I suspect a lot of Iranians whose economic futures and infrastructure are getting permanently smashed along the way might care a little

Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher, dies at 96 Jürgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died.

Jürgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96.

He could try sleeping in one of his private jets, I suppose.

EU impotence extends to decarbonisation

If you read one thing about Iran & geopolitics & economic fallout & climate, make it this @martinsandbu.ft.com column

Who can stop India WhatsApp lynchings? India's government asks WhatsApp to do more to stop viral messages being blamed for lynchings.

I would note that WhatsApp has long been seen as a vector for disinformation and radicalisation in other parts of the world www.bbc.com/news/world-a...

What a stupid time to have a degree in International Relations.

whether war, vaccines, or critical infrastructure there is contingent of the right that seems to believe that their security from the worst things that happen is some kind of metaphysical principle rather than the result of specific historical processes that could've gone otherwise and still could

"blowback" isn't actually a theory in IR, but sure..

A concern would be the extent to which some people take the fact that there hasn't been an immediate descent into chaos in Venezuela or Iran as vindication of the US govt approach, and implicit repudiation of anyone who says "the consequences will be complicated and to some extent unforeseeable"

It was certainly a bit disconcerting hearing from people here in the UK, how she was a 'really divisive figure in NZ' and that 'people have really turned against her'

Of course hit at an opponent's weaknesses. But if you're below 20% in the polls and falling you can't afford the old arrogance anymore.

Particularly if Labour might need confidence and supply from Green, Plaid, LibDem and other parties after 2029.

Congratulations!

A reminder to everybody: European exporters (or Chinese ones) have never paid the Trump tariffs. Tariffs are paid by the importer. The importers are now likely to ask for refunds.

The UK conversation on immigration is so divorced from the reality that we've cut it by two thirds in a year and are likely headed to net emigration.

Why, in a statement condemning racism are you acknowledging we should "curb" immigration?

Short thread on our new paper. We use face mask efficacy research as a “stress test” for systematic review methods. We analysed 66 systematic reviews of face mask efficacy; they reached widely different conclusions (~half said they work, half said that evidence of efficacy was lacking). 1/

"why did the pain and torment endured by so many women and girls register only fleetingly? What is it about the suffering of women at the hands of rich and powerful men that made it so forgettable?"

However the government has, through a combination of a bad manifesto, incoherent comms and stasis, boxed itself into a position that means it wants a different cadre of MPs than it has, much like with their base, they wish they were more socially conservative less urban, and less ideological.

Royal albratross soars over the headlands at Taiaroa Head

In 1981, when I was ten, I visited Christchurch, New Zealand with my parents. I loved birds, especially albatrosses, and learned that tantalizingly close—360 km to the south—was the royal albatross colony in Dunedin.

It was not meant to be that trip. But 44 years later, I finally made it happen.

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Looks like someone went off the rails.

I am a bit biased here but moving from an Oxford PPE ideal towards a Sciences-Po style combination of regional and specialist expertise, with time spent in relevant countries, seems like it would bear fruit over the longer term.

I don't think this kind of political ennui really helps much in any struggle to defend democracy. And elite fatalism certainly doesn't help the many people in civil society doing their best to help their communities in everyday life through anti-racism work, food banks, sports coaching and so on

When we're not enjoying the serenity

Smallpox: when was it eliminated in each country? World choropleth map showing, for each country, the decade when smallpox was eliminated. Legend categories shown are: Before 1900; 1900s; 1910s; 1920s; 1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s. Subheading notes that smallpox was declared globally eradicated in 1980. Key pattern: most countries in Europe, North America, and Australia eliminated smallpox earlier in the 20th century, while many countries in Africa, South Asia, and parts of South America eliminated it later, concentrated in the 1960s to 1970s. Data source: Fenner et al. (1988).

William Foege, the physician who saved many millions from smallpox—

William Foege, who sadly died this week, is one of the reasons why this map ends in the 1970s.

Applies equally to other Western countries imho

That makes it sound like he's toast.

1/ Something which I don't think gets articulated clearly often enough is that a system where countries generally respect international sovereignty and territorial integrity is not pure charity or morality by the United States, but in its direct interests.

Despite it being the strongest bear.

Hard agree. I'm increasingly just zero sympathy for the cowardly chauvinists who can't handle places where lots of different people get along together.

Westport is the New Rome

Political pundit class in the United Kingdom yearns for the days when every story could be a no-facts-only-vibes "what does <latest thing> mean for the political fortunes of Boris Johnson?" blag, and actively resents the way complicated events in the outside world keep pushing them to do real work.