One approach.

Timing trips to the gas station based on whatever crazy shit is happening in US foreign policy should not be normal.

Trump didn't cause FIFA to be corrupt, but somehow corruption always finds Trump.

Thank you to @hanyangsydney.bsky.social in Sydney for a lively conversation about--among other things--why I find John Mearsheimer's position intellectually weak and morally bankrupt.

Устали от деда www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/o...

There’s hope!

Voilà, in which I exhort fellow scholars to use the term "decolonization" with precision. "Persistent Problems with 'Decolonization': Reflections on the Central Asian Example" @poppublicsphere.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S153...

“Russia’s president, who has become a superlative authoritarian over time, has shown himself to be a mediocre head of state, a poor caretaker of the Russian economy and the agent of a regional disorder that is boomeranging back into Russia.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/o...

If only this could have been foreseen www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/u...

ironies, all the way down: “The band Milli Vanilli was also announced as a performer, though one of its singers, Jodie Rocco, said on Thursday that the group had not been asked to appear.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/a...

Watching Arsenal play PSG at a bar in Almaty with Super Bowl stylings and Kazakh play by play is a bit weird.

Decolonization is not happening here. can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Vigilance and strong passwords always.

It isn’t any less corrupt because they do it in plain sight www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/u...

Listen to Anna. Listen to my terrific colleague @marcishore.bsky.social

In the other war, no the other other war, Ukraine has changed things on the ground. youtu.be/chI-4vEuvko?...

There are few sources of satisfaction greater than unsubscribing from email lists. Thanks so much to the Democratic National Committee for providing endless satisfaction. Every day, really.

If only there were some way to hold elections where the party breakdown of representatives would be in rough proportion to the breakdown of votes overall. You know : so the shape of districts wouldnt matter much. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/u...

Educators: what strategies do you use to encourage students to exercise their judgment even / especially when they're using AI? How might we encourage a healthy "hermeneutic of suspicion" (Ricoeur), when AI produces such polished answers with such a tone of confidence?

Nothing about this war was inevitable. Leaders make choices, even if they dress up their choices in the garb of inevitability. Beware anyone saying they "had no choice."

This war of choice matters because it's morally abhorrent and strategically self-defeating, not because it's politically detrimental to Trump. When the media focus on the midterms, it takes our eye off the ball.

Imagine a 28th Amendment creating a simple and clear and reasonable mechanism for confidence votes in government. #updatedchecksandbalances

A+ headline.

37 days later & they're still doing bomb, plead, fulminate, threaten, bomb, justify, rinse, repeat.

God gave him a gift & he used it on half-price blueberry waffles. www.cnn.com/2026/03/20/p...

The scholarly research on how authoritarians engage in top-down efforts to frame issues for the public is robust. Here's what I expect from Trump's address tonight. 1/x

Trump declares that talks are taking place, so he can face-save for a few days and so his cronies can short the market. "Iran, however, denied that talks were taking place." Sadly, Iran is more believable. #TACO

Not the main thing, but "Thank you for your attention to this matter" doesn't mean what he thinks it means.

Is it still tilting at windmills when it’s for fossil fuels?

Pretty please open the Strait is not a strategy.

Oscar well deserved

There is no Strait of Hormuz for solar or wind power.

So, you're saying that Trump, Hegseth, and Rubio didn't really think this one through.

Let's triple-down on fossil fuels.

"[U]nderstanding ISP practices and government oversight of them is essential to comprehending how information controls function in practice," writes Irene Poetranto of @citizenlab.ca, who wrote a path-breaking PhD on the topic.

My "h" key as ceased working and now as a rater carming Frenh accent.

The Hubris Cycle: First, deploy overwhelming force at whim. Then, declare it an exception or an abberation that we should forget. Wait a few beats and repeat as necessary.

Diana Fu, Rich Nielson, and I argue that ethnography and an ethnographic sensibility remain essential to understanding the political world, even (or maybe especially) in an era of digitization and AI. Think we're Luddites? Have a look bsky.app/profile/annu.... www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

On behalf of all under-5'6"-men, he is NOT one of us.

Pls don’t repost that racist meme. Suffocate the exposure. It doesn’t bring anyone any value.

It's authoritative if it's reliable, trustworthy, and accurate. Think experts. It's authoritarian if it's coerced and enforces strict obedience to those in power. Think strongmen. Please decide if you mean experts or strongmen before you make your selection. That is all.

I had the privilege of reviewing @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social Diana Kudaibergen's The Kazakh Spring. Anyone interested in authoritarianism and/or Central Asia must read this book.

Being a top officer in the Russian military is incredibly dangerous. Going forward, they should just leave these positions vacant. www.cnn.com/2026/02/06/e...

👇👇👇👇

“Plaintiffs have provided no metric by which to determine when lawful law enforcement becomes unlawful commandeering…” Oh come on. Not easily measured but plain as day.

Orwell cannot be repeated often enough:

To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle: Blood on badges, lies on screens, Cages, tariffs, grift machines. Power sold and law undone, Cruelty played for laughs and fun. Strongmen kissed and wars adored, Truth despised, violence roared. Women mocked and racists fed Democracy quietly bled.

The fish rots from the head. Turf Miller, Noem, Trump, and the entire gang of fascist thugs.

Bovino is just the patsy - a noxious and odious fall guy. Stephen Miller is the architect and prime mover of the whole thing. Everything they do is at his direction - often after his threats. As long as he runs policy in the WH, nothing will change no matter how many Bovinos come and go.

Theater. Remove Homan, Noem, Miller, and Trump.