Some thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address.
First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.
1/
Thread on new piece in @iojournal.bsky.social with @sdhyde.bsky.social. Part of open-access special issue on the future of international order and global governance -- 15 syllabus-friendly pieces on the current moment and its implications.
We have a new tenure-track job in @lsegovernment.bsky.social at AP level (empirical political science, open subfield): jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/... Please apply and share with colleagues who might be interested!
New piece out today with @profsaunders.bsky.social as part of a 15-article special issue from @iojournal.bsky.social on the future of global governance doi.org/10.1017/S002...
Heroic work by the editorial team to pull this together quickly. Intro essay here: doi.org/10.1017/S002...
#IOFoGG
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Regrettably relevant research today
Disguised Repression: Targeting Opponents with Nonpolitical Crimes to Undermine Dissent
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity & collective action against this effort at federal control over higher ed"
“I ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion…”
I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane
Latest projection suggests that more than 505,000 adults and kids have died due to USAID's illegal dismantling by Musk, Rubio, and Lewin
Source: www.impactcounter.com/dashboard?vi...
This is important. The first 24 hours of press coverage fumbled the ball. But the US just murdered 11 people in international waters. Analogies to the US’s (highly suspect, morally and legally) targeted killings of suspect terrorists don’t work. This crossed their own lines, and they know it.
I'm teaching intro to IR (last minute substitute teacher right here) and today a student asked for great IR podcasts. Can someone point me to the place where this has already been discussed and decided? I do not listen except for special occasions because of my schedule.
For those who don't follow this on the regular: this is bad for literally everyone. In the short term there might be a few very specific winners. But in the medium and long term this is going to have lasting consequences that can't be "undone" at the next election.
They're now saying it out loud: The Administration's goal is to undo the political independence that Congress granted the Fed, so that the President can directly set rates.
Today was so embarrassing.
Federalizing the police in DC and deploying the National Guard for no reason...I worried this piece was too strong back in June. But we are really living in a personalist dictatorship in both domestic and foreign policy. @foreignaffairs.com 1/ www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...
Can only do a top ten in no order.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Alias Grace
The Brothers K
Half of a Yellow Sun
Matterhorn
Angle of Repose
Parable of the Sower
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
The House at the Edge of the Night
The Vaster Wilds
Just found my original copies at my mom's house. From the book set pictured but very much read over and over.
Absolutely shameful.
Afghans promised a home in U.S. may face repatriation — and the Taliban
Afghans who helped American forces are stuck in limbo as the Trump administration cuts the State Department office for Afghan relocation.
We're talking upwards of 250k Afghans here.
Ominous: "even people not yet within the administration’s direct sightlines are becoming worried about speaking freely"
This is why it's so important for people of conscience to speak out. Resistance to authoritarianism is a coordination game.
"Don’t put this on God. You had plenty of warnings this might happen, and you chose to ignore them. You chose to leave the people you’re sworn to serve in the most vulnerable circumstances. You chose to risk danger befalling them."
charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/do-not-put...
Reminder: Great job opportunities at Aarhus University!
Please help spread the word before everyone disappears for summer break! 🏖️
“family members identified the victim as Narciso Barranco, a father to three sons who are all U.S. Marines”
ktla.com/news/local-n...
Twenty-one Skytte Prize winner in a joint letter in today's @financialtimes.com : “President Donald Trump and his administration are on a spectacularly dangerous path”
Read more here : www.skytteprize.com/news/twenty-...
The vote failed on a 49-49 tie. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, was in Korea for an ocean conference. Mitch McConnell, who also supported the measure, also missed the vote.
Great one.
Trump is trying to go full dictator, but his missteps may be America's saving grace. Great piece from @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social on @vox.com, and I'm grateful for the citation to my related piece at @misofact.bsky.social.
www.vox.com/politics/410...
If we know where they were sent, but it isn’t to detention: exile.
If we know where they are & it’s in detention: extraordinary rendition.
If we don’t know where they are, but we know someone’s holding them: kidnapping.
Otherwise, if we don’t know where they are: disappearance.
