Congratulations, @wellerstein.bsky.social! This will be an incredible read, I am sure.

Oh my. News of Bill Burr's death is a gut punch to all who knew him & everyone who relies on declassified US national security records. Once called the Yoda of FOIA, he always had a sparkle in his eyes. All who care about government transparency will continue to benefit from his contributions.

George Perkovich: "A House of Dynamite shows us why everyone on earth must question the wisdom of granting a handful of leaders with nuclear buttons the power to kill everyone and every living thing on the planet—in less time than it takes to watch the film." carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

A new fellowship for historians looking to profile key figures of the nuclear age, named for the remarkable nuclear historian Marty Sherwin: www.gc.cuny.edu/news/generou...

Have you watched or planning to watch House of Dynamite? Check out this handy guide from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. armscontrolcenter.org/a-house-of-d...

Gift link: wapo.st/4oMTRWN

Earlier this summer, former U.S. Ambassador Richard Boucher, passed away. He'll be remembered as an astute observer of Central Asia. Back in 2021, Ambassador Boucher contributed a personal essay to the Davis Center/Eurasianet series. Pls give it a read: daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/insights/whe...

Just in time for the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb is on sale for 50% off, at $16 from @stanfordpress.bsky.social www.sup.org/books/politi...

How layoffs will affect the State Department and American diplomacy www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...

July 10, 12:30 PM ET - In-person (at capacity) and online (registration is still open). More details and registration: www.armscontrol.org/From_Trinity... Draft agenda: www.armscontrol.org/sites/defaul...

Online tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10, 11 AM ET - Self-Dealing in the Trump Administration: A Conversation With Norm Eisen. carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

If you're in the DC area, please join me at the @carnegieendowment.org on May 22 for an event launching my new book, 'THE NEW NUCLEAR AGE: AT THE PRECIPICE OF ARMAGEDDON' (with @coreyah.bsky.social, @atomicbell.bsky.social, and @davidehoffman.bsky.social): carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

A new entry in the Ambassadors' Series on Central Asia, published by @eurasianet.bsky.social, spearheaded by @nargiskassenova.bsky.social of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Allan Mustard on the use of shoe leather diplomacy in Turkmenistan. eurasianet.org/memoir-recol...

Apologies - only in person, but the recording should become available later.

Tomorrow, April 29, in person at GWU and online: calendar.gwu.edu/event/naviga...

A conversation with the IAEA's DG Rafael Grossi at #nukecon is now available online. I highly recommend it. Iran, Zaporizhzhia NPP, peaceful nuclear energy, and much more... www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKNQ...

Have you been to Bozjyra, Mangystau region in Western Kazakhstan? Part of the ancient ocean Tetis. It's simply mind blowing. Mad Max, Furiosa and Dune are crying )) I strongly recommend visiting this Marsian place! 🤍🩶

"Sen. Cory Booker devoted all of Monday night and into Tuesday evening on the Senate floor, delivering an impassioned speech in protest of the Trump administration's policies. This effort [...] set a record for the longest speech on record given in the chamber." www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...

"On a desolate former nuclear test site, three generations confront the haunting legacy of the past as they fight for survival and hope in a world on the brink of destruction." "We Live Here" by 🇰🇿 director Zhanana Kurmasheva is part of the CPH:DOX festival! cphdox.dk/film/we-live...

H-Diplo roundtable of my book is finally out! Grateful to Anna-Mart van Wyck, Valeria Hesse, and Mark Kramer for their reviews, to Polina Sinovets and Iryna Maksymenko for the introduction, and to Elisabeth Roehrlich and Diane Labrosse for guiding the process through to completion.

In the Face of Oppression, Feminist Resistance in Kazakhstan Persists thediplomat.com/2025/03/in-t...

Woodrow Wilson Center 💔

Ooo, tämä olisi mainiota saada nähtäväksi myös Suomeen!

Hope to catch this film somewhere! "JARA — Radioactive Patriarchy: Women of Qazaqstan" is an independent documentary that unearths the tragic legacy of environmental destruction and human suffering caused by 40 years of Soviet nuclear testing on Qazaq land.

Russian imperialism didn’t start in 2022, nor is it confined to Ukraine. My new book analyses the Kremlin’s long shadow—past and present. Out on 24 April.

March 13, in person, Cambridge, MA. Thank you for this important contribution, @hellogera.bsky.social!: daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events/film-...

Details here: www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

If you couldn't tune in yesterday, here's the recording. We had an excellent panel (Samuel Dover Vesterbye, @tumarov.bsky.social and Yunis Sharifli) to discuss the Middle Corridor initiative in the rapidly changing geopolitical context. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJuB...

One of my problems with the standard way that "the decision to use the atomic bomb," aside from its ahistorical nature, is taught is that it is always done as a very crude utilitarianism: which would cost fewer lives, atomic bombing or invasion? If bomb dead < invasion dead, then bomb is moral.

The Chatham House Leadership Academy Fellowships are an incredible opportunity for early and mid-career researchers and policy professionals who want to have some time to focus on their own project, and who want to explore think tank work. See below for the different fellowships on offer and apply!

The #QazaqNuclearFrontlineCoalition is attending the 3rd Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty Conference. Our Co-Founders Aigerim Seitenova @hellogera.bsky.social and Yerdaulet Rakhmatulla @yerdaulet.bsky.social are co-organizing a series of events. Check our schedule out and join us.

"The United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus and 14 other Moscow-friendly countries Monday on a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for its occupied territory to be returned." Gift link: wapo.st/41gmlOo

On this day of remembrance of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, re-upping my essay from a year go, to remind what Ukraine is fight for. @brookings.edu @belfercenter.bsky.social

For folks in DC with animal pals

It has been exactly 3 years since @stanfordpress.bsky.social published Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb. What followed was incredible: the book has inspired poems, theater performances, PhD dissertations, and the arrival of young Kazakh nuclear disarmament activists. 1/2

The conditions we’re dealing with are making it so hard to focus on writing & scholarship. If you’d feel supported by having a dedicated hour to reconnect with why you’re writing a scholarly book in the first place, my free workshop on March 5 is for you courses.manuscriptworks.com/courses/book...

Trump dismisses archivist to the United States Gift link: wapo.st/4huIEXz

Fresh off-the-press: I had the honor of contributing a chapter on Kazakhstan for the 2025 Atlas Freedom and Prosperity Around the World, the @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social's flagship publication: www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...

A post of appreciation for @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social. It doesn't matter if it's your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd book proposal, you will benefit from reading her book! In addition to being an author of a helpful book, Laura always contributes to the community. Follow her to hear about opportunities.

A wholesome thread 🙌

I am grateful to all the readers of Atomic Steppe...

The recording of our event devoted to the Project Sapphire and other cooperative threat reduction projects is now available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ld...

Latest issue of Central Asian Affairs features an intriguing round table on @togzhankassenova.bsky.social's Atomic Steppe. Please to have contributed to this discussion on one of the most influential books on Central Asia published across the last decade. More here: brill.com/view/journal...

Join us tomorrow, December 4th, 1:30 PM ET, in person in DC or online for a special event on Project Sapphire (secret operation to airlift 600 kg of HEU from Kazakhstan). carnegieendowment.org/events/2024/...

⏰ Starting in 20 minutes: daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events/trade...

Sanctions evasion by North Korea: the case of IT workers www.reuters.com/technology/n...