The Middle East is a place where you can threaten to bomb „them“ back „to the Stone Ages“ (after having initially promised „help is on the way“), and it will be reported by major news outlets as if it is just another totally normal strategic objective.
"I have a visa"
"Clock it 🫰🫰🫰" [gets out handcuffs anyway]
[Reviewer 2 looking at figure]: ????
Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. Allied leaders know that if they help him in the Gulf, he won't be grateful, or even remember
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
We dont share *any* values with this administration and thinking that nevertheless they will protect Europe if we are just nice enough is wishful thinking
Fun fact: my dissertation was called "Wars of Choice" (became Leaders at War: How Presidents Shape Military Interventions @cornellupress.bsky.social). Tl;dr: they rarely go well. 1/ www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801...
I am two posts away from becoming an advisor to Trump
😀😀😀 brilliant. Just one little problem: you have just given them all the reasons to proliferate as fast as they can
The only thing prohibiting me to publish in top tier journals is reviewers shooting rejections at me
People forget this, but we are actually just a few peaceful nuclear explosions away from opening a new strait anywhere we want
The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access • Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.
A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right.
Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement.
This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.
This is a technical story with stunning strategic implications. It is quite possible the US launched a massive war because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff lacked the technical expertise to even understand what the Iranians were offering in negotiations. Absolute idiocy.
www.ms.now/news/trump-i...
In an episode of The Arms Control Primer, MTA Associate @alexsorg.bsky.social joins @bollfrass.bsky.social & Elena Sokova to examine Belarus’s post-Soviet nuclear disarmament and the implications of Russia deploying nuclear-capable systems on its territory today.
www.iiss.org/podcasts/arm...
Carefully destroying an elemantary school on *Day 1* killing 150+
Together with Elena Sokova, I was invited to talk about the Soviet nuclear legacy - HEU and warheads ☢️ - in Belarus after 1991 and today's deployments 🚀 on the IISS "Better know a non-nuke" podcast series
www.iiss.org/podcasts/arm...
Yarvin: "Would you want a laptop made by APPLE or THE GOVERNMENT" Elmau: 🤯🤯🤯
In Trump I rules of engagement were losened and US caused civilian casualties sharply increased. Now there is major war. Maybe we should not blindly support governments who only express disdain for the idea of protecting civilians. No matter how one views the regime change idea
This is so insanely embarrassing
Make it stop
In our newest issue of the NPR, @alexsorg.bsky.social of @managingtheatom.bsky.social has written an article looking into Russian security guarantees to Belarus.
Check it out here: doi.org/10.1080/1073...
Brainwashing, 2026 edition. This paper shows how X's algorithmic feed shifts people's views rightwards. It's a sophisticated, highly effective form of reorientation. And it is utterly chilling.
If you're still on that platform, unhook yourself now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Yes! It gives strong "Nothing has changed because the American officials are always *so nice* in private conversations 🥰"-vibes. Although, I do not think that was at all the sentiment of Anne Applebaum's post
Russia, Venezuela, Iran, China, the Sahel region, the United States ...
Want to know why state agents carry out brutal repression — or participate in illegal coups?
Our new book "Making a Career in Dictatorship" provides answers — it just got published by @academic.oup.com:
tinyurl.com/ystwm3tf
Vorschlag zur güte: social media verbot für jugendliche und ü60
this AP headline is written correctly.
⏳ 1 week to go! Don’t miss this fascinating research talk. 👉 Register here: lnkd.in/dise8SeE
Incredible energy (derogatory)
Oh no! Anyways, here is my take on what the second paragraph on page 23 of the US National Security Strategy means for the future of transatlantic relations 🤗 ..1/28