Excited to see Covert Action: National Approaches to Unacknowledged Intervention, in the wild at #APSA2025. My contribution: Israel's Mossad and Covert Action: Immigration, Counter-Proliferation, and Assassination. Edited by @rorycormac.bsky.social @magslong.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social

Anyone have a free Saturday afternoon in Vancouver? Come to my panel, Overt and Covert Interference in World Affairs, at 4pm in VCC West 215! Also featuring Alex Downes, Rob Schub, and five amazing papers on foreign interference.

“If the unitary executive theory is subject to exceptions for contexts in which the practical consequences of eliminating an agency’s independence would be too extreme, then it’s not much of a theory.” Today’s “One First” on #SCOTUS’s deeply flawed ruling last Thursday in Trump v. Wilcox:

New from 404 Media: the CIA secretly ran a Star Wars fan website. Was part of the network of sites the CIA used to communicate with sources. Iran discovered the network, imprisoned people. Later dozens died in China after exposed www.404media.co/the-cia-secr...

Announcement from Columbia's History Lab: 🗄️ HistoryLab AI 📁 history-lab.ramus.network 🗃️allows natural-language queries of over more than 5 million primary source records -- CIA files, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) volumes, and State Department cables.

Forthcoming volume in December with @lucatrenta.bsky.social www.rienner.com/title/Killin...

*New English & Spanish #KYR* DHS has expanded its use of the 'expedited removal' process. Undocumented community members are now at greater risk of being put in a rapid deportation process - without the right to appear in front of an immigration judge. What changed & how people can prepare 🧵

New from 404 Media: we've obtained a leak from inside Palantir describing Palantir's plan to help ICE find people to deport. Includes peoples' location. Palantir is expecting a backlash, preparing comments for employees to tell their family. Says ICE "mature partner" www.404media.co/leaked-palan...

Had a wonderful time learning and connecting with fellow scholars about current world issues and how we can educate our students about them, with the help of @cfr.org and their educational resources!

New Q&A: I talked to the political scientist Jan-Werner Muller about whether Trump is less rational than other authoritarians, the historical relationship between far-right leaders & big-business, & whether it’s condescending to absolve Trump’s voters. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

American war planning usually takes place in highly secure facilities. But the Trump administration planned its strikes on the Houthis using a group chat—and accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. theatln.tc/IuULQFiY

My initial deep dive into the "shocking" new JFK Assassination files. open.substack.com/pub/thebrush... #JFKRelease

On the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” Fiona Hill discusses Donald Trump’s admiration for Vladimir Putin—and why his push for warmer relations with Moscow is raising alarms across European capitals:

NARRATOR: The U.S. economy is not being repaired or restored. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/short-term...

The QAnon conspiracy theory that Donald Trump was fighting a satanic pedophile cabal may have faded from national discourse, but its ideology, networks, and practices have become integrated into American politics, reports Julian Feeld for Jacobin.

New article published in journal Intelligence and National Security titled "Why Do States Choose Covert Action?" by Jack Duffield, with details here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Anwar al-Awlaki File, Explained nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

New in @iojournal.bsky.social w Jost @ericmin.bsky.social & Schub: We combine computational methods with uniquely rich Cold War archival evidence to study how advisers matter in foreign policy. Where advisers stand doesn't just depend on where they sit. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... polisky

Now on #FirstView: Racial Tropes in the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: A Computational Text Analysis, by @carsonaust.bsky.social, @ericmin.bsky.social and Maya Van Nuys. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I reviewed @lucatrenta.bsky.social excellent book, The President's Kill List, for RUSI: doi.org/10.1080/0307... I loved it, in part, b/c it acknowledges the cognitive dissonance btw a formal ban on assassination and policies that permit killing foreign officials for political gain. Go read it!

So happy to have shared my research on state-sponsored assassination with @lucatrenta.bsky.social, @avramovok.bsky.social, and Arturo Jiminez-Bacardi at the @socintelhist.bsky.social 2025 Conference at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. A perfect location for studying intel history!

As workforce reduction continues, the Trump admin ordered the #CIA to send a list of new hires via unclassified email. @alexzfinley.bsky.social unpacks the security implications that should concern us all. www.justsecurity.org/107584/what-...

@socintelhist.bsky.social conference starts today. Join me, @avramovok.bsky.social, @mindyhaas.bsky.social and @nsarchive.bsky.social’s Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi for a panel on state-sponsored assassinations.

Peter Kornbluh on the history of the Panama Canal treaty negotiations and why it matters now. www.youtube.com/shorts/LhM3a...

Pitt GSPIA is 🚨hiring🚨 on the tenure track for an Assistant Professor studying 📘Public Policy📙 Apply here by February 6️⃣: cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio... Details: for those completing a PhD or pre-tenure in Public Affairs, Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Science, Economics!

I agree that the "snoafer" is neither capturing formal or informal very well (www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/s...). But I raise you these Skecher mary jane bikers (www.amazon.com/Skechers-223...) as law firm commuting shoes, paired with an Ann Taylor skirt suit. Perfect for the 2010s woman on the go!

Carter and Cuba: A Legacy of Dedicated Diplomacy Toward Normalization nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Misinformation isn't random - it's strategic. 🧵 In the first cross-national comparative study, we examine 32M tweets from politicians. We find that misinformation is not a general condition: it is driven by populist radical right parties. with @julianachueri.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/1940...

"When conspiracy theories and nonsense cures are widely accepted, the evidence-based concepts of guilt and criminality vanish quickly too." [email protected] on how anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the world. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Last lecture today in “Leaders & U.S. Foreign Policy Decision-Making." Grateful for guest speaker Dr. Kenneth Dekleva, former State Dep't physician-diplomat and current psychiatry prof., sharing leadership analysis experience w/ Pitt-GSPIA students. See @thecipherbrief.bsky.social: lnkd.in/eyK3JqGt