Vasabjit Banerjee
@vasabjit.bsky.social
Comparative civil-military relations, defense manufacturing, political violence, electoral politics, and foreign policy. Regional foci on South Asia and Latin America, but also the "global south."
Odyssey is a modern movie using an epic. It's about war vets, their trauma, how some loved ones stayed loyal, others betrayed, still others were abused by war vets, how vets were received by local societies, and their absence taken advantage of. America needed the catharsis this epic movie offers.
It's like Groundhog Day. share.google/hfdQVH56mKfb...
Pentagon pushes defense companies to boost weapons production after concerns of depleted stocks
The Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons to help replenish its diminished stockpile of munitions, including those depleted in the ongoing war with Iran.
share.google
A lot of wealthy people don't understand the cost of ingredients for cooking at home. For them, especially those in positions of power, I strongly suggest Johnny LaRue's approach. He was the cat's whiskers of celebrity chefs on TV back in the day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAfg...
Cooking with Johnny LaRue: Recipes for Poor People (John Candy) | SCTV
YouTube video by SCTV
youtube.com
General OpEd writers are useless. They were conduits for making public specialized knowledge: read books and articles, get vibes, and offer an opinion. Specialists now present their work publicly. Som train to do so. Also, overpaid OpEd writers suck resources from proper reporters and journalists.
In terms of defense capabilities: NATO > Turkey > Pakistan > Saudi Arabia. Good for all of them. Also, Saudis allying with Turkey is a bit like India allying with the UK. Not a bad idea if domestic public opinion can be handled.
I beseech you not to send me unsolicited invitations to webinars.
Sheer popular exhaustion is one aspect of the Reagan Coalition's origin that gets frequently ignored or explained away as superficial to real material and social interests. This is essentially being tired of turmoil, new ideas, new characters, etc.: not reducible to pocketbook or racial concerns.
Increasingly SWW is taken as starting in 1931 & includes Spanish Civil War. See @jonathanfennell.bsky.social 's excellent new book
The justification for the air war aside, Iran genuinely sucks at developing nukes. The tech is 80+ years old. North Korea and Pakistan developed them. Three decades of efforts and they still fail. I get that there were several attacks and assassinations, but that also shows a lack of security.
The left in America has to accept its share of blame for attacking all elite institutions, in fact some attacked all institutions as elitist. Forgetting that order is also a liberal value without which justice can't be delivered. These arguments then got taken over by the far right.
My unpopular Comparative Politics opinion is that approximately 30 percent of a country's adult population are kooks, radicals, reactionaries, etc.. A functioning political system, i.e., parties, institutions, and economy, keep them out of power by containing, excluding, and reducing respectively.
I say this again: we are inexorably moving toward a ground war with Iran.
Nobody saw the munitions shortage due to the Iran Airwar coming. Nobody!
Hacker Jim Hacker
ALT: Hacker Jim Hacker
static.klipy.com
"Made in Thailand" might mean textiles to most Americans, but that's about to mean something very different: it's the name of a major Thai defense industrial drive. But as I argued in @foreignpolicy.com "self-reliance" is a paradox. www.nationthailand.com/news/policy/...
Thailand Targets Self-Reliance with Major Defence Industry Drive
Bangkok targets self-reliance and economic growth by prioritizing domestic tech, offset policies, and regional partnerships
nationthailand.com
Absolutely love folks who went to posh universities and then that becomes the highlight of their lives. They did nothing notable afterwards. It's like a man watching the same rerun with slight changes in the narrative created by the lenses of his latest disappointment.
How messed up was South Africa's Apartheid system? The navy began racial integration by the late 1970s, but was debarred from publicizing it because doing so violated regime policy.
African scholars have found that Chinese security assistance increases the coercive capacity of recipient governments, to repress opposition parties and violate human rights. This is nothing new, but it is a growing trend as Beijing increasingly militarizes its African engagements. 1/2
Tuks of niks! University of Pretoria remains one of the prettiest urban campuses I have ever seen. It's been a decade since I was back. It's been too long. 1/2
I don't remember who introduced during the exodus from Twitter. But I totally second this sentiment.
Greg Olsen@gtotango.bsky.social · 3w ago@vasabjit.bsky.social is who introduced me to Bluesky. It is a good place to stay connected to academic peers. Although, I cold do with more 🚨Cool Paper Alerts🚨 and fewer snarky hot takes. I stay for the cat pictures and videos.
JB remains the highest honor in the Commonwealth, albeit under new names.
Yes Minister - Complete Amateurs
ALT: Yes Minister - Complete Amateurs
static.klipy.com
This Iran crisis will end with the collapse of the Carter Doctrine or American troops in Iran. I don't see how that doesn't happen.
This is *deeply* funny, and I think you should watch it: youtu.be/qJBm1n8JUZ8?...
Kyle Gordon - Mr. Jambo (feat. Barry Bergen) [Official Music Video]
YouTube video by kylegordonisgreat
youtu.be
If an army performs great march pasts, but can't win wars, it's called a parade ground army. The air force equivalent would then be a fly past air force. lol
A CNBC list put TN at the bottom of a quality of life list, along with AR, OK, IN, LS, AL, etc., above it. It appears that a major factor is inclusiveness: LGBT and women's rights lag in the state. But I can scarcely believe a list where AL and LS are mentioned, but not MS. Also TX and UT? 1/2
This article on India-Taiwan relations had a security ties spin off policy essay. It focused on potential submarine coproduction. It was later reported that such ties in fact already exist. globaltaiwan.org/2026/02/taiw...
Taiwan and India’s Submarine Production—Opportunities for Collaboration | Global Taiwan Institute
Major naval acquisition programs can set a state’s grand strategy for decades, and this renders submarine construction an extremely high-stakes industry. For countries neighboring China, such as Taiwa...
globaltaiwan.org
Vasabjit Banerjee@vasabjit.bsky.social · 4w agoThis article begins with a quote from King Charles III. It argues, India and Taiwan may be moving toward an entente. They have a common enemy (China) and deep trade relations. They are developing security ties. Also, we need to revive the concept of entente. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
This article begins with a quote from King Charles III. It argues, India and Taiwan may be moving toward an entente. They have a common enemy (China) and deep trade relations. They are developing security ties. Also, we need to revive the concept of entente. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
India and Taiwan’s evolving entente commerciale: trade and informal defense cooperation between Taiwan-India
We argue that India and Taiwan have developed preconditions favourable for the development of an entente relationship. Ententes necessitate a common threat from a state, economic integration, and a...
tandfonline.com
Lindsey Graham's death yet again raises the stakes of the mid-term election. The President challenging both the Georgia senate elections and senators' therof will again increase the president versus legislature standoff.
I make a great gin and tonic. My brother in law makes one good for the Pegu Club or Raffles.
