One of the paradoxes of American politics is that they spend more on elections than any where else--by an enormous margin!--but still consistently suffer from low-quality leaders.

In my last article I made the argument that Musk uses X to portray liberal democracies as 'ugly' in order to sensitive audiences to ideological alternatives. One of the ways he does this is by casting countries like the UK as divided and on the precipice of a race war 1/

Eight of us weigh in on the court's separatist petition ruling. thewalrus.ca/alberta-sepa...

This seems especially silly given that the Canada hit 2% of GDP defence spending this year, spent a record amount in absolute dollars, and tabled budget with the largest increase in defence spending in recent memory.

I have a short piece on how Canada should think about retaliation in the age of Trump. TLDR: the threat of retaliation is increasingly driving Canadian policy decisions, but we think about retaliation in overly simplistic ways. I offer some correctives. 1/ policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/04/cana...

'Contested Body Counts, a Missing Airman, and the (Necro)Politics of America's War in Iran' - a new blog from me now published by @ecprtheloop.bsky.social ! theloop.ecpr.eu/contested-bo...

war_iran_final-blow_v1.pdf war_iran_final-final-blow-v2.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits.pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1).pdf war_iran_final-blow-no edits (1) APPROVED.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL.pdf IRANWARPLANSFINALFINALFINAL (1).pdf

Thank you @hist-isanet.bsky.social! 🙏 @harokarkour.bsky.social and my paper on racial justice and the national interest in classical #realism won the Merze Tate Prize for the Best Article in Historical IR @sussexfss.bsky.social Find the article here (OA) 👇 academic.oup.com/isr/article/...

Notable audience by the King, amid talk of Alberta separation. Treaty Six and other First Nations are in court fighting the constitutionality of any separation referendum in Alberta. They are arguing that their treaties are with the Crown, not the provincial government

The Mark Carney moment of hope for a reformed somewhat rules-based order is already over. The "West" has lost all credibility. You cannot condemn illegal aggression against Greenland and Ukraine on principle, then support illegal aggression against Gaza, Venezuela, and Iran.

I guess my question is "where is it?" You think AI can write a publishable political theory article in 2 hours? Great. Show me. Send me the pdf of the published article. Based on this logic, we should have 100,000s of new high quality AI articles being published? Where are they?

Hot take: The Carney government put out a statement supporting the United States without knowing what it was doing. Now that the US/Israel have assassinated a state leader, and Hegseth has declared "no stupid rules of engagement", supporting the U.S. looks a lot more difficult.

This is excellent

My co-authored article with @nckc.bsky.social is published in @ejisbisa.bsky.social with #openaccess! We theorize captivity/kidnapping as a sovereignty violation, and states respond with emotional performativity to protect their dignity, constructing personhood. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Never has so much US combat power been assembled with so little explanation to the public, allies, or Congress regarding why or how it will be used. Never.

Canada is living through the most dangerous international crisis in living memory, but any attempt to study history, politics, or international affairs is dismissed as 'basket weaving' by the Premier of Canada's most populace province.

There is definitely an opening here for Democrats to claim that 'Trump Lost Canada', especially after Canada's EV deal with China. This seems like very low-hanging fruit. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

I’m very excited to share that my co-authored article with Todd Hall is now published in the @ejisbisa.bsky.social ! Many thanks to @profgustafsson.bsky.social and @rjsamuels.bsky.social for organising the special issue and for their guidance throughout the process. doi.org/10.1017/eis....

This is the way

This is a *really* good take on Trump supporters, Goffman's classic account of the con man, and the problem of 'cooling out' Trump supporters. I have two quick thoughts. One is that I think the reason there is no one to 'cool out' Trump supporters is that this requires emotional labour... /1

Tonight I watched Prime Minister Mark Carney take the actual Heated Rivalry Canada fleece from Hudson Williams, slip it on and say: “This is true soft power.”

So...not close at all?

This is a really good essay.

I did some radio with CBC on the international politics of the Grok controversy and Canada's response. Come for the incisive analysis, stay to hear my kids yelling at the dog for peeing on the carpet. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Oh my god this is so horrifying... this is the most despicable gaslighting imaginable - tech executives must be held responsible for what they create.

I would also note: X has deleted a handful of these images. But the vast majority of them remain live on X today.

I wrote about the collapse of Trump's plan to annex Greenland 1/

Mark Carney: The Great Powers are becoming more aggressive. *five minutes later* Donald Trump: WE COULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Globe & Mail reporting on Canadian military's modelling of how an extended insurgency against a US invasion would play out: In short, we'd take cues from the mujahideen. "The aim of such tactics would be to impose mass casualties on U.S. occupying forces..."

For Canadians this should sink any hope for a deal with the US. The EU relented and accepted a brutally one-sided deal, and before the ink is even dry Trump has already reneged on the agreement.

Trying to write a piece on the US annexation of Greenland, and everything feels so monumentally stupid I don't even think I can finish.

This is pretty good.

Re-upping for the morning crowd

“There are compelling reasons, then, for why Canada has been slow to act amid the global backlash to Grok. But are these good reasons? No.” @ericvanr.bsky.social nails it.

I wrote on why Canada's reaction to the Grok controversy X is so weak compared to other countries. 1/ theconversation.com/why-canadas-...

Statement from MP Will Greaves on X/Twitter (I know, I know, not popular on here)

I know everyone is laughing at how quickly Trump turned on ExxonMobil, but it's also a powerful illustration of why the Trump admin is so bad for business. You can never say or do anything that appears to challenge the leader. You are walking eggshells the entire time...

Once again, now would be a good time for Canadian officials to issue a full-throated condemnation of their most favoured social media platform.

Not a big fan of 'history repeats itself' trope, but the convergence between Poilievre cheering on Trump in 2025 and Harper cheering on Bush in 2023 (both while serving as Conservative opposition leaders) is a bit jarring.

It is a bit problematic that the Canadian government's #1 communications tool is a cesspool of AI deepfake porn and Nazi imagery.

I actually have a pet theory that most countries have tended to look past America's transgressive behaviour because it provided important public goods (e.g. trade and security). Take away those things and people are probably far more open to seeing America as having a stigmatized identity.

I get this, it's a colossal mistake, the status quo is cheaper, etc. But that would make the United States a 'partner', and in no uncertain terms does the Trump administration want to be a 'partner' because that implies a relationship among equals. Dominant parties do not have, or need, partners.

I’m truly excited to share that The Oxford Handbook of Emotions in International Relations, co-edited with Andrew Ross , is finally out in the world. lnkd.in/dZYNS2Jb This project has been a journey: full of ideas, conversations, challenges, and inspiration.I’m deeply grateful to all contributors.

This is very much the vibe in Canada right now.

Interesting reporting. Makes me think about how much time different governments spend on simply not offending an incredibly thin-skinned U.S. government.

If true, this would be a major blow against the reactionary right's most important global platform. Let me explain /1

🚨 I am hearing from multiple sources that the EU Commission is announcing its first DSA fine tomorrow against X on ad transparency, blue check & dark pattern, and researcher access to data. The fine is in the "100s of millions of Euros." Elon about to get big mad.

I liked this. Getting the sense that where you stand on the F-35 purchase really hinges on your theory of the future of the United States. Supporters of the purchase see the United States as regressing to 'normal'. Critics see a stable trajectory downward. Hard to see right now where things go.