Peace studies and the class politics of geopolitics. Newsletter and Podcast(s): un-diplomatic.com; bangbangpod.com.
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The Rivalry Peril has a cover! Everything Washington has told you about great-power competition is wrong. Come January 2025, @mbrenes1 and I are gonna reveal why! #TheRivalryPeril
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Van Jackson retweeted
The week in the Blob
—@dandrezner says it no longer exists
—Henry Farrell counters that it exists because everyone in Washington believes it does
—@realvanjackson calls it the ruling class, and as a former card-carrying member he would know
—@tcambanis forecasts the end of its monopoly after the war on Iran
—My @nybooks essay: it survives by absorbing whatever it needs, Trump's people included
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RT @RealVanJackson: “For foreign-policy progressives and socialists, the Blob is the label for agents of imperialist groupthink whose polic…
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“For foreign-policy progressives and socialists, the Blob is the label for agents of imperialist groupthink whose policies benefit Wall Street, Big Tech, and war profiteers at the expense of the working class.” open.substack.com/pub/undipl…
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I was an entrenched part of the foreign policy Blob and am now trying to make things right. Ask me anything open.substack.com/pub/undipl…
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“the left historicizes and the Blob romanticizes. Rather than seeing foreign policy from the standpoint of its victims, the Blob sees only good-evil distinctions—a reductionism that lends itself to a pathology of military solutionism.” un-diplomatic.com/p/the-fore…
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Van Jackson retweeted
Obama: The Iran war is emptying your pockets! From the latest episode of The Un-Diplomatic Podcast
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Modern empire is wars of dispossession + forever-protection rackets
The WSJ lays out what keeping Gulf oil flowing actually involves:
-50,000 US troops, 20 Navy ships, two carriers across the region.
-$2–3 Billion USD/month or 67-100 Million USD/day above normal military spending
-Aircraft, warships and crews under mounting strain.
-Some US officials see the situation as untenable without more international help. Coalition efforts have failed.
wsj.com/politics/national-se…
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Van Jackson retweeted
Colby family Empire: great-grandfather, military officer who wrote, "How to Fight Savage Tribes," grandfather, presided over murderous Phoenix Program in Vietnam; father was a Kissinger sub during Cambodia bombing and Chile coup before making a fortune at Carlyle. Lovely family.
The notorious #EmpireEvangelist Elbridge Colby has advocated for years for the use of tactical nuclear weapons to reestablish US deterrence in the world.
If the Trump White House is now seriously considering such madness, Colby is the primary reason why.
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“The US state is fusing with the permanent war economy...making anything resembling economic democracy impossible without first accelerating mutual ruin.” un-diplomatic.com/p/how-to-m…
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Obama Against War? | Iran War Costs $1 Trillion | Global Dockworkers Strike Against War piped.video/watch?v=rIwAdLPq…
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Van Jackson retweeted
I am preparing a graduate seminar on "theories of the state" for this winter. Here is the working schedule of readings -- maybe of use to someone out there searching for the state.
docs.google.com/document/d/1…
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RT @T_M_Antonis: "Military Keynesianism was always a way of sneaking a poison pill into the economy so that any attempt to make a world of…
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The UK government is MAGA with a liberal face. Between this, Sally Rooney, Palestine Action, sending troops to support...Saudi Arabia. What a lethal, reactionary joke
Verso Books condemns the Labour government’s decision to ban one of our leading authors, Andreas Malm, from entering the United Kingdom.
versobooks.com/blogs/news/a-…
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Van Jackson retweeted
.@brhodes's conclusion to his book review of @AkbarSAhmed 's Crossing the Red Line is on point. Those former Biden admin officials who were complicit in Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza have no business being part of any future administration. nybooks.com/articles/2026/11…
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Great thread. David is a real one
The Trump era looks like it's coming to an end, if midterm polling is to be trusted, and the meaning of MAGA is starting to look a bit different as a result.
I wrote up a dozen initial thoughts, beginning with the fact that the movement—and its leader—were always weak. (1/x)
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This is an AI-generated list. All good albums, but reflects no actual test when you add it up
🚨 Rolling Stone just dropped their Top 10 Greatest Rap Albums of All Time
1. The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
2. OutKast – Stankonia
3. JAY-Z – The Blueprint
4. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
5. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
6. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
7. Missy Elliott – Miss E... So Addictive
8. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
9. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory
10. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
what surprised you the most about this top 10?
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