Sign in

Conn MacEvilly

@conmachiavel.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.8K following 1.2K posts

Woodkern by inclination, kern by trade. Interested in law and public policy, defence, information security and the climate emergency.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 02/10/2026
The deal strengthening the defense of Greenland is sound on substance but was obtainable without coercion. Its gains for Washington are marginal, while the real diplomatic winners are Copenhagen and Nuuk, writes Otto Svendsen. More: bit.ly/4rTdcIz
csis.org
Trump’s Greenland Deal: Modest Gains, Lasting Costs
The U.S.-Denmark-Greenland defense agreement modestly strengthens U.S. Arctic posture and permanently binds Greenland to NATO. But those gains were largely available without coercion, and the Trump ad...
0112
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A really key point. Where EU-Can is going to land is very unclear, but what's *driving* the discussion is entirely clear. Meanwhile, in the UK, there seems no sense of urgency & to the extent there is any discussion it's stuck in 2016 - which in geo-pol/econ terms is a different era.
1730892
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 18/09/2026
I wrote about Switzerland’s surprisingly clear-eyed view of the security situation here: ecfr.eu/article/brea...
ecfr.eu
Breaking tradition: Why Russia’s war is making Switzerland question its neutrality – European Council on Foreign Relations
Europe’s rapidly changing geopolitical position is causing Switzerland to rethink elements of its neutrality. This dramatic break in tradition should be a warni
26214
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Channel 4 did not get the thing about Lucy Powell brushing fluff off Andy Burnham's jacket though
3727
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 24/08/2026
Fascinating insights into late medieval culture here. Plus, another reminder that discoveries like this rely on the expertise and specialist training of historians and archivists: finding, understanding and contextualising historical sources, and communicating their significance #Skystorians
26221
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Don’t know how I feel about the new season of Teletubbies
317231
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 04/05/2026
Jill Lepore was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.” Read an excerpt in The Atlantic’s October 2025 issue:
bit.ly
How Originalism Killed the Constitution
A radical legal philosophy has undermined the process of constitutional evolution.
26114
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
All the talk is of a blue wave in the 2026 Midterms. But Republicans do not need to get more popular to hold the House - they just need to stop enough Democrats voting in key seats. I've done a deep dive in my latest post. christinapagel.substack.com/p/how-republ...
christinapagel.substack.com
How Republicans can win the Midterms – and how to stop them
A longer analysis of why the 2026 midterms may be far closer than they look, focusing on marginal districts and voter suppression
7232133
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
591350455
Conn MacEvilly @conmachiavel.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Two interesting commentaries which, taken together, highlight how vulnerable Ireland is to disruption of its food and energy imports. There is room for Ireland to do a lot more in terms of its own defence and security to address these risks, even if politically the risk of war seems remote.
A photograph of an article in the Irish Times on 11 April 2026 by Caroline O’Doherty:

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/04/12/fuel-protests-reveal-flawed-relationship-between-farms-fertilisers-and-food/
030
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This is a key point btw. People think security means preventing Russian tanks from making it across the channel. Not that simple. Britain gets much of its energy from Norway (shares a border with Russia), and half of its food from abroad. You don’t need to be at war to feel the consequences of war.
213238
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
A good time to read this excellent @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social piece on why an Orban loss would be (IS!) so important
04412
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Real war and culture war. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog analyzing the Brexit imprint of domestic responses to the Iran crisis, the hypocrisy & sectarianism of Reform's response to the by-election and the questions it poses for Labour: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/real...
Image of the start of the latest blog post
313366
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Free piece just released. Marco Rubio called on tolerant, democratic, liberal Europe to destroy itself and embrace a Trump-like future. He received a standing ovation and we are told some people are reassured. If so, Europe will deserve everything coming its way. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
open.substack.com
Rubio Calls For The End Of A Tolerant, Democratic Europe And The Crowd Goes Wild
Just over an hour ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the end of a tolerant, democratic Europe and its break-up into a disparate group of smaller, Trumpist states, and the Europeans in t...
63558280
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 14/02/2026
You thought your unvaccinated daughter had a cold. It could be a week before she's diagnosed with measles. By then, the virus “has multiplied and descended upon her lungs, kidneys, tonsils, and spleen, down to the marrow of her bones.” Elizabeth Bruenig writes about how a child dies of measles:
bit.ly
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
79763
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Oh god Frost has discovered Ayn Rand. A mediocrity explosion.
3750858
Conn MacEvilly @conmachiavel.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
A stunningly clear exposition of the fundamental logic of equality. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026
On February 12, 1809, Nancy Hanks Lincoln gave birth to her second child, a son: Abraham.
010
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 09/02/2026
If Pete Hegseth succeeds in punishing Mark Kelly, it could significantly expand the Pentagon’s legal powers over military retirees—and curb the First Amendment rights of some of the very people who have fought to defend such freedoms, Missy Ryan reports. theatln.tc/mIk05fVo 📸: Heather Diehl / Getty
616245
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025. Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
irishtimes.com
‘Absolute hell’: Irish man with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
501439735
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Dan Grey @dangrey.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
France has ended up in a strange position after using some €250bn of tax-payer money to build a fleet of nuclear power stations. Wind and solar power is merrily entering the French power market at prices nuclear production can't match, resulting in huge surpluses of power. 1/
lepoint.fr
Électricité : un rapport confidentiel d’EDF anticipe une explosion des coûts et des risques
« Le Point » s’est procuré le rapport interne d’EDF sur les conséquences de la modulation de son parc nucléaire pour faire place aux renouvelables. Un document explosif, alors que le gouvernement s’ap...
12221100
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
After a certain point the sanity of Palantir's leadership does matter to the national security of the UK and other European states buying its software
481479488
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
This, from the @smfthinktank.bsky.social's @jtmigratory.bsky.social, is excellent - really useful for anyone studying or just wanting to get a sense of where we've been and where we might be going on this issue.
054
Conn MacEvilly @conmachiavel.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
❤️ Is there a ScFI episode in which people who wreck countries spend the rest of eternity on a podcast no one listens to (but are oblivious to that)? “Three white guys, consoling each other about their rightness, until the heat death of the universe … and beyond - in the Twilight Zone”
110
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Last time a newspaper interviewed me about this (cough cough the Telegraph) they largely ignored everything I said about this - it's basically impossible to ditch this zombie fact.
1181
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Helen Salisbury @helensalisbury.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Really worth reading this. There is so much more to come out about the billionaires, politicians & techbros who consorted with Epstein - but at its centre is the sickening belief that girls can be bought and sold for fun. Not just on that island, but pervading our whole world.
01810
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Note also that Republicans are increasingly seeing Canada and the EU as outright enemies. Incessant propaganda will have that effect.
30370103
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 07/02/2026
“The U.S. Supreme Court said that you could detain people based on their race, their accent, or the language they spoke … There is nothing to preclude ICE from doing that while you’re standing in line getting ready to cast a ballot,” Stacey Abrams tells Anne Applebaum. theatln.tc/qkeYrlaM
18340152
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Scott Patrick, PhD @neimanmarxist.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This is bleak: Jes Staley, currently CEO of Barclays, reassuring Epstein that popular revolt against financial elites is unlikely because capitalism and pop culture have defanged social movements, leaving people more invested in consumption than justice.
23067102642
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
1/ Why has Russia failed so abysmally at providing secure battlefield communications to its troops in Ukraine? The answer, concludes Russian warblogger Oleg Tsarev, is that the military communications budget has been looted for years by corrupt generals and contractors. ⬇️
727444
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
“The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home.” — Carl Sagan
215632
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
crypto wouldn't be falling like this if trump was president
584879413
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 04/02/2026
Absolutely fascinating (and rather concerning): just spoke to some classic educated German middle class boomers - the ones who still read the newspaper and listen to public broadcast radio - and they had NEVER HEARD THAT AI HALLUCINATES!! Like, they didn’t even know the concept 🤯
3046296
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Prof Sheena Cruickshank @sheencr.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Excellent article but stark reminder that for all the perceptions of universities as ivory towers for elites, they are actually vital hubs in towns n cities supporting local businesses and providing key services as well as education….
theguardian.com
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
13314136
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
It's pretty clear that much of the UK policy elite is not psychologically or intellectually prepared to cope with possible post-American scenarios
2363
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Welcome home, Liam ❤️
comicsands.com
5-Year-Old Boy Abducted By ICE Gets Wings From Pilot On Flight Home To Minneapolis In Sweet Viral Video
341924175
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
RUSI @rusi.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
While the UK focuses on hybrid threats, is it being undermined by dependencies on US providers? Can the UK have a national security agenda in isolation? Read the latest RUSI Commentary from Sophie Williams-Dunning.
rusi.org
Tech Dependencies Undermine UK National Security
While the UK focuses on hybrid threats, is it being undermined by dependencies on US providers? Can the UK have a national security agenda in isolation?
1228
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
The BBC is getting played here: if a contributor gets to flat out deny having his own words quoted to him on television (with the viewer not told the denial is untrue) then post about "dropping truth bombs". The mission to inform & counter misinformation is flailing if the editorial controls so weak
33619209
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Toby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
look an entire newspaper has been kicked in the head by a horse
The irreverent Daily Express surpassing itself in stupidness with this headline, swathed in the Union flag: NEARLY 10 YEARS ON AND WE ARE STILL WAITING!
So today the paper that led the call to leave the EU says...
NOW YOU MUST GIVE BRITAIN A PROPER BREXIT
Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Boris Johnson
1801361198
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
"There is a global wave of governments being captured by big money, whether that’s big crypto money or big tech money." Great to talk to @oliverbullough.bsky.social about how money laundering has gone global - and it's capturing our politics democracyforsale.substack.com/p/dirty-mone...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Dirty money is buying up democracy
I talk to Oliver Bullough about how corruption and money laundering have gone global - and are capturing our politics
11260123
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Trump's arrest of Don Lemon shows that his "pivot" is an utter farce. As legal experts tell me, this looks appallingly corrupt. Indeed, it's likely this is all about sending a message that Trump isn't deescalating in the slightest. New piece with fresh details here: newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s ICE Agents Arrested Don Lemon. Then the Story Got Even Darker.
Trump has been raging about the former CNN journalist. Attorney General Pam Bondi just had him arrested, a move one legal expert slammed as “highly irregular.”
461544525
Conn MacEvilly @conmachiavel.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
This piece by @claireberlinski.bsky.social about Trump’s psychopathology is stunning. Chilling, really.
010
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
There's a link, to my mind anyway, between this and @claireberlinski.bsky.social's brilliant analysis of Trump's psychology, which elaborates the connections between that and the collective political psychology of (in that case) the US: claireberlinski.substack.com/p/impeach-him 2/3
claireberlinski.substack.com
Character Disorder
Trump's psychopathology and the suicide of a superpower
22615
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
The Ukrainian lesson to Canada is becoming more relevant by the day: once your neighbour expresses interest in conquering you, debates about regional sovereignty are no longer purely domestic and about federalism; they’re about the survival of the whole state. More on the parallel below…
421575
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Meanwhile this is where we're at
2232
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
This is the spirit.
556394
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Kori Schake 🎃 @kschake.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
"I was in Afghanistan after 13 years of war—long after the exciting newness wore off and as domestic political opposition raged—and we still had Czech, Lithuanian, and Polish special forces, as well as conventional Australian, British, Bulgarian, Canadian, and Romanian units with us in Kandahar."
16328
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
This couple are absolutely who I was writing about in my piece on Minneapolis today. These are decent, tough, and welcoming people up against an armed, chaotic rabble. benansell.substack.com/p/my-minneap...
benansell.substack.com
My Minneapolis
An ode to a city that knows who it is
05418
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
How Trump won Minneapolis. by Niall Ferguson
1527426
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Bruce Springsteen @brucespringsteen.net · 28/01/2026
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free
youtu.be
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
42559708440535
Reposted by Conn MacEvilly
Sean Lyngaas @snlyngaas.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
New —> On the eve of 2024 election, US Cyber Command hacked & degraded Russian companies spewing anti-Ukraine propaganda at US voters. Multiple US cyber ops against Russia, Iran then. But other USG agencies to counter foreign influence on elections have since been gutted www.cnn.com/2026/01/28/p...
cnn.com
Secret US cyber operations shielded 2024 election from foreign trolls, but now the Trump admin has gutted protections | CNN Politics
Weeks before the 2024 election, American military hackers carried out a secret operation to disrupt the work of Russian trolls spewing false information at US voters.
01212