Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 5hRussian reboot of "The Producers," also includes a Nazi main character 040
Reposted by Brian TaylorForeign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 5hRussia’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.comRussia’s Plan to Break UkraineWhat Kyiv needs to survive. 2148
Reposted by Brian TaylorAnders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 15hI'm skeptical that more stupid warriors is the best way forward for armed forces. 2619020
Reposted by Brian TaylorKevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 29/09/2026Political 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/111762t.meДождь | 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... 1229
Reposted by Brian TaylorEdward Walker @gnuggat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Thread. 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. 011
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The 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.comUnrestricted Confrontation: How the Spirit of War Permeates Reality and Distorts Minds. Second Session of the Valdai Discussion Club’s 23rd Annual MeetingThe 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... 021
Reposted by Brian TaylorIan Stone @ianstonecomedy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I think the next Oasis reunion gigs could be angrier than the last lot 5574
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Latest 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.orgThe Russia Stability TrackerWhile 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. 1158
Reposted by Brian TaylorMark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Who 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 24593154
Reposted by Brian TaylorNate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026On 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. 2102
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 28/09/2026A 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 174
Reposted by Brian TaylorEdward Walker @gnuggat.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Exc 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%).” 011
Reposted by Brian TaylorTomila Lankina @t-vl.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Great lineup of papers in latest issue of @postsovietaffairs.bsky.social already getting a lot of attention! Spread the word 031
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 27/09/2026An engrossing long read on being a reporter and a censor in the late-Stalin USSR.nytimes.comOpinion | He Was The Times’s Moscow Chief. My Grandmother Was His Censor.Somehow the story got through. 041
Reposted by Brian TaylorMatthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Important 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. 132
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 26/09/2026This 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 181
Reposted by Brian TaylorAndrás Tóth-Czifra @minczifra.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Kynev 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 21810
Reposted by Brian TaylorLucian Kim @luciankim.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Calling 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.orgSpring 2027 Fellowship – Petrach Program on Ukraine 011
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 25/09/2026My 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 181
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 25/09/2026How much will tariffs raise the price? Asking for a friend 120
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The five scariest words in an email subject line for an academic: "Account Created in ScholarOne Manuscripts" 020
Reposted by Brian TaylorNate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It 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 091
Reposted by Brian TaylorTatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Russia 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. 196
Reposted by Brian TaylorTatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · 21/09/2026China 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. 185
Reposted by Brian TaylorRuth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026In 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. 413335
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Putin 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. 1217
Reposted by Brian TaylorDaniel McDowell @danielmcdowell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Do 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) 1144
Reposted by Brian TaylorAnton Barbashin @abarbashin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Now 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 2208
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I 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. 2355
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Why 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.comWhy 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. 1187
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 18/09/2026You want to observe the “election?” Here, have a one way ticket to the front. 0102
Reposted by Brian TaylorZentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS) @zois.bsky.social · 18/09/2026In 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... 045
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Me, 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.comНа россиян начали массово нападать медведи - Русская служба The Moscow Times 0162
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Going to drop the phrase "twas ever thus" into a university program proposal document - wish me luck. 080
Reposted by Brian TaylorLucian Kim @luciankim.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Just 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: 2115
Reposted by Brian TaylorLeah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 14/09/2026More on Umar Kremlev in this thread: 0309
Reposted by Brian TaylorNate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Somewhere in Moscow there are hardened KGB apparatchiks who can't believe how stupidly easy it all is now 0162
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Here 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. 26734
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Putin and Russian Orthodox Church, this is a sign. 0164
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 13/09/2026This 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. 1817043
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 12/09/2026🎶 “And tonight, I’m a rock and roll star” 🎶 #Caturday 090
Brian Taylor @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Ukraine with this new money:* * by sold out, we mean wasted in the dumbass Iran warstatic.klipy.comHomer Simpson Misses Out on Yozora ClanALT: Homer Simpson Misses Out on Yozora Clan 0143
Reposted by Brian TaylorKate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Early 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. 1433084
Reposted by Brian TaylorThe Onion @theonion.com · 10/09/2026Trump Claims He Was Falling Man theonion.com/trump-claims-he-was-fa… 873388577
Reposted by Brian TaylorCarlos Williams @smartsapper86.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Patriot 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. 315127