Panama in China-US Strategic Competition thediplomat.com/2025/09/pana... "Suppose Panama can show that a sovereignty-first, rules-based posture unlocks U.S. and allied capital without foreclosing commercial ties to China."

Brazil Just Succeeded Where America Failed www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o... “With all its flaws, Brazilian democracy is healthier today than America’s. Keenly aware of their country’s authoritarian past, Brazil’s judicial and political authorities did not take democracy for granted.”

more than a decade of public scholarship has taught me that the moments when it's most tempting to react strongly and quickly are the ones when it's most useful to step back, seek context, and force yourself to think slowly. i don't always follow it, but those are my guidelines for myself.

Only Trump can make John Bolton seem sympathetic! 🙄

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1/ The @deptofdefense.govmirrors.com is weighing a “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force.” 600 Guard troops split between Alabama and Arizona, deployable in one hour. 🧵https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/12/national-guard-civil-unrest/

One thing that didn't make it into today's piece: Washington, DC already has by far the highest number of law enforcement officers per capita of any city of 250k+.

Claims of a DC “crime wave” ignore the facts: violent crime is down ~26% this year, homicides down 12%, robberies down 28%. 2025 is on track for some of the lowest levels in decades. Fear sells—facts don’t! www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/i...

The ghosts of Gaitán (1948), Galán (1989), and Gómez Hurtado (1995) still haunt #Colombia’s democracy. The assassination of presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is a stark reminder that democracy cannot thrive when bullets silence ballots.

#ELSalvador today presents a conceptual paradox: Can a regime with overwhelming popular support still be a democracy in decline? 1⃣ Democracy requires more than just majority support at the ballot box. 🧵

The silence from @StateDept @SecRubio @WHAAsstSecty about @nayibbukele’s move to eliminate any limits on presidential reelection is deafening! The US has now dropped even the pretense of caring about democracy in #ElSalvador. You cannot complain about some authoritarians while enabling others.

The Trump Administration is finding out that if you live by the crazies, you die by the crazies!

“USAID has officially ceased operations.” The decision to dismantle USAID will compromise the country’s national security. This is the very definition of short-sightedness! We will come to realize this decision was unwise as China steps forward to fill the vacuum.

1️⃣ The deployment of active-duty military in a domestic security role is common in Latin America & the rest of the developing world. And is almost always a bad idea. It undermines legitimacy & professionalism of the armed forces and erodes institutional legitimacy. 🧵

How convenient: you spend billions getting Trump elected; your net worth balloons from your gov grift; you destroy good agencies like USAID; BUT, your reputation is shattered & your companies are trashed. So, now you hate Trump & we’re expected to love you again? 🤬 FU!

To all colleagues who are teaching in the summer:

The Dallas Morning News published my op-ed on the upcoming judicial elections in #Mexico. Hint: A very bad idea. The Texas example of judicial elections is a nightmare & results in Mexico promise to be worse! www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

1/ Let's be clear: POTUS & the US government are complicit in #RuthLopez's arrest & violation of human rights. By financing #Bukele's prison state & praising Bukele's harsh policies, #Trump has empowered the #Salvadoran dictator to deepen his authoritarian policies. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/w... 🧵

This is so foolish & counterproductive! These grants are vital to promoting research & cultural competency! I have served as a reviewer and the recipients are among the best students/researchers/scholars this country produces. www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...

Thanks @texasobserver.org for publishing my piece on the consequences of the Trump-Bukele "alliance" to "offshore justice." The consequences for Latin America, the United States, and Texas in particular will be significant and devastating.

Mark Carney truly has the patience of Job…

And to think Waltz left a safe congressional seat in which Republicans underperformed his margin in the special election to replace him by about 25 points—might have lost it if not for the fact Florida Democrats are hapless!

Many of you will probably be motivated to watch #Conclave again. Remember, the plot is less likely than the one for Angels & Demons!

This is premeditated destruction of the country’s foreign policy institutions! The effects will be deep & longstanding! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/u...

Our democracy is in the hands of two people: John Roberts & Amy Coney Barrett

This is outrages! Nayib Bukele has turned El Salvador into a giant prison! This is unconstitutional & violates intetnational law! Not to mention immoral! www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

This is devastating! Wilson Center was the leading international public policy think tank in DC. I feel terrible for the many friends who dedicated their careers making Wilson a standard for rigorous and relevant policy work. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

The Average College Student Is Illiterate www.persuasion.community/p/the-averag... Perhaps a bit too pessimistic, but not far from the truth. Btw, there's a connection b/w the phenomenon discussed & our current political situation. Unfortunately, few academic leaders nationwide are fighting back.

The Great Demolition www.persuasion.community/p/the-great-... "Americans are now experiencing the historic first 100 days of the Roosevelt presidency in reverse. That was the New Deal. This is the Great Demolition."

Only Donald Trump could get the Canadians 🇨🇦 to fall back in love with Justin Trudeau & the Liberal Party of Canada. He also might single-handedly propel the former head of the Bank of England as PM of Canada! Tired of so much winning yet?

Self-censorship is a classic tool used by authoritarian regimes across the world. Compliance in this manner lowers the cost for the regime of establishing & maintaining control. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

The US right is now closer to Russia, Turkey and China in many of its values. www.ft.com/content/3046...

"America is undergoing a process of repatrimonialization, just like many other societies before it. Where once the world was riven by ideologies, today it is divided into what increasingly look like criminal gangs fighting over turf and protection rackets." www.persuasion.community/p/making-the...

Maybe Trump figured out that this issue has revived the fortunes of the Liberal Party of Canada. But I suspect in the end that’s too hard for Trump to understand.

It's incredible how the #panamanians keep cooperating, and #Trump keeps banging on about "38,000 dead" and "Carter selling the canal for $1!" Take the goddam win & move on!

The section on the #Panama Canal is completely false! Not a single word was accurate!

If you think Rep. Green’s antics help Democrats I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you! 🙄 I oppose this president’s policies vehemently, but opposition has to be smart! And that was very dumb!

This could be a significant step in resolving the US-Panama dispute over the Panama Canal. It certainly could reduce the perceived threat of Chinese influence. www.reuters.com/markets/deal...

By politicizing the Ukraine war, Trump has moved Republicans decisively against continued aid. The risk for Zelenskyy is that the more this issue is seen in partisan terms the more divided people will be and the less support Ukraine will get. Everyone is moving toward their political corners.

One of the problems is that #Trump is completely ignorant, and intellectually incurious, about history. He sees every relationship from the perspective of a zero-sum game rooted in transactional calculations. And we know foreign policy (or any other type of politics) is much more nuanced than that!

So #Cuba abstains & the #US votes against a resolution condemning #Russian aggression against Ukraine! 🥴

This is precisely the definition of authoritarian populism: elections confer a mandate to govern that transcends constitutional constraints. The “leader” as the embodiment of the general will. Problem: constitutional democracy demands horizontal accountability.

And to think this was the party of Ronald Reagan once.

Thucydides in #Panama Honored to have published this with the brilliant Gabriel Marcella. “Maintaining strong U.S.-Panama relations is far more valuable than aggressive posturing by modern Athenians.” globalamericans.org/thucydides-i...

@POTUS “pauses” the Foreign Corrupts Practices Act. “FCPA enforcement against American citizens and businesses … for routine business practices … harms American economic competitiveness.” Which “routine” practices? Bribery, kickbacks, fraud? Is this how we’ll compete against China?

It seems #MAGA is fixated on #USAID programs aimed at promoting equity & inclusion, including protecting LGBTQ+ persons in societies in which such persons been historically persecuted & excluded. Protecting vulnerable people around the world actually helps promote US interests & influence.

Meet the new Under Secretary of State for Diplomacy & Public Affairs. 😱

In fiscal 2024, DoD was authorized $841.4 billion. #USAID was authorized $22.6 billion. I don’t question need for defense, but the goodwill & influence the US gets for those $23 billion is significant. If you doubt it, ask why Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc., are happy w/ ending AID.