I wonder what changed.
Associate Professor in IR at @swanseauni_ppir Work on assassination, covert action, US foreign policy, secrecy. Host of the Out of the Shadows Project Podcast. Follow The Brush Contact Substack for more.
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I wonder what changed.
The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.
Thoughtful future generations. Very optimistic.
The president of the United States just declared war, actual military war, not a metaphorical one, on a major American city, and one governed by his political opponents. In any other period, this would be impeachment-worthy.
Does anyone else feel like watching a car crash in slow motion? Trump 2016 vibes, only it’s the UK and it’s Reform. How @teamlabouruk.bsky.social has not been hammering at their idiocy from the start is beyond me.
Any UK scholar signed-up to the Meta/Anthropic lawsuit? Is it worth it?
First spotting of my @edinburghup.bsky.social book, The President’s Kill List in the wild at @waterstones.bsky.social Birmingham (might not have been that prominent when I first spotted it).
The website seems unclear as to whether it will help to provide your details, or am I misreading it?
I’m not saying Trump is a Russian asset… www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...
Quick, fire another jobs guy…
“This is fine” says person promoting book they got a $2m advance for to person (Bari Weiss) about to take control of a news organization in a deal the President had brokered. Nothing to worry about.
@sophieduroy.bsky.social
Agreed. Last point very interesting. Administration has stopped bothering even pretending that they care about international law. Bad sign.
Shame has never been a powerful force with this one. He has been a key enabler of Trump. He could have ended his political career so many times. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers The move to treat criminals as if they were wartime combatants escalated an administration pattern of using military force for law enforcement tasks at home and abroad. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...
Reading this for the intelligence/CIA side of things but the details of the carpet bombing of Laos are just terrifying. Harrowing.
Watching these videos, I always think at the people behind Trump when he talks. Some (Vance) have sold their soul already, but is there anyone who, even for a second, thinks 'How did we get here!?' youtu.be/oagCuVQrjqQ?...
If you want to study a Master in Politics, Public Policy, International Relations with us, The Chevening Award provide a fully-funded scholarship for a one-year master in a UK institution. Check eligibility to apply here: www.chevening.org/apply/?count... Deadline closes October 7th
When I wrote this, the main target seemed to be Mexico. Is Venezuela instead in the crosshair? Is an invasion coming? Will we see an Operation Just Cause Redux? @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/us-force-has...
Great work on what you can find when you delve into the weeds of the JFK Assassination files.
Poor Donald, losing his friends… edition.cnn.com/world/live-n...
I see people bleating yet again that "elections are won from the centre". Let's examine this claim. 1. Not long ago, the current Labour government, with its grovelling to corporations and oligarchs, extreme deregulation, island of strangers rhetoric etc, would have been classed as radical right. 🧵
@lucatrenta.bsky.social and @avramovok.bsky.social's upcoming book, "Killing in the Name of the State," is available for pre-order on Amazon. This looks absolutely fascinating! www.amazon.com/Killing-Name...
More disgraceful and self-harming behaviour from @teamlabouruk.bsky.social’s Home Office. UK HE institutions are struggling and need international students. Many might have looked at the UK due to the US situation, but no. Let’s continue to pander to racists and Reform. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
‘Kyiv on Monday said Russia was linked to the weekend assassination of a pro-Western Ukrainian politician after the arrest of a suspect alleged to have carried out the shooting disguised as a courier.’ www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine...
Saw this posted here. Had to check it was true. It is. Was @theatlantic.com always this bad? Or has it worsened?
Michelle Obama: kids should have healthier school lunches RFK Jr: maybe if we let the plague run wild we can build a master race Media: wow these are the same thing
We are at the £55 million for Wissa stage of “there’s too much money in football.” #transferdeadlineday
The best case scenario, though, is that the current Labour leadership is too cowardly for it. The worse alternative is that they believe the rhetoric they are pushing.
'The facts and the numbers are irrelevant.' This is what @teamlabouruk.bsky.social does not understand. They will NEVER win this game. The goal post will constantly move. The only option is to change rhetoric and chance policies. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Perhaps, UK institutions - already in peril - should think twice about expanding AI tools. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/t...
Israël annonce avoir tué le porte-parole de la branche armée du Hamas
@nytimes.com reports on Israel's hacking of Iranian bodyguards' phones to conduct assassinations. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/u...
Presidential fitness test indeed.
I can see @teamlabouruk.bsky.social’s strategy of airing and legitimating far-right, racist, and Reform-driven grievances is working like a treat. Well done. If only there was evidence that outflanking right-wing parties on the right doesn’t work.👏
Gabbard doing Gabbard's (read Putin's) thing.
Tragic. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...
Two massive criminals?!
Brilliant cover.
Important to concentrate on whether your SatNav can suffer, especially because there is zero human suffering around to focus on.
Renseignements : Washington met ses alliés à la porte des négociations sur l’Ukraine
Some thoughts on the consequences of having a long-time Putin ally in charge of US intelligence. Gabbard, Five Eyes, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Thanks @france24.com. www.france24.com/fr/am%C3%A9r...
By all means. Keep reporting like this. Keep reporting like it's a sensible thing to do. Keep reporting like he is not the dumbest person alive. abcnews.go.com/Politics/liv...
The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
The President does not have friends.
Damn, I forgot to remove my audio cassette from the car stereo. Quick, run back to the car. I'm sure Jake Tapper will publish a book on this guy's idiocy soon enough.
'Brutality, war crimes, and countless violations of international law fuel dream of greater Israel.' There, @nytimes.com, I've edited it for you.
This is probably my favourite, although I think I butchered the title in the latest episode of @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social I recorded.
Had never heard of this. @ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social
Today in: Explain to me again how the Trump team is not in Russia's pocket. 20th of July, Gabbard prohibits intelligence sharing with 5 Eyes on Russia-Ukraine negotiations. 24th July, Pentagon prohibits Ukraine from striking deep into Russian territory, to get Putin to negotiate (?). 🤔
More self-confidence?! I’d take any self-confidence, a modicum of morality and decency too.
Spotted this only today in @swanseastones.bsky.social. Any good? Looks interesting. www.theguardian.com/books/articl...
Something for @socintelhist.bsky.social Silent Book Club to discuss. @chekistmonitor.bsky.social
Persico’s biography of Casey also good.
Not on the other hellsite anymore. So, this is quite fun. www.buzzfeed.com/morgansloss1...
What a day for @nytimes.com. “Blurred lines,” “Uneasy mix.” Fantastic stuff. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/u...
I was a bit worried, but @nytimes.com euphemisms are back. “The Trump administration has blurred the lines between family, business and government.” Blurred the lines?! They probably snorted them a long time ago. nyti.ms/3Hlnv5y
No way, sorry. Brexit was pushed by exactly the same people who are now pushing a far right agenda. Those who believed in Brexit as anything more were duped. The fact remains that - currently- there is no vision able to inspire anyone to do better, to care for each other.
Yes, very true. Where is the alternative democratic vision? This, to my mind, is one of the most obscene failures of @teamlabouruk.bsky.social. It’s not like they had no time to prepare. It’s infuriating.
Groundhog Day. Weren’t prisons in Iraq a contributing factor to the first ISIS?
One has to give credits to conservatives, they have a vision for themselves. Get richer and make it harder for everyone else. Where is a vision, an ideal from the left?! I really don’t know. If anything in this vacuum, the “left” could do nothing except borrow from the right.
The most depressing thing about the present (from the global to the local) is the complete lack of imagination, vision, ideals. The only way seems to be that things will get progressively (if you are lucky) worse until you die. And for this, I can’t help but blame the left.
Violent protests are the endpoint of years of dehumanising refugees. The end point of constant anti-refugee media frenzy, of normalising racism, and of a left that has been unable to provide an alternative narrative, adopting the same right-wing narratives. 👏 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Former CIA Director pulling no punches here. ‘If today’s process were truly about sensible reform, career officers—who typically rotate roles every few years—wouldn’t have been fired simply because their positions have fallen out of political favor.’ www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
🤔 I wonder who the subject of this chapter in @tim-weiner.bsky.social’s The Mission is.
‘Eleven days ago, Israel assassinated a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, a young man who had suddenly become the face and voice of the desperate people of his homeland, Gaza.’ www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...
There was an unprecedented meeting at the White House yesterday. Why? Because America’s allies don’t trust our president anymore. Why? Well the fact he is nuts, loyal to Russia, a liar, and an incompetent surrounded by incompetents has something to do with it. www.thedailybeast.com/is-peace-in-...
If only there was a name for this @nytimes.com…🤔
Thank you for the kind words @jessmarindavis.bsky.social. We are thrilled to have you as part of the book and glad you enjoyed the process.
Second non-fiction book in English I ever bought while at uni in Italy.
A day of new books. This from @tim-weiner.bsky.social just arrived. Can’t wait to get stuck into it.
I'm excited to see how my University's commitment to sustainability evaporates - like so many reservoirs of water on the altar of data centres - as AI companies seduce them with their latest offerings in September.
Thinking of Christmas shopping already? Let me help you. New edited volume with @avramovok.bsky.social is out in December with Lynne Rienner. www.rienner.com/title/Killin...
Oof!
"...he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them." "...no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust...shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title...from any King, Prince, or foreign State."
Currently reading a book that - to contest the argument that the CIA was involved in opium trade in Laos - uses quotes from Richard Secord of Iran-contra fame. 🤔
God, his whole family look incredibly unhealthy.
The more I watch modern-day scammers (I'm watching the Liver King "documentary" on @netflix.com), the more I think Wanna Marchi was way ahead of its time. There's a Netflix documentary about her too.
Starmer “commends” Trump’s Ukraine effort. It is such a good effort and Trump such a reliable character, that all the EU adults have to track to Washington to make sure he doesn’t give away Poland. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Surely, the people who want to take back control are more than happy to give up control for the right sum.
[writing the constitution] Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president" Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
This is so sad. On so many levels.
So, the only thing that came out of this summit (Trump's Performance Review aside), was to give Putin all the honours of a great statesman and reassurances that the US won't do much to rein him in.
In which of the many ways?
Basically par for the course.
Very much so. Didn’t pick the headline.
How does democracy die? This is how it dies. With mainstream, media cheering fascism on.
We can file this under History degrees don’t matter. And I wonder why people no longer trust mainstream media. The depth of the ignorance needed to compare the Trump-Putin meeting with Yalta is so immense. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/w...
On Israel and the state-sponsored assassination of journalists. www.independent.co.uk/voices/edito...
@guttmannaviva.bsky.social
New episode for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social This time, I chatted with Dr Aviva Guttmann about her latest book Operation Wrath of God. Episode here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/n... Buy the book here: www.cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/ope... @socintelhist.bsky.social
Some reflections for @us.theconversation.com on Trump’s military directive to target cartels. From Nixon to Trump, the US has often used overt and covert force, including assassination, against drug traffickers. If anything, it makes the situation worse. theconversation.com/us-force-has...
But this, I find, is unfortunately always the democrats’ sleight of hand. Turn a moral issues into a policy one and justify inaction via policy complexity.
Let’s be clear about what’s happening. Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low. There is no emergency. This is a test run. If the courts, Congress, and the rest of us let him get away with this, he’ll do it in every city that doesn’t capitulate to him. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
“Despite crime rates that are at a 30-year low, Trump cites crime to justify fascism in the nation’s Capitol.” Fixed it.
Israel-Palestine and the @teamlabouruk.bsky.social government. A story in two acts: nth episode in the series ‘Outrage as Israel does X,’ continued impunity, but the government is super keen to arrest a bunch of peaceful protesters (most of the arrested over 60). 👏
The weight and tragedy of transnational repression. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
A new week, a new-ish entry in the @nytimes.com vocabulary to avoid caling a spade a spade. It is not corruption, it is an "unusual move." Sure it should be unusual, for a democracy.
Wow, quite the political battle right there.
Helsinki 2 is coming: 2 cowardly, 2 treasonous. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...