflect on our journey from a university professor and International Relations student a few years ago to consulting partners at WB Insights today. We examine exactly what the Western Bubble is in 2026 and how the global geopolitical landscape has shifted over the last four years.

As we launch our new video format, we are also upgrading our programming. We introduce...

Today, we look back at a year defined by one name: Trump. Since taking power in January, the US President claims to have ended eight wars, ranging from the conflict between Israel and Hamas to tensions in the DRC. We analyse whether this is true peace or simply a series of liquidation sales.

We also look at where Europe stands in this new order. With a new US National Security Strategy creating another breaking point for the transat...

We intended to sit down this week and dismantle the new US National Security Strategy piece by piece. Unfortunately, the sheer weight of American imperial delusion appears to have been too much for Balder’s immune system.

In this brief update, Dario explains why we are hitting pause for a few days. The document itself is a fascinating roadmap of where Washington thinks the world is going versus where it is actually heading, and it d...

The rumour mill has stopped spinning, and the text is finally out. Donald Trump’s administration has drafted a 28-point "peace plan" for Ukraine, and it reads less like a diplomatic treaty and more like a liquidation sale.

In this episode, we sat down and analysed the entire document point by point, so you don’t have to. We unpack the specific clauses that signal a complete collapse of Western strategy, including:

• The Territorial...

Donald Trump has escalated military pressure on Venezuela at a speed that should alarm everyone. As of mid-November 2025, the United States has carried out at least twenty-one strikes, killing eighty-three people and leaving only two survivors. Furthermore, there are now an estimated fifteen thousand US troops in the region, including marines stationed offshore and thousands of personnel at bases in Puerto Rico. Europe has remained...

This week, we look at the growing concerns around the so-called AI bubble and why the panic is beginning to resemble the early 2000s, only multiplied by trillions. Nvidia is now valued higher than Germany’s entire economic output in 2025, which means one single company is worth two and a half times the combined value of all publicly traded firms in Germany.

A recent MIT report shows that 95 percent of organisations investing in gene...

As COP 30 begins in Belém, we look at how the world is heading into another climate summit with rising emissions, crumbling political will, and a system still built on ideas from the 1990s. Global fossil CO2 emissions are expected to increase again in 2025 to a record 38.1 billion metric tons. Western will to climate protection is suffering from populism, which is weakening climate policy across democracies, a trend Dario sees firs...

This week, we talk about the surprising rise of Zohran Mamdani and why his victory matters far beyond New York. His proposals are, in reality, standard European centre-left policies. The reaction to him, though, reveals something deeper in American political culture: racism, Islamophobia, and a growing panic about who gets to define the political centre at all.

Mamdani is winning over parts of the Trump base by talking about materia...

In this episode, we look at what the world actually looks like after the decline of neoliberalism. The systems that once kept global politics, trade, and humanitarian responses predictable are dissolving, and what is emerging is not a stable alternative but something closer to global anarchy.

The United States has pushed tariffs to levels not seen in over a century, and is now carrying out airstrikes on civilian vessels in the Carib...

China has quietly positioned itself as the global gatekeeper of rare-earth metals, now expanding export restrictions as a response to the United States imposing new trade barriers and levies. Meanwhile, the Netherlands caused a geopolitical tug-of-war between the European Union and China over the chip industry that powers modern life. Once again, Western countries seem unprepared for the long game as Western actions against China a...

Donald Trump has done it again: a dramatic announcement, a deadline, and a deal. His new 20-point peace plan for Gaza was signed between Israel and Hamas, hailed as the beginning of a new era, and even earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Javier Milei and Bosnia.

But is this truly the end of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, or just another temporary ceasefire dressed up as history?

In this episode, we unpack t...

After Balder called out Generation Z two weeks ago for not engaging enough in activism, we return to the question that lingers beneath everything: what can we actually do in a world where the West keeps declining, institutions are under attack, and everything feels like it is too much?

Is the answer to cancel Disney, rage on social media, or take to the streets? Or are we simply too caught up in symbolic gestures while real change s...

In this episode of the Western Bubble, we turn our attention to Israel, where events of the past weeks have revealed a country spiralling out of control. The largest civilian-led convoy in history, with over 40 vessels and 500 participants from more than 44 countries, attempted to break the blockade of Gaza, only to be intercepted by Israeli forces. At the same time, Israel ordered airstrikes against seven different countries in th...

After a two-month break, we return to find the decline of liberal democracy in the United States accelerating at a frightening pace. We look back at the assassination of Charlie Kirk to the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel and the indictment of James Comey.

We then take a step aside to talk about Generation Z colliding with reality in today’s job market, reflecting on two recent Harvard studies about boredom, entry-level jobs, and the r...

This week, we draw an uncomfortable comparison between ICE in the United States and Frontex in Europe. Whether it’s children in cages or children being handed picture books about their own deportation, the language of “in the child’s best interest” rings hollow.

We also challenge the idea that only the US is responsible for enabling Israel. While Washington’s military and political support is undeniable, Europe is also complicit, t...

This week, we dig into the renewed uproar around Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous network and how its resurfacing in 2025 is fueling not just conspiracy theories, but a deeper institutional and psychological crisis.

But this story isn’t really about Epstein or Trump. It’s about how simplified moral binaries are hijacking political discourse. We look at how these narratives flatten complex realities, fuel extreme tribalism, and damage the ...

In this episode, we return to a theme we first explored three years ago: the steady hollowing out of institutions. Recently, the decline has accelerated further, eroding both credibility and effectiveness.

We look at the wave of NATO and EU countries, including Finland and Lithuania, pulling out of the Vancouver landmine ban treaty, citing Russian threats. At the same time, the United States shows open hostility toward international...

In this episode, we unpack the newly passed Big Beautiful Bill and what it says about the state of Western democracy. Despite two Republican defections, the bill sailed through Congress, bringing with it massive increases in military and immigration enforcement spending, the extension of unsustainable tax cuts, and the likely loss of health coverage for millions of Americans.

But the real story goes deeper. How is it possible that l...

This week, we take a step back from geopolitics to explore how artificial intelligence is already reshaping our societies and our minds. From efficiency gains to cognitive decline, we reflect on how we personally use AI and why it’s so easy to fall into the traps of convenience and illusion.

Drawing lessons from the social media age, we look at how AI accelerates the collapse of shared reality, fuels parasocial relationships, and ch...