Check out our great Spring/Summer lineup at @eepgworkshop.bsky.social and come join for our first session next Friday, where @isadesisto.bsky.social will present fascinating work in progress with @snitsova.bsky.social serving as discussant!

Looking forward to a great Spring/Summer series with @eepgworkshop.bsky.social! We'll be kicking off next week (Fri April 17) with new work in progress from @isadesisto.bsky.social and @snitsova.bsky.social graciously discussing! More info + full schedule at the link below.

🆕 Ben Gardner-Gill, Isabelle DeSisto, and Robert Lipiński discuss historical experiences and their impact on Estonian political views and participation in this new episode of #BalticWays.

Thanks very much to Robert Lipinski for a great discussion, and to our excellent interviewer, Ben Gardner-Gill with @balticstudies.bsky.social 🇪🇪

Read more Moldovan literature! The great Tatiana Țîbuleac's novel "The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes" is now available in English translation. My latest book review for @kyivindependent.com. kyivindependent.com/loss-and-lon...

In the new issue of MAD css.ethz.ch/en/publicati..., I have a brief analysis of campaign financing in Moldova's 2025 parliamentary elections, looking at broad patterns of income and spending, including a very superficial analysis of the relationship between campaign spending and electoral returns.

A military investigation has determined the U.S. carried out the deadly Tomahawk strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials & others familiar with the preliminary findings. Latest w/ Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Helene Cooper www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/u...

🚨 Our paper with @vetasergeeva.bsky.social on how Russian wartime emigrants decide whom to help flee the country is finally out in Perspectives on Politics! Open access 👇

💥"Citing multiple European national security sources, [Szabolcs Panyi] has reported that a team of Kremlin-linked “political technologists” has been tasked with influencing Hungary’s election. The effort, he says, will be overseen by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy chief of staff to Putin."

The science says that White House is unlikely to benefit from a rally-around-the-flag effect, nor is this likely to work as a diversionary war. And, as we all know, the Trump administration is all about the science. oxfordre.com/politics/dis...

The Iraq War unleashed unintended consequences. Every war does. This one will. This is not the A-Team or even the B-Team. Wrote this about Venezuela but applies equally to Iran. Pete Hegseth is the key node in the chain of command. Again. 5/5 goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...

Quick reactions after learning that no, nobody could stop him. 1/ goodauthority.org/news/trump-m... 1/

Is exile a dead end – or a launching pad for opposition? New research finds that exile prolongs and escalates revolutions. Read the latest from @isadesisto.bsky.social & @ernugent.bsky.social: goodauthority.org/news/is-exil...

@isadesisto.bsky.social + I have been investigating the role of exiles in contentious politics back home. This @goodauth.bsky.social piece draws on a working paper in which we find exile involvement escalates revolutions -- they're longer and more violent: goodauthority.org/news/is-exil...

A process begun already in 2014 with the state takeover of the Perm-36 gulag museum and its conversion into a museum honoring the prison guards. I interviewed the original directors of Perm-36 as well as the advisor for its replacement and wrote about it here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

'Ukrainians still unequivocally reject political or territorial concessions, at any cost, to end the war.' Dr Marnie Howlett, from the @politicsoxford.bsky.social and @osgaoxford.bsky.social, reflects on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ⬇️

Finally got my hands on this beautiful book ! 💕

A Russian drone strike killed 12 miners who had just finished their shift at a coal mine in east-central Ukraine on Sunday, officials said, highlighting the limitations of a partial, short-term truce that Russia agreed to last week at President Trump’s request.

My latest - some interesting insights from new survey data from 🇰🇿

Truth

Even fewer people believe administration lies the second time

When you explain it plainly, it’s hard not to see where we are as a country.

Russia using Interpol's wanted list to target critics abroad, leak reveals

La guerra en Ucrania dura ya más que la Gran Guerra Patria. Vendida como « antinazi », ha reproducido prácticas oscuras de la II GM. Nuestra lista subió 7.500 nombres; Bashkortostán es la primera región en llegar a 8.000 zona.media/article/2026...

It's official: Bulgaria is in the euro-zone. An excerpt from an atypically emotional NYE address by the Central Bank governor: "Thank you, friends. We are home. This is not a protocol. It is a feeling. In this sense, the euro is not just an economic solution... www.bnb.bg/AboutUs/Pres...

Moldova's president Maia Sandu named world leader of the year by @telegraph.co.uk! www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

These are our most impressive institutions and crucial for our survival as a people and a species.

Stalin, a supremely paranoid man, was positive Hitler would not invade Russia in 1941 because a two front war would obviously be very dumb. But it turns out dictators do very dumb things.

UNC-Chapel Hill is closing all six of its area studies centers to save $7 million dollars. UNC's football coach, Bill Belichick, makes $10 million a year. In total, the football team now has a $40 million budget. Make this make sense.

I've tracked 145 cases of sabotage and disruption @apnews.com that Western officials blame on Russia. They say Moscow wants to drain Europe's security resources and identify weak spots. Arson & explosives plots particularly increased: 2023: 1 2024: 26 2025: 6 apnews.com/projects/rus...

Peripheral Histories? closes 2025 with a brilliant post from @isadesisto.bsky.social on her ongoing research into the contemporary political impact of Soviet-era repressions

We have a fascinating new post from @isadesisto.bsky.social examining the impact of Soviet repressions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia on the political behaviour of victims and their descendants www.peripheralhistories.co.uk/post/remembe...

Do you follow World Politics' editorial chair @grigopop.bsky.social? While you're checking out his feed, take a look at his recent piece in @goodauth.bsky.social #Russia #elections #politics goodauthority.org/news/despite...

Check out my latest for @goodauth.bsky.social on key elections in ECE region over the past year

Central Asian leaders forge new deals with Trump. Here’s what happened at this year’s C5+1 meeting. goodauthority.org/news/central...

Interestingly, we observed a notable drop in Putin approval within our daily surveys of the Russian public during the month of October. Given that Putin approval has been highly stable for years, per our data, this may be a notable finding. Any ideas as to what may underly this shift?

We are looking forward to the first session of our new series this Fri. Oct. 10 at 5pm CET/11am ET. We have two papers about historical legacies in Estonia🇪🇪 from @isadesisto.bsky.social (Princeton) + Robert Lipinski (Oxford), and discussion from @krisztiszabo.bsky.social (RHUL, CEU). Come join!

Up to 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia. It is reported that Cubans are promised about $2,000 per month - far more than they can earn at home. It is also possible that they are promised jobs in construction but then sent to the frontlines.

My new piece analyzing Moldovan election results in Russian language version of Postimees (top Estonian daily newspaper): rus.postimees.ee/8337362/ot-p....

My latest: Experts’ rating of U.S. as a democracy in newest Bright Line Watch Survey fell from 67 out of 100 before the 2024 election to 55 in Feb and to 54 in Sep. Experts also now project that the U.S. democracy rating will drop further to 47 by 2027. www.whitetoolong.net/p/all-the-br...

The GOP has a huge structural advantage for shutdown public opinion but may manage to screw that up too. Plus links! @dcinbox.bsky.social @normornstein.bsky.social @mirandayaver.bsky.social @isadesisto.bsky.social @dandrezner.bsky.social etc. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/underminin...

Up to 5,000 Cuban fighters are actively participating in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing an internal US State Department cable reuters.com/world/americas…

Check out my new piece on Moldovan 🇲🇩 elections with @grigopop.bsky.social

🚨 Why do people protest against authoritarian regimes even when facing extreme danger? 🚨 In our new paper on Romania's 1989 Revolution, we find that communities exposed to the communist Gulag showed 5x higher dissent levels. doi.org/10.1177/0010... 1/🧵

In Russia, approval of Trump increased significantly leading up to and after the “Alaska Summit.” But in the past month, disapproval has crept back up to the level it was when Trump took office.

🥂 Another German Unity Day (3 Oct) is round the corner 🎉

In 2026, we'll reconvene on Jan 23 with "The Enemy of My (Historical) Enemy Is My Friend?: Evidence from the Wołyń Massacre" from @francescayton.bsky.social and @isadesisto.bsky.social + comments via Robert Lipinski

We kick off next week w/ papers from our Estonia time-sharing survey: 1️⃣ "The Democratising Effects of the 1989 Baltic Way Demonstration," Robert Lipinski 2️⃣ “The Historical Determinants of Eastern European Solidarity with Ukraine," @isadesisto.bsky.social ➕ Discussion from @krisztiszabo.bsky.social!

Some updates from the Good Authority team on Ukraine 🇺🇦. 1) In Ukraine, fewer women are having children: goodauthority.org/news/in-ukra... 2) Rethinking how Europe can lead peacekeeping in Ukraine: goodauthority.org/news/rethink... Read our latest on Ukraine at the links👆.