Mashhad, Iran

Huge protest across Iran and even in the capital, Tehran.

Für fundamentalen Wandel in Iran In #iran #protest​ie­ren Menschen weiter gegen die Re­gie­rung und die hohen Le­bens­hal­tungs­kos­ten. Erstmals seit langem fordern viele wieder die Rückkehr des #schah​s Von Mahtab #qolizadeh https://www.taz.de/!6142676

"Trump is already repeating the fundamental error that doomed the US effort to remake Iraq. Just like Bush, he has failed to grasp that removing a dictator is not enough to overcome the decades-long legacy of dictatorship." @ccaryl.bsky.social @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/t...

Btw, where was J. D. Vance during today’s press conference? Could it be that the administration’s arch-isolationist didn’t want to be visibly associated with Trump’s Venezuela policy?

New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Steve Bannon was having conniptions over Trump’s recent threats against Iran. Wonder how he will react to this. Potential for a fresh split within the MAGA coalition

“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” says Trump. We are on our way to an open-ended military commitment

Trump just announces the US will be running Venezuela now, until the can do a "safe, proper, and judicious" transfer of power. Announcing an occupation before you've occupied a country is a new one.

Trump accuses Maduro of stealing American assets (oil). So I guess we’ll be taking them back, right? Remember how Trump said of Iraq that we should “take the oil”?

Trump says “we’re going to run the country” after U.S. captures Maduro. Welcome to our next forever war

Inside Russia, fatigue and resentment are festering beneath the suppression of dissent. The Kremlin presents the country as strong, united and on an inevitable path to victory, but as peace negotiations drag on, Russian society is deteriorating.

Protesters are gathering in Georgia for day 394 of daily, uninterrupted protests. They’re holding signs quoting the Constitution: “Everyone has the right to assemble publicly and peacefully, without prior permission.” This comes as GD enforces a new law requiring 5 days’ prior notice for protests.

Drug cartels are driven by profit, not by murderous ideology like ISIS. Antifa is a loose-knit group of activists who aren’t plotting mass casualty events like al-Qaeda. Venezuela is complicit in human rights violations & drug trafficking, but it doesn’t sponsor terrorism like Iran. wapo.st/4qrV8U5

In my latest piece for @foreignpolicy.com, I discuss a stunning new documentary on the war in Ukraine that’s just been shortlisted for an Oscar. I highly recommend giving it a watch. foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/19/2...

Great article. I'd love to read the book version. It would be a ton of work but so very important.

The Trump administration has broken with decades of settled practice on corruption issues, and the American people will pay the price, writes Christian Caryl.

My latest for @foreignpolicy.com, in which I argue that Trump’s crony capitalist principles are undermining U.S. foreign policy foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/15/t...

This devastating NYTimes assessment of the American military’s broken weapons development and military industrial systems is spot on. But if you’ve been reading @washingtonmonthly.com…/1 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Couldn’t agree more

Insane statistic: Russia may have *already* suffered as many casualties in Ukraine as the U.S. did during the entirety of the Second World War.

Trump has declared civilisational war on Europe. It won’t be easy – but here’s how to fight back | Paul Taylor

"When historians assess this age of American populism, Silicon Valley’s plutocrats will surely be judged its winners." Me on Trump's love of the broligarchy and what that means for Europe and Maga's future. as.ft.com/r/55519a35-2...

The Trump security strategy calls for “re-instilling a culture of competence, rooting out so-called ‘DEI’ and other discriminatory and anti-competitive practices,” as if anyone could possibly imagine that Hegseth, Patel, RFK, Tulsi or other officials were chosen based on competence. wapo.st/4prmqK9

Trump criticizes Ukraine for its alleged lack of democracy. Funny that he never says that about Russia. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

This is what happens when you trust the Russians www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Drone sightings near critical infrastructure, 2025 (source: FT) public.flourish.studio/uploads/1805...

China’s predatory economy is the problem. Uniting with our allies to fight back is the only sensible response. Instead, Trump is undermining our allies, and hence we are losing. There was an alternative. /1 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/b...

Speaking of tigers... happy birthday to William Blake, born on this day in 1757!

New on Book Post → Christian Caryl considers Jonathan Slaght’s riveting Tigers Between Empires. Caryl writes on the beauty of these ineffable animals and on the precarity of the habitats that sustain them. books.substack.com/p/review-chr... @ccaryl.bsky.social @fsgbooks.bsky.social

If you’re going to use a word like “sommelier” in a story, you might want to make sure you’re getting it right. More sad evidence of slipping standards at @washingtonpost.com

This is not a plan for peace. It is a plan for Russian victory and Ukrainian capitulation, argues Christian Caryl.

Steve Witkoff should be fired

I hope folks realize that between Trump, Kushner, Hegseth, Witkoff, Noem, RFK, Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard, this country is almost entirely undefended.

This is so many layers of writing removed from something I also do not want to read

Agreed

Sen. Mark Kelly: “I’m not backing down. I’m not shutting up. If somebody in my situation was to do that, what is the message that sends to not only service members but government employees?How about to just U.S. citizens about what our First Amendment rights are?” www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

No matter how long I live after we get through this dark chapter, I will never get over the immorality, the amorality, the corruption, the criminality and the cruelty in service to one of the worst humans to ever walk the earth.

“Can Russia still afford to fight a bloody war in Ukraine? Yes, for now — but with each passing month, the financial squeeze gets worse.” Good take from @jimgeraghty in WaPo: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

First Secretary of Defense you could defeat by painting a tunnel on the side of a boulder.

ah yes, the people yearn for the dersh

The administration stayed home from Halifax and forced the US military to do so as well. This isn’t an aberration: Also over the weekend, the administration boycotted the G20 in S Africa. How does the Trump team expect to win any diplomatic victories when it’s not even on the field? wapo.st/4oZH3wz

My latest: The 28-point plan is a blueprint for Russian victory and Ukrainian capitulation. Let’s hope it never comes to fruition foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/24/t...

Jared Kushner showed up as part of the American delegation. Hard to blame the Ukrainians for being surprised at that. Since when did Kushner become a government official? on.ft.com/4p1nB2N

In which I argue that Donald Trump is on his way to becoming the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/24/t...

The growing threat from Putin’s despotic, expansionist regime calls for Churchillian resolution, unity and strength on the part of the transatlantic alliance. Instead, Neville Chamberlain-style irresolution and confusion reigns—particularly in Washington. wapo.st/3XcRot6

Yes: “American democracy today is in a dangerous place. The Epstein emails are a kind of prequel to the present.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...

The Biden Justice Department Attorney General Garland should have moved swiftly to investigate, charge and prosecute Donald Trump for his crimes against the nation, by March 2021 at the latest. The failure to do this would eventually lead to the rapid disintegration of the nation.

My review of Jonathan Slaght's great new book on Amur Tigers. Can't recommend it highly enough. books.substack.com/p/review-chr...