So, the US govt approach is: *We are going to scan tourists social media accounts and deny visas because of content we dislike, like mocking Trump and *We are going to allow foreigners a work-around to consume social media content their governments have banned, including hate speech

Derek appropriately highlights the intellectual honesty that can be sacrificed in the name of bipartisanship. I have long said we need more conservatives at Harvard. But trying to overturn an election is a violation of basic human rights and people who do that have no place in higher education.

This is how authoritarian regimes dig themselves into the grave. They "discipline" people telling them the truth as they see it, instead of what they want to hear. It takes time, but eventually leads to military disaster and economic collapse.

Because Trump’s enduring aim is to extract concessions and tributes from friend and foe alike, sowing as much division as possible is an obvious move, writes columnist @stephenwalt.bsky.social.

"European leaders are confused by the conflicting messages from the good cops and the bad cops. But they shouldn’t be ... (they) should remember that good cops and bad cops are working together to bamboozle their prisoners" Great column @stephenwalt.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/17/t...

@stephenwalt.bsky.social warns that Trump’s grand strategy—best described as predatory hegemony—could make the United States less secure and prosperous in the long run.

Grateful for the chance to talk about America’s increasingly predatory foreign policy with Thomas Greven of IPS journal: www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/i...

“[I]t’s generally a good idea to pay more attention to what Trump and his team do, not what they say, largely because what they say has little bearing on reality.”

Hegseth's foolish assault on Harvard and other major universities is expanding. An unnamed Pentagon official describes it as “attempting to purge intellect, diversity of thinking, and critical thought from the military.” www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/p...

White House stands by State Department nominee who complains that "white Americans are increasingly second-class citizens," warns of "white erasure" and says "the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed." @camcgrady.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/u...

Why keep thousands of people alive when you can instead make one man feel safe and special?

Oh, my god

The EPA decision denying that greenhouse gases are harmful is a giant announcement to the entire world that America is in the hands of ignorant people for whom greed #trumps truth. Another fundamental blow to US influence and prestige.

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

#Valentine'sDay is almost here, which means it is time for me to re-upt what could be my most important contribution to human happiness. foreignpolicy.com/2009/02/13/i...

It’s raining stupid.

Given all the conspiracy theories that are out there these days, I'm reposting a 16 year-old FP column explaining the difference between a conspiracy theory and a serious, legitimate effort to analyze the influence of elite policy networks. foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/26/o...

Every single president of the United States since Lyndon Baines Johnson has expressed public and private opposition to Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, but every single president since LBJ has also greenlit unconditional support while Israel annexes it anyway.

Harvard isn’t just fighting for Harvard- they are fighting for our democracy. If Harvard crumbles, so to will so many of our nation’s strongest institutions. Thanks for everything you, and so many others, are doing to lead the resistance! We need your courage & clear moral compass now more than ever

Grateful for the opportunity to discuss my forthcoming FOREIGN AFFAIRS article on the US as a "predatory hegemon" on Ian Masters' BACKGROUND BRIEFING. You can find the link here: www.backgroundbriefing.org

This is so idiotic that words fail me. Fortunately they did not fail @ronfournier.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

Following the #Trump (aka Boor-in-Chief) rant re Bad Bunny singing in Spanish, will the #MetOpera take the hint and stop mounting all those operas in Italian, French, German, etc.?

The Champions League final in Germany last year opened with Linkin Park

The only response to a #PredatoryHegemon.

Europe -- are you listening? There's really only one way to deal with a bully . . . www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

Yea, nobody who has a “Trump account” for their kids should expect it to be a sound investment 🤦🏼‍♀️ (that commercial)

And the women’s team: - the daughter of Chinese immigrants who rebuffed an aggressive campaign to get her to skate for China - the daughter of an Italian immigrant embryologist mom who named her after a Michelle Pfeiffer character - the pansexual daughter of a Texas cop (who is her biggest fan)

The propaganda has begun.

Simple: War with Iran is mostly about Israel. As long as Israel remains expansionist, its project will be regionally rejected, leading it to define its security as regional hegemony - a state of 10 million dominating a region of half a billion. That’s impossible without the USA – thus forever war.

Pete Hegseth's decision to end all military education and fellowships at Harvard is bad for the military, as well as bad for Harvard. I'm proud to say many of my former fellows are making big contributions to the U.S. military -- helped by their time at Harvard.

Read this and check out the index across all 12 dimensions www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

could we please retire the word "testing"? you mean "violating

"Appeasing Trump isn’t working. Rutte has gone to enormous lengths to appease and flatter Trump (at one point likening him to a benevolent “daddy”), and what did it get him?" foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/04/n...

💯

Silver lining: #Trump's remarks at the #NationalPrayerBreakfast will make even non-believers start praying for a miracle that stops him from doing even more damage to a once-great nation.

“Theory is the basis for all explanation and prediction.” - Chief, Methods and Forecasting Division, Office of Regional & Political Analysis, Central Intelligence Agency, 1978 apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA...

Trying to preserve NATO’s old formula of U.S. dominance and European submission is an increasingly bad bet, writes columnist @stephenwalt.bsky.social.

US higher ed is under attack. Harvard refusing Trump's unreasonable, lie-based, often illegal demands is making a difference. I especially appreciate how @ryanenos.bsky.social explains that research grants aren't favors, they're competitive contracts serving national priorities as set by Congress.

Have any members of what’s left of the editorial board resigned over this?

The grand strategy of Trump's 2nd term is perhaps best described as “predatory hegemony.” Its central aim is to use Washington’s privileged position to extract concessions, tribute and displays of deference from allies and adversaries. @stephenwalt.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

These are the last words in the last column I wrote for The Washington Post, titled "When institutions crumble, strongmen step in". www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Stop asking if they’re “rigging the election.” They. Already. Are. But the most dangerous part isn’t the mechanics. It’s the message. They’re doing it in public to make you swallow the real lie: That voting is pointless. If they can get you to quit before Election Day… they don’t even have to win.

“The Trump administration appears to believe it can prey on other states forever, and that doing so will make the United States even stronger,” writes @stephenwalt.bsky.social. But “predatory hegemony contains the seeds of its own destruction.”

In the current @foreignaffairs.com there's a an important article by @stephenwalt.bsky.social which frames Trump's "foreign policy" as "predatory hegemony." It also notes that this "mafia boss"-like policy is doomed to fail and weaken the U.S. Truth. Must read. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Yep. "The bottom line is that acting as a predatory hegemon will weaken the networks of power and influence on which the United States has long relied and which created the leverage that Trump is now trying to exploit." by @stephenwalt.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

If #Trump does a nuclear deal with Iran, I hope it is better than the phony peace deal he claimed to have reached in Israel-Palestine.

The United States under Trump has become a predatory hegemon. It is a strategy that contains the seeds of its own destruction. I explain why in this forthcoming essay of mine in FOREIGN AFFAIRS (no paywall but you do have to register). www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

This.

Please pay attention to decimal places as you read this post. He paid $750.00 in income taxes [I am neither an accountant nor a lawyer so will make no further comment on that] and wants $10,000,000,000.00 because somebody leaked that fact.