link to the transcript, and to listen on the Atlantic website www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

In the new season of Autocracy in America, I will ask how the Trump White House is rewriting the rules of US politics. First episode: How ICE and the National Guard are being used not just to enforce immigration, but to project power open.spotify.com/episode/4Baj...

Several of us heard and felt the explosions. It was a rough night. And Shaun Pinner's writing is always interesting.

Not everyone believed me when I wrote that Trump wants Greenland becuase it would make him feel important, but that's what he told the NYT: When asked why he needed to possess the territory, he said: “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

Whatever happened to "If it floats, it sinks.", one wonders. 🎁 link (no paywall) #RussiaIsATerroristState #NAFO

»Merz's announcement that he might secure peace in Ukraine with German soldiers has received much praise in Berlin: deterring Russia is also a German task.« As I sit here in a chicken restaurant with only Ukrainians, I think to myself, LFG! 🎁 link (no paywall)

Mein erster von wohl sehr vielen Verhandlungsbeiträgen im wunderschönen neuen Jahr. Der ganze Prozess sieht von Kyjiw aus genauso vielversprechend wie 2025 aus (also gar nicht, um ehrlich zu sein). Die Ergebnisse von Paris sind für die Ukraine aber okay. www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...

The President of the USA openly celebrating the giving and taking of bribes.

Are they aware that the Pituffik Space Base, AN AMERICAN MILITARY BASE, is the most significant and relevant military target on Greenland ? What exactly do they imagine to do ? Bomb the ice covered bare landscape with 150 airplanes ?

»Trump’s term is one-quarter over; a piece of advice often attributed to Churchill has it best: When you’re going through hell, keep going.«

What's "lèse majesté" in Vulgarian, one wonders.

Maduro testifying, DOJ appointees flanking, about the 2020 election: "So yes I swear that as Generalissimo Flinn said, I used Italian satellites (sotto 'ay caramba!' 🙄) to hack voting in your state of... of..." < DOJ appointee whispers in his ear > "Yes, the Pencil state, that one, I did it "

Remember reading in history class about Stalin's 1930s show trials? Now you'll get to see one play out in real time on American soil.

»Two people close to the White House said the president’s lack of interest in boosting Machado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the president has openly coveted.« wapo.st/4qD4Gf1

“Trumpolitik” pronounced /ˌtrʌmpəˈlɪtɪk/ 
noun 1. The President of the United States’ will be done, whatever that will is at any given time. 2. A course of action that is predictable, but no one will believe anybody would go through with it.

"Don't obey in advance." Preemptive compliance only teaches authoritarians how far they can go. Set your boundaries, protect your values, and refuse to concede before you are asked. Resistance starts by not doing the regime's work for them. And read @timothysnyder.bsky.social's On Tyranny.

India now facing a $5 billion dose of buyer’s remorse as its massive Russian air-defense purchase degenerates into an unbridled disaster.

»This is the problem for Putin: he doesn’t like taking risks. The year ahead all depends on what he thinks is the safest path through 2026.« by @markgaleotti.bsky.social 🎁 link (no paywall)

During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.

In the Maduro capture operation, the Trump administration relies on Bill Barr’s (discredited) 1989 memo claiming a President can disregard the UN Charter (CNN report). That is a loaded gun. The legal analysis is utterly flawed. My assessment just published: www.justsecurity.org/127962/madur...

This by @stevevladeck.bsky.social is quite useful.

»Trump said he had not been in touch with her. “I think it would be very tough for her to be leader … She’s a very nice woman but she doesn’t have the respect within the country,” he said.« 🎁 link (no paywall)

»The president's capture of Nicolás Maduro jars with the isolationist views of many of his voting base - but Trump believes America's backyard is his domain« 🎁 link (no paywall)

In Saturday’s news conference, Trump vowed that more U.S. oil companies would go back into Venezuela. (Chevron is already drilling there.) The problem is that any new Venezuelan regime would rapidly lose its legitimacy if it allowed its natural resources to be looted by Yanquis. wapo.st/495KWuH

Trump/MAGA share "the same might-makes-right worldview of the worst neocons, but in service of the abhorrent principle of segregation instead of democracy, and suggesting a future of American imperialism unmoored from any pretense of a belief in the equality of mankind." @adamserwer.bsky.social

»War-weary voters who thought it was enough to elect a president who called the Iraq War “a stupid thing” and promised an “America First” foreign policy can now see for themselves that they were wrong. In 2026, as ever, only Congress can stop endless wars of choice.«

»Trump’s ego poses clear and present dangers to American democracy and American world leadership. An ineffective anti-Trump movement is an indulgence American democracy cannot afford or accept.«

Will Marco Rubio be appointed now into the position of a Chechen warlord?

Venezuela as a satellite state. 2026 is off to a great start.

Want to discover great posts beyond who you already follow? The For You feed, built by @spacecowboy17.bsky.social, is a personalized algorithmic feed based on your likes. It's one of our favorites for finding cool conversations across the network. Try it here: bsky.app/profile/spac...

Trump erhält nun endlich die Möglichkeit, den neunten Krieg in seiner Amtszeit zu beenden. Der Friedensnobelpreis war noch nie greifbarer.

Chatham House experts and researchers are available to follow on Bluesky. Connect with our experts here and follow them for their analysis on key international events and major global trends. ⬇️ go.bsky.app/UKHXrog

»I understand now why Russians don't pause to question invading another country and killing Ukrainians. Propaganda says Ukrainians are just "spoilt Russians"-and if they won't accept being Russian, they're "Nazis" who deserve to be killed.« #RussiaIsATerroristState #NAFO 🎁 link (no paywall)

This is a brilliant thread. Easier to read in this format: tbsky.app/profile/ruth...

Follow the smoke to get to the fire bylinetimes.com/2025/11/19/d...

»It would be difficult enough if these drone pilots were professional soldiers, but some of them are just kids really, and they have killed hundreds of people," a Ukrainian military figure said, on condition of anonymity. "I really worry about how we will cope as a society, when the war is over."« 🎁

»Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is now a member of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, said in February: “It’s better for a donkey to be killed than two people transporting supplies in a vehicle.”« 🎁 link (no paywall) #RussiaIsATerroristState #NAFO

»Confiscated classics, canceled festivals: Russia's censorship and state propaganda are tightening their grip on literature, museums, and the film industry. Fear is growing.« 🎁 link (no paywall) #RussiaIsATerroristState #NAFO

Kyiv was hit with 500 drones and 40 missiles. Civilians died. Trump’s response? Understanding Putin’s inconvenience. This isn’t diplomacy. It’s a bromance—paid for in Ukrainian lives. open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

Iranians are fighting theocracy, Hamas has brought disaster to the Palestinians, Jewish Power plots mass deportations of Arabs, Putin and the Western far right embrace Christianity. What happened to the atheist movement that was meant to oppose them all? comment.press/hitch31

My wish for 2026 is that Europeans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in their own country as they are about them in the U.S. and that Americans will be as critical and vigilant about authoritarianism and racism in the U.S. as Europeans are.

Have some good news: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The replies to this thread are quite insane. @jvl.bsky.social argues that Marjorie Taylor Greene's recent legislative actions represent a return to "regular order" and liberal democracy, of whether one agrees with the specific policy outcomes. And the usual reply guys... well, see for yourselves.

South African white trash has strong opinions about Nazi on Nazi action. »“There will always be critics,” Mr. Musk wrote in February last year. “What is perhaps notable is that I don’t attempt to silence them even on a platform that I own.”« 🎁 link (no paywall)

Future historians will wonder why the victims of colonialism sided so cheaply with a white coloniser who rules 1/3 of the Asian land mass from a city in Europe.

I'm old enough to remember when POTUS wasn't protecting genocide, paedophiles, or Russians (yes, that Venn diagram is a perfect circle). »The Kremlin is fueling its narrative of an alleged Ukrainian attack on a residence of [Putler]. It claims the attack was "also directed against Trump."« #NAFO 🎁