Devastating and short-sighted on so many levels.

No amount of power frees you from the reality that actions have consequences. Apropos of nothing.

Now the 2026 regime-changey spree. Diplomacy is not the opposite of war, it is also a tool of war. If you threaten war to get what you want, you need to do coercive diplomacy. If you know you want to fight, diplomacy can make war go better for you. Allies, opposition party support, they help! 5/

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

Category: Not good.

Charlotte Swasey @charlotteeffect.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Gallup says it will stop doing presidential approval polls (after 88 years of doing it) because of "an evolution in how Gallup focuses it's public research". This is eliminating a time series that goes back to FDR. thehill.com/homenews/med...

BTG Alum Erica De Bruin recently published a timely article in The Conversation, "ICE Not Only Looks Like a Paramilitary Force-- It is One, and That Makes it Harder to Curb."

ICE not only looks and acts like a paramilitary force – it is one, and that makes it harder to curb

ICE, created in response to 9/11, meets most definitions of paramilitary forces. Critics worry it’s gone beyond its writ of immigration enforcement.

theconversation.com

Which foreign policy issues unite Americans across party lines, and where are the sharpest disagreements? Hear from the Council's @ckafura.bsky.social, @smax265.bsky.social, and @wsj.com's Gerard Baker as they unpack data from the 2025 Chicago Council Survey today at 5:30 p.m. CT. bit.ly/4ric7Zl

At the Water's Edge: Foreign Policy, Polarization, and the American Public

Craig Kafura, Sarah Maxey, and Gerard Baker discuss findings from the 2025 Chicago Council Survey, highlighting where Americans are divided—and where consensus still exists—on the US role in the world...

bit.ly