Tessera

UChicago will offer free tuition for families with incomes below $250,000, greatly expanding undergraduate aid | University of Chicago News news.uchicago.edu/story/uchica...

UChicago will offer free tuition for families with incomes below $250,000, greatly expanding undergraduate aid

Starting in Autumn 2027, initiative covers tuition, fees, housing and meals for families with incomes below $125,000, dramatically increasing access to a transformative UChicago education

news.uchicago.edu

Paul Staniland@pstaniland.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Free to read/download until May 18:

New book! @aidanmilliff.com and I spent years tracking down survey data from the late 1950s-2025 on how the Indian public has viewed China, the US, and Russia/USSR. We use the data to explore trends and patterns. Cambridge has made it Open Access until 5/18, so go read for free here: t.co/YtNCz74758

Aidan Milliff @aidanmilliff.com · 3mo ago

Reading about 1970s India, listening to a podcast series about 1970s Britain. Just the worst decade.

Book Alert! @pstaniland.bsky.social and I have a new Cambridge Element out now — and free to download through May 18. It's the result of nine years of digging through historic survey data on how the Indian public thinks about major powers. Read it here: www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Quite a fascinating interview: "Arakan Army Chief Twan Mrat Naing on Talks With the Myanmar Government, and Relations With India and Bangladesh" thediplomat.com/2026/05/arak...

Arakan Army Chief Twan Mrat Naing on Talks With the Myanmar Government, and Relations With India and Bangladesh

“The military government wants to negotiate from a position of strength but we will not succumb to such pressure.”

thediplomat.com

after the rain

I argue that debates over democratic backsliding and competitive authoritarianism in South Asia, while still important, need to be complemented by a renewed focus on how militaries exercise power and influence in Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and even Nepal: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

The Shadow of the Military in Modern South Asia

Military rule is now a defining political factor in South Asia. Here’s how analysts can understand and account for it.

carnegieendowment.org

for a distraction from [waves wildly at everything happening in the world]:

An extremely exciting infusion of new foreign policy talent into the Chicago area: globalaffairs.org/chicago-coun...

Chicago Council on Global Affairs Appoints Two Vice Presidents of Research for Geostrategy and Global Security

April 9, 2026

globalaffairs.org

Appears that a US submarine may have sunk an Iranian destroyer off Sri Lanka. That wasn’t on my bingo card.

Abu Aardvark@abuaardvark.bsky.social · 5mo ago

An extremely timely project!!!!

Big thanks to @pstaniland.bsky.social @carsonaust.bsky.social and a brilliant group of political science PhDs at the University of Chicago for workshopping my Middle Eastern Warscapes book!

Paul Staniland@pstaniland.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Yet again:

I roll this perpetually-relevant meme out every once in awhile:

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Trump pursues Iranian decapitation without a plan for what comes next

The U.S. has a fraught track record of toppling autocratic regimes and securing peaceful democracies — even when it has vision for the day after.

washingtonpost.com

Paul Staniland@pstaniland.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Yet again:

I roll this perpetually-relevant meme out every once in awhile:

I roll this perpetually-relevant meme out every once in awhile:

Paul Staniland@pstaniland.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Reminiscent of Stalin telling a group of visiting Indian communists to advocate the unification of India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/rec...):

Chairman Mao dispensed some wildly unhelpful advice over the years; this nugget was to Nasser after the 1967 war (from Lorenz Luthi's "Cold Wars"):

Chairman Mao dispensed some wildly unhelpful advice over the years; this nugget was to Nasser after the 1967 war (from Lorenz Luthi's "Cold Wars"):

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 6mo ago

China set to widen footprint in Bangladesh as India's ties decline en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/b...

China set to widen footprint in Bangladesh as India's ties decline

China has stepped up its investment and diplomatic outreach in Dhaka, most recently signing a defence deal to build a drone factory near Bangladesh's border with India.

en.prothomalo.com

an administration staffed to the top with degenerate liars

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6mo ago

Noem lies shamelessly: "An individual approached order Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic gun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently. This looks like a situation where an individual arrived to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement"