"this is a useful bit of extra money that will help to sustain the current programme; it’s not a massive splurge that will allow the services to meaningfully increase their numbers of soldiers, ships or aircraft" - @blagdendavid.bsky.social on #defencespending www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

@blagdendavid.bsky.social and I in @TheCriticMag make the case for adding lower-yield nuclear weapons to Britain's arsenal, to bolster the credibility of NATO Europe's deterrence: thecritic.co.uk/the-bomb-eur...

Read analysis by @blagdendavid.bsky.social in this article on #Ukraine www.newsweek.com/ukraine-mili...

‘The choice has been made, and so now the Navy – and the citizenry it protects – must hope that yet more cuts in the present lead to a better future force before that future turns violent,’ writes @blagdendavid.bsky.social, @exeter.ac.uk #BigAsk #BritainsWorld

"The choice has been made, and so now the Royal Navy must hope the cuts borne in the present are offset by a superior fleet in future … and that that superior fleet arrives before future risks turn into present dangers" - by @blagdendavid.bsky.social thecritic.co.uk/losing-our-s...

It was a pleasure to speak to Exeter SSI and @cais-exeter.bsky.social yesterday about my new book Causal Inquiry in International Relations (open access: fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...). Thanks to @blagdendavid.bsky.social and @profalexp.bsky.social for organizing

"The US and Israeli governments – plus the governments of other states that could yet get dragged in – now have choices to make about whether to strike again when the question of Iranian capability advancement returns in future" - @blagdendavid.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

This piece by @blagdendavid.bsky.social is very good--and spot on: "The case for keeping out of things" thecritic.co.uk/the-case-for...

The idea that @isanet.bsky.social can persist with holding all its annual conventions in the US (barring the odd token visit to Canada) is now clearly toast. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I’ve never participated in such kind of events. So, thanks to the students behind the Exeter Debating Society for the invitation to share the stage with @blagdendavid.bsky.social and talk international politics!

One downside (among many) of the USA's descent into hostile revisionism towards allies is that those allies are less likely to listen when Americans make good points.

This is an excellent speech by the new Chancellor of Oxford University, William Hague. Lots of good jokes, but also a staunch defence of what a university should be. We're going to need a lot of that in the years ahead.

The indefatigable Patrick Porter and I have a piece in The Critic on flaws in the Chagos deal, progressive realism, and how a superior version of the latter - that could yet dodge the pitfalls of the former - is still there for the taking. thecritic.co.uk/has-the-chag...

The @Telegraph excels itself today with the claim that @NaturalEngland is ‘ideologically wedded to concept of conservation’. This is our job, & we do it as a matter of legal requirement. Would be odd for a conservation organisation to do anything else. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

This is not the right way to do denuclearization, however you define it. www.npr.org/2025/02/13/n...

Probably not the most popular first foray on here, but - under the urgings of people I respect - here's something done elsewhere... The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal 🧵

I finally pulled my finger out and got on here...happy Thursday, acquaintances old and new!

Excellent news. Do follow @blagdendavid.bsky.social on U.K. defence and security policy. Among other things, he has a lot to say about the Chagos Islands Deal.

Good to see @blagdendavid.bsky.social on here! Well worth a follow if British foreign/defence policy is your bag.