The Continental Rift · August 21 · 35 min

Putsch & Payback

Why can Washington ‘switch off’ a Japanese judge? And why does that same switch terrify 74% of Europe's business leaders? A European President & American comedian on how this week’s events underscores the difficult dependency Europe has on the US. More Information *The ICC* The March 2023 ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin was issued by a three-judge chamber on which Tomoko Akane sat. She was elected the court’s President a year later. Russia answered the warrant with a criminal case and a wanted-list entry; as of this week she is under US sanctions too. *Reliance on US* ECB President Christine Lagarde made her call to cut Europe’s reliance on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal in April 2025, weeks after the first US sanctions order against the ICC; the digital euro is the ECB’s answer. Reuters reported in 2025 that Starlink coverage was cut over part of Kherson Oblast during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2022; Elon Musk denies ever switching off Starlink terminals. Europe’s alternative, the IRIS² satellite constellation, was agreed by the EU in 2022, with contracts signed in late 2024. *Gorbachev* He became Soviet General Secretary in March 1985. The coup found him under house arrest at Foros, his holiday dacha on the southern coast of Crimea, then part of Soviet Ukraine. *Yeltsin* Russia’s Soviet-era parliament made Yeltsin its chairman in 1990 and in June 1991 he won Russia’s first direct presidential election with 57% of the vote. That popular mandate is a large part of why the Soviet tanks blinked in August. *West Germany’s Defence Budget* On NATO’s figures, West Germany spent roughly 3–3.5% of GDP on defence through the 1980s (Britain 4–5%, the US around 6%). By 2014 reunified Germany was near 1.2% *Hybrid War Attacks* Neither factory explosion we mentioned is currently attributed (Bulgaria’s interior minister reported no evidence of foreign interference in the 10 August fire at the EMCO plant). Since we recorded: a Romanian F-16 destroyed an explosive-laden sea drone a few hundred metres from the Neptun Deep gas project. President Nicușor Dan blamed Russia, Kyiv confirmed the drone wasn’t Ukrainian, and Commission President von der Leyen called it what this episode calls it: "This is hybrid warfare." Overnight into Friday a stray drone crashed and burned out in Romania’s Tulcea County, and Ukraine reported Russian strikes hitting a border crossing with Moldova. Chapters 00:00:00 Background 00:01:30 In today's show 00:03:25 Memories of putsch 00:05:24 US Sanctions ICC Prez 00:10:53 Tech Cold Turkey 00:13:44 Weapons dependency 00:17:24 US's Allies-questionaire 00:20:15 USS Abraham Lincoln 00:22:37 The USSR Putsch 00:26:26 The Peace Dividend 00:29:31 Russian Spies 00:31:25 Hybrid War latest 00:33:53 Outro Youtube @TheContinentalRift (https://www.youtube.com/@TheContinentalRift) Instagram @thecontinentalriftpod (https://www.instagram.com/thecontinentalriftpod/) X @ContRiftShow (https://x.com/ContRiftShow) CREDITS Editor Conan Roberts Animation & Design Roland Seer - Tartu Multifilm @rolandseer Music by Paabel @paabeltheband (Estonian folk-fusion) Executive Producer Fred Casella © Fresh Lens Film Sàrl 2026 all rights reserved

0:00-35:05

Play in

Transcript file

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

Why can Washington ‘switch off’ a Japanese judge? And why does that same switch terrify 74% of Europe's business leaders?

A European President & American comedian on how this week’s events underscores the difficult dependency Europe has on the US.

More Information

*The ICC* The March 2023 ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin was issued by a three-judge chamber on which Tomoko Akane sat. She was elected the court’s President a year later. Russia answered the warrant with a criminal case and a wanted-list entry; as of this week she is under US sanctions too.

*Reliance on US* ECB President Christine Lagarde made her call to cut Europe’s reliance on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal in April 2025, weeks after the first US sanctions order against the ICC; the digital euro is the ECB’s answer. Reuters reported in 2025 that Starlink coverage was cut over part of Kherson Oblast during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2022; Elon Musk denies ever switching off Starlink terminals. Europe’s alternative, the IRIS² satellite constellation, was agreed by the EU in 2022, with contracts signed in late 2024.

*Gorbachev* He became Soviet General Secretary in March 1985. The coup found him under house arrest at Foros, his holiday dacha on the southern coast of Crimea, then part of Soviet Ukraine.

*Yeltsin* Russia’s Soviet-era parliament made Yeltsin its chairman in 1990 and in June 1991 he won Russia’s first direct presidential election with 57% of the vote. That popular mandate is a large part of why the Soviet tanks blinked in August.

*West Germany’s Defence Budget* On NATO’s figures, West Germany spent roughly 3–3.5% of GDP on defence through the 1980s (Britain 4–5%, the US around 6%). By 2014 reunified Germany was near 1.2%

*Hybrid War Attacks* Neither factory explosion we mentioned is currently attributed (Bulgaria’s interior minister reported no evidence of foreign interference in the 10 August fire at the EMCO plant). Since we recorded: a Romanian F-16 destroyed an explosive-laden sea drone a few hundred metres from the Neptun Deep gas project. President Nicușor Dan blamed Russia, Kyiv confirmed the drone wasn’t Ukrainian, and Commission President von der Leyen called it what this episode calls it: "This is hybrid warfare." Overnight into Friday a stray drone crashed and burned out in Romania’s Tulcea County, and Ukraine reported Russian strikes hitting a border crossing with Moldova.