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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This isn’t even imperialism, it’s mercantilism.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

These are called extraordinary renditions

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I recently read Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, which details the intel failures leading to 9/11, and Steve Coll’s Directorate S, which details the failures of the war in Afghanistan, and it’s striking how many US government officials who appear in the first book keep their jobs in the second.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Brazil's 1976 census, when Brazilians were asked their skin color and the question was open-ended, leading to responses from "burnt yellow" to "lilac" to "somewhat Galician" to "miscegenation," is the best illustration of the construction of race I show in my class apnews.com/general-news...

apnews.com

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Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

An amazing poll marking a 21st c high for Union approval & desire for their interest an ongoing uptick since 2020 [AHEM]. But for my purposes what’s interesting is the gap between what people want & what they think is possible/probable.

epi.org

Unions are extremely popular: 56 million workers would join a union if they could

New Gallup polling finds that 71% of people in the U.S. approve of unions, continuing the highest period of favorability in over 60 years. This coincides with the greatest number of workers represente...

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The ending of TPS is a stark reminder that the goal of this administration is not simply deporting “illegals,” but rather turning legal immigrants into “illegals,” thus forcing them from stable productive lives and into the shadows.

themarshallproject.org

‘I Am Afraid of Losing a Life that Took Decades to Build’: Salvadorans Await Loss of TPS

Salvadorans who are in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status program now face an uncertain future as it expires on Sept. 9.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Disappointed that the North Koreans got lazy here and just used the transliterated English word for computer (kompyuteo) like the colonized Southerners, rather than their pure Korean word jeonsangi, or electric calculation machine

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

In 2016, an evangelical conservative friend said about Trump, "He's not one of us but he'll get things done for us." One can interpret this as proof that right wing voters are hypocrites, or that they are better at thinking of politicians instrumentally as means to an end.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Ever heard of “compulsory union membership” or think you can sue for unjust dismissal? If you’re in Richmond, VA, come by Gallery 5 on Tuesday. I’m giving a public talk on common myths about unions and labor law in the US.

gallery5arts.org

Activism in Action - Singly, None: Busting Myths About Unions

Ever wanted to learn more about unions -- or just have better points in an argument with someone about them? We got you! Learn more about common myths about unions and labor-organizing with Dr. Mich...

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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Wise words on the Economic Policy Institute from my former colleague there, Jared Bernstein econjared.substack.com/p/happy-labo...

econjared.substack.com

Happy Labor Day: A Gift To My Readers

It’s free and many of you will already have it. But its value is insurmountable.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

For the Trump administration, it is preferable to be partnered with a nominally left wing government that’s a dictatorship than a likely right wing government that’s a democracy, because the latter would be accountable to its citizens and the former is accountable only to Trump.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I was on NPR’s Morning Edition today, talking about Rubio’s trip to Latin America, the boat strikes, and how some of the US’s main partners in the war on drugs in the region are tied to the drug trade themselves.

npr.org

Rubio to visit 3 Latin American countries this week

Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to Colombia, Peru and Ecuador as President Trump hails a shift to the right in regional politics and a new era of U.S. dominance.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Say hi if you’re in Boston for APSA!

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

We think of state capture as bad because it allows corrupt actors to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense. But it can also be used to settle petty personal scores, which is bad even if you have no stake in this particular beef.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I seem to remember being told this was all about Tren de Aragua, Cartel de los Soles, and narco dictators. Looks like over 200 fishermen had to be killed so Trump’s cronies could get an oil deal.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

"The Democratic Party has let a consulting industry exploit elderly donors in its name, wreck its reputation and finances in the process, and walk away rich whether the party wins or loses. And when a mirror is held up, the instinct is to break the glass rather than look."

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johnedwinmason @johnedwinmason.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

One more great thing about Dolly. She was a paid-up union member — American Federation of Musicians, Local 257, Nashville. And she had been for 58 years. www.afm.org/2026/08/afm-...

afm.org

AFM Statement on the Passing of Dolly Parton

Today, the entire community of professional musicians mourns the loss of an irreplaceable icon and a generous heart: Dolly Parton. While the world knows her as a global superstar and philanthropist…

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I show music videos from various countries in an undergrad class I teach on Latin American Politics. Since it's the start of the semester, I'll post a thread with the videos I currently show. However they're a little out of date, so I'm asking for any recommendations... (🧵)

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Of all of Colombia's President de la Espriella's shady connections, the weirdest has to be the University of Miami professor who was an expert on money laundering and who later went to jail for...money laundering...for de la Espriella's client Alex Saab.

wlrn.org

Did Colombia's presidential front-runner help hook up a Colombian criminal and a Miami professor?

Right-wing Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De la Espriella was the attorney for Venezuela's alleged corruption mastermind, Colombian-born Alex Saab, when UM prof Bruce Bagley was recruited i...

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Los ataques letales contra lanchas pesqueras parecen irracionales, pero contribuyen a establecer un marco de seguridad permanente favorable a los intereses económicos de EEUU, facilitado por la corrupción y el autoritarismo, escribimos @nancyokail.bsky.social y yo:

elturbion.com

Acabar con la Doctrina Donroe: América Latina puede resistir la extorsión de los cañones de Trump El Turbión

La Doctrina Donroe de Trump busca ampliar el dominio de EE.UU. en América Latina, pero la región puede resistir mediante integración y defensa democrática.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Corruption is a feature, not a bug of the Donroe Doctrine. The reason Trump considers Venezuela his greatest foreign policy success is that the chavistas' corruption makes them pliant to US demands. Remember Cartel de los Soles? Cooperate, you get immunity; resist, you end up like Maduro.

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Dana El Kurd @danaelkurd.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The people outraged over the academic freedom of Cofnas (which is apparently the freedom to harass & drive a man to suicide) I dont recall your outrage for the profs who got harassed & fired for speaking on Palestine I'm just a silly gal, I guess I dont understand what I'm free to do as an academic

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Nancy Okail @nancyokail.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

As the Third Pan-American Congress convenes in Montevideo @mpaarlberg.bsky.social & I argue in @commondreams.org that Latin America can resist Trump’s gunboat racketeering. The architecture is under construction; regional collaboration can keep it from hardening www.commondreams.org/opinion/what...

commondreams.org

Defeating the Donroe Doctrine: Latin America Can Resist Trump’s Gunboat Racketeering | Common Dreams

Performative violence—aka executions without trial at sea—overshadows how the administration is building a new US policy towards the hemisphere: acts of murder as a tool to create permanent structures...

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

It’s remarkable that Trump’s closest allies in Latin America in the war on drugs are the presidents of: - Colombia, a former lawyer for top drug traffickers and money launderers, including several who were prosecuted (Alex Saab) or convicted and jailed (Salvatore Mancuso, Macaco, DMG) in the US…

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Given that Colombia’s president represented top narcos as an attorney, and El Salvador’s president made deals with MS-13 and Barrio 18, it makes sense. The model is not simply mano dura, but rather police state spectacle by narco-tied presidents.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

We should consider developing a standing body of government officials who are trained in diplomacy and can be sent around the world to negotiate the interests of the USA, so the president doesn't have to send his grifting son-in-law, who doesn't have any skills or training or government clearances.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A tragic irony of this is that this story’s virality, and much of the dogpiling on social media, were driven by the way this one case of academic fraud fit so many people’s broader narratives about DEI, woke, and cancel culture, and that turned it into an exemplary case of cancellation

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

“A World for All” - a comprehensive new vision for progressive foreign policy - is available for preorder. Foreword by Bernie Sanders, edited by Matt Duss. I cowrote the Latin America chapter. Please check it out!

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

As a fellow Korean American, I think her real mistake was failing to mobilize the Korean vote by not making her top issue renaming the Sea of Japan the East Sea.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This is only going to continue. Ecuador was the first country to sign an agreement allowing the US to engage in “joint” military strikes on their territory. Colombia agreed this week, and US is pushing others to sign. Targets are supposedly “narco terrorists” ie anyone in a boat.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

US Coast Guard data shows they have about a 20% error rate in correctly identifying vessels carrying contraband. How much better do you think private mercenaries operating out of a UPS store and using Amazon drones would be?

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Center for International Policy @cipolicy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies & U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information. This change "serves only one purpose: to make corruption easier to conceal" - @cjcmichel.bsky.social

TRUMP ENDS FEDERAL REGISTRY OF SHELL CORPORATIONS

“The creation of the US's beneficial ownership registry was an important step forward in the effort to combat corruption and strengthen democracy. The Trump administration's decision to shut down this registry is a disaster for those efforts. It serves only one purpose: to make corruption easier to conceal.

The only people celebrating the move are ultra-wealthy Americans and kleptocratic regimes around the world who use anonymous shell companies to squirrel away their money, hiding their ill-gotten gains from public accountability.

The move will only increase corruption in the US, and further transform US politics into a pay-to-play racket in which the wealthy few benefit at the expense of the rest of us."

CASEY MICHEL, SENIOR NONRESIDENT FELLOW

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

That atheist, futbol-hating, opera-loving cosmopolitan elites who genuflect to the US, like de la Espriella and Milei, can run as populist nationalists isn’t just hypocrisy. It shows negative polarization means you don’t have to stand for anything consistent anymore except hating the zurdos.

theamericanconservative.com

The Poverty of the Latin American Right

Toadying to Washington is not a durable platform for the region.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Finally read the Atlantic memoir of the Woke 1 era at Bates. It’s entertaining but also an unintentional reflection of conservative caricatures of academia. Replace “racism” and “white supremacy” with “left wing bias” and “gender ideology” and you get an Atlantic or WSJ thinkpiece.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Past research has shown that there is a socialization effect of higher ed on student ideology, but it doesn’t come from professors but rather from fellow students. It makes sense that students care far more about impressing their peers than their professors.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

While I am happy to see any and all political prisoners being freed, I assume this was a quid pro quo with the Trump admin and I have to wonder what the chavista government got in return.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

The nice thing for Rubio’s presidential ambitions is any outcome on Cuba works out for him. If he succeeds (in replacing one regime official with a more pliant one), he “liberated” Cuba. If he fails, he rallies his South Florida base by saying only he can finish the job.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

You can’t lose to Trump twice running moderates and then say this

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Lower profile election, but nothing better encapsulates the trend in the Democratic Party of the outsiders becoming the insiders

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

3 things I think going on here: 1. Negative polarization 2. "Free trade with other countries" being read as internationalism. Neither party is actively pursuing FTAs, so trade not seen as a live threat 3. Continued shift of both Dem and DSA base from manufacturing to service and knowledge sectors

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Steve Saideman @smsaideman.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Even if involved in narcotrafficking, this would be illegal. Due process.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

It kind of makes you question your music tastes to listen to an interview of a band you like and learn that their music was used to flush out Taliban fighters with sound blasters

One Life podcast interview with Dwid from Integrity

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

What I think is wrong about the Vanderbilt declaration (as in both biased and counterproductive) is its assumption that scholarship would only be shoddy for political reasons. Why not just say “faculty have a duty to maintain scholarly standards,” period? And take action if they fall for any reason?

Text of the Vanderbilt declaration stating academic units will face reorganization if they fail to uphold scholarly standards for reasons of political bias

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Not the main point, but doing actual research involves collecting original data and testing hypotheses against it to make causal predictions, often by building statistical models. “Do your own research” as it’s commonly used means looking up things on YouTube or ChatGPT.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Much like 9/11 conspiracy theorists are the only people who believe the US government works as perfectly as it claims, Rubio is the only person who believes the Cuban government is as all powerful and influential as it claims.

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Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

One of the more interesting passages of the Time interview with Delcy Rodriguez time.com/article/2026...

Delcy Rodriguez refers to the teachings of a late Indian guru she followed, Sai Baba.

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