Reposted by Nicholas DanforthJosh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 25/09/2026i think a lot about lewis lapham's description of the time he interviewed for the CIA in the 1950s www.laphamsquarterly.org/spies/open-i... 417723
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A genuinely interesting conversation on AI, featuring perspectives from the Catholic Church, the AFL-CIO, and the Future of Life Institute. vimeo.com/1229147096/8...vimeo.comTech & AI Forum at UNGA81: Centering Humanity: The Future of Work in the AI EraCentering Humanity: The Future of Work in the AI Era 111
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The new season of @foreignpolicy.com's Counterpoint is starting. In the first episode, I hosted @emmamashford.bsky.social and @mcfaulmike.bsky.social for a fascinating discussion of Ukraine and NATO expansion: foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/cou...foreignpolicy.comHas NATO Expansion Made Europe Safer?Emma Ashford and Michael McFaul on explanations of Russia’s aggression. 110
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthSelim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 18/09/2026@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I will be live to discuss: - AI's impact on life in Turkey (and other developing countries) - the Kurdish "peace process" in Turkey & Syria Turkey: 5:00 PM (UTC+3) London (UK): 3:00 PM (UTC+1) NYC (USA): 10:00 AM (UTC-4) open.substack.com/live-stream/...open.substack.comLIVE SOON: Live with Selim & Nick: AI in Turkey; Syria and the KurdsStarting Sep 18 at 10:00 AM EDT 021
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 16/09/2026A great piece from Mike Haack about the role of right-wing Christianity in Myanmar's civil war: foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/16/t...foreignpolicy.comTrump, God, and the Struggle for the Chin StateThe MAGA movement has been a source of hope and headaches for Myanmar’s Christian diaspora and the rebels they support. 010
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthMarc Sinan Winrow @marcsinanwinrow.bsky.social · 15/09/2026I really enjoyed speaking with William Armstrong from Turkey Book Talk about Turkey and the Liberal International Order. Many thanks for such a thoughtful and engaging conversation! 065
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Great piece by @joestieb.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/04/w...foreignpolicy.comWhat Was the War on Terror?A defining period in U.S. foreign policy has ended, but it remains misunderstood. 052
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthJoe Stieb @joestieb.bsky.social · 04/09/2026foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/04/w... For those who may be interested, I've got a retrospective piece seeking historical precision for the War on Terror. My main claim is that the War on Terror, as a period of US foreign policy history, is over. It had 3 essential traits: 1. Terrorism was treated/google.comWhat Was the War on Terror?A defining period in U.S. foreign policy has ended, but it remains misunderstood. 4389
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthHoward Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 04/09/2026I can't say I agree with Giran Ozcan here, but this is worth reading nonetheless. foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/03/t...foreignpolicy.comTurkey’s Kurdish Peace Process Is Not About ErdoganThe government’s negotiations with the PKK will succeed because they are driven by geopolitical threats rather than domestic concerns. 122
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Just feels like the Greeks of all people would recognize the irony of calling a defense deal "Achilles Shield" www.politico.eu/article/isra...politico.euIsrael, Greece seal €3B ‘Achilles Shield’ defense dealThe package will cover ballistic missiles, aircraft and drones. 3234
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthSean Yom @seanyom.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I write in @foreignpolicy.com: Jordan's true external threat isn't Iranian missiles. It's Israeli formal annexation of the West Bank and the ethnic cleansing / population transfer that follows. To help Jordan, the US must *restrain* Israel. Stop annexation. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/31/j...foreignpolicy.comJordan Sees Bigger Threat From Israel Than IranFor Amman, Israeli annexation of the West Bank looms as an existential risk. 1165
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthBrilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 29/08/2026The American King-Crane Commission Plan To Divide The Ottoman Empire After World War 1 Do you think the Middle East would be better or worse off today had it been implemented? credit: @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social More about the plan and why it wasn't implemented: brilliantmaps.com/king-cran... 051
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthNicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Once again: Picking fights about maps is for geopolitical losers foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/28/t...foreignpolicy.comThe Cartography of GrievancePicking fights about maps is for geopolitical losers. 0249
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Possible Enes Kanter will single-handedly do more to discredit the Gulen movement than a decade of Turkish propaganda. 160
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 27/08/2026He in fact said "and/or the Pacific," which suggests we could in fact have an American Ocean on both sides 061
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Once again: Picking fights about maps is for geopolitical losers foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/28/t...foreignpolicy.comThe Cartography of GrievancePicking fights about maps is for geopolitical losers. 0249
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I fell into a [Turkish] ring of fire... 2547
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthVasabjit Banerjee @vasabjit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026I wrote about the Mecca pact. TL; DR: all alliances suffer from a set of four problems: chain ganging, buck passing, moral hazard, and free riding. The pact as it stands now does not address any of these. Thus, it resembles its near forgotten predecessor CENTO. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/25/m...foreignpolicy.comA Pact Without ImpactThe Mecca Joint Defense Agreement faces all the classic challenges of an alliance with none of the unifying elements. 042
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 20/08/2026It would be great if Leftists and Centrists could agree that they are all in fact very eager to defeat Trump they just have genuinely different views on how to do that. Everyone insisting the other side of the debate doesnt actually want to win is maddening. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...theatlantic.comThe ‘Resistance’ Is OverThe insurgent left cares more about its own factional agenda than the president’s threats to democracy. 150
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Reading both pieces together actually offers a surprisingly coherent story about how resource shortages and bad institutional incentives channeled important calls for reform into administrative policies that no one was happy with 15510
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Okay I think I have a pretty impeccable record of hating David Brooks, and I'm definitely on team lets focus on the fascists, but are we really saying politics doesnt factor into higher ed hiring decisions? 282
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 12/08/2026"There’s a lesson here, not only for restrainers and neocons but for anyone who imagines (including elements on the left) that Trump can be an instrumental champion of their preferred policy agenda. 091
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Leaving the politics aside, this is somehow a more respectful description of Lewiston than most New York Times articles manage 010
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Slightly higher chance of having to put on pants before noon, but otherwise I've found non-academic professional life much more relaxed and flexible. 030
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthJoe Stieb @joestieb.bsky.social · 08/08/2026For those who might be interested: Got a short piece in Foreign Policy from yesterday about Thomas Wright's new book and the future of Democratic Party foreign policy. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/07/t...foreignpolicy.comThere’s No Going BackThomas Wright on the post-Cold War order. 1123
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthNicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Some really fantastic reporting here on the state of political and military integration in Rojava: foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/04/r...foreignpolicy.comWhat Remains of RojavaIn northeastern Syria, Kurdish leaders continue to fight a rear-guard battle for autonomy. 072
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Some really fantastic reporting here on the state of political and military integration in Rojava: foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/04/r...foreignpolicy.comWhat Remains of RojavaIn northeastern Syria, Kurdish leaders continue to fight a rear-guard battle for autonomy. 072
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthTurkey recap @turkeyrecap.bsky.social · 02/08/2026📰 Sunday extras: "Can You Explain Istanbul?" with Suzy Hansen, @achristiemiller.bsky.social, @selimkoru.bsky.social and @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social. [1/5] kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...kulturkampftr.substack.comCan You Explain Istanbul?Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books 133
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthSelim Koru @selimkoru.bsky.social · 31/07/2026This was a wonderful episode to record! @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social and I sat down with @achristiemiller.bsky.social and Suzy Hansen to talk about their books on Istanbul, and Turkish politics more broadly. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...kulturkampftr.substack.comCan You Explain Istanbul?Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books 194
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 30/07/2026In the latest Kulturkampf, Selim and I sat down with Alex Christie-Miller and Suzy Hansen to discuss their Istanbul books. kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/can-you-ex...kulturkampftr.substack.comCan You Explain Istanbul?Suzy Hansen and Alexander Christie-Miller on the decisions behind their books 043
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthDan Nexon @dhnexon.net · 29/07/2026While Moyn was busy mocking liberals and social democrats for worrying about Trump, some of us were writing entire books about how, and why, the old order wasn't coming back. Anyway, @joestieb.bsky.social's analysis of this piece is spot on. 1/2 2297
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 29/07/2026On both extremes of the Brookings - Quincy spectrum are a handful of people who believe all the worlds problems could be easily solved with either more or less US power. In the middle are a lot of smart folks starting from the premise that solving all the worlds problems might actually be hard. 2164
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Presumably Rubio and Rodriguez also bonded over their shared experience as successful toadies to erratic autocrats www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...nytimes.comHow Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar 120
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 14/07/2026I fear a lot of more reasonable parts of Biden's foreign policy are going to be discredited if they people defending them can't make a cleaner break with his Gaza policy www.theatlantic.com/internationa...theatlantic.comThe Foreign-Policy Debate Democrats Need to HaveThe Biden administration focused on adapting American power to a dangerous new world. Progressives are calling that vision into question. 250
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Re-upping for no particular reason: foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/22/t...foreignpolicy.comTrump Tests the Limits of FarcepolitikWill America join the long line of countries confronting defeat with self-delusion? 010
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthJacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 07/07/2026In Foreign Policy, my colleague John Kennedy and I took stock of the war, with enormous thanks to @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social for commissioning and editing. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/07/u...foreignpolicy.comPutin May Escalate, but Ukraine Is WinningIn the ongoing battle of narratives, Kyiv’s supporters have every reason to hold the course. 1277
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthHoward Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I should develop a bot over every article that follows the "Turkey ascendant" line without taking the caveats seriously 132
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Okay, hear me out: What if the folks upset Platners nazi tattoo wasn’t a red line, the folks upset his other sexual assault allegations weren’t a red line, and the folks upset his joining a mercenary group to kill brown people wasn’t a red line all joined forces in some kind of progressive coalition 010
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthForeign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 04/07/2026Mainstream versions of American history downplay U.S. imperialism to tell a heroic story of the United States as a global champion of democracy.foreignpolicy.comHow to Spin an EmpireU.S. imperialism as inspiration and foil. 1103
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthForeign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 03/07/2026American education has effectively incorporated imperialism into a narrative of U.S. virtue and redemption.foreignpolicy.comHow to Spin an EmpireU.S. imperialism as inspiration and foil. 151
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026World Cup special! foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/12/f...foreignpolicy.comSoccer Still Has Some Explaining to DoRe-read today, Franklin Foer’s 2004 classic inadvertently suggests where globalization went wrong. 0183
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026the ruins of old imperialism foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/22/b...foreignpolicy.comFrom Berlin to Baghdad on the Ruins of a WWI RailwayThe unfinished line traces a fractured region still beset by competing imperial projects. 2395
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Here's one on the Vatican's postwar diplomacy and why it's never going to cooperate with Trumpian warmongering. foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/24/p...foreignpolicy.comPapal Politics, Past and PresentDespite more colorful medieval precedents, Pope Leo’s clash with Trump reflects the Vatican’s postwar peace advocacy. 15111
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 02/07/2026For the 4th, @foreignpolicy.com has 7 fantastic essays from 7 fantastic historians. Here is US history retold from the perspective of prostitutes and prairie animals, not to mention mafiosos and Missourians. All free to read, complete with sex, crime and bison: foreignpolicy.com/projects/ame...foreignpolicy.comAmerica Retold250 years of the United States and the world. 0156
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthSinem Adar @sinemadar.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Western countries' prioritisation of interests over values in the case of TR is indeed disheartening at a time when the country's opposition is facing severe repression. Yet, Turkey is far from an isolated case. 2112
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthNicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Excited to share a piece I wrote with Graham Cornwell on how America deals with the legacy of empire. Rather than hide or ignore it, we argue, U.S. leaders co-opted the country's imperial history in a much more sophisticated way. And it's free to read this week! foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/01/t...foreignpolicy.comHow to Spin an EmpireU.S. imperialism as inspiration and foil. 083
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthAaron Stein @aaronstein1.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Wrote a short report for colleagues at @brookings.edu about Turkey defense industry: www.brookings.edu/articles/low...brookings.eduLow-tech cash cows and high-tech bottlenecks: Turkey’s defense industry matures | BrookingsTurkey still faces problems in its defense industrial cooperation with Western allies—notably the United States. 053
Nicholas Danforth @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Excited to share a piece I wrote with Graham Cornwell on how America deals with the legacy of empire. Rather than hide or ignore it, we argue, U.S. leaders co-opted the country's imperial history in a much more sophisticated way. And it's free to read this week! foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/01/t...foreignpolicy.comHow to Spin an EmpireU.S. imperialism as inspiration and foil. 083
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthZuri Linetsky @zurilinetsky.bsky.social · 30/06/2026@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social told me all @foreignpolicy.com content is free this week. So I’m sharing my work. “America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want” For this I embedded with Marine F-35 unit looking at the tyranny of distance in Asia. foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/16/u...foreignpolicy.com 042
Reposted by Nicholas DanforthFrederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Terrific @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social piece on Trump’s “farcepolitik” and a credulous commentariat that buys it: “The result is an ecosystem where Trump’s most committed enablers declare victory after victory and a number of people who know better, or at least should, decline to call it a defeat.”foreignpolicy.comTrump Tests the Limits of FarcepolitikWill America join the long line of countries confronting defeat with self-delusion? 021
