My latest for Compact magazine In short, I think a U.S ground invasion of Venezuela would be incredibly stupid. And I think we are vastly underestimating the ELN in Colombia who would come to the aid of Maduro’s regime. www.compactmag.com/article/the-...

You can now pre-order my forthcoming book, "Reds, Revolutions, and Rebellions: How China, Cuba, and Vietnam Transformed Guerilla Warfare," with @CornellPress. It is an intellectual history of leftist guerilla warfare from Mao to now. www.amazon.com/Reds-Revolut...

North Korea is not mentioned once. China is mentioned over 20 times, Russia 10, and Iran 5. Did they forget Pyongyang has nuclear weapons and helped to bolster Russia’s war machine on a sizable level?

My latest for NK News

Inside North Korea’s Hidden Global Power Explore North Korea’s surprising global influence, from Africa to Latin America, and its unexpected ties with historic movements and leaders. www.youtube.com/live/7vlNIo-...

🎙️ This week, in my interview series on IR, I’ll be joined by Dr. Benjamin R. Young (@dubstepindprk.bsky.social) as we bring North Korea to the table for discussion. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell to get alerts when we go live. www.youtube.com/live/7vlNIo-...

Very preliminary look at my next book cover. Entitled “Reds, Revolutions and Rebellions: How China, Cuba, and Vietnam Transformed Guerilla Warfare,” it is scheduled to come out in summer 2026 with Cornell University Press.

Famous Putinist sycophant Russian Singer, Shaman, meeting Kim Jong Un after his recent concert in North Korea. This renewed Russo-DPRK alliance is going to outlive the end of the Ukraine war. Military, diplomatic, and socio-cultural channels have all been strengthened.

I bet even the North Koreans hate him…

I contributed a review to this roundtable. It’s a Good book, with some problems.

My latest publication. A review of a new book on North Korea- Africa relations.

Kim Jong Un is going to Beijing and sees himself as an equal international leader to both Putin and Xi. Despite North Korea’s small geographic size and isolation from the Western order, Pyongyang has always had an inferiority complex and sees its as a global player in international affairs

Now, North Korea will really NEVER give up nukes. Let’s stop this CVID cosplay and accept North Korea as a nuclear state because that’s what it is, whether we like it or not.

Unpopular opinion: we have learned to live with a nuclear-armed North Korea. We can learn to live with a nuclear Iran. Sure, it's not great but war is far worse.

The amount of really smart DC think tank types who are okay with another forever war in the Middle East absolutely baffle me. Because Iraq and Afghanistan worked out so well!? Now, let's go to war with a country of 92 million and has a rich proud history. Crazy people.

It’s finally official so I’m happy to say that I will be starting in a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at Fayetteville State University this Fall. I’m excited to be moving to North Carolina, being closer to my family there, and also teaching at an HBCU w/ a rich history.

Well, Kristi Noem made up that she met Kim Jong Un so the North Korea reference might not make much sense to dog killer lady.

My theory is that North Korea re-closed their border to western tourists because the first batch for the marathon was a bunch of obnoxious YouTube influencers who put their cameras in everyone’s faces & likely endangered the safety of their tour guides on a near constant basis.

Muhoozi, son of Ugandan dictator Museveni, is one of the few people in this world to have attended military education courses in both North Korea and the U.S.

My latest piece: www.compactmag.com/article/puti...

It seems that the Russian government has now indicted North Korea scholar, Andrei Lankov, for working with an “undesirable organization.” Good thing he lives in South Korea now. So Orwellian but so predictable from the Kremlin. www.svoboda.org/a/sud-v-mosk...

My mother is currently battling brain cancer too. It’s an awful disease. Amidst all the political divisions and chaos, this moment last night was uniquely uplifting and human.

My most recent publication: “Even They Might Rise”: The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Solidarity with African Americans | The Journal of African American History: Vol 109, No 4 www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

“The Black Panthers and the Soviets: A Comparative History of Human Rights Movements." A fascinating forthcoming book by my former MA advisor, Meredith Roman. www.bloomsbury.com/us/black-pan...

American Juche has begun. It seems.

My latest piece for @nknewsorg . The language of "human waves" & "cannon fodder" suggests the DPRK troops deployed are unsophisticated & incapable of adapting, when in fact they are learning valuable lessons that have relevance far beyond the battlefields of Ukraine. www.nknews.org/2025/01/the-...

I'm happy to report that my article on the Islamic Republic of Iran's complicated relationship with African Americans is now published in the Journal of African American History. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

North Korea is apparently opening its Rason Special Economic Zone to international tourists soon. This is the equivalent of traveling to the U.S and only seeing Reno, Nevada.

Good to see that the Panda Express Postdoc is still around. "The Program in Asian American Studies (ASAM) at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for the 2025-26 Panda Express Postdoctoral Fellowship in Asian American Studies." t.co/4hpWVwU8BN

The article is good but the hypothetical letter is just… weird and not helpful.

0/ Starting into 2025, North Korean state media published new agitprop posters with a clear message: "It's the economy, stupid! ...And the party!" This long thread examines each poster of the new set, primarily describing what we can see while adding a bit of context. I hope you'll enjoy!

Good piece on the implications of the Yoon fiasco in South Korea for U.S treaty commitments going forward. Somebody needs to ask these questions…

Man, I get so much engagement on this platform versus X. I swear I’m throttled on that website.

This is one of the best analyses of Trump's foreign policy and U.S grand strategy I've read in a long time. In fact, I would suggest professors assign it to undergrads. Why do I think it's so good? Thread below CC: @newstatesman.com @brunomacaes.bsky.social t.co/NNu8UffUlz

Someone in the Anglophone world needs to write a serious book about the influence of shamanism and folk beliefs on the South Korean political elite. It has significant impact on South Korean high politics and much of the Western world just thinks it’s weird Asian voodoo.

“The revenue from this deal (with Russia) in 2023 alone is conservatively estimated at $540 million—adding almost 25 percent to North Korea’s overall trade volume.” First time I’ve seen a number for this. Just wish Lankov would cite this source (and many others).

2025 calendar from the Russian FSB veterans charity. I have so many questions Found at propagandopolis

Changed my background picture to this hilarious ad page in the Washington Post from the 1970s (I think) that featured North Korean propaganda alongside sofa and clothes tailoring ads. During the Cold War era, Pyongyang regularly paid to place expensive ads in Western newspapers

lol, not exactly a hopeful message. But then again Seoul’s tourism bureau are the ones that came out with the weirdo “I Seoul you” slogan a few years ago.

Politicians killing themselves is a deeply problematic and concerning part of elite South Korean political culture that I still don’t think gets enough attention. t.co/678JgVgLoG

First time in 30 years a wild tiger has been found in Mount Baekdu. Amazing. www.mk.co.kr/en/world/111...

Despite what some overly zealous pro-Ukrainian media outlets have said, there is still no evidence of North Koreans engaging Ukrainian infantry on the battlefield. My guess is that they are still training in Russia.

I wonder if any North Koreans are still in Syria… used to be a major military partner.

I have no love for the Assad regime but the guys replacing him will be just as brutal. And there will most certainly be conflict between the Turkish-backed forces and the Salafist jihadist groups.

Latest in Sue Mi Terry case: “… the US Attorney's Office wrote in to says that ‘after conferring with the FBI, the Government anticipates that it will be able to produce the defendant's iCloud account in discovery on or before December 27.’” www.innercitypress.com/sdny110bscho...

“Each North Korean artillery shell fired in Ukraine for Putin’s neo-imperialist agenda erodes the longstanding tradition of self-reliance that has historically constrained Pyongyang’s external military activities.” My latest for @nknewsorg.bsky.social : www.nknews.org/2024/11/nort...

My latest for @nknewsorg.bsky.social : North Korea’s bold turn toward Russia poses test for Trump’s second term www.nknews.org/2024/11/nort...

Video of an interview I did earlier this week with Radio Free Asia about how I think the Trump administration could and should handle the North Korea situation. And why I’m optimistic about Trump as a status quo changer when it comes to NK. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o84_...

I cover hacks, leaks and digital espionage at Reuters, but in another life I was our Korea Correspondent, and co-author of North Korea Confidential, a book about the DPRK black market. I've made this starter pack of journalists, academics, diplomats etc working on North Korea: go.bsky.app/6e6kvUm