This week we look at structural theory in #POIR2030. Here's structural realist John Mearsheimer interviewed by Tom Switzer on why the war against Iran does not advance US national interests: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLa9...

Vibecoded this "World Politics Compass" questionare for my #POIR2030 Theories of World Politics class (thanks Anthropic) www.worldpoliticscompass.com We're in a lovely interregnum where AI will make nice things for teaching, but hasn't yet taken my job.

Also relevant to US/Iran: this broadly structural realist 2007 paper by @proftalmadge.bsky.social on Iranian threat to Strait of Hormuz. NB: drone boats have since lowered costs of harassment, so Talmage's timeline for reopening Strait likely needs revision. www.caitlintalmadge.com/uploads/8/5/...

In any normal week this would be a huge story. France moves toward extending a nuclear umbrella over European allies-- a major sign of declining credibility of US extended deterrence. www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Trump wrecked US diplomacy on purpose and now it’s making everything harder because he doesn’t understand that diplomacy is a tool of war. It’s not the opposite of war! goodauthority.org/news/trump-a...

This was such a fun and interesting conversation!

Podcast for #POIR2030 students: Realist @stephenwalt.bsky.social outlines why he characterises Trump's United States as a "Predatory Hegemon": www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/ame...

Podcast for #POIR2030 students: Realist Stephen Walt outlines his account of how the US became a "Predatory Hegemon: www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/ame...

"President Trump may get lucky and find that his attacks achieve some outcomes that serve US interests. But it is hard to envision that the net result will be an improvement in US or world security."

Shannon Brincat and Juan Zahir Naranjo Cáceres: "The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a further erosion of the international legal order. Under international law, these attacks are neither preemptive nor lawful." theconversation.com/neither-pree...

Hi #POIR2030 Theories of World Politics students - I'm excited that Macquarie Uni IT have created a Bluesky block for ilearn. For the next 15 weeks I'll be sharing content for our unit to this block. If you're on bluesky and want to post here please use #POIR2030 and I'll repost you to the class.

“Coercion-as-habit is domination stripped of hegemonic obligation. No public goods, international order, or attempt to manufacture consent. Just the power to kill, wielded for the sake of nonsense—libido, spectacle, oligarch payola.” www.un-diplomatic.com/p/coercive-b...

‘Albanese told Reuters she had “received offers to open bank accounts in so-called fiscal or tax havens,” but declined, saying that would conflict with her ethical principles and wouldn’t resolve “the illegality of the U.S. sanctions against me.”’ www.reuters.com/investigatio...

If Australia and Indonesia agreed to end new thermal coal mines, it could drive the green transition - @aunz.theconversation.com theconversation.com/if-australia...

Is a treaty to end thermal coal mine approvals possible? Sounds counterintuitive, but Chris Wright argues the treaty's cartel-like logic might win industry support for climate goals. New piece in @theconvo-bot.bsky.social explores why Indonesia + Australia alone could shift the global market.

“…the task is to rationalize growth: to expand and develop the forces of production so that they might better enable and express the fundamental end of animals like us. In other words, our freedom.” thepointmag.com/politics/rad...

Feel like a man throwing a homemade IED into a large crowd at an invasion day rally should be bigger news

Maher Mughrabi on the new "mafia world order"... www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

This is beyond the pale. Trump's "board of peace" is a sham to formalise the genocide, and against all intl law. The Albanese govt has no right to make Australia complicit.

Global CO2 emissions are showing signs of levelling, thanks to a slight decline in net land-use change emissions offsetting continued growth in fossil emissions. The trends are way off compared to the 1.5C scenarios with no or low overshoot assessed in the IPCC. Details: bsky.app/profile/glen...

Hanging onto every bit of good news The river has come alive in the Klamath with wild Chinook salmon. The wider ecosystem is healing. This most powerful story of Indigenous-led #rewilding after the largest dam removal in US history keeps getting better. lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/oct/9/o...

Alan Kohler's analysis of Australia's 2035 target: New CSIRO modelling suggests Australia's new targets are difficult to achieve, and even if they are, we won't be fine. #POIR3970 www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

#poir3970 as promised, here’s conservative UK PM Margaret Thatcher speaking about Climate Change in 1989. youtu.be/aSrBO4_qPzo?...

Is global warming accelerating? Over at The Climate Brink I argue that the consilience of evidence from surface temperatures, climate models, forcing changes, ocean heat content, and earth energy imbalance all point toward yes: www.theclimatebrink....

Grok showed up in my Tesla this morning, and started speaking to me without me trying to trigger it. I saw a tab called "conspiracy theories", clicked it and asked Grok about climate change. This is what Elon Musk is telling Tesla drivers about climate change.

Abundance is the precondition of socialism, but socialism is also the precondition of abundance.

In 2023, China installed more wind power than the rest of the world combined—yet Western media still portrays it as a climate laggard. @benwray1989.bsky.social on the geopolitics of the energy transition. www.tni.org/en/article/c...

new paper about US attitudes on solar geoengineering, para-environmentalism, and this idea that airborne atmospheric modification is already happening rdcu.be/eyJX5

Check out a new piece by @mkblyth.bsky.social and me: 'Trump’s Global War on Decarbonization'. The Strategy? BLOCK Chinese green tech, PUSH US fossil fuels. @projectsyndicate.bsky.social prosyn.org/RE8I5Ix

"Using heavy nets to scrape the ocean floor, bottom trawling is described as being "destructive for both ocean life and the climate," destroying an area of the ocean floor nearly as large as the Amazon rainforest every year." Source: Ocean with David Attenborough (from National Geographic).

The geopolitics of the green transition in two NYT graphs: China is the world's major manufacturer of green energy infrastructure and the United States is the world's major fossil fuels producer. But apparently it's China that presents the big risk to our future!

While the world obsesses over individual carbon footprints, militaries — the elephant in the climate room — operate in the shadows, protected by the very institutions that have been charged with saving our planet. We must demand transparent reporting, genuine accountabi ...

Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show. Rachael Bedard and David Wallace-Wells on Covid disillusionment and the rise of the MAHA movement. open.spotify.com/episode/6VhH... youtu.be/VCaD4vh4XhI?...

Big polluter lobbyists and petro states sabotaged the global plastics treaty Global plastics treaty has now ended in a utter failure - with countries unable to agree. And we know exactly who is to blame. www.thecanary.co/global/world...

#poir3970 I was looking to catch up on the Inflation Reduction Act and the current status of climate legislation in the US. When I saw Ezra Klein's name (he was mentioned in lectures) I was drawn to this quite good discussion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuW4PdhqKmo

Productivity Commission draws attention to Treasury increasing the petroleum resource rent tax on gas exporters. Ross Gittins (SMH/Age) says that currently gas exports, now up there with US/Qatar, are given a free ride by the Commonwealth, adding little to our nation’s productivity.

#POIR3970 :( healthpolicy-watch.news/global-plast...

#POIR3970 170 countries are gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, today in the hopes of finalising a global treaty limiting plastic. pollutionhttps://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/nations-gather-in-push-to-finalise-un-plastics-treaty/105610104

Hi #POIR3970 Global Environmental Politics students - I'm excited that Macquarie Uni IT have created a Bluesky block for ilearn. For the next 14 weeks I'll be sharing content for our unit to this block. If you're on bluesky and want to post here please use #POIR3970.

NEW: i spoke to nine (!) scientists across several disciplines whose work was cited in the new Department of Energy report that downplays the severity of climate change. all of them say their work was misrepresented, cherry picked, and/or lacked context —

The EPA cited my paper in their argument against the endangerment finding today. However, their point is completely backwards: my paper actually supports the EPA's 2009 range of 1.8C to 4C warming by 2100. www.nature.com/artic...

Contrarian climate assessment from U.S. government draws swift pushback | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... nice article from @voosen.me

Live July 29 – Join us and expert panellists for a timely discussion on extreme heat, its health impacts, and whether solar geoengineering could help reduce this growing threat. 🕒 15:00 BST / 10:00 ET Register: buff.ly/lVYnTIy #ExtremeHeat #SolarGeoengineering

#PlasticsTreaty #INC5.2 is just around the corner, as it takes place in #GENeva from 5 to 14 August. With meetings and activities already starting on 3 August, visit our dedicated #OffsiteBuzz page on the activities in the margins of the negotiations. ▶️ tiny.cc/GENINC5-2

"Despite this turbulence, achieving a strong #plastic treaty remains possible.But this will require strengthening the high-ambition axis of power,enhancing transparency & accountability & ensuring the meaningful inclusion of rights holders, local communities & civil society." doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...

In a lot of ways, food is the harder part of the climate problem. We know what to do about fossil fuels: electrify everything and power the grid with non-emitting energy sources. But how do we get people to eat or farm differently? Or to waste less food? There are few good solutions.

Based on fossil fuel growth rates from the IEA Coal Mid-Year Update, July Oil Market Report, & Gas Market Report Q3, fossil CO2 emissions would grow around 0.8% in 2025, reaching another record high... We are only half way through the year, but don't build too much expectation for peak emissions.

Intriguing new @carbonbrief.org piece out by @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social exploring global CO2 cuts by China's clean tech sector activities from several angles. Interesting how much solar PV dominates. Explored these results a bit. I think they're directionally correct, albeit with nuances: 🧵

Is decarbonization dead? @janeaflegal.bsky.social & I join Ezra Klein to talk through how Trump just shredded America's most ambitious climate policy, what survived, and where we go from here. Listen @nytimes.com or wherever you get your podcasts. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

Former Aus Foreign Minister Bob Carr: "This is a man-made famine, as in the Warsaw Ghetto. This outweighs other diplomatic considerations. To recognise Palestine sends a message to Israel to let food through in adequate quantities or be further defined as a pariah" www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...