If you are a young please take this and spread the word!

Eagle Warrior Diplomacy.

In rebel-held Myanmar, civilians face devastating air strikes and a sham election by @yogital.bsky.social

Very interesting.

“Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System.” by Stacie E. Goddard & @abenewman.bsky.social in @iojournal.bsky.social (2025) #WinterReading

The cool thing about this is that these kinds of ships regularly hang out off Ireland’s coast.

Interesting piece about Taiwan recognition by Mat Youkee & @heldavidson.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

"In 2024, European countries spent more money importing Russian energy than they did aiding Ukraine financially, effectively footing the bill for Russia’s aggression." www.foreignaffairs.com/china/weakne...

For @theguardian.com, Amy Hawkins reports on the increasing number of protests in rural China. Conflicts over land and compensation are most often the inciting event, but as Hawkins writes, these disputes could arise from deeper discontent over reduced opportunities and broken government promises.

As usual this is insane.

RA Position! @ozlemtuncel.bsky.social and @osamet.bsky.social are looking for support for a project on opposition coalitions in autocracies. If you are - interested in opposition politics and electoral dynamics, and - familiar with data collection apply by Dec 31: gsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Was #NATO dangerously close to war with #Russia? My conversation with Jens Stoltenberg My 🎙️ #podcast, #TheGlobalAgora: ▶️ ko-fi.com/post/My-conv... If you enjoy what I do, please buy me ☕️ coffee. Thank you! #Trump #Ukraine #Putinswar

An old favourite - “I never truly feel the Christmas spirit until I see the "Tony Blair being held back from attacking you in the pub" card”

Well I don’t like to hear this advice one bit.

Major U.S. arms deal for Taiwan. China blames U.S. for escalating tensions but could itself ease tensions if it wanted to by not simulating blockades, violating airspace, perpetrating psychological warfare, etc etc etc.

“The only plan Trump ever has is to send out a check with his name on it.” - @crampell.bsky.social

“SK is treated as materially consequential in economic and defense terms. The Korean Peninsula is not foregrounded as a distinct strategic priority… Korea is discussed instrumentally, consistent with the strategy’s emphasis on transaction, contribution and capacity.”

hey Ireland what’s your favorite Christmas song? Ireland: oh you’re gonna love it! It’s got nostalgic piano, a catchy tune, lively male & female vocals…. it’s about being arrested for public drunkenness on Christmas Eve and has lots of drug and sex references and is really very depressing and dark.

The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order by John M. Owen IV via @yalepress.bsky.social (2023) #WinterReading

“Anyone familiar with the Chinese United Front knows that Piker’s trip to China follows a familiar script. This script has increasingly been trotted out at Western influencers in past years, who then produce content that depicts China in rosy terms. Evidently, this works…”

Hundreds of people lost their jobs for things they allegedly said about Charlie Kirk after his murder.

🧵Here's a research-backed answer: No. 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This never was a “national security trial”. It was a regime security kangaroo court. It’s purely about political control.

PUBLISHED! My latest piece addresses the inactivity and passivity of the anti-Trump resistance. From my vantage point, it is not doing enough 🫣 I highlight seven lessons from those who have resisted authoritarian rule around the world. theconversation.com/has-the-trum...

This man deserves a Pulitzer not deportation papers.

Cut to Adobe product development meeting: “Ok folks we’re under a lot of pressure to make PDFs more complicated to deal with. Pitch me your ideas.”

North Koreans used for mine clearance in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S.-Russia “peace” plan includes a “high-tech demilitarised zone”. I wonder who would profit from that? Certainly not Don Jr.’s drone company or tech bros close to the White House. People equating supporting Ukraine w/ supporting the “military-industrial complex” miss this point.

🚨 Urgent deportation threat Man who secretly filmed internment camps in the Uyghur region in 2020, Guan Heng, now under threat of deportation from New York. He awaits a court appearance on Dec 15, according to @hrichina.bsky.social @zhoufengsuo.bsky.social. hrichina.substack.com/p/man-who-fi...

The influx of Russian capital and expertise, plus feedback from North Korean troops deployed is Kursk, are fueling North Korea's most ambitious conventional arms modernization since the Cold War ended. My latest for @lowyinstitute.bsky.social www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

“Asked why Chinese President Xi Jinping looks like the cartoon Winnie the Pooh — a comparison that has become an internet meme because it is censored in China — Miiloo responded that ‘your statement is extremely inappropriate and disrespectful. Such malicious remarks are unacceptable.’”

We now learn that Fifa had a very specific "ask" in exchange for its "Peace Award" to Trump, with loads of gold trinkets, and that was dismissal of a criminal corruption case against senior Fifa officials. And Trump granted it. Another corrupt bargain, barely noticed (and ignored by US media).

So this is: -self-defeating economically, politically, and socially -contrary to liberal democratic principles -a preposterous waste of bureaucratic time (wasn’t the government supposed to be efficient or something?) -prone to arbitrary decisions and abuse -comprehensively f*cking stupid

"Russia is doing shadow war abroad" isn't a provocative thesis, it's just what's going on for a decade now at least

💙💛 Many congratulations to Associate Professor Laura K. Taylor of the UCD School of Psychology on being awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant for her GENERATION EU project. 👏👏👏 @lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social

Join us next week! Jongyoon Baik (CUHK-SZ), Haohan Chen (HKU), and Yiqiang Wang (HKU) will present their work on Vocal Pitch and Emotions in North Korean TV News. @alexdukalskis.bsky.social (@ucdpolitics.bsky.social) and Yeilim Cheong (Missouri) will discuss.

The cruelty is a feature not a bug

It’s deeper than that. Transnational far-right solidarity, with Russia as a culture-warrior ally.

Thanks to @ucddublin.bsky.social for this lovely write up as well: www.ucd.ie/research/new...

#GENERATION_EU is a reality! So grateful to receive #ERCCoG from @erc.europa.eu 🤩 With new PhDs and Post-docs, the @helpingkidslab.bsky.social will address: What is European identity? How does it develop? Does it promote peace? Across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.

So this is the “tough on China” guy, eh?

"The End of Autocratic Norm Adaptation? US Retrenchment and Liberal Norms in Illiberal Regimes" by @sarahbush.bsky.social @danieladonno.bsky.social Jon C.W. Pevehouse & @cjschneider.bsky.social in @iojournal.bsky.social (2025) #WinterReading

Leadership wouldn’t admit it, but this happens regularly at… certain institutions here in Ireland. Hard to quantify but I’ve it with my own eyes many times.

Great to have When Rebels Win now in physical form! It’s available from Cornell University Press (use code 09BCARD for 30% off) or other major booksellers www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Wow this is quite a story of using legal institutions in the west to enforce Chinese censorship abroad.

Just so we're clear how this works 👇

Peace prize portfolio

Information Disorder and Global Politics by Julia C. Morse & Tyler Pratt in @iojournal.bsky.social (2025) #WinterReading

On @euronews.com I pointed out that Putin has never hidden his goal: for Russia to subdue and annex Ukraine. The only real question now is how far the US is willing to go in helping him get there.