Analog Brief: focused daily briefings on political, economic, and strategic developments.

Autumn has arrived, and with it begins one of the busiest periods of the political year. Governments return from the summer break, parliaments resume their work, diplomatic meetings multiply, and unresolved crises once again demand immediate attention.

The oil market initially treated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a crisis that economic self-interest would contain. But the Houthi threat to shipping in the Red Sea changed that calculation: with two strategic chokepoints now at risk, markets could no longer assume that disruption would remain limited.

Europe has no shortage of talent, wealth, or history. Yet despite its immense advantages, the continent is losing economic and geopolitical momentum. Why?