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Brian Taylor

@bdtaylor-su.bsky.social
2.8K followers 750 following 1.3K posts

Professor @supolisci.bsky.social and Director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, @maxwellsu.bsky.social, @syracuseu.bsky.social. Latest book: Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction. amzn.to/3gdhiFe

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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 5h
Russian reboot of "The Producers," also includes a Nazi main character
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Micah @rincewind.run · 5h
this guy just fucking sucks, man
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Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 5h
Russia’s principal target is now “the will of the Ukrainian people and of their partners,” writes Dmytro Kuleba. “Putin intends to break Ukrainian morale by breaking the country’s economy and external support for it.”
foreignaffairs.com
Russia’s Plan to Break Ukraine
What Kyiv needs to survive.
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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 15h
I'm skeptical that more stupid warriors is the best way forward for armed forces.
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Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 29/09/2026
Political analyst Ekaterina Schulmann says the FSB tortured election expert Alexander Kynev with electric shocks and broke his leg in two places while trying to force him to confess to treason. When he refused, she says, they slapped him with the felony drug charges. t.me/tvrain/111762
t.me
Дождь | Новости
❗️Политолога Кынева пытались обвинить в госизмене, его пытали силовики — Екатерина Шульман Об этом политолог заявила в программе «Статус». «Вчера я выступала на совместном заседании двух комитетов П...
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Edward Walker @gnuggat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thread. I agree w @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social take, but add the obvious point that the further out you look, the more uncertainty. Risk is low, maybe very low, for (say) the next 12 months, but after maybe two years we enter “who knows” territory.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The title of this session from the annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting shows a truly remarkable lack of self awareness: "Unrestricted Confrontation: How the Spirit of War Permeates Reality and Distorts Minds"
valdaiclub.com
Unrestricted Confrontation: How the Spirit of War Permeates Reality and Distorts Minds. Second Session of the Valdai Discussion Club’s 23rd Annual Meeting
The concept of “total war,” which emerged less than a hundred years ago, is being revived under new conditions. The universal interconnectedness that was once seen as the key to avoiding clashes is no...
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Ian Stone @ianstonecomedy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think the next Oasis reunion gigs could be angrier than the last lot
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Latest version of the @cnas.bsky.social Russia Stability Tracker is out. First update in almost 3 years. Very short 🧵- but check the link, it's a quick read.
cnas.org
The Russia Stability Tracker
While the group’s experts agreed that Putin and his regime maintain a firm grip on power, there is now less certainty about Russia’s domestic stability.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Who says they “don’t make enough money”? Compared to what? You don’t need to grant the far right authoritarian party’s premise. You can write that they’re using arbitrary numbers based on no standards that should not be taken seriously, & you can just say that plainly instead of stenographizing
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
On hybrid war discourse and how "Europe must respond": Europeans (and Americans) have been responding for years, evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of dead Russians in the fields of Ukraine.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A Trumpian tale in 4 acts: 1) Trump admin illegally closes down programs responsible for higher ed foreign language & int'l education; 2) Congress puts (some of the) $$ back in; 3) New grant competition is announced, schools apply; 4) Trump illegally cancels funds. Crazy xenophobic vandals
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Edward Walker @gnuggat.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Exc piece. NB: “Despite their considerable professional experience, panelists were generally cautious in their forecasts… Most experts rated the probability of a new mobilization wave by the end of 2026 as high (12 experts, 46.2%) or medium (8 experts, 30.8%).”
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Tomila Lankina @t-vl.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Great lineup of papers in latest issue of @postsovietaffairs.bsky.social already getting a lot of attention! Spread the word
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
An engrossing long read on being a reporter and a censor in the late-Stalin USSR.
nytimes.com
Opinion | He Was The Times’s Moscow Chief. My Grandmother Was His Censor.
Somehow the story got through.
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Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Important story on a major upgrade to Russia's underground nuclear command and control bunker, including modernization of Perimetr, Russia's "dead hand" system. Started in 2018, when Putin gave his big speech revealing the new delivery systems like the intercontinental nuclear torpedo.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This story doesn't bother to mention any of the 4 factors hitting most US universities' finances: 1. A huge drop in international students (at SU reported falling by 50% or more) 2. Huge (probably illegal) Trump admin cuts in federal grants 3. $20 mill/year 4 paying athletes 4. demographic decline
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András Tóth-Czifra @minczifra.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Kynev is one of the foremost experts on regional politics in Russia and has been publishing analysis from inside the country for the past years. Solidarity
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Lucian Kim @luciankim.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Calling all Ukrainian scholars under fire: Here is an excellent opportunity to conduct research in Washington, DC. Hurry, deadline is October 1. www.petrachprogram.org/2027-spring-...
petrachprogram.org
Spring 2027 Fellowship – Petrach Program on Ukraine
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My friend and colleague Tom is 💯 on both of his points, which are personal to us as Syracuse faculty but certainly not specific to Syracuse but apply to US higher education in general
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
How much will tariffs raise the price? Asking for a friend
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
re: Xi statement to Trump today
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The five scariest words in an email subject line for an academic: "Account Created in ScholarOne Manuscripts"
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It feels pretty plausible that in two years, before the 2028 elections, we're looking at an absolute catastrophe for big parts of higher ed, which account for big parts of our economy
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Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Russia would also not be able to get nearly as many critical components for its civilian-terrorizing weapons and drones if it weren't for China. Imports of these have grown tremendously since the full-scale invasions, and current sanctions don't reach them.
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Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
China is THE reason Russia can wage its war today. China buys almost 40% of Russia's exports, and almost 60% of everything Russia imports comes from China. No other Russian trading partner comes even close to being this important.
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Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In the Senate confirmation hearings for Trump's 1st Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson (the man Putin had given an Order of Friendship to a few years earlier), Rubio asked Tillerson "Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?" A journalist needs to ask Rubio the same question now.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Putin does want to see the war end, on his terms. Ukraine refuses to surrender, so Putin fights on. Putin could end the war today if ending it was all he wanted.
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Daniel McDowell @danielmcdowell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Do financial sanctions provoke de-dollarization? In new co-authored research with David Steinberg, we look at this question from the unique perspective of Russian households in 2022-23. A short 🧵(1/7)
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 21/09/2026
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Anton Barbashin @abarbashin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Now that Duma election is over. How likely is the new wave of #mobilization in Russia and what would it look like? Olga Irisova and I surveyed 16 military experts and 10 experts on Russian elites to find out. 1/3
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think Mearsheimer should be much more embarrassed about being a Putin shill justifying a genocidal war of recolonization than he should be about the credit card thing.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Why does Putin bother with elections? Great piece by @paulsonne.bsky.social running through the social science literature on the question with quotes from leading experts on Russia and authoritarianism.
nytimes.com
Why Autocrats Care What People Think (Gift Article)
Russia is staging an election that matters to almost no one — except President Vladimir V. Putin and his inner circle.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
You want to observe the “election?” Here, have a one way ticket to the front.
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Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS) @zois.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In the new #ZOiS_Spotlight, political scientist Irina Busygina explains why the Duma elections may be predictable but not politically meaningless: www.zois-berlin.de/en/publicati...
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Me, a supposed Russia expert: "no, no, look, Russia is a very modern, developed, urban country, all those stereotypes about bears are just..." The Moscow Times: "Bears have begun attacking Russians en masse."
ru.themoscowtimes.com
На россиян начали массово нападать медведи - Русская служба The Moscow Times
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Going to drop the phrase "twas ever thus" into a university program proposal document - wish me luck.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Shorter than the line for gas I guess
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
An excellent article.
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Lucian Kim @luciankim.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Just returned from Ukraine. As if grinding Russian attacks on the battlefield weren’t enough, much of the attention has now shifted to the home front. Here are a few of the main takeaways from my trip:
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
More on Umar Kremlev in this thread:
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Somewhere in Moscow there are hardened KGB apparatchiks who can't believe how stupidly easy it all is now
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Here is a picture of the head of Russia's Presidential Security Service (i.e., Putin's bodyguards) with the oligarch/gangster who bankrolled Don Jr.'s wedding, Umar Kremlev. The chief bodyguard has used his influence w/ Putin to funnel assets to Kremlev. Unfuckingbelievable. My head is spinning.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Putin and Russian Orthodox Church, this is a sign.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This is worse than a crime, it’s a mistake. Trump/Witkoff/Kushner still think this war is about a piece of territory. Putin would simply pocket the territorial gain & move on to using the negotiations to push his ultimate aim of controlling Ukraine.
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🎶 “And tonight, I’m a rock and roll star” 🎶 #Caturday
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Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Ukraine with this new money:* * by sold out, we mean wasted in the dumbass Iran war
static.klipy.com
Homer Simpson Misses Out on Yozora Clan
ALT: Homer Simpson Misses Out on Yozora Clan
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Early autumn used to be my favorite time of the year. And now I can't stop thinking about another upcoming winter of Russian terror, where they will yet again try to break us, bomb us into obedience, destroy our infrastructure and light at the coldest and darkest time.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 10/09/2026
Trump Claims He Was Falling Man theonion.com/trump-claims-he-was-fa…
Trump Claims He Was Falling Man
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Carlos Williams @smartsapper86.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Patriot PAC-3 MSEs cost $5 million each. We burned $300 million in missile interceptors in an hour. An F-15E adjusted for inflation costs $90 million each. We blew through a cool $1 billion in an hour fighting a war that’s not a war; which we have no actual plan on how to fight or exit out of.
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