Trump is rapidly achieving levels of personalism and a cult of personality that it took Romania's #Ceaușescu and Turkmenistan's #Niyazov many years to achieve. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-h...

UNC’s CSEEES was such a bright part of my time at UNC. It not only supported my research, but also felt like home. Such a loss for UNC, its students, and Eastern European and Eurasian studies in the US.

Looks like this story is gaining momentum: over 650 judges have signed a petition confirming the charges in the documentary. tvrinfo.ro/creste-numar...

In other news, Romania is being rocked by the revelations about the political capture of judicial institutions and the successful neutralization of anti-corruption institutions in an excellent new documentary. Well worth watching! recorder.ro/documentar-r...

Great NYT exposé on how the Trumps, Tucker Carlson, and former Romanian PM Victor Ponta, helped free the accused child trafficker, rapist, and manosphere icon, Andrew Tate. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...

Trying their best to kill US tourism (in addition to its democracy). Brought to you by the people complaining of free speech restrictions under Biden. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-tour...

Leave it to a Claremonter and Orban propagandist to claim that "three and a half decades of American-style liberal international order" have been more of a threat to Europe than Hitler and Stalin.

Of course it makes more sense to try to do business with dictators and war criminals than to engage with your democratic allies to support a country fighting for its survival. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

It makes perfect sense coming from one of the most corrupt international organizations. But maybe this will slow down Trump's haste for "peace" at all costs in Ukraine?

Very timely (and interesting) article by Milan Svolik in World Politics.

Exhilarating performance by Pussy Riot in Brooklyn last night!

It is puzzling indeed that Ukraine is not jumping for joy at the opportunity to give up most of what they fought for almost 4 years just to give Trump a PR win in time for Thanksgiving. www.bbc.com/news/live/c3...

Trump's "peace' plan for Ukraine is not only morally unacceptable but myopic and no basis for a lasting peace. goodauthority.org/news/ukraini...

It's nice when science reaffirms our natural inclinations. www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...

Hard to believe that even Putin's endorsement wasn't enough for Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Check out my new piece on Moldovan 🇲🇩 elections with @grigopop.bsky.social

Moldovan voters have given the pro-EU PAS (of President Maia Sandu) a narrow but clear parliamentary majority, despite Russia hybrid warfare tactics. Let's hope that the planned opposition protests are not a foil for even more aggressive Russian tactics.

We don't need to worry about stealth authoritarianism anymore. It's pretty clearly out in the open. www.cnbc.com/2025/09/18/t...

The authoritarian playbook in action... www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Yet another instance of the staggering human costs of US deportation practices. ‘I told my family, I’ll probably die’: US immigration sends Russian asylum seekers back to Moscow www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In case you were curious about what Ukrainians think about Putin-style "peace" negotiations...

The insistence of Texas Republicans to have Dem reps sign agreements to be shadowed by police reminds me of a line from a novel by Marin Preda: "[the communists] aren't content to take your cow from the barn, they also make you sign that you gave it willingly". thehill.com/homenews/sta...

And the prize for understatement of the day goes to ... search.app/qHk7P

This is so depressing- and makes me so grateful for growing up biking everywhere, and for my kids having the same experience 30 years later.

Glad to see that tax payers' money is being put to good use. apnews.com/article/vp-v...

My 2 cents on the recent Romanian elections in ‪@goodauth.bsky.social. Romanian democracy dodged a bullet (barely) but this is no time to be complacent...

Just when we thought the circus was finally over, Simion decided to challenge the results of the elections (after he had conceded earlier). Not surprisingly, his argument echoes the rhetoric of his Russian handlers. This could get ugly. www.g4media.ro/breaking-geo...

Here's a graph (based on my own online survey from May9-17) showing where support in yesterday's Romanian presidential vote came from vv. the parliamentary vote from 2024. As expected, Dan dominated overwhelmingly among USR and UDMR voters, and quite clearly among PSD and PNL voters.

Nicușor Dan won after an incredible campaign that culminated in an unexpectedly clear reversal of the first round vote. He also won because of the remarkable mobilization of many Romanian citizens, who drove the record turnout. But let us not get dizzy with success:

At this point Dan leads by over 800K votes, a difference that is virtually impossible to overcome with the roughly one million diaspora votes left to count. The question is whether Simion will accept defeat or whether he (and his handlers/followers) will resort to Jan 6 tactics.

Exit polls and turnout figures look very promising for Nicușor Dan (and prediction markets seem to agree). But lots of uncertainty remains given the gap between exit polls and results in the first wave. Meanwhile, Simion claimed victory, setting the stage for fraud claims (and possibly violence.)

Voted in R2 of the Romanian presidential elections this morning (in an Orthodox church in Philadelphia). For those who can, please make the effort to go vote - it will be really tight, and the stakes couldn't be higher! Hai la vot!

Simion has flip-flopped repeatedly about his position on EU & NATO. But the preferences of his supporters tell a pretty clear story: his support is heavily concentrated from those opposed to the EU and NATO (though it is of course not limited to them.)

Wherein I opine that the upcoming presidential elections in Poland will either enable or stymie democratic reform after the PiS years. For a largely ceremonial office, this one matters. goodauthority.org/news/trzasko...

Victor Ponta, former PM and #4 finisher in the first round, endorsed Simion for R2 in Romania. Based on my survey, prior to the announcement, half of his R1 supporters were undecided or planning to abstain, with the rest evenly split between Simion and Dan. www.libertatea.ro/stiri/victor...

In case you were wondering, here is the same graph as in my earlier post but for those who really dislike Trump (33%) vs. those who really like him (12%). The magnitude of the effect on voting for Simion is slightly smaller but the effects are still very clear.

I've been running online surveys in #Romania about the presidential elections. Lots of crazy stuff but the graph below took me by surprise (and I'm someone who studies communist legacies). This is the share of the second-round vote for Simion as a function of what respondents think of Ceaușescu.

What a stunning pair of films at the Doc10 festival in Chicago. On Friday, Antidote, about and featuring Christo Grozev, here in person. And then, yesterday, 2000 Meters to Andriivka—far and away the most powerful war movie I have seen. See them both, when you can, and curse Putin.

This resignation just made a bad situation - Simion's clear victory in the first round of the presidential elections - dramatically worse. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

The timing of this decision amounts to clear interference in the Romanian elections. But I'm pretty sure it will backfire. www.reuters.com/world/us-rev...

🚨 My book "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular" is finally out today with @ColumbiaUP! 🚨 It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵

We need to support #Harvard (and other universities) to stand up against Trump's bullying. This is an existential fight, not just for Harvard but for anyone who cares about science (and democracy). www.bbc.com/news/article...

Good to see that Harvard is finally taking a clear stand against Trump's bullying. www.harvard.edu/president/ne...

Booker’s epic 25-hour speech in the U.S. Senate is a rallying cry for America. Can Cory Booker and Gen X fight the power? Read the latest from @brownphdgirl.bsky.social: goodauthority.org/news/cory-bo...

Macron: By striking civilians, Russia mocks proposals for peace talks

One of my favorite participants at the Hands Off protest in Princeton today.

Great turnout at the Hands Off protest in Princeton (despite the weather). It's festive, but there's also palpable anger.

The editors of @worldpolitics.bsky.social are pleased to relaunch our anniversary issue as a supplement to our 2025 issues. Have a read of the introduction from our chair @grigopop.bsky.social who masterfully summarizes the articles that make up this very special issue. muse.jhu.edu/issue/54458

As part of PIIRS Global Existential Challenges lecture series, @worldpolitics.bsky.social editorial chair @grigopop.bsky.social and WP editor Mark Beissinger discussed "The Trump Administration and Global Politics. Read a synopsis: www.linkedin.com/posts/prince...

Trump administration just suspended recently approved visa waiver program for Romania. Romanian politicians (e.g. Ciolacu) reject speculations about the motivations, but given Vance and Musk's comments about the elections, I have my doubts. www.g4media.ro/breaking-sta...