This is one of those '2 things are true' moments, I think Republicans hoped their aggressive gerrymandering would deeply entrench white minority rule Instead it extra motivated voters and they got their asses kicked But the gerrymandering lessened their losses, and increased the burden on voters

Stephen West@stephenwest.bsky.social · 13h ago

"If every congressional map had been drawn fairly, with party-blind nonpartisan methods, Democrats might have come close to winning a veto-proof two-thirds majority in the House, with the party winning nearly 20 additional districts in Texas, Florida and Georgia alone."

The military can play an important role in limiting military escalation and excess. When Hegseth polled his top commanders on how much to cut the Civilian Harm Mitigation program, nine chose the smallest cut, and two refused the options and demanded no cuts. abroadreview.substack.com/p/why-hold-b...

Why Hold Back in War?

What, if anything, keeps states from driving their foe to hell?

abroadreview.substack.com

Bet we'll get a lot of use out of this in the coming months

The Onion@theonion.com · 2w ago

Why Hasn’t Abdul El-Sayed Accomplished Any Of His Campaign Goals Since Winning 2 Minutes Ago?

Trump has discussed annihilating Iran and driving them into hell, so why hasn't he? What's held him back? Military and voter pressure seem important; international law less so. From nuclear weapons to targeting civilians, I summarize the research on whether and why states hold back in war.

AbroadReview@abroadreview.bsky.social · 2w ago

Trump and Putin have brought great destruction in Iran and Ukraine, but they have threatened even worse. What, if anything, has held them back? I summarize the best research on why states may decline to use nuclear weapons or target civilians.

What do we think... 10 days til massive U.S. strike in war it has already won?

The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 2w ago

Trump: "We had a war with Iran. We won…I don't know if you even call it a war because we haven't been doing any fighting for months."

Trump: "We had a war with Iran. We won…I don't know if you even call it a war because we haven't been doing any fighting for months."

Anyway: if you’re ever interested in the question of what games do to people and what effect games and gaming culture has on society there’s a whole academic field that studies this and we are always excited to talk about it!

Are you an IR prof feeling like the world's a hot mess and you're not quite sure how to teach global governance or international order? Well, ISQ has a new Special Section out, and my "Making Sense of Disrupted International Order" introduces it. Hope it's helpful!

Making Sense of Disrupted International Order

Abstract. The apparent turmoil in the US-led liberal international order has left international relations scholars without a settled framework for explaini

academic.oup.com

New on AbroadReview, my living lit reviews on foreign policy.

AbroadReview@abroadreview.bsky.social · 3w ago

Who Wins Wars? Current events show that it is not just military might. Research finds that distance, deployment, and aims all matter. #int-rel #IntSec 🗺 #foreignaffairs

I’ve been humming this song all day.

Ok real talk. Here’s what he needs in a first aid kit. Yes I’m an ER doctor so I’m ⭐️✨extra✨⭐️ but also I’ll tell you where the bang for the buck is. Don’t waste your money on a premade kit—trash. Buy a cheap nylon bag or repurpose one you have lying around. This is all available on Amazon

Thread to collect literature on accountability in U.S. foreign policy. Contributions appreciated!

Holding the Trump admin accountable for its crimes can seem distant, but there are meaningful steps both US domestic opposition & the international community can take, including supporting the ICC, enabling international investigations into disappearances & civilian deaths, & refunding foreign aid

Here’s What to Do About Trump’s War Crimes

Despite the obstacles, foreign governments and U.S. lawmakers can begin the process of holding the president accountable.

foreignpolicy.com

Finally, something for the next time my fire department chief gives an exasperated sigh and tells me we don't need 'skydiving training'.

Emily Gorcenski@emily.gorcen.ski · 2mo ago

Here’s the most incredible story you’ll read today. A small plane with four people aboard crashes in a field. Another pilot witnesses it. That pilot happens to be flying a bunch of skydivers. They offer to jump to assist, are given permission. The skydivers happen to be EMTs. Everyone survives.

Polymarket has predictions on 'US-Iran ceasefire continues through...' The fine print is fascinating. 'Ground incursions' don't count.

I think it’s fair to say that the student journalists at Cornell are braver than the news networks who just gave up on their WH pool ban even though CNN is still being denied access. www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...

EDITORIAL | Cornell Won’t, We Will

The Editorial Board demands that Cornell stops protecting the alleged Chi Phi rapists through the University's opaque sexual assault policies.

cornellsun.com

We need something similar in foreign policy

Pookleblinky@pookleblinky.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Reminder that in Canada upon becoming an engineer you get an iron ring made of a collapsed bridge, purposely designed to be uncomfortable, to remind you that your ethics demand you give a fuck even about the boring grudgework of such as double-checking your math. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring

W/o getting drawn into the "seriously or literally" / "it'll never happen" trap, we need to stomp *hard* on the continuing effort to undermine Article 1 power of the purse by saying that this or that revenue stream makes something outside the normal budget process. 1/ www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...

Lutnick says Trump’s $5,000 checks for Americans wouldn’t rely on taxpayer funds

A top White House official suggested Congress would use a budget process to fund them. Vice President JD Vance had said tariff revenues.

nbcnews.com

It’s out of season. Intra coalition conflict season goes from Jan 21, odd years to September 1 in even years. But September 1 even years to Jan 20 odd years is strictly conflict with reactionaries season. This may require not fighting anyone in Bsky for some time

Still relevant

Alan Jagolinzer@jagolinzer.bsky.social · 2y ago

Princeton’s Jake Shapiro and I note that the DOGE “efficiency” effort will not deliver savings because contracting & debt costs will increase from breach of trust. —- @promarket.bsky.social Breaking Trust in the Government Will Not Be Efficient in the Long Run www.promarket.org/2025/03/31/b...

Check out AbroadReview, a new site offering monthly living lit reviews on foreign policy topics in the news. bsky.app/profile/abro...

AbroadReview@abroadreview.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It's Alive! AbroadReview.com has concise summaries of the best academic research on international relations to help you understand ongoing world events. Current postings cover: - How Wars End - Checkpoints and Blockades - Economic Sanctions - War Consequences for Leaders - Informal Sanctions [1/6]

I‘m far from an AI doomer, but it is amazing how many serious voices — on LinkedIn, no less! — are sharing stories about how AI slop is quickly becoming one of the top problems they see in academic writing and research “AI will 10x our research!” doesn’t seem to be surviving encounters with reality

How it started / how it’s going

Lauri Donahue@lauridonahue.bsky.social · 4mo ago

futurism.com/future-socie... lol

Once again, as I’ve noted multiple times before, Trump’s foreign policy isn’t really realist, or imperialist, or neoroyalist, or about spheres of influence, etc. Its sexual predation/abuse elevated the level of the state

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5mo ago

Q: What do you the allies to do more than what they are doing right now? TRUMP: I just want their loyalty. Just give us a little kiss. We don't want much. They say, 'No, we can't do it.'

Towards a research agenda on political corruption in the US. It strikes me that most of the political science on corruption -- and correct me if I'm missing something, I'm an avid consumer of political science but not a scholar of it these days -- focuses outside of the US context.

Surely this will open the strait

Lindsay Beyerstein@beyerstein.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The US isn't letting the Iranian team sleep in the country. They have to go sleep in Mexico after they play:

My most basic metric for news is whether the US is moving towards or away from The Hunger Games

Woohoo, here's my essay with my fav co-author on 30,000 fellowship wins across the Guggenheim, Stanford CASBS, NAEd, National Humanities Center, RSF visiting scholar, and Harvard Radcliffe. Spoiler: it's the people working at prestigious universities www.publicbooks.org/who-gets-gug...

Who Gets Guggenheims? - Public Books

Unfortunately, 100 years of data show that those whom such fellowships might represent the greatest departure from their everyday experience—that is, those not at elite institutions—are least likely t...

publicbooks.org

It is hard to capture what a sweeping strategic defeat the war in Iran has been for the United States. I’m going to thread here some of the posts today that try to capture those effects. Here’s the first:

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 7mo ago

$2 million per ship — to cross a Strait that was free six weeks ago. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/w...

DID YOU KNOW that Wisconsin has election-day registration? You can go to your polling place, register, and cast a ballot TODAY. It’s a great way to participate in the democratic process, even if you’re really busy or have forgotten to register.