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Benjamin Coates

@benjamincoates.bsky.social
1.7K followers 804 following 118 posts

History Prof at Wake Forest studying US & the World, empire, law. Writing a history of the Us and economic sanctions. Co-editor, US in the World book series w/Cornell UP. Wrote a book: global.oup.com/academic/product/leg…

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Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 02/10/2026
I’ve written this up here. In addition to there not being a Covid-scale drop in tourism recently, you might also be wondering why visits from Mexico seem to double around 2004-05. The answer is not a sudden shift in Mexican preferences but rather our old friend, There Was A Change In The Measure.
kieranhealy.org
Trump Tourism Effects
In the past day or two on social media I kept seeing this graph from a Semafor story on the declining volume of international visitors to the United States. Semafor Graph. It seems to show, and was be...
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Elisabeth Piller @elisabeth-piller.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I am hiring another postdoc for BLOCKADE's Freiburg team. A 4-year, full time position to explore the impact of blockades in the Americas in both world wars "from below". Please share! @shafrhistorians.bsky.social @historians.org @royalhistsoc.org www.hsozkult.de/job/id/job-1...
hsozkult.de
Making sure you're not a bot!
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 04/09/2026
As sanctions continue to shape international relations today, history can provide critical context. This AHA program, presented to elected officials and congressional staff on Capitol Hill in 2024, offers historical perspectives on the role and impact of sanctions. Watch the recording:
youtu.be
AHA Congressional Briefing: Historical Perspectives on Sanctions
AHA Congressional Briefing | February 6, 2024 On February 6, 2024, the American Historical Association hosted a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on the role and impact of sanctions as an instrument of international relations. Pan...
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Patrick Iber @patrickiber.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Today you're going to see a lot of tributes and assessments of Gloria Steinem (I thought this one very good: www.thecut.com/article/glor...). You'll also see some people raising her involvement with the CIA, and others ignore it. (That obit doesn't even mentioned it.) What was that about?
thecut.com
Gloria Steinem Loved Women
The feminist icon, who has died at the age of 92, epitomized the contradictions and hopes of the women’s liberation movement.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
In 1979, people predicted US sanctions on Iran would lead to the collapse of the dollar...
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Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
a fascinating 4-year PhD vacancy on the interwar history of blockade & sanctions werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
werkenbij.uva.nl
Vacancy — PhD position - Benign Blockades? Blockades and sanctions, 1919-1939
The Amsterdam School for Historical Studies (ASH) invites applications for a fully funded PhD position (4 years, 1.0ft). This position is part of the ERC Synergy-funded research programme BLOCKADE, wh...
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Ronald Angelo Johnson @ronajohnson.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
IT’S A REAL BOOK!!! My copy of ENTANGLED ALLIANCES arrived from @cornellupress.bsky.social! 📚
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Robert Colby @rkdcolby86.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Fantastic resource for historians: a spreadsheet of NARA's digitized microfilm, with links to the files in the Archives catalog. May it help you as much as it has helped me. www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
archives.gov
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Paul Musgrave on the end of an era in U.S. foreign policy: “After Trump, U.S. commitments can no longer be relied upon to be structural; they will be viewed as individual.” musgrave.substack.com/p/a-new-era-...
musgrave.substack.com
A New Era of Foreign Policy. Damnit.
We can now mark the end of a period. Welcome to a new world.
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SHAFR @shafrhistorians.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
We're excited to welcome our exhibitors to #SHAFR2025 next week! Be on the lookout for old friends, familiar faces, and some new kids on the block.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Tariff hero William McKinley, the day before he was assassinated: "We must not repose in fancied security that we can forever sell everything and buy little or nothing.... Commercial wars are unprofitable." millercenter.org/the-presiden...
millercenter.org
September 5, 1901: Speech in Buffalo, New York | Miller Center
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Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
excellent opportunity for aspiring historians of Japan - focusing on blockade and WWII. werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
werkenbij.uva.nl
Vacancy — PhD Position: Blockades and the Second World War in Asia (4 years)
The Amsterdam School for Historical Studies (ASH) invites applications for a fully funded postdoctoral researcher position (3 years, 0.8ft). This position is part of the ERC Synergy-funded research pr...
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Rob Levine @roblevine82.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Absolutely. What is there to stop them?
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Brad Simpson @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Trump just signed an executive order ordering the closure and elimination of the world renowned Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, created by an act of Congress in 1968. @shafrhistorians.bsky.social @raskin.house.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov
whitehouse.gov
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Continues the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy
ELIMINATING WASTE AND REDUCING GOVERNMENT OVERREACH: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order continuing the reduction of the Federal
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
OK hot cheesy poutine vs. hot cheesy Putin is pretty good.
theguardian.com
‘We are not the 51st anything’: viral Canada ad gets Trump-inspired update
Remake of 2000 Molson beer ad has the same message as Trump threatens tariffs: Canada will not cower to the US
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
MAGA as Cultural Revolution
nytimes.com
Many Chinese See a Cultural Revolution in America
People in China are expressing alarm at what seems to be an authoritarian turn in the United States, long their role model of democracy, that feels familiar.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Obituary for Frank Wisner, son of the CIA plotter of the same name. Toward the end of his life he "voiced concern about the way the United States had exercised its global power, starting with the Vietnam War in the 1960s and through to the decades of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan"
nytimes.com
Frank G. Wisner, Diplomat With Impact on Foreign Policy, Dies at 86
He headed U.S. embassies around the world and relished the role, bringing a gregarious style to promoting American interests. But he clashed with the Obama White House.
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Tori Bedford @bedford.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Five employees at the JFK Library in Boston were laid off today in connection with a Trump administration overhaul of federal workers. "Without them, we are unable to stay open," a source tells @gbhnews.bsky.social. "It has been chaotic and we are seeking clarity."
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Miles Kellerman @mileskellerman.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Trump is designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists (FTOs). But this is easier said than done. In a new post, I discuss how the FTO label can cause chain-reaction patterns of de-risking -- with severe economic consequences. #polisky #econsky #lawsky mileskellerman.substack.com/p/the-design...
mileskellerman.substack.com
The Designation Dilemma
Trump wants to designate drug cartels as terrorists. The economic impact, both for America and Mexico, could be disastrous.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
"We are back to the age of Jackson and Tyler, but with nuclear weapons and a global reserve currency." musgrave.substack.com/p/a-long-way...
musgrave.substack.com
A Long Way Down
When Caesar moves fast and breaks things, it's hard to catch up or rebuild
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Reminiscent of Ruben Dario poets.org/poem/roosevelt
poets.org
To Roosevelt
It is with the voice of the Bible, or verse of Walt Whitman
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Sanctions overcompliance, cartel edition www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/w...
nytimes.com
Labeling Mexican Cartels ‘Terrorists’ Could Expose U.S. Companies to Sanctions
Isolating U.S. companies from cartel activities could be almost impossible given that the criminal groups operate in sectors like agriculture and tourism, leaving some American businesses vulnerable t...
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ECFR @ecfr.eu · 08/01/2025
@agathedemarais.bsky.social explains how a staged sanctions lifting process could provide economic relief while ensuring accountability 👇 buff.ly/3VJxCFd
buff.ly
The purpose of sanctions: Why Europe and America should begin lifting measures on Syria
Europeans and Americans should work closely together on a staged sanctions lifting process. They must connect this to respect for human rights and the holding of elections
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
“The current abandonment of the principles of neoliberal globalization leaves the entire field of international development in chaos…One cannot imagine how a World Bank mission to Egypt could argue for reduced tariff rates or lower subsidies…”
branko2f7.substack.com
How the mainstream abandoned universal economic principles
(but forgot to mention it)
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
What can you even say at this point?
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Christopher Tounsel @ctounsel1.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
If you're in NYC for #AHA2025, I invite you to stop by the @CornellPress booth and pick up Bounds of Blackness for 40% off! 📚 Even if you're not in town, you can get the discount at the virtual booth (see link below) using promo code 09EXP40 Link: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/our-aha-2025...
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
RIP Ricky
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Emily Conroy-Krutz @econroykrutz.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
It was an absolute delight to chat with Tom Smith about his new book WORD ACROSS THE WATER. Take a listen and be sure to order your copy! @cornellupress.bsky.social soundcloud.com/1869thecuppo...
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Dr. Bucky Isotope, PhD, BOFA @buckyisotope.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
CHARLIE BROWN: happy thanksgiving! CHARLIE BROWN’S PARENTS: wah wah wah CHARLIE BROWN: I cannot believe you said that that’s racist CHARLIE BROWN’S PARENTS: wah wah wah CHARLIE BROWN: he’s not my President CHARLIE BROWN’S PARENTS: wah wah wah CHARLIE BROWN: I am too your son
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
“It’s a thought-provoking fact that women lost power after the French Revolution and the introduction of democracy. They could neither be elected nor vote themselves. Whereas when positions were inherited, they actually had a reasonably good chance of being at the top of the hierarchy and in power."
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
How the US military used microfilm to send soldiers' mail during WWII: petapixel.com/2024/11/22/v...
petapixel.com
V-Mail: A Photo-Based Technological Triumph in Wartime Communication
During World War II, the revolutionary V-Mail leveraged cutting-edge microfilm technology to streamline correspondence.
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Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
How the Taliban Built an Air Force foreignpolicy.com/2024/10/25/r...
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Jan Eijking @janeijking.com · 23/11/2024
This by Danny Steinmetz-Jenkins on the historical “anti-war political tradition” is great: www.foreignexchanges.news/p/the-anti-w...
foreignexchanges.news
The Anti-War Political Tradition: An Introduction
Anti-war politics has a rich historical tradition, one that seems to be in desperate need of revival. New FX contributor Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins begins a monthly series on this critical subject.
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Nicole Hemmer @pastpunditry.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Worth underscoring. The right has built a powerful communications apparatus driven by politics, emotion and entertainment that sustained unpopular ideas for decades, working them into the party’s agenda and ultimately state and federal law.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
My undergrad students were really engaged in today's class on 9/11 and the Iraq War. They're too young to remember these events, but all the grownups they encounter assume everyone knows about them, and high school histories barely mention them. Anyway here's George Bush dodging a shoe:
Pres. George W. Bush dodges two shoes thrown by an Iraqi journalist
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Nicole Hemmer @pastpunditry.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Carol Moseley Braun was the first Black woman elected to the Senate in 1993. Jesse Helms once followed her into the Senate elevator singing "Dixie." He told fellow Senator Orrin Hatch, "I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries." Thinking about that today. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Rep. Mace introduces measure to ban trans women from Capitol’s female bathrooms
The South Carolina Republican’s resolution comes two weeks after the historic election of Democrat Sarah McBride, a trans woman, to Congress.
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Rabid anti-communist Alfred Kohlberg kept a list of "Communist affiliation incidents" to determine who the real commies were. Here are the "scores" for members of the NAACP. 🗃️
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JP Koning @jpkoning.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Great article from @martinsandbu.bsky.social. War costs and sanctions are pushing Russia up against its real resource limits. Something's got to give — and with oligarchs complaining about high interest rates, the ruble seems likely to take the hit. www.ft.com/content/da29...
ft.com
How western sanctions are squeezing Russia
Behind the headline numbers, the resource constraints are evident
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Out of Context Simpsons Treehouse of Horror 🎃 @ooccouchgags.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
An all time great acronym.
Clip of newspaper text explaining that ATACMS missiles are pronounced “attack’ems”
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Kaete O'Connell @kaeteoc.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
SHAFR isn’t on Bluesky (yet) but thought I’d remind all my historian friends that proposals for #SHAFR2025 are due 12/1! We welcome creativity, so propose those round tables, fishbowls, lightning rounds, anniversary sessions, methods panels, etc!
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Enjoyed watching this giant (4") spider get fatter every day for three weeks. Thanks for eating all the wasps!
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Benjamin Coates @benjamincoates.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Reagan and Gorbachev evolving from arm wrestling to a handshake? Or Reagan and Gorbachev executing complex bro hug maneuver?
Political cartoon showing Reagan and Gorbachev arm wrestling, then maneuvering their hands into a handshake
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Edward Jones Corredera @edjonesc.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Hello new followers! My book Odious Debt: Bankruptcy, International Law, and the Making of Latin America just came out! academic.oup.com/book/58846 Over the next few days I will use this 🧵 to praise the ideas/books of others - friends, mentors, and enemies - that informed my own Stay tuned!
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Marc Palen @mwpalen.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
"Our new nationalist world order would look all too familiar to the left-wing free traders" of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Something I wrote for @lpeblog.bsky.social @lpeproject.bsky.social coalition.https://lpeproject.org/blog/recovering-the-left-wing-free-trade-tradition/
lpeproject.org
Recovering the Left-Wing Free Trade Tradition
Since the late 20th century, free trade has been defended primarily by neoliberals who cared little about social justice or democracy. However, a longer examination of free trade'
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James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
This is the key challenge facing Democrats the next 4 years. Learning about this issue should be a top priority for Party leaders. lpeproject.org/blog/the-pol...
lpeproject.org
The Political Economy of the Urban-Rural Divide
Though the urban-rural divide can sometimes appear like a primordial fault line in American political life, it is a relatively recent development. The Democratic Party’s collapse in the countryside…
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
OK - so here's a first go at a global tech and economic security starter pack - let me know who else go.bsky.app/QhUsZTG
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