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Douglas Herbert

@dougdecodes.bsky.social
275 followers 137 following 502 posts

World Affairs Commentator at France 24, public speaker and media trainer. Beyond just “fighting disinformation”, I seek ways to promote the acceptance of #facts. Journalism lecturer at Université Paris Panthéon-Assas & IJBA

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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Clever headline in the French daily, Libération - a reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen’s infamous quip that the Nazi gas chambers were a “detail” in WWII history. That was before France’s far-right National Front party rebranded itself as the National Rally.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Economist with the U.S. #midterms caveat piece: “Republican chances to hold the chamber [the House of Representatives] are at 10% and not 1% for plausible reasons. And Americans have seen Mr #Trump’s Houdini act before.”
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The #NYTimes’s Adam Kushner on “a weird summer for the #Pentagon”. #Hegseth
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
If anyone’s come across a better editorial cartoon at the juncture of the #WorldCup and #geopolitics, I’d love to see it.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
An AI-generated tongue-in-cheek photo posted on the X platform shows “the Oval Office after Trump’s return from Versailles”.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
French #newspapers (in stark contrast to quality American news outlets that take pains to wall off fact from opinion) aren’t shy about proclaiming their political orientation. It’s part of #France’s journalistic culture and, in the case of left-leaning Libération, makes for some great headlines.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The punny headline in Libération combines the #WorldCup trophy with an expression meaning to hold something under one’s control. The subhead reads: “President Donald #Trump has succeeded in making the tournament his own, pushing the sport itself into the background in favor of business interests.”
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Editorial cartoon in #China’s state-controlled press. Text reads: “Relax, I’ve got this under control.” #Trump #Xi
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Editorial cartoon by Nick Anderson. #VotingRightsAct #Trump #SCOTUS
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Sobering perspective from MS NOW’s James Downie. #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Quotable: “The less talent they have, the more pride, vanity and arrogance they have. All these fools, however, find other fools who applaud them.” - #Erasmus, 1509
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Russia lost ground in #Ukraine in April, marking first time that’s happened in nearly three years. (Source: AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War) #Russia
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Donald #Trump’s war of choice against #Iran is already as unpopular with Americans as previous wars in #Vietnam and #Iraq. (Source: What a Day, ‘Crooked’)
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
After 16 years presiding over #Hungary’s rule-of-law-eroding “illiberal democracy”, during which he tightened the noose on the government, press, judiciary, business & academic life, Viktor #Orban’s been booted out by voters. Unlike his ally #Trump (who endorsed him publicly) Orban conceded defeat.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Rogue nation: Under its Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, #Spain has so far bucked the continental trend towards more overt racism and a mainstreaming of the extreme right. But Le Monde reports it is not immune to the kind of polarization afflicting so many democratic societies. #immigration
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
And then this happened in Vladimir #Putin’s #Russia.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
The headline in #France’s leading satirical newspaper: “Under fire from his base and falling in the polls, #Trump turns again to his weapons of mass distraction in #Iran.”
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
“This is the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating in the war.” -The Washington Post
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Is #Trump’s gambit “in some ways, even more careless and ill-considered than [George W.] Bush’s?” asks Matt Berg in the ‘What a day’ newsletter. #Iran #Mideast
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The #Spanish government has objected to an operation that it considers outside of international law, The #NYTimes reports. #Iran #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Roman Sheremeta, an associate professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, and a close observer of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, “updated” this 2012 tweet by Donald #Trump.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Just before the U.S. and Israel attacked #Iran, the foreign minister of Oman dashed to Washington D.C. to try to reassure the #Trump administration that ongoing talks in Geneva were making real progress. He went on CBS News to say that a deal was within reach, The Guardian reports.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Twilight Zone-ish: a U.S. president may be on the brink of going to war with no explanation as to why. Not long ago, when the U.S. went to war on false pretenses - read, “weapons of mass destruction” - its president at least took pains to invent a lie for public opinion. No more. #Iran #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Editorial cartoon by Mike Luckovich.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Nick Anderson’s editorial #cartoon captures the wilful brutality driving an American administration that has shocked and horrified much of America, and the world. #PamBondi #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Denmark’s PM, Mette Frederiksen, speaking at #SciencesPo, warns about the pernicious effects of social media on our ability to concentrate and look at the big picture.”The algorithms support the very black and white way of looking at the world. But #democracy is the opposite. It’s the opposite.”
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
“We are under huge pressure. We are trying to push back from the outside, but handle our people who are afraid…scared…The feeling in #Greenland hasn’t been good.” : Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the prime minister of Greenland, speaking alongside his #Danish counterpart at #SciencesPo #Europe #NATO
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Quotable: “No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.” - Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), a #radio and #TV reporter who was one of the early pioneers of American broadcast #journalism. #tyranny
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The question put to a panel of commentators this morning on LCI, a #French 24-hour news channel: “Is #America breaking up?” #USA
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
The #NYTimes reports: #Minneapolis
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Really enjoyed a 45-min #France24 special with journalist/filmmaker David Thompson, brilliantly presented by Pauline Paccard, digging into JD #Vance’s arc from calling #Trump “Hitler” to becoming one of the most powerful VPs in US history, and a potential #MAGA heir.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
And then this happened. #Trump #Greenland
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Ouch! Can we all agree that Libération should stick to punning in #French - in which it’s in a league of its own? #Mamdani
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
“Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of #health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the New Year.” AP reports. #Trump instead seems to have prioritized pasta:
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
The #Trump administration violated federal law by failing to divulge ALL the #Epstein files by a Congressionally mandated deadline. What it did release is so heavily redacted as to make the whole exercise all but pointless. It’s a study in deliberate obfuscation.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Here is a chart from the FT showing the top 50 foreign companies by assets in #Russia in 2024. Around half are in #financial services. (Source: KSE Institute, Yale, FT Research)
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Opinion: Editorial cartoon by Ann Telnaes. #immigrants #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The noose tightens. #Russia
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
And then this happened.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Important contextual reporting from The Guardian on why #Putin will not budge from his maximalist demands in his war against #Ukraine.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Michael McFaul was the U.S. ambassador to #Russia from 2012-2014, during Barack Obama’s administration.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
And then this happened: Bloomberg News has reviewed leaked audio files (excerpt below) of a private call in which Trump envoy Steve #Witkoff is heard advising #Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, on the best way to present the #Ukraine “peace plan” to Donald #Trump.
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
CNN’s Reliable Sources cuts to the quick on Donald #Trump’s open contempt for reporters who ask him questions he doesn’t like. #journalism #pressfreedom
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Quotable: “As Eugene Debs once said, I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.” -New York City’s Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, referring to a Socialist icon. #NYC
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Trump has stopped to using hunger as a weapon, writes Dan Rather and Team Steady. #shutdown #food
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
The #NYTimes, on how “ #Trump is wasting no time in tearing down the East Wing” of the White House:
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
An editorial cartoon from Pulitzer Prize-winning political satirist, Matt Wuerker. #Trump
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
As a TV commentator who speaks Russian and has lived in #Russia, I believe I have a degree of credibility in “analyzing” Putin’s motives in his war against #Ukraine. Not so with #Trump. “Analyzing” him is a losing proposition. He’s guided by egocentricity, and flips on a dime. Here’s the #NYTimes:
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The #CIA is hiring. I can’t imagine what the person who ends up getting this job will spend their days doing. The current CIA director, in his confirmation hearing, testified that his CIA would be “going places no one else can go, and doing things no one else can do.” Any thoughts, Ethics Attorney?
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Douglas Herbert @dougdecodes.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Natalia Antelava on Coda Story, writing about the conversations we are not having in a social media world that encourages the simplistic or titillating narrative.
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