A fabulous read: it excises recent distortions but also long-standing idealisations of Churchill's thinking about foreign affairs. What is revealed is a Churchill much more complex and nuanced.

Lad

"As we wrestle with our own predicaments abroad, the Churchill of history is a better guide than the Disney version". @patporter76.bsky.social on why we need to engage with the contradictions & compromises of the actual Churchill, not the "loveable bulldog" of myth. thecritic.co.uk/winston-chur...

My piece in @TheCriticMag, "Winston Churchill was not Tony Blair." Andrew Roberts is right to rebuke the MAGA fringe for their brand of ww2 revisionism. But Churchill was not consistently a champion of "internationalism and interventionism." thecritic.co.uk/winston-chur...

My piece in @TheCriticMag, "No, Cheney was not the boss of Bush." The 43rd president was not deferential, and overruled his vice president on some important decisions. thecritic.co.uk/no-cheney-wa...

I've only just been able to watch this, as I was teaching at the time, but it's excellent. Clear-eyed, challenging & wide-ranging, it grapples with hard questions about the stakes of the war, what Britons are willing to pay, the reliability of NATO & who supplies new weapons. Well worth watching.

Delighted to have been part of this!

My latest piece for @TheCriticMag, "The Folly of Disarmament." Zarah Sultana's glib, clickbait rhetoric does a disservice to the long tradition of serious leftist thought about defence and the working class. thecritic.co.uk/the-folly-of...

It was great to discuss @patporter76.bsky.social's new book 📕 "How to Survive A Hostile World: Power, Politics, and the Case for Realism" (lnkd.in/e2J27rWC) yesterday at the University of Birmingham book launch event (with Rita Floyd and Marco Vieira). Get a copy today!

We'll be joined by @evieaspinall.bsky.social (Director, the British Foreign Policy Group) @patporter76.bsky.social (Chair of International Security & Strategy, Birmingham) @elkeschwarz.bsky.social (Professor of Political Theory, QMUL) @drjamesstrong.bsky.social (Reader in British Politics, QMUL)

Join @patporter76.bsky.social from 13:30 tomorrow for the book launch for his latest work. This book is for readers who are looking for sensible guidance on how to work within that reality and survive in an increasingly hostile world Details here: buff.ly/ksMO2pS @stanfordpress.bsky.social

A cogent and convincing article. (Back in 1968 Denis Healey announced the running down of UK commitments east of Suez, but the hankering for global clout hasn't eased off even now.)

My piece in @TheCriticMag: in the eternal argument between continentalism and blue water worldwide posture, Britain should prioritise its region more, and fret about worldwide importance less. Instead of obsessing with being "global", be serious. thecritic.co.uk/against-glob...

If Oxford is within your range this Tuesday, 14th October, @OxfordCCW is launching my book on realism at All Souls Library, 130pm. An all star panel: Jeanne Morefield, @SeanMolloyIR, Susan Martin and @blagden_david. All welcome! Pets not encouraged. www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/...

How to Survive a Hostile World is a defense of an ancient way of thinking about international politics: realism. Patrick Porter defends the realist approach to understanding the world by addressing the most robust critiques of the tradition https://ow.ly/Gz2T50X7kmC

"The monks of Lindisfarne rejected violence in their dedication to the life to come. But the Vikings who laid their world to waste prayed to different gods." My piece in @TheCriticMag, making the case for Realism in international politics. Book now out! thecritic.co.uk/the-case-for...

Dave, a shout out to this piece by @patporter76.bsky.social: thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...

Out now, folks! Be like Judah.

My book is being launched on 14 October in Oxford, All Soul's College, at 1:30pm. How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and the Case for Realism. A world class panel of Jeanne Morefield, Susan Martin, @blagden_david @SeanMolloyIR All Welcome! www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/...

My piece in The Critic, "Alliances are overrated." Some anti-Trumpists revere them as an overcorrection. While they can be valuable, they are not a reliable substitute for self-help. And they are best managed without sentimentality as a means to an end. thecritic.co.uk/alliances-ar...

Lad

Out now, folks!

My piece in @TheCriticMag, Imperial Trump. This president is no isolationist, given the record of what he does in office. But the label will persist regardless, thanks to political convenience and the mediocrity of many commentators. thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...

We have liftoff! With thanks to @stanfordpress. To be launched in Oxford with @OxfordCCW, details to follow. Coming in October.

My article in @TheCriticMag: looking back eighty years on, there were no good choices for Truman when he launched atomic strikes on Japan, morally or strategically. thecritic.co.uk/trumans-choi...

My piece on AUKUS in @TheCriticMag. We need a little more Machiavelli downunder. thecritic.co.uk/the-trouble-...

Article on AUKUS coming out shortly.

1/ "There is indeed a general problem with the whole suggestion of a “Global South”. It implies, increasingly inaccurately, that our world is still a tale of Western‐​driven globalisation that makes others passive consumers of events" Bracing by @patporter76.bsky.social www.cato.org/commentary/w...

"This is a war of temptation. In the words of Lawrence Freedman, it represents the “lure of the decisive.”" Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social on the difference between "deterrence" and "destruction" - & why these approaches "drive in different directions". thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...

Me in @TheCriticMag: David Ben-Gurion believed Israel in its hostile region could never have finality on its terms. It would always have to deter, requiring discipline. Netanyahu's war of temptation on Iran rejects that vision. Decisiveness may elude him. thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...

My piece in @TheCriticMag, Starmer's Chagos Slur. Starmer frames dissent over his deal with Mauritius as sinister useful idiocy. But the PM is unwise to recast prudential questions as loyalty tests. thecritic.co.uk/starmers-cha...

My piece in @TheCriticMag, on the need for British realism abroad. thecritic.co.uk/message-to-b...

My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" w/ @stanfordpress is out in October. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation. sup.org/books/politics… Now available for pre-order: https://amzn.eu/d/bJNCT46

"A well-delivered lecture isn’t primarily a delivery system for information. It is an ignition point for curiosity, all the better for being experienced in an audience." Marvellous defence of the increasingly maligned university experience by @patporter76.bsky.social thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

Patrick Porter could use a follower boost on here. A lot of people on here are going to disagree with a lot that he publishes- but even when you disagree he will present the best version of what you disagree with and is worth hearing.

I can confirm that any resemblance between @patporter76.bsky.social and #TaylorSwift is entirely coincidental

"University: A Good Idea". Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social, reasserting the humanist idea of the university as a place to think, grow and argue; not as a consumer experience providing employable skills. thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly. thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" will be published in October by @stanfordpress. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation. The link is now up: www.sup.org/books/politi...

My piece in The Critic. "Let's be real about Ukraine." The three realities that doom PM Starmer's deterrence/reassurance force proposal: thecritic.co.uk/lets-be-real...

My piece in The Critic, May, out soon: "How Far Will We Go to Defend Ukraine?"

Piece forthcoming in The Critic, "How Far Will We Go to Defend Ukraine?"

@blagdendavid.bsky.social and I in @TheCriticMag make the case for adding lower-yield nuclear weapons to Britain's arsenal, to bolster the credibility of NATO Europe's deterrence: thecritic.co.uk/the-bomb-eur...

Contrary to FDR, there is plenty to fear other than fear itself. As FDR himself knew in his conduct of war. I argue in @TheCriticMag that a rational form of fear is part of prudence in the realist tradition. thecritic.co.uk/speak-softly...

My forthcoming book with Stanford University Press. "Surviving a Hostile World: The Case for Realism." Defending the ancient tradition, the book argues realism is moral, realistic & for everyone. For a generation undergoing climate crisis, economic dislocation & war.