Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 18/09/2026"AI is no more than a useless slop generator" "Essays are a true test of intellectual rigour" "AI makes it impossible to maintain the integrity of essays" I don't see how all three of these can be true, but all three seem to be held by many academics. 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Attempting to prove the point, there's a software engineer quoting Foucault in the thread. 010
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 06/09/2026I think it's also due an ever increasing % of news consumer-commentators being university educated. Hence 'performative' being everywhere, probably due to shared half-memories of misunderstanding Butler in a lecture once. 041
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 26/08/2026'an adversary can also escalate by dragging in neutrals or noncoalition members, thus raising the political costs to the United States... As the missiles possessed by regional adversaries become more advanced, the number of allies that might be threatened will grow.' 215 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 26/08/2026I've been reading Dynamics of Coercion by Daniel Byman and Matthew Waxman. Lots of relevance for the Trump administration's war with Iran: 'successful propagation of coercive strategies will require building sufficiently high and robust domestic and international support' 151 120
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 24/08/2026It's one of the best ever short contributions to critical theory. 030
Reposted by Nicholas LeesAylwyn Scally @aylwyn-scally.bsky.social · 19/08/2026In my experience quite a few colleagues are simply finding it impossible to get their heads around the fact that a written coursework essay, the basis for assessment their entire lives, is no longer any guarantee of effort or engagement by students. 53013
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Everyone either refuses to believe it or knew it anyways! 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 17/07/2026The sort of relatable content I keep returning to Bluesky for. 010
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/06/2026It's an especially big opportunity for someone who might want to take the lead in teaching and researching Central, Eastern European and/or Balkan politics. The Department is very open to appointing a suitable candidate in this area to carry this torch forward. 010
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/06/2026We are recruiting several colleagues in politics and internationsl relations. In a tough job market, this is a significant expansion and could be a great opportunity. Please share with potential candidates! tinyurl.com/4zmcmy6a tinyurl.com/3nse3a48tinyurl.comJob Specification 164
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Pretty much the case for post-modernism too! Actually, isn't the problem aestheticisation of politics, Benjamin said? 120
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Probably true, but will be resisted by managers up and down the UK. Also a very imperfect fix as LLMs provide shortcuts to reading and note-writing. 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 02/05/2026The outpouring of sympathy for the alleged stabber has been repulsive, although unsurprising given the current trajectory. 0263
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 29/04/2026This thread reads like if The Economist and The Lancet formed a militant wing. 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 29/04/2026Moderate land value tax. Unemployment benefit a % of prior income, falling over time. No cuts to fuel duty or gas subsidies to households during price shocks, just direct transfers if anything. Merge income tax and NI. Actually building transport infrastructure and houses. 5 great vote losers there! 110
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 10/04/2026I lost my Earthsea compendium at the end of my PhD after a series of lendings and moves, so I'll check this out! 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Funded PhD opportunity for a UK candidate working on the politics of Central and Eastern Europe (conceived broadly) at Liverpool University. This could be a great opportunity. www.liverpool.ac.uk/histories-la...liverpool.ac.uk Postgraduate research | School of Histories, Languages and Cultures | University of Liverpool 044
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 03/04/2026Is it the 'shoot the messanger' effect that also leads to social media dogpiles of people just trying to describe political developments? 0111
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 20/03/2026Relatedly, it's not only underspecified but poorly understood by most of its supporters, so every war is seen as a confirmation of the theory. 010
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 17/03/2026The protagonist in "The Gernsback Continuum" is a photographer and describes a fashion shoot early on, IIRC. 041
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/03/2026One more, closer to literature review and theoretical synthesis Juliet Kaarbo (2021) 'New directions for leader personality research: breaking bad in foreign policy' academic.oup.com/ia/article-a...academic.oup.comNew directions for leader personality research: breaking bad in foreign policyAbstract. This article considers how leaders' personality traits change over time. I focus on how leaders become more authoritarian, overconfident and more 031
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Reiter, Dan (1995), 'Exploding the Powder Keg Myth' www.jstor.org/stable/25392...jstor.org Exploding the Powder Keg Myth: Preemptive Wars Almost Never Happen on JSTOR Dan Reiter, Exploding the Powder Keg Myth: Preemptive Wars Almost Never Happen, International Security, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Fall, 1995), pp. 5-34 111
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Sample, Susan G (2016) ‘Anticipating War? War Preparations and the Steps-to-War Thesis’ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...cambridge.orgAnticipating War? War Preparations and the Steps-to-War Thesis | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge CoreAnticipating War? War Preparations and the Steps-to-War Thesis - Volume 48 Issue 2 111
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 11/03/2026One type of publication that my students find really useful and get a lot from is the medium-n qualitative survey of multiple cases. I'd like to find more good examples in the foreign policy analysis/international conflict field. Three good examples below. 121
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 20/02/2026I liked 'gadflies'. People with views, you know the ones. 1151
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 08/02/2026Recent research on secret police in autocracies indicates this pattern as well. 130
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 22/01/2026One of the most perceptive points I've seen, similar to the idea that crises are the product of complacency - a self-defeating prophecy. 010
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 21/01/2026I re-read the Clash of Civilizations article again recently (read the book years ago). It's still really not good in multiple respects and, although not completely wrong in terms of the role of identity, makes some wildly bad predictions like 'Russia and Ukraine are too similar to ever go to war'. 110
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 20/01/2026It's even worse for Ikenberry and Deudney's arguments about mutually restraining, co-binding relationships making US hegemony 'safe'. 021
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 06/01/2026If they stopped quoting the classics without context they might have to do some social science. 0100
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Has anyone checked on the Quincy Institute leftists since Friday evening? 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 10/12/2025Every year in Semester 1 computer lab sessions. Many are actively keen to develop computer skills they know they are lacking. 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Strongly correlated with the presence of the Deftones in popular culture. Everything will change if there's a White Stripes/The Strokes revival. 020
Reposted by Nicholas LeesLiv Uni Politics @livunipol.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Yesterday was a very busy day for our department and knowledge production! Thank you to everyone who attended the book launch for Dr @ndmlees.bsky.social and our offsite round table for the Dayton Peace Agreement which featured Dr @birtegippert.bsky.social at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social 📚👩⚖️⚖️ 031
Reposted by Nicholas LeesKenn Rushworth @kennrushworth.bsky.social · 19/11/2025An excellent day for the Liverpool politics departments A superb book launch by the superb @ndmlees.bsky.social at UoL And a brilliant roundtable at LJMU reflecting on 30 years since the Dayton Peace Agreement organised by @matesuba.bsky.social @birtegippert.bsky.social 073
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 19/11/2025Launch event for my new book 'The International Relations of the North-South Divide' today. 031
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 07/11/2025This is the quality content I come to Bluesky for 👍 120
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 06/11/2025An underrated big picture question is why small, rich countries exist. Why aren't they bullied and extorted by countries with greater total resources? 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 30/10/2025www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...cambridge.orgFascists | Cambridge University Press & Assessment 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 30/10/2025This is overall quite similar to Michael Mann's analysis of fascism's appeal as offering a) revenge for frightened elites b) 'cracking heads together' to get the nation moving again during a period of class conflict. 121
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 23/10/2025The bureaucratic/intragovernmental level of analysis is one of the least developed in the study of foreign policy & conflict studies, despite Allison's famous book Essence of Decision. Jost's work makes a new case that the way national security institutions operate has a big impact on war and peace. 000
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Jost's recent book provides a new analysis of the dangers of fragmented national security institutions. The accompanying article in International Studies Quarterly has a slightly different (and better designed) quantitative analysis as well as an extra case study: academic.oup.com/isq/article/...academic.oup.comValidate User 100
Nicholas Lees @ndmlees.bsky.social · 22/10/2025Very important point that doesn't seem to stick despite being made by Schweller and Glaser, as well as Wagner in the best book that few IR scholars seem to have read - War and the State. 010