From my book, p. 33 to be precise. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Countries are often attracted to the idea of using secret diplomacy to sideline hardliners. That makes sense up to a point. But at some point moderates have to have enough authority within their systems for the hardliners to learn the truth & be unable to stop them.

My year-in-review article, examining India's 2025, is now out at Asian Survey journal. 2025 buffeted Modi's India with some of the most severe geopolitical & economic challenges of his long tenure as prime minister. Yet India perseveres despite global headwinds. online.ucpress.edu/as/article-a...

"This perusal of Iran’s options [in the face of Trump's blockade] should make it clear that if Tehran makes concessions, we should expect them soon. But if the coercive campaign drags on, U.S. hawks may underestimate Iran’s staying power," I argue.

Yes, Iran has options, despite the U.S. blockade Here’s why economic coercion is tough to implement – and could spur further escalation.

One thing I've learned from war gaming over the years is that the other side gets to react. So my piece channeling that here: "Yes, Iran has options despite the U.S. blockade." In @goodauth.bsky.social . goodauthority.org/news/yes-ira...

Afghanistan's capital is in the grip of a water crisis Nestled in a high-altitude valley in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountain range, Kabul is rapidly running out of water.

Kabul is running out of water and infrastructure projects that might alleviate the problem are long-delayed.

apnews.com/article/afgh...

I couldn’t find a recent estimate for the size of the US fleet, but this is somewhere between 5-10% of the MQ-9 force?

How did the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict change global politics? 🎧 Explore the unexpected fallout – and Pakistan’s role in the Iran war ceasefire – in this episode of Chalkboard Politics.

🚨🎧NEW episode of @chalkboardpolitics.bsky.social on the surprising global ramifications of the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, incl. Pakistan’s role in the US-Iran talks. A rich conversation w/ @niloufersiddiqui.bsky.social @sushantsingh.bsky.social & student team.

goodauthority.org/news/how-did...

The Last Temptation of Trump at the End of a Failed War The president has backed himself into a corner where making a deal with Iran risks appearing, in his eyes, like a humiliating failure

Trump "has made a catastrophic mess of this confrontation and appears to care only about his own self-image. That is, in the end, what makes this moment different from other moments of great-power recklessness..." writes @hbanai.bsky.social . newlinesmag.com/argument/the...

I was happy to host this conversation on the issues likely to confront the next generation of Indian leaders. Available wherever fine podcasts are streamed. (Search for “Asia Insight”.)

Degrading Iran’s drone and missile capabilities to the point they are not a meaningful threat may take longer than two more weeks. www.cnn.com/2026/04/02/p...

Minor methods point, but good example of how much an explicit "don't know" option can shift survey results on a question about which the respondent might not have thought very much about.

What is the best theory you've heard about why the Trump administration has relaxed (very modestly) the embargo on Cuba?

Is there an account (book, I guess) that is legible for non-historians that makes some version of this argument perhaps when following some specific topic?

I hope the President knows (& is merely bullshitting here) that seizing Kharg Island doesn't actually seize Iran's oil. The island is fed by pipes from elsewhere in Iran that the Iranians will just turn off. Kharg Island is an embargo play. There are easier ways to embargo Iran.

For the last few months, I've been pleased to be a small part of a new @nbr.org project examining the foreign policy consequences of generational change in South & Southeast Asia. The first 2 essays by Bashir Ali Abbas &
@rohanmukherjee.bsky.social are out now on India. www.nbr.org/program/trac...

I don't think it gets acknowledged enough how funny it is that Pam Bondi testifying that the rule of law wasn't a big deal since the Dow was over 50,000 is almost exactly when the Dow peaked and she inadvertently called the top.

Opinion | American Credibility Is on the Line in Iran If Trump leaves the job unfinished, it will do to the U.S. what the Suez crisis did to Britain and France.

You aren't the only one to see the comparison, but this guy thinks the lesson of Suez is the US has to launch a ground invasion of Iran and he got the WSJ opinion team to publish that view. www.wsj.com/opinion/amer...

There are about a dozen mines *that we know of.*

I keep seeing this framing like Bremmer's. It is wrong. Instead:
1. Iran was developing an ICBM when Khamenei imposed a 2,000-km range limit.
3. The programs shifted to space launch.
4. Khamenei lifted the restriction in October 2025 after the June attacks.
5. Now he's dead, and here we are.

Lord, let me never be so close to an incoming round that someone taking a picture of me can get a clear picture of the munition.

I think readers interested in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and US policy toward the region will want to stick around to the end of this conversation with Asfandyar Mir.

I agree with others on Prado and Reina Sofia. But both are also within walking distance of El Retiro park which is quite fabulous on a nice day. Head to the pond there.

I’m not sure they are increasing necessarily but they are plausibly holding steady. (Figures are mine from the UAE Ministry of Defense daily data.)

Yale Law class of 2016 questioning Yale Law class of 2009.

In general, I find, it is a good rule of thumb if you find yourself saying dialogue that could be in a movie script for a villain to perhaps reconsider one's rhetorical approach. The Secretary of Defense does not share my rule of thumb it appears.

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

Hindu Nationalism, Akhand Bharat, and Foreign Perceptions of India national politics? This essay considers two ideological initiatives closely associated with the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. First, it examines how Indian efforts to cultivate a ...

Pleased my article, "Hindu Nationalism, Akhand Bharat, and Foreign Perceptions of India," is now out in the journal Indian Politics & Policy (without a paywall). www.ippjournal.org/hindu-nation...

. @hbanai.bsky.social on what's next in Iran. "The question that will dominate moving ahead is not the one the administration has been asking... It is this: what comes after the Islamic Republic, and who decides?"