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Mark Bell

@marksbell.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.2K following 41 posts

Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Minneota, mostly studying nuclear weapons, international security, and US foreign policy. Opinions mine. www.markbell.org

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Reposted by Mark Bell
Security Studies Program MIT @ssp-mit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thank you, @marksbell.bsky.social, for your discussion, “No Good Options: The Extended Nuclear Deterrence Trilemma”, at this week’s Wednesday Seminar. ICYMI catch up on the conversation with the recorded stream 📡 bit.ly/4yHYk1I
A person gives a presentation to a room full of people.An audience member asks a question as others look on.A person gives a presentation from a lectern.Two men stand in front of a banner.
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Reposted by Mark Bell
Wes Burdine @wesburdine.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
At what point do they get to the point where there’s just nothing left to cut where we just stop having universities? The U of M is one of the biggest economic engines in the state and we keep on shrinking it down
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Security Studies Program MIT @ssp-mit.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Join us for tomorrow's Wednesday Seminar as @marksbell.bsky.social discusses the trilemma created when states offer extended nuclear deterrence. Learn more: bit.ly/4yHYk1I 🗓️9/23 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream bit.ly/3UXbNo1
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Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Great letter. The absence of information/detail on this is shocking, especially given the accelerated timeline they're trying to push this through on.
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Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I wrote a letter about the MPS school closure proposals.
startribune.com
Readers Write: Potential closure of Minneapolis schools, Waymo
Show your work, Minneapolis Public Schools. Families don’t trust you.
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Security Studies Program MIT @ssp-mit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In our upcoming Wednesday Seminar, University of Minnesota Professor Mark Bell discusses the trilemma created when states offer extended nuclear deterrence. 🗓️9/23 at noon ET 📍MIT community can join in person at E40-496 📡Bookmark the livestream bit.ly/3UXbNo1 @marksbell.bsky.social
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Debak Das @debak.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How and why do nuclear delivery vehicles proliferate? I am delighted that my book, 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐦𝐛: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 answering this question will be published by @cornellupress.bsky.social in 2027.
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Stephen Herzog @herzogsm.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
My new @thenonproreview.bsky.social essay argues that AI–WMD research needs to move beyond its usual focus on just NC3 integration or WMD proliferation. AI is reshaping the whole WMD landscape, and we need to study those effects across the full WMD life cycle. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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UMN Political Science @umnpolisci.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Professor Mark Bell weighs in on what scaling back U.S.–South Korea military exercises signals to allies and adversaries. www.startribune.com/rash-us-alli...
startribune.com
Rash: U.S. allies are assets. Treat them that way.
On a whim, President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the U.S. would scale down its annual military exercises with South Korea in deference to his “very good relationship” with North Korean le...
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UMN Political Science @umnpolisci.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Congratulations to Professor Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social on receiving the 2026-2028 Social Science Research Grant. Bell will continue his research on extended nuclear deterrence by conducting survey research and engaging with governments and policymakers. cla.umn.edu/polisci/news...
cla.umn.edu
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UMN Political Science @umnpolisci.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Following the U.S. and Iran agreement, the status of Iran's potential nuclear-weapons program is unclear. Professor Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social discusses in @startribune.com article: www.startribune.com/trump-iran-w...
startribune.com
Rash: The U.S. and Iran have an agreement. Now comes the hard part.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz would be a welcome development, but nuclear-program negotiations await, columnist John Rash writes.
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Norwegian PM Støre: "France is now opening up a dialogue with its close allies on how its nuclear weapons can contribute to European security and provide a deterrent against military threats. We will hold further talks with France on how the nuclear initiative can help to achieve this."
regjeringen.no
Norway and France sign mutual defence agreement
Today, Norway and France have signed a comprehensive defence agreement under which the two countries commit to come to each other’s aid should the need arise. Together with nine other European countri...
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Norway will participate in France's "forward deterrence" nuclear initiative. Norway will also sign a mutual defense treaty with France, known as the Narvik Agreement. www.tv2.no/nyheter/plan...
tv2.no
«Plan B» tar form: – Et taktskifte i samarbeidet
PARIS (TV 2): Norge vil være med på Frankrikes atomparaply-initiativ i et nytt forsvarssamarbeid.
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Ankit Panda @nktpnd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
There is no Nuclear Posture Review; and there's been no strategic case made for this system or any public debate around the need for a new HDBT capability. This is a capability announcement via budget, essentially.
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Ankit Panda @nktpnd.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
US being ‘humiliated’ by Iran, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz www.ft.com/content/0a66...
ft.com
US being ‘humiliated’ by Iran, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Atlanticist leader says ill-prepared war is hurting Europe’s largest economy
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Frank Kuhn @frankkuhn.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Just in time for your weekend, I have a fresh piece out with @warontherocks.bsky.social on the new 🇫🇷 French nuclear doctrine of “forward deterrence” and why dispersed air operations are a better comparison to it than 🇺🇸 U.S. forward nuclear deployments and nuclear sharing arrangements in 🇪🇺 Europe.
warontherocks.com
Disperse to Survive: The Logic of French Forward Deterrence
In his long-awaited nuclear deterrence speech, French President Emmanuel Macron laid out his new doctrine of “forward deterrence” (dissuasion avancée) and
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
It is hard to capture what a sweeping strategic defeat the war in Iran has been for the United States. I’m going to thread here some of the posts today that try to capture those effects. Here’s the first:
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Caitlin Talmadge @proftalmadge.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
The Iran War has gobbled up a breathtaking amount of U.S. military capability vital for deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
US Deploys Bulk of Stealthy Long-Range Missile for Iran War
The next steps in the US military campaign against Iran will commit nearly its entire inventory of stealthy JASSM-ER cruise missiles, drawing them from stockpiles devoted to other regions.
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Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The Boss 🎸✊
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
“Iran is now earning nearly twice as much from oil sales each day as it did before American and Israeli bombs started falling on February 28th.”
economist.com
How Iran is making a mint from Donald Trump’s war
Iran maintains oil exports of 2.4m-2.8m barrels daily despite war and sanctions, earning twice pre-conflict revenues as Gulf rivals slash output and prices surge.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 10/03/2026
"Your steadfast commitment to our strategic mission, despite the multiple tramplings, maulings, and other encounters we shall henceforth refer to as 'terminal networking opportunities' has not gone unnoticed." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-m...
mcsweeneys.net
A Message from Your University President on the Recent Hippopotamus Attacks
Dear Faculty, Staff, Students, and AI Summarization Tools, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your patience as we explore innovative soluti...
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Ezra Golberstein @egolberstein.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
For the alumni association, the tagline is “Leave a tip.”
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Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
What on earth
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Charles Grant @cergrant.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Here are 10 consequences of the US-Israel attack on Iran - a thread. US soft power is damaged. To launch an attack without clear aims or an exit strategy has upset allies - in Europe, Gulf & Asia - who must bear the economic, political and military consequences. /1
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Caitlin Talmadge @proftalmadge.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
My latest on the Iranian threat to the Strait of Hormuz in @foreignaffairs.com www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/hormuz-...
foreignaffairs.com
The Hormuz Minefield
In the strait, Iran holds the advantage—and America has no good options.
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
"Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes." www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/p...
cnn.com
Trump administration underestimated Iran war’s impact on Strait of Hormuz | CNN Politics
The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, accord...
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Malachy Browne @malachy.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
'Made in USA' and Department of Defense codes imprinted on weapons fragments used to make American Tomahawks and seen in photos by Iran near bombed school. Latest story w/ @trbrtc.bsky.social and @johnismay.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/w...
nytimes.com
Fragments of U.S.-Made Missile Seen in Photos Taken by Iran Near Deadly School Strike
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Ankit Panda @nktpnd.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
My latest in @foreignpolicy.com: with a war in the Middle East, the world appears to have missed that North Korea is now officially getting into the space weapons game (with strong incentives to put nukes in space). My analysis: foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/09/n...
foreignpolicy.com
North Korea Is Getting Serious About Space Weapons
The new chapter in defense planning seems like a direct response to Trump’s Golden Dome.
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Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 07/03/2026
Local Massachusetts weekly says it's confirmed that the Pentagon was relying on Claude for strike targeting, which is how they came to bomb a girls' school. thisweekinworcester.com/exclusive-ai...
thisweekinworcester.com
Exclusive: AI Error Likely Led to Iran Girl's School Bombing
Pentagon investigators believe a bombing of a girls' school in Iran on Saturday likely resulted from inaccurate information provided by AI.
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Dan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
It sounds like there’s a sort of low-level war going on in Iraq that hasn’t been fully reported An Iraqi friend tells me that Iranian-backed militias are attacking various targets across Iraq, and U.S. and Israeli forces are hitting back. They say this is happening more widely than what‘s reported
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Polish sources have the final sentence as "As our own autonomous capabilities grow, we will also strive to prepare Poland in the future for the most autonomous actions *possible* in this matter." In any case, this is proper nuclear hedging talk. www.polskieradio.pl/399/7975/Art...
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Caitlin Talmadge @proftalmadge.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
In any normal week this would be a huge story. France moves toward extending a nuclear umbrella over European allies-- a major sign of declining credibility of US extended deterrence. www.defensenews.com/global/europ...
defensenews.com
Macron opens door to deploying French nuclear forces to European allies
The plan is a “major evolution” of France’s deterrence posture, the president said in a long-awaited speech at the Île Longue naval base in Brittany.
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Tusk: "We ​are investing heavily in future nuclear power plants, and ​Poland will not want to be passive when it comes to nuclear security in a military context." "We will cooperate with our allies...as our capabilities increase, ‌we ⁠will try to prepare Poland for autonomous action in this matter."
reuters.com
Poland seeks as much autonomy as possible in terms of nuclear arms, Tusk says
Poland wants to be autonomous in the future when ​it comes to a nuclear deterrent, Prime ‌Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, as Europe seeks to build its capabilities independently of the United St...
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Frank Kuhn @frankkuhn.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
I'm just reading the speech and I am not sure if US nuclear sharing/foreign nuclear deployments are the right way to think about the dispersal of French strategic air force assets. At least to me, I understand it more as a dispersal concept to increase survivability, like Agile Combat Employment.
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Thinking back to my proposal of an Anglo-French nuclear deterrent for Europe that I wrote last March. Macron's scheme is naturally less expansive, but Rome wasn't built in a day and his speech was a big step in the right direction.
share.google
Eurodeterrent: A Vision for an Anglo-French Nuclear Force
Recently published Signal discussions in which senior Trump administration officials admit they “hate bailing out” America’s “pathetic” European allies
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Ankit Panda @nktpnd.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
French President Emmanuel Macron has just given a truly remarkable speech on France's nuclear policy at a moment of great anxiety in Europe. I wanted to offer an early comment. Welcome to the age of 'Dissuasion Avancée' in Europe. New post: panda.substack.com/p/dissuasion...
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James Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Interesting from an institutional standpoint: France-UK Nuclear Steering Group was first & could be seen as unique arrangement between Europe's two nuclear powers. France-Germany NSG could create a new dynamic: France as central node of Euro nuclear-consultative mechanisms with UK, Germany, others.
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UMN Political Science @umnpolisci.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Professors Ron Krebs and Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social are quoted by the @startribune.com, discussing Trump's missed opportunity to offer clarity to the country about America's military buildup. www.startribune.com/trump-sotu-a...
startribune.com
Rash: Trump should level with Americans about Iran
Trump missed the chance in his State of the Union address Tuesday night to offer clarity to the country about America’s military buildup in the Middle East, John Rash writes.
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Mark Bell @marksbell.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Delighted to review @nktpnd.bsky.social's excellent and important book The New Nuclear Age for Ethics and International Affairs #nukesky www.cambridge.org/core/service...
cambridge.org
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Andrew Karre @andrewkarre.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 09/02/2026
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
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Jane Vaynman @janevaynman.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
So, I spent many many years working on my book, and it coincidentally comes out the same week as the end of the New START Treaty.  In print from Cambridge University Press next week, and ebook is online now. www.cambridge.org/vaynman or on Amazon: a.co/d/0brNOTKq
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
In my opinion these people are the real heroes of the resistance to ICE. There’s no credit, no one can talk about their work (because they directly contact vulnerable families). It’s expensive and dreary and neverending. ICE follows them around. But they refuse to abandon their neighbors
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 04/02/2026
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated.
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lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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Jan 25
Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) 

But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 03/02/2026
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
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J. Luis Rodriguez @jluisrodriguez.com · 28/01/2026
In this new open access article in @poppublicsphere.bsky.social, co-authored by @laurensukin.bsky.social and @herzogsm.bsky.social, we present evidence that challenges key assumptions about nuclear politics.
doi.org
Rethinking the Deterrence-Disarmament Dichotomy: The Complex Landscape of Global Nuclear Weapons Preferences | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge Core
Rethinking the Deterrence-Disarmament Dichotomy: The Complex Landscape of Global Nuclear Weapons Preferences
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Fabian Hoffmann, PhD @frhoffmann.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
PhD submitted. I will save the grand speech for after the (hopefully successful) defense, but for now let me just say that I am incredibly grateful to everyone who supported me along the way, first and foremost my PhD supervisors. 1/2
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Erik E. Mueller @erikemueller.com · 30/01/2026
so proud of my community, metro, and state. ICE out now.
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