[Goes back in time to say to wife, "dear, you need to tough it out a little" when pregnant with three children. Returns to this timeline with, somehow, three black eyes.] Yeah, maybe let's listen to the doctors instead on this one.

There are more than enough ideas. What we lack is the political will and leadership.

Don't believe people when they say there aren't ideas that we can try to put more pressure on Moscow and Putin. fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/...

Pleasure doing this with Matt and thanks to @francoisdm.bsky.social and @thebulletin.org for putting it out.

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This @washingtonpost.com editorial doesn’t make it past the second paragraph without a glaring (and telling) factual error. President Washington didn’t create the War Department in 1789; *Congress* did: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

I will give credit when due: this is a good idea. It probably won't stop such detentions from happening, but it can/should/ought be part of the package. Strengthening Efforts to Protect U.S. Nationals from Wrongful Detention Abroad www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

An honor and a pleasure to join Perry World House as a 2025-26 Distinguished Visiting Fellow perryworldhouse.upenn.edu/news-and-ins...

Iran’s leaders have four primary paths to restoring or reconfiguring their nuclear program. @richardmnephew.bsky.social examines the different scenarios: 1/5

As @richardmnephew.bsky.social notes, Washington and its partners should be guided by four essential priorities: 🔹Detection 🔹Prevention 🔹Education 🔹Diplomacy 2/2

Iran has four primary options for restoring or reconfiguring its nuclear program, so Washington and its partners should focus on trying to shape Tehran’s choice rather than discounting the possibility altogether, writes @richardmnephew.bsky.social. 1/2 www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...

"It’s back to the future on Iran policy," write @richardmnephew.bsky.social and Michael Singh in @wsj.com. Here's why enforcing snapback sanctions on Iran will require hard work by Western diplomats and experts in the face of opposition from Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow:

New from @richardmnephew.bsky.social and Michael Singh in @WSJopinion: Last week, the U.K., France, and Germany initiated the process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran. Enforcing these will require hard work in the face of opposition from Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow.

Pros: we need to sort out our approach to drone warfare, how many ships we need, and managing theater missile defense. Admin: Let's rename DoD the Dept of War, give MacArthur a sixth star, and offer to settle the issue of Taiwan as a push-up contest between DefMins.

Latest from me and my Washington Institute colleague, Mike Singh, on Iran sanctions snapback. www.wsj.com/opinion/snap...

Interesting (and troubling) all round, but this bit screamed out at me. I'm sure he hasn't had someone tell him he missed something. This Admin fires anyone who dares question its brilliance (or are standing in the wrong place) and people do have mortgages to pay. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

This is interesting. We'll have to see what it says, but if this holds, the differentiation between 1 and 3 strongly implies that they're going to try to "voluntary offer" their way through safeguards, likely to deal with Bushehr and try to manage perceptions. 1/3

Beyond outrageous and negligent.

Drove by there in my convertible a little while ago. I guess I'm lucky I made it home?

Just read this bit. I also made the concession that my neighbor doesn't have to hand over his car keys and let my kids sleep in his bed. I deserve to have half of his backyard as a chicken coop; he may have the rest and control of his tv remote. abcnews.go.com/Politics/van...

Unsurprisingly excellent. Oh, by the way, I was there and this bit is/was true. It was a true strength of those teams. I was unafraid to tell Bill what I thought and he insisted that we do so. I made the same demand, explicitly, of my teams subsequently.

Pretty appalling stuff.

Tremendous opportunity: Columbia SIPA and Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo announce New Public Service Scholarship for Fall 2026 Applicants www.sipa.columbia.edu/news/columbi...

Sounds good to me.

This is truly indefensible. In my last job in government as State's anti-corruption coordinator, this is the exact sort of thing we'd be upset about. But, that job has also been eliminated so I guess it's not a problem any more. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

Q&A: Why India Is Being Targeted with Russian Oil Import Tariffs, and What It Will Mean for Markets with @shayaksengupta.bsky.social Tatiana Mitrova @edwardfishman.bsky.social, and me @columbiauenergy.bsky.social www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/qa-why-india...

Easiest prediction in world: because crime is down anyway, when stats show crime declined during this period in DC, we'll a) hear about how it is all because of this "strong action" and, b) get to see a real life demonstration of causation =/= correlation.

Unless I'm mistaken, one of the critiques of the use of U.S. military forces over the past two decades is that they were being used in this manner, inconsistent with their primary mission. No?

In the history of America, we've not needed this. There have been more tumultuous times. Why now? wapo.st/46UGmic

I've commuted in DC, including at night, most of my adult life. At one time or another, this commute has involved every part of the city. What? There is crime in DC. Crime needs to be addressed, prevented, and prosecuted. But, come on.

Hugely important work here. Read this. This is the Way. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

This decision is literally amazing. In it, Treasury notes that the problem of illicit activity is still absolutely present. They just don't want to burden the private hedge fund universe with addressing it. Personally, I suspect they can afford it but what do I know of the trials of the billionaire?

[Adding to my Anti-Corruption syllabus for Spring 2026...] This is an important article. And, when I was serving as the U.S. Anti-Corruption Coordinator, many of these cases were perennial headaches when we went abroad to talk about fighting corruption internationally. SCOTUS was often unhelpful.

Latest from me on Iran/sanctions policy. If Iran aims to reconstitute its nuclear and missile programs, UNSC sanctions are MORE relevant today than they might have been over the last few years. www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/back-to-basi...

Important reporting on Iran-Russia nuclear contacts www.ft.com/content/00f6...

Why did this story occur to me? No reason. www.thestar.com/sports/golf/...

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Daniel Patrick Moynihan

The US always have two ballistic missile nuclear arms subs on station able to launch nuclear weapons in short order. Just as an FYI.

Pay attention to this.

[Insert GIF of Lucy with the football] Deferring to Trump, Senate Pulls Back on New Russia Sanctions www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/u...

This is a massive mistake. NABU and SAPO are crucial organizations that must remain independent to be functional. The strength of Ukraine's anti-corruption fight is also essential for maintaining international support in the war. Please don't do this. www.politico.eu/article/ukra...

@ddolzikova.bsky.social wrote an important thread about Iran/JCPOA snapback on the other site. I'll just note: the DRM para in the JCPOA is filled with a lot of "coulds" not "shalls." The "shalls" refer to things after "coulds," defining how the "coulds" will function.

Important reporting on the nihilistic evisceration of a Department. No one who ever served at State would disagree with the idea of reform or even reapportionment of staffing. But, as with other DOGE cuts, this was incompetently done. wapo.st/3TO76Ju

We knew a fair amount of this, but the comments indicated we pulled our punch are important. www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...

Um. Natural uranium is 0.7% U-235. So, not really sure what this means enrichment-wise. Enriching depleted up to natural? Just enriching and then downblending in some weird loop? Kind of confusing. And, of course, that's not the only factor in breakout time.

Looking forward to this Wednesday.

On the other site, someone [at IranNuances] posted a video of Iranian FM Araghchi outlining Iran's approach to the IAEA after the attack.

Today I stood in solidarity with the over 1300 State Dept public servants who were fired by Trump and Rubio. These are American patriots who’ve dedicated their lives to advancing US interests & values.  This is America in Retreat. Our adversaries are smiling. A bad day for America.

Flagging this fellowship opportunity to my former colleagues at the former US Department of State www.civilservicestrong.org/update/appli...