Aidan Milliff
@aidanmilliff.com
📤 1628
📥 916
📝 174
Political Scientist
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Phil Klay
1 day ago
“Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through …But we lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military.”
www.archchicago.org/en/statement...
1
32
6
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Caitlin Talmadge
about 23 hours ago
The aspect of this war that reminds me most of operations in Iraq is the part where we're conducting operations in Iraq. 👀
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
loading . . .
Iraq Becomes Battleground for U.S. Forces Once Again
The U.S. is targeting militias that have carried out dozens of attacks in a show of support for Iran.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iraq-becomes-battleground-for-u-s-forces-once-again-e1e537c1?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqdxri8BjhimezQYpAhldX_xd2qs8OHtmtNvQj03mbGgmbzrbPpUYO7PvCWbHPw%3D&gaa_ts=69aebf6d&gaa_sig=HIlm0ennzDvXZUuj2r82TOJpSQJWMXoHyLB7TVXMmxITdRsFja0hvIBYVkMeGdBwLa9bf6eaCXSF3N4VNLd6Pw%3D%3D
1
14
1
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Sharon
5 days ago
How Congress politicians in India are discussing the boat strike (the guy she's citing is of India's most decorated GOFOs):
6
439
73
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Kelsey Atherton
5 days ago
fwiw here's the sourcing I saw at 1am about the US sinking of an unarmed and knowingly unarmed Iranian Navy ship
x.com/KanwalSibal/...
7
209
108
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Mara Revkin
6 days ago
Excited to be co-organizing the Multi-Method Conflict Consortium at Duke May 15-16 with
@meganastewart.bsky.social
&
@dotanhaim.bsky.social
! Advanced PhD candidates and postdocs are invited to apply for our funded Junior Fellowship, deadline March 10:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
add a skeleton here at some point
0
5
4
Thinking a lot about this quote from Phil Klay's Missionaries this week.
6 days ago
0
0
0
Kind of a behavioral law: if you have nine explanations for doing something, you actually don’t have one.
add a skeleton here at some point
7 days ago
1
49
7
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Caitlin Talmadge
8 days ago
"There is anxiety among senior leaders that fighting will extend for weeks, stressing limited U.S. air defense stockpiles. 'There is concern about this lasting more than a few days. I don’t think people have fully absorbed what that has done with stockpiles.'"
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
loading . . .
U.S. troops killed amid Iranian counterattack, fueling air defense fears
U.S. forces say they have hit 1,000 targets over the past two days in a race to take out Iran’s ability to threaten American personnel and allies across the Middle East.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/01/us-troops-killed-iran/
3
53
31
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Anna Grzymala-Busse
10 days ago
At all three places where I taught, veterans and military students are admired for their service, their ability to get their academic work done quickly and extremely well, and for often balancing family and school. Not *once* have I ever heard a faculty member disparage a military student.
add a skeleton here at some point
6
140
32
Follow Karim and
@carnegiemec.bsky.social
generally for this.
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Kieran Meadows
10 days ago
In the past, sometimes presidents have said it’s just a military operation or limited airstrikes to skirt Congress. Trump has unilaterally launched major combat operations, declaring war with the goal of regime change. A major violation of the U.S. Constitution, also illegal under international law
256
6616
2392
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Celeste Pewter
10 days ago
Do it now. Yes, you can leave a message. Yes, call the DC offices. Script here again.
3
715
672
This war would be strategically dumb and morally wrong even if it were “free.” It is not going to be “free,” for Americans or Iranians.
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
0
2
0
This is flying below the radar, likely because the US has not fought a high-end conventional adversary in decades. Even the most expensive military in the world can actually get to the bottom of the stockpile.
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
0
17
7
Read this whole thread
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
1
11
5
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Caitlin Talmadge
10 days ago
The notion that this is a war to "defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats" from Iran is simply fantastical. This is a straight-up preventive war a la Iraq 2003.
www.cnn.com/2026/02/28/u...
loading . . .
Trump releases video message on strikes against Iran | CNN
In a video posted to Truth Social, President Donald Trump encouraged Iranians to seize control of their government when US military operations conclude. He also warned American lives may be lost as a ...
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/28/us/video/trump-video-us-israel-iran-strike-hnk-digvid
7
54
20
I overlapped with three active duty officers in grad school. All were good people. I learned a lot from each, and I think they became better, more thoughtful leaders for their time at MIT. 1/2
add a skeleton here at some point
10 days ago
1
2
0
add a skeleton here at some point
18 days ago
0
0
0
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Rodger Sherman
19 days ago
NBC ran a piece where Mary Carrillo went to Norway to find out why they're so good at the Winter Olympics and i was yelling BECAUSE IT'S COLD THERE then she went to a little tiny ski jump for kids and was like "it's free, equipment is provided, & they don't emphasize results" and i was like. oh!
166
11575
1923
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Omar Wasow
about 1 month ago
”What turns people into radical jihadist clerics? A new book suggests thwarted career ambitions. A subset of Muslim clerics who advocate for jihad started out as mainstream clerics looking for state-sponsored jobs…only to become unemployed, disenchanted, and radicalized”
news.mit.edu/2017/why-som...
add a skeleton here at some point
3
60
17
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Mike Hixenbaugh
about 1 month ago
"As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago and now I'm being arrested for that," Indipendent journalist Georgia Fort said. "It's hard to understand how we have a Constitution, Constitutional rights, when we can just be arrested for being a member of the press."
loading . . .
Journalists Don Lemon, Georgia Fort arrested in connection with church protest against ICE
Lemon's attorney said he was taken into custody by federal officers Thursday night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/ice-in-minnesota/journalists-don-lemon-georgia-fort-arrested-in-connection-with-church-protest-against-ice/89-a9df2642-4f6e-425b-8562-208cefa48843#
10
803
462
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Oliver Kaplan
about 1 month ago
I wrote something... Hope it’s helpful ☮️ I’ve studied Nonviolent protection movements in war zones for 2 decades. Here’s what I’m seeing in the U.S.
theconversation.com/anti-ice-pro...
loading . . .
Anti-ICE protesters are following same nonviolent playbook used by people in war zones across the world to fight threats to their communities
Americans are learning and doing the kind of work that civilians in war zones worldwide have done for decades: dealing with threats by organizing to help protect their neighbors and communities.
https://theconversation.com/anti-ice-protesters-are-following-same-nonviolent-playbook-used-by-people-in-war-zones-across-the-world-to-fight-threats-to-their-communities-274498
1
15
9
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
about 2 months ago
Happy to announce the 1st ever
@isanet.bsky.social
conference in South Asia in August 2026. Hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we welcome proposals from scholars based in and/or studying South Asian politics & international relations, but also broader global themes ofc
www.isanet.org/Conferences/...
loading . . .
ISA-SAWP Colombo 2026: Call for Proposals
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Furl4874.isanet.org%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3Du001.gCNWuLKy-2BToVpJGfFeAjXxNJaspmN5NmUCeL1rE0SWPvTUU6Ho3Anrz40GfYfRUK-2Fz2MIcmrVUKImwzwRwOxa8hg4E4DFlQnJ2cC-2Bw03kPw-3DaKF0_8w9g6UYEKcOHx0l3IsQXzFbq2BvqOqQp1Jn3-2F2yEFb8uH6Ak6YeDfANc1kYDFis8XBT1IujIyiFuZH5WwRjoi5KVx7p9JeoPlc-2FAjXVHVg6aZfcUoTWnpQk-2FF1YgD4GvQuR-2BsKIV-2FvTlrKEVj3QiQnbjM9jwfNdlX0JkzvnCQ3RIhdL3H1du4cZtUymY1fjfOxxTI1RBlbRek5iYb7RmMKpgG4I1zZ6mewu-2BGcHEb1khT5cKAGwgKuWSCeL7Ms3LT0s-2FXBQFQWwt9gEW0EQO2JU9sm7mBGqP12CBYgnibYoOuw-2BQexinJQbBwgNoOdch2sdOR3kLiOpIo1yXQHbEtOvOTMZjUHMEQgojbLXuho-2Bss1w-2FIQozEi2HD-2BXeKpck2K-2Ffqd4hqMV2Mei75ve5lOj3vacT3eBBr-2B3CorOJ460RmSc49-2FoIL9O0ncxbXfCd-2FPVCCur85bcKSsAsivyKvA-3D-3D&data=05%7C02%7Cn.r.j.b.blarel%40fsw.leidenuniv.nl%7C34d2487460144ef1570b08de587c7bec%7Cca2a7f76dbd74ec091086b3d524fb7c8%7C0%7C0%7C639045488848610410%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FHO4qBvm2JMrN5h6r8f09KFQ1U%2Blqpl7ycLR9y%2BsY2Q%3D&reserved=0
13
55
55
Time is a flat circle, episode 134: Warren Zevon ad-libbed Bibi Netanyahu's name into a live performance of Mohammed’s Radio shortly after he was first elected PM ... 30 years ago.
archive.org/details/wz19...
loading . . .
https://archive.org/details/wz1996-10-13.Bluebird.flac16/wz1996-10-13t18.flac
about 2 months ago
0
2
0
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
British Journal of Political Science
about 2 months ago
From November 2025 - Estimating the Impact of Drone Strikes on Civilians Using Call Detail Records - https://cup.org/4qy0az4 - Paolo Bertolotti,
@aidanmilliff.com
, Fotini Christia & Ali Jadbabaie
#OpenAccess
0
1
1
Exciting new paper on analysis of interviews at scale! As I've argued elsewhere (APSR, 2024), I think it's important to put humans back in the loop as an additional step *after* the LLM, but this method could easily be extended to do that.
academic.oup.com/ej/advance-a...
loading . . .
Qualitative Analysis with Large-N: A New Method with an Application to Aspirations in Bangladesh*
Abstract. The qualitative analysis of open-ended interviews has vast potential in economics but has found limited use. This is partly because the interpret
https://academic.oup.com/ej/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ej/ueag005/8417166?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
about 2 months ago
0
4
0
I wonder if it’s related to the McKinley/expanding territory fandom
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
0
2
1
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Michael Kagan
2 months ago
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
202
22431
4905
Submit your papers *by 1/7* for SoWEPS-10 at FSU.
www.soweps.org/call-for-pap...
SoWEPS is a great chance for advanced grad students and junior faculty to get feedback on developed projects. We'd love to see you in Tallahassee this March!
2 months ago
0
2
0
“America’s openness to the world’s most ambitious people — and its unique ability to absorb and make use of human talent — has perhaps been its most potent form of soft power. Why try to defeat the world’s richest country when you might have the chance to join it and reap its ample rewards?”
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
0
4
0
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Lydia Polgreen
2 months ago
I went to Texas to write about the sudden end of one of America's most successful experiments: the six decades of welcoming India's most educated and ambitious citizens.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...
loading . . .
Opinion | One of America’s Most Successful Experiments Is Coming to a Shuddering Halt
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/opinion/indian-americans-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AVA.j8YI.llGfyyrLekpH&smid=url-share
28
1318
463
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
David Sterman
2 months ago
Not planning to do an overall year wrap up but do want to share some work on US strikes in Somalia over the year. By our tracking (not yet updated for holiday strikes), it is the peak of the campaign and may surpass the peak of strikes in Pakistan. 1/7
www.newamerica.org/future-secur...
7
113
78
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Katharine Hayhoe
3 months ago
“NCAR has played a greater role in advancing weather prediction & atmospheric modeling than perhaps any other single entity in the world,” says
@weatherwest.bsky.social
Dismantling NCAR would be “like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.” KH
loading . . .
Trump administration plans to break up largest federal climate research center
Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the National Science Foundation "will be breaking up" the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/climate-change/trump-administration-break-climate-research-center-ncar-rcna249668
15
275
131
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Tanisha Fazal
3 months ago
Friends: University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment is hiring...and definitely looking for social scientists. Apply!
0
5
4
Just received a rejection on a paper that was under review for 8 months. The rejection part is totally fair. Waiting 11% of the tenure clock for a first decision on a paper, on the other hand....
3 months ago
0
1
0
Last class of the semester so grad students get to take it easy with questions like: - What does ethical research (not) look like? - What is professional responsibility? - What is the nature of goodness?
3 months ago
0
3
0
🚨 New in
@bjpols.bsky.social
: “Estimating the Impact of Drone Strikes on Civilians Using Call Detail Records.” By Bertolotti, Milliff, Christia & Jadbabaie. We use 12 billion call records from Yemen to measure the civilian consequences of drone warfare. 1/6
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
1
13
3
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
British Journal of Political Science
4 months ago
NEW - Estimating the Impact of Drone Strikes on Civilians Using Call Detail Records - https://cup.org/4qy0az4 - Paolo Bertolotti,
@aidanmilliff.com
, Fotini Christia & Ali Jadbabaie
#OpenAccess
0
10
6
The recording industry in Kenya is legit fascinating. There was a period of time in maybe the 70s when labels were popping up at the *county* level, recording folk songs on 45s for hyper-local distribution.
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
0
3
1
Southside Weekly holding strong as Chicago's best reported local paper (with the Guardian in ironic second place).
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
0
3
3
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Vicente Valentim
5 months ago
Despite the grim topic, this is a very good paper: monuments that signal white supremacy can substitute performative violence and thus reduce it.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
loading . . .
Political Symbols and Social Order: Confederate Monuments and Performative Violence in the Post-Reconstruction U.S. South | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
Political Symbols and Social Order: Confederate Monuments and Performative Violence in the Post-Reconstruction U.S. South
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/political-symbols-and-social-order-confederate-monuments-and-performative-violence-in-the-postreconstruction-us-south/4FAC95FC7644C8D85997D724A0EAA513
0
25
7
Very short summary of this paper:
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
0
8
1
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Andy Halterman
6 months ago
Very excited that my paper with
@katakeith.bsky.social
is now out in
@polanalysis.bsky.social
. We investigate whether LLMs actually follow the instructions/definitions provided in codebooks, propose some diagnostics, and release a new evaluation dataset.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
loading . . .
Codebook LLMs: Evaluating LLMs as Measurement Tools for Political Science Concepts | Political Analysis | Cambridge Core
Codebook LLMs: Evaluating LLMs as Measurement Tools for Political Science Concepts
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-analysis/article/codebook-llms-evaluating-llms-as-measurement-tools-for-political-science-concepts/7B323A0E47F782F2698A0AE849EA00DE
0
30
16
It's important to remember the 🐺 Wolf Number 🐺 In 2021
@today.yougov.com
found that 12% of Americans said they'd beat a wolf in an unarmed fight ⁉️ When you see a survey response split 85/15, remember: 12% of people will say literally anything on a survey.
today.yougov.com/society/arti...
6 months ago
0
6
0
Modest
#APSA2025
proposal: Move all panels, receptions, meetings, etc. to Stanley Park. Just describe the tree you are meeting under, and count on everyone to find you.
6 months ago
0
10
0
🤔 (I really don't think India is interested in the opportunity to be a treaty ally with the US if they have to drop historic partners who aren't currently imposing tariffs on their exports to do so)
6 months ago
0
0
0
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Wesley Morgan
6 months ago
So far during the second Trump administration, this puts the US military at: —1,000+ air strikes in Yemen (in March-April) —65+ air strikes in Somalia —5 air strikes and 2 JSOC ground raids in Syria —1 night of B-2 strikes on 3 sites in Iran —1 air strike in Iraq —1 air strike in the Caribbean
add a skeleton here at some point
35
730
308
Syllabus plug! Here's what I assign on how to give feedback (of which peer reviews are a special type, imo)
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
2
16
4
reposted by
Aidan Milliff
Zack Beauchamp
7 months ago
A veteran US Navy SEAL reflects on Gaza
dbarkhuff.substack.com/p/i-should-b...
16
676
197
Load more
feeds!
log in