EP:17 [GUEST] Alex Christoforou : How EU Missteps, Sanctions, And War Policy Are Unraveling The West

Europe keeps choosing spectacle over strategy, and the bill is coming due. We sit down with Alex Christoforou of The Duran to unpack how a string of elite decisions—seizing Nexperia, betting on shock-and-awe sanctions, flirting with Tomahawk escalation—has triggered supply chain chaos, legal landmines, and a deeper crisis of public trust. What looks bold on a podium often unravels in the real world: Germany deindustrializes, prices rise, wages stall, and ordinary people are told to accept less while leaders chase headlines.

We follow the money to Euroclear and the frozen Russian reserves. Skimming interest was risky; reaching into principal could be catastrophic. Alex explains why crossing that line would damage the euro’s credibility and splash back on the dollar—reserve status runs on predictable, apolitical settlements. If sovereign wealth isn’t safe, capital migrates. Meanwhile, the information bubble hardens. Censorship expands, outsider parties are boxed out, and Southern Europe’s skepticism deepens as migration pressures shift and the periphery is told to bear the costs of policies set in Brussels.

Then comes the escalation ladder. You can hide advisors and satellite feeds; you can’t hide who fires a Tomahawk. Pushing long-range strikes into a nuclear power forces split-second judgments and empowers hardliners who argue diplomacy is a dead end. That dynamic doesn’t just raise the risk of miscalculation—it also burns the last bridges for pragmatic cooperation on arms control and global stability. Alongside it, the incentives for graft multiply: sanctions evasion schemes, defense contracts, asset seizures, and “emergency” budgets with thin oversight.

So where’s the exit? Alex sketches two paths: a Europe trudging through years of contraction and humiliation while the center hoards power, or a wider rethink that accepts a multipolar reality and restores legal norms and economic sanity. The United States faces its own choice—stay lashed to failing European strategies or take a seat at the emerging table with India, Russia, China, and the Americas to rebuild guardrails that actually hold. If you care about energy security, industrial capacity, and the rule of law, this conversation connects the dots.

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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Opening And Guest Introduction
2:30 Europe’s Leadership Crisis
6:20 Nexperia Seizure And Industrial Blowback
10:45 Sanctions On Russia And Germany’s Deindustrialization
16:40 US Factions And The EU’s Dependence
21:30 Rising Costs And Public Discontent In Europe
25:30 Censorship, Media Trust, And Southern Europe’s Skepticism
31:20 Migration Pressures And Electoral Constraints
36:40 AfD’s Surge And Establishment Panic
41:20 The Euro As Sovereignty Trap
47:30 Project Ukraine And Fractures In EU Unity
53:40 The Frozen Russian Assets Dilemma

Our theme music, Adventures In Jazz, was used with permission. Composed and performed by Bob Mamet.