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Kurt Bassuener

@kurtbassuener.bsky.social

Co-Founder and Senior Associate @DPC_global.bluesky.social; former Fulbrighter - PhD at St. Andrews; Angry Optimist

1137 Posts3403 Follower3770 Folgt
Democratization Policy Council@dpcglobal.bsky.social · 7d ago

Preliminary results from yesterday’s general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina – the first with an electronic voting system intended to reduce fraud – indicate considerable strengthening of nationalist parties in legislatures in both entities, at the state and entity levels. 1/

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 3w ago

We need more of this. Well done (again), Senator! And pegged exactly: the shamelessness demonstrates the presumption of impunity.

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 3w ago

Ossoff: Did you see this business about Don Jr.‘s wedding in the Bahamas? Where he received, apparently, a cash gift from a Russian oligarch connected to the Kremlin? This man, Kremlev, was apparently in China with Putin two days before he flew to the Bahamas for Don Jr.’s wedding…

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hear hear! A great speech. "Europe and Canada are stronger together...The objective is not self-sufficiency, it is collective resilience." These are crucial elements of a community of values we call Europe+, from Kharkiv to Kelowna. Carney's done a great deal in a short time to assemble it.

Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3w ago

PM Mark Carney's speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg today (beginning at 26'00) is a real rhetorical tour de force, hardly noticed in the US media. It merits being heard and thought about. And it starts with a remembrance of Goethe. www.youtube.com/live/cMHmZHD...

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 4w ago

Don Jr. & Eric have major investments in data centers and AI infrastructure. Don. Jr's firm 1789 Capital also has shares in major tech companies working in AI. Donald's own stock portfolio itself is heavily invested in Big Tech stocks. When Trump says AI doesn't need guardrails, follow the money.

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 4w ago

Very well put together report by @detektorba.bsky.social on Republika Srpska lobbying in the US and policy shifts under Trump 2.0. 👇 lobiranje.detektor.ba/en/index.html

Bosnia’s Mainly Serb Entity Ramps Up Lobbying Outlay under Trump

Donald Trump’s second term has coincided with a significant increase in lobbying efforts by Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity, resulting, it seems, in the lifting of US sanctions on Milorad Dodik and h...

lobiranje.detektor.ba

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 4w ago

The launch of another thought-provoking series on CBC Ideas with Nahla Ayed. An excellent panel discussion on critical junctures and establishment agency in the rise and fall of Italian fascism. 👇 www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

What Mussolini's rise and fall reveals about modern authoritarianism

In 1922, Benito Mussolini took power in Italy. Sustained by a cult of personality and iron-fisted suppression of dissent, Mussolini transformed the nation into a single-party state. Nahlah Ayed and pa...

cbc.ca

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · last mo.

My friend and colleague Valery Perry's discussion with @ahnidzara.bsky.social yesterday, on Serbian state and RS glorification of genocidal war criminal Ratko Mladic - its antecedents and effects, in the latest episode of DPC Voice. Links to their conversation in posts below. 👇

Valery Perry@valeryperry.bsky.social · last mo.

I spoke with Nidzara Ahmetasevic about the glorification of war criminal Ratko Mladic, & the spectacle of his funeral in Belgrade. We discused these dynamics in the region & beyond, & how language, memory & denial can feed polarization, hate & fascism. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · last mo.

Trump's need to assert dominance is igniting patriotism abroad and a backlash at home. His ridiculous bullying of Canada is completely backfiring. My latest for The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/02/trump-canada-tariffs-trade-war-backfiring

Trump’s ridiculous bullying of Canada is backfiring | Robert Reich

The US president’s need to assert dominance is igniting patriotism abroad and a backlash at home

theguardian.com

Minna Ålander 🌻@alanderminna.bsky.social · last mo.

”Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was “less about Putin being in a corner” because his army has failed to break a stalemate on the Ukraine battlefield “and more because Russia assesses we are depleted and can’t intervene,” one of the people familiar said.” On goes the speculation

Putin sees U.S. as weakened by Iran war, intelligence reports say

A classified CIA assessment that Russia's President Vladimir Putin sensed U.S. weakness spurred Director John Ratcliffe’s secret trip to Moscow this week.

washingtonpost.com

Toby Vogel 🇪🇺@tobyvogel.bsky.social · last mo.

Not only is the crime of denial everywhere, Vučić – the Europeans' best pal in the region – is giving him a state funeral. Even though Serbia supposedly had nothing to do with the genocide in Bosnia, nothing at all

Kate Connolly@kateconnolly.bsky.social · last mo.

The bloody legacy of Ratko Mladic, the butcher of Bosnia, who has died at The Hague @julianborger.bsky.social reports from Srebrenica talking to survivors fighting to preserve the memory of his murderous crimes but finding that “the crime of denial is everywhere” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Valery Perry@valeryperry.bsky.social · last mo.

Glad to see this important history is getting out into the public space... and that it shows people looked for methods of accountable self-government even before Athens introduced its version of democracy-

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I wrote this review of @professorjkeane.bsky.social's "The Shortest History of Democracy: 4,000 Years of Self-Government - a Retelling for Our Times," which jumped off a book display at IAD earlier this month. I highly recommend it! www.democratizationpolicy.org/democracys-l...