The US is under siege from its own government and the great American experiment in democratic government is nearing its end. Trump orders deployment of troops to Portland and authorises 'full force' www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Whoever forbids Antifa, wants fascism! Make Antifa Great Again!" - Bayern Munich fans on Friday, right behind the goal, so guaranteed to be in the broadcast worldwide.

"Kirk was not just putting on a show. He was a dedicated proponent of ... an authoritarian politics that backed the repression of opponents and made light of violence against them." @jamellebouie.net again says it precisely and with receipts. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride. They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.

A pleasure to be on France 24 again this evening talking about NATO’s potential response to the drone attack in Poland. youtube.com/watch?v=zWPu...

(Humanities professors after decades of STEM pushes)

Great opportunity for intelligence scholars to contribute to a @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social Special Issue on the 1975 Church Committee.

Probably the best news of the summer, so far.

Can the day get any better?

Me on France 24 this lunchtime, discussing the fallout between Trump and Musk. youtu.be/ukhV9w35s-Y?...

My latest for @uk.theconversation.com - all hail King Donald? Trump sees himself as more like a king than president. Here’s why theconversation.com/trump-sees-h...

This is such a great thread and shares a great deal of my issues (and those of other scholars I speak to) of travelling to the US to conduct research or attend conferences in the near future.

I really enjoyed being a part of this. Many thanks to @officialbaas.bsky.social for giving me the opportunity to talk about Trump, hyper-masculinity and Republican politics.

UK needs more nuclear to power AI, says Amazon boss www.bbc.com/news/article...

One of my favourite parts of Andor’s season 2 has been seeing Thierry ‘Gilou’ Godard as Levine. #Andor #Spiral #Engrenages

Liverpool have been pedestrian in this second half compared to the first half. The press has gone and the passing has been dreadful.

This Real Madrid side are woeful. I have no idea why Trent is going there. They’re going to be second best to Barca for the next 5 years unless Alonso performs a miracle. #ElClassico

CISA warns of hackers targeting critical oil infrastructure

Two Hungarians detained over alleged spy plot in Ukraine.

Darwin has decided it’s lunchtime.

ECR or PGR whose research focuses on American politics? Get your paper in for the @americanpolitics.bsky.social conference at LSE.

Something for the weekend? My latest for the Conversation.

The sudden dismissal of FOIA staff at CDC, FDA, and NIH will worsen existing backlogs and limit the public's ability to examine recent agency actions and get important health safety data. By a Yale health services researcher:

Wait! Wasn’t Trump going to sort this out within 24 hours of being elected?

Here I am talking about the Technocrats of the 1930s and their relevance today in Politico’s West Wing Playbook.

Monday

Was great to be on @france24.com this afternoon discussing the Paris summit on Ukrainian security.

The issue isn't that an errant number was included. They never should have been having this conversation outside a classified comms system at all.

Really enjoyed writing this, although it was difficult to reference websites that weren’t hosted by right-wing groups and Musk fanboys.

Such a lack of movement and, as a result, creativity from Liverpool. Mo missing Trent’s vision. Jota is conspicuous by his absence. Arne has a big job to change this round at half time.

My interview on France 24 last night, discussing Trump's meeting with Mark Rutte, the future of NATO, and European leaders concerns with national security. youtu.be/PX74abKV2gg?...

My latest co-authored piece with Matthew Powell. The US has lifted its intelligence sharing pause with Ukraine. But the damage may already be done theconversation.com/the-us-has-l...

Well. That was a better performance but shame about the result. Well done PSG but I still think Luis Enrique is a bad egg. #LIVPSG

My latest for @uk.theconversation.com looks at Trump's demands for access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals and its importance to Trump's Indo-Pacific policy. "Trump aimed to shift global supply chains and solidify the US as a manufacturing powerhouse." #Trump #Minerals #Ukraine #China

What a sad and humiliating day for the US. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Btw, this is one of the major reasons Russia runs influence ops in places like Central African Republic, Mali, and Niger: to control their vote in international organizations

America has now *formally* switched sides.

Spotted in Britain, on the road. #Swasticar #Tesla #ElonMusk #BoycottTelsla #TeslaTakedown www.teslatakedown.com

Estonia has officially disconnected from the Russian energy system. The moment of disconnection was shown on the Internet. The country is now independent of Russian networks. Lithuania and Latvia are also expected to complete the disconnection by the end of 9 February.

My latest for @uk.theconversation.com Joe Biden’s legacy: four successes and four failures theconversation.com/joe-bidens-l...

Hitler considers German expansion. If he’s serious, Austria, the Sudetenland and Poland would rival the annexation of Alsace Lorraine.

🚨Come to the 2025 American Politics Group Conference🚨 Date: Jan 3-5 Location: Keele University Booking👇 estore.keele.ac.uk/conferences-... Registration (almost) closed 🚪 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @mybisa.bsky.social @psaecn.bsky.social @historydafydd.bsky.social @psa-parliaments.bsky.social

Join us next week (12/4) at 2:00 p.m. ET, for our fifth and final webinar, "Post-Election Reflection: An Expert Roundtable," in our series exploring the 2024 U.S. Elections from multiple perspectives. Register here to attend: politicalsciencenow.com/post-electio... #polisky

Great to have been not just part of the first intelligence studies panel in an Austrian academic setting with @lucatrenta.bsky.social at the Austrian Political Science Association conference at the Central European University, but the first presenter of the first intelligence studies panel.

The beginnings of the coalition of the willing …

Off to Vienna to present a research paper at the Austrian Political Science Association conference.

It’s not been a bad week. Hope next week is a repeat.