Joseph Wong
@josephwongut.bsky.social
Prof & VP U of Toronto, author, political scientist, dad, Raptors fan.
Me and my PhD mentees with the Trudeau Foundation Scholars program. Celebrating our last "official" conference together in Osoyoos BC. Last official one means the start of lifelong unofficial ones to come! #friendship #academia #mentorship
The perilous intersection of data sovereignty, energy demands and public health. #AI #Publichealth #enegy www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
As data centers boom, Virginians breathe the exhaust of 10,000 diesel generators
Pollution from Virginia's many data centers could cause respiratory symptoms and deaths in the region, analysis of state permits and corporate disclosures shows.
washingtonpost.com
Debt is up, inflation up, affordability down, losing support of allies, increasingly isolated glibally, violence is up, war is raging. Time for change. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/b...
As U.S. Debt Hits a Worrying Milestone, Washington Barely Notices
nytimes.com
We typically think of democracy in terms of winning elections. But increasingly the durability of democracy is the willingness to concede defeat, to lose. Orban's defeat is an important milestone because he conceded his defeat, something we can no longer take for granted in fledgling democracies.
Just finished #Murakami's most recent. Capsule review: Classic HM but leans more into the magical / surreal / fantastical side of things. As with all HM novels, the writing is beautiful, alluring & seductive. I can read 50 pages, have no idea what's going on and yet can't put it down!
This makes sense because it totally makes no sense. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...
Trump’s War in Iran, and Rising Gas Prices, Collide With Midterm Agenda
nytimes.com
Some educators, like @uoft-poli-sci.bsky.social @josephwongut.bsky.social, are embracing AI as a teaching tool which he discusses on CBC radio's Cross Country Checkup with Ian Hanomansing (48:00). www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
cbc.ca
Surely, voters must understand this is inflation and has an effect on affordability for regular Americans. Surely they must. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/b...
In most countries, politics is divided along a left-right spectrum. In #America it appears the major divide is between the morally and the immorally evil.
3 questions: what is the goal of this war (i.e. what will end it); can it be contained or will it continue to spread rapidly; and where is Congress? #Iran www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
Airstrikes hit Iran-Iraq border as US and Israeli plan to mobilise Kurds gathers pace
Experts say backing Iran’s ethnic communities could ‘open up a hornet’s nest’ and increase risk of chaotic civil war
theguardian.com
Wow, what a huge honor! Thanks Lev! I look forward to listening, having read your book and know it is timely, empirically rich and critically important as we work to ensure democratic resilience in Taiwan.
Lev Nachman@lnachman32.bsky.social · 6mo agoI was invited on the @NATSAconf podcast to talk about my book "Contested Taiwan" and to put it in conversation with another Taiwan studies classic- I picked @josephwongut.bsky.social's "Healthy Democracies," and try to connect Taiwan's contested status to healthcare! www.na-tsa.org/about-1-1
An excellent take on why ending an autocracy does not necessarily mean starting a democracy. #Iran www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: Which regime? What change? Iran’s complexity means there are no magic bullets
Iran, almost uniquely, has neither a single unified governing regime nor a single set of motives and aspirations among those seeking its ouster
theglobeandmail.com
Why is the Canadian ambassador presenting his credentials to Trump in a thrift junk store?
Was it just me or did it seem odd that in the run-up to the men's gold medal hockey game, American commentators, in describing the US Canada rivalry, kept alluding to the 1980 match between the US and the Soviets at the height of the cold war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/o...
Opinion | This Is How Canada Could Get Its Revenge
nytimes.com
Ahead of the State of the Union address on Tuesday, evidence continues to mount that President Trump is facing political headwinds. n.pr/4s3mGQj
Poll: Most say the state of the union is not strong and the U.S. is worse off
Ahead of the State of the Union address on Tuesday, evidence continues to mount that President Trump is facing political headwinds.
n.pr
Talk about some ambitious post-retirement planning. #Trump #BoardOfPeace www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Would Have Global Scope but One Man in Charge
nytimes.com
This is Canada's moment. Talking about global leadership with David Ossip, Joannah Lawson and Valerie Pringle at the Upper Canada College Founders Dinner. Leadership that addresses complexity, with empathy and with conviction to the promise of pluralism and inclusion in #Canada.
I cannot believe what is happening in Minnesota. There is no bottom to this. Trump has no incentive to concede as a lame duck president who is clearly out for himself right now. It is like a mob boss on the ropes.
As Dan Slater and I intimate in our book, development and demo do go hand-in-hand. The erosion of democracy today is a reflection of the failure of development, and specifically, I'm convinced, of inclusive development. The JD Vance-ification of politics reflects this.
Reposting for Canada Day! Investing in a Canadian elbows-up strategy. My June op-ed in @thestar.com, on Canada's middle power moment on the global stage. www.thestar.com/business/opi...
This is Canada's moment. My Toronto Star op-ed on what Canada needs to do to assert our global leadership amidst huge changes to the international order. www.thestar.com/business/opi...
Rise of the middle powers. Here’s how Canada can wean itself off of U.S. dependence
As Prime Minister Mark Carney hosts U.S. President Donald Trump and the rest of the G7 next week, leaders of middle powers like Canada can become less dependent on America
thestar.com
Strategy to bring back manufacturing to #America: by levying tariffs on #steel and aluminum, key manufacturing inputs, making them more expensive for American manufacturers. Makes total (non)sense. #MAGA www.politico.com/news/2025/06...
Trump's tariffs are hammering the industry he wants to save
If the tariffs fail to bring a manufacturing revival, it would weaken the prospects of a GOP coalition that increasingly relies on working-class voters.
politico.com
This piece in the NY Times correctly hones in on why international students are vital to US interests Kicking them out will destroy the research & development pipeline that has propelled the US into global leadership in science & tech
Just came back from visiting Oliver, who's doing an internship in Accra, Ghana. I was his age when I went to Asia by myself. Changed my life: thought I was going to be a lawyer, then decided to devote my life to studying that part of the world. #impact #growingup
Trump's health secretary, the guy who claims a worm burrowed into his brain, ate part of it and then died there. Explains alot. #rfk www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
RFK Jr. Swims in Washington Creek That Flows With Sewage and Bacteria
nytimes.com