Tessera
Folgen

Alexander Sorg

@alexsorg.bsky.social

Postdoc, Hertie School | European security, nuclear umbrellas

328 Posts573 Follower600 Folgt
Joerg Lau@joerglau.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The Middle East is a place where you can threaten to bomb „them“ back „to the Stone Ages“ (after having initially promised „help is on the way“), and it will be reported by major news outlets as if it is just another totally normal strategic objective.

Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 5mo ago

Trump does not think strategically, historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. Allied leaders know that if they help him in the Gulf, he won't be grateful, or even remember www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Everyone but Trump Understands What He’s Done

Allied leaders know that any positive gesture they make will count for nothing.

theatlantic.com

Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fun fact: my dissertation was called "Wars of Choice" (became Leaders at War: How Presidents Shape Military Interventions @cornellupress.bsky.social). Tl;dr: they rarely go well. 1/ www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801...

Leaders at War by Elizabeth N. Saunders | Paperback | Cornell University Press

Examining the the role played by the threat perceptions of heads of state in national foreign and military policies.

cornellpress.cornell.edu

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 5mo ago

All this was a choice. I can’t get over how all of this was a choice. A plurality of American voters saw corruption, bigotry, pandemic, economic crisis, coup attempt, and criminal conviction, then opted for more.

Alexander Sorg@alexsorg.bsky.social · 5mo ago

😀😀😀 brilliant. Just one little problem: you have just given them all the reasons to proliferate as fast as they can

Joe Cirincione@joecirin.bsky.social · 5mo ago

“An Israeli security source suggested lowering expectations about ousting the regime and focusing instead on a more achievable objective: an agreement that will resolve the problem of the 440 kg of uranium and imposing severe limitations” on the nuclear program. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right. Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement. This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access • Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.
Caitlin Talmadge@proftalmadge.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This is a technical story with stunning strategic implications. It is quite possible the US launched a massive war because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff lacked the technical expertise to even understand what the Iranians were offering in negotiations. Absolute idiocy. www.ms.now/news/trump-i...

Nuclear experts undercut White House claims about Iran reactor at heart of case for war

The Trump administration sent negotiators without nuclear expertise to lead talks on Iran’s enrichment program. Now, its public case for war centers on a facility that experts say cannot do what offic...

ms.now

Project on Managing the Atom@managingtheatom.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In an episode of The Arms Control Primer, MTA Associate @alexsorg.bsky.social joins @bollfrass.bsky.social & Elena Sokova to examine Belarus’s post-Soviet nuclear disarmament and the implications of Russia deploying nuclear-capable systems on its territory today. www.iiss.org/podcasts/arm...

Better know a non-nuke: Belarus

From Soviet nuclear host to renewed nuclear deployments: Belarus’s complex role in the past and present of nuclear arms control.

iiss.org

The Nonproliferation Review@thenonproreview.bsky.social · 6mo ago

In our newest issue of the NPR, @alexsorg.bsky.social of @managingtheatom.bsky.social has written an article looking into Russian security guarantees to Belarus. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1080/1073...

Nuclear Belarus: explaining Russian security guarantees

In 2022, Russia announced its plans to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, which would mark the first such deployment in an allied state since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Deploying nuclear weapons ...

doi.org

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Brainwashing, 2026 edition. This paper shows how X's algorithmic feed shifts people's views rightwards. It's a sophisticated, highly effective form of reorientation. And it is utterly chilling. If you're still on that platform, unhook yourself now. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature

Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

nature.com

Centre for International Security - Hertie School@hertiesecurity.bsky.social · 6mo ago

⏳ 1 week to go! Don’t miss this fascinating research talk. 👉 Register here: lnkd.in/dise8SeE

Centre for International Security - Hertie School@hertiesecurity.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🧩 How do autocrats use courts - to legitimize or coerce? Join Fiona Shen-Bayh (UMD) for a talk on Spain’s Franco-era tribunals, 12 Feb 2026, 4–5 PM CET, online. Insights from 9,000+ cases reveal shifting logics of repression. 👉 lnkd.in/dise8SeE #PoliticalScience #Authoritarianism #JudicialPolitics

Alexander Sorg@alexsorg.bsky.social · 6mo ago

It is largely useless to infer anything from official foreign policy documents under this 🇺🇸 administration. Europe is suppossed to take the lead on Ukraine? Well, only until Trump decides to have another half baked peace proposal drafted over night that forces Ukraine to disarm of course etc etc

Vassili Golod@golod.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Russland nimmt den Menschen in der Ukraine Licht und Wärme. Die Folge für alle, die hier leben: es ist dunkel und kalt. Auf der Arbeit, draußen, zu Hause. Ich habe versucht, das in einem kurzen Video für euch festzuhalten.