just published: my unorthodox thoughts on the past, present and future of revolution, including the unfinished ‘slow motion’ democratic revolutions of our times…https://johnkeane.substack.com/p/on-revolutions

Statement by Jewish university staff and students regarding racial vilification allegations at the University of Sydney - Overland literary journal As Jewish university staff and students we are appalled by the attempt to use racial vilification laws and the Australian Human Rights Commission complaints process to silence Dr Nick Riemer and Profe...

‘we repudiate the attempt…to conflate Zionism, a political ideology with Jewish and non-Jewish adherents, with Jewish identity’:
a brave and honest statement of support for Dr Nick Riemer and me in our current legal battle against local apologists of genocide….
overland.org.au/2025/05/stat...

…and in Spanish…letraslibres.com/revista/keane-amerika-ma...

استعادة عظمة أميركا: الصين، والانحدار الإمبراطوري، والديمقراطية يقول المثل الصيني: "عندما تهبّ رياح التغيير، يُشيّد بعضهم جدرانًا في حين يبني آخرون طواحين هواء"

…and in Arabic…www.dohainstitute.org/ar/PoliticalStudies/Page...

my unorthodox account of MAGA and Trump’s demagoguery as symptoms of US imperial decline is now available in Dutch…

Amerika MAGA, China, Imperial Decline, Democracy

my thoughts on the decline of the American empire and the future of democracy open.substack.com/pub/johnkean...

'We see what’s happening in the United States' 'Antisemitism' crackdown intensifies at Sydney University

‘Weaponising “antisemitism” on university campuses to punish students and staff who express support for Palestinians has long been a goal of Zionist lobby groups’, writes @mckinnon_a in his report on conflicts and crackdowns @Sydney_Uni @jewishcouncilAU
everythingisfine.beehiiv.com/p/we-see-wha...

Opinion | The decline of the American empire: how Trumpism threatens democracy worldwide The United States once championed democracy. Now it is retreating behind militarism, demagoguery and despotism.

why the American empire’s retreat and decline threatens democracy at home and abroad - and why the future of democracy now depends on the courage and willingness to refuse US ‘approval’ and ‘support’….my thoughts (part two)…
sc.mp/356on

Opinion | The rise of China and the retreat of the US: a new global empire takes shape With the US putting up walls of protectionism and denial, the 21st century belongs to a resilient, dynamic Chinese empire.

my thoughts on why Trump’s MAGA isn’t a push to restore America’s global dominance, but rather a symptom of a shrinking empire in retreat & outflanked economically, diplomatically and geopolitically by a new Chinese global empire (part one)…
sc.mp/w207s

The Despot There once was a land ruled by a despot grown fat on the fineries of power.

penned a while ago, my short allegory on despotism seems to have a new relevance: ‘There once was a land ruled by a despot grown fat on the fineries of power….’ johnkeane.substack.com/p/the-despot

China gains U.N. clout, filling void left by Trump's 'America First' Contributions to top 20% while Chinese officials take senior roles at world body

a sign of the times: this year, China will pay a record 20% of the UN’s overall budget - for the first time, more than the US pays… asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Int...

my interview with Lithuanian writer Almantis Samalavičius on the gamification of war, citizen indifference towards genocide and the role of rebel journalists in exposing war’s barbarities…it’s also published this week in Lithuanian @TodaInstitute toda.org/assets/files...

my latest essay, just published: ‘The Beautification of War - برحلا ليمجت: Digital Communications, Public Indifference, Rebel Journalism, and Civilian Resistance in the Age of Meta Wars’ ⁦‪ www.jstor.org/stable/48806...

Tunisia: Opposition Politicians and Journalists Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms, #shorts YouTube video by Arezki on Africa & the Mid East

Rafik Abdessalem Bouchlaka, among my most brilliant PhD students in London who later became Tunisia’s foreign minister, sentenced last week in absentia to 34 years’ prison by a despot’s kangaroo court…shame!
youtu.be/cdJU5sFbs7A

The best books about the abuse of power and its most effective remedy: democracy John Keane shares the 5 best books on the abuse of power and democracy. Have you read Jacques the Fatalist?

Would Hannah Arendt have been surprised by the way a ‘democratic’ state born of the ashes of genocide is trying militarily to destroy ‘in whole or in part’ (Genocide Convention Article 2c) a ‘superfluous’ people known as Palestinians? Almost surely not!
shepherd.com/best-books/t...

How demagogues destroy democracy: a step-by-step global guide Today's demagogues are the harbingers of a new, 21st-century form of despotism: a corrupted, "phantom democracy" in which periodic elections are held but the rich become super-rich and omnipotent—whil...

my thought for today: ‘despite their populist bluster, demagogues are saboteurs of democracy, harbingers of despotism; craving concentrated power, ignoring the niceties of public accountability, unchecked ambition is their thing…’ @bulletinatomic.bsky.social
thebulletin.org/premium/2024...

amidst the most serious student uprising in Europe since 1968, my interview with the distinguished journalist Stefan Slavković appeared this week in Belgrade’s Radar magazine; for curious readers there’s a rough English translation…johnkeane.substack.com/p/the-serbian-government...

The best books about the abuse of power and its most effective remedy: democracy John Keane shares the 5 best books on the abuse of power and democracy. Have you read Jacques the Fatalist?

five of my favourite books….
shepherd.com/best-books/t...

a spectre is haunting Vučić’s Serbia: a youthful, smart, courageous, digitally savvy civil society disgusted by systemic corruption & abusive power| my interview published in @RadarsRs coincided with last week’s general strike ✍️ Stefan Slavković

radar.nova.rs/politika/dzon-…

‘Might we be living in times in which many real-world things are happening to democracy that are not just unexpected or strange but far weirder than we can presently think? But what does it mean to think about democracy? Come to think about it, what exactly is thinking?’