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Robert Benson

@robertbenson92.bsky.social
209 followers 145 following 33 posts

D Phil, Free University Berlin; Berlin Social Science Center; Consultant OECD Paris; Analyst Center for American Progress (CAP). World Traveler.

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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Please do take a look at my latest with Luke Zahner for Stars and Stripes.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Some thoughts: "By refusing to articulate a clear alternative to Trump’s militarism, centrist governments in Europe leave space for far-right and nationalist parties to present themselves as the only political forces willing to defend European interests." www.americanprogress.org/article/iran...
americanprogress.org
Iran Spotlights How Trump Is Fracturing the Transatlantic Alliance
President Trump’s war with Iran is exposing how Europe has grown too divided and too dependent to resist an increasingly coercive transatlantic alliance.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
The Trump administration’s leaked “peace plan” hands Moscow strategic victories, forces Ukraine to swallow unilateral concessions, and sets the stage for a deadlier future war. Our latest at CAP: www.americanprogress.org/article/trum...
americanprogress.org
Trump’s 28-Point Peace Plan Will Invite the Next War
The Trump administration’s leaked “peace plan” hands Moscow strategic victories, forces Ukraine to swallow unilateral concessions, and sets the stage for a deadlier future war.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Trump’s new sanctions finally target the heart of Russia’s war machine, but only aggressive, disciplined enforcement will decide whether they actually bite. I walk you through what needs to happen: www.americanprogress.org/article/trum...
americanprogress.org
Trump’s Sanctions on Russia Are Serious—Enforcement Will Decide Whether They Work
President Trump’s new sanctions finally target the heart of Russia’s war machine, but only aggressive, disciplined enforcement will decide whether they actually bite.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
International lessons on how to re-build democracy.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
My think piece on Trump, Europe, and global re ordering after the trade deal. www.politico.eu/article/us-e...
politico.eu
The Turnberry trap: Trump, Europe and global reordering
The bloc’s challenge isn’t to restore the old transatlantic bargain but to build a new one before the next crisis hits.
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Reposted by Robert Benson
Laurence H. Tribe @tribelaw.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Putin did more than eat Trump’s lunch in Alaska. He ate Trump for lunch and swallowed him whole. The losers? Ukraine, the EU, NATO, and the United States of America.
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Reposted by Robert Benson
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
The battle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right. The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship. And we're sliding faster than I ever thought possible into the latter. Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
We took a moment to unpack the Anchorage and Washington summits this week - do watch.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
This is hardly a light news week, but please do read: Our take at American Progress on Trump's potential Surrender Summit. www.americanprogress.org/article/the-...
americanprogress.org
The Trump-Putin Alaska Meeting: Preventing a Surrender Summit
Trump’s planned Alaska meeting with Putin risks becoming a “surrender summit” that pressures Ukraine into abandoning NATO aspirations and accepting imposed neutrality, rewarding Russian aggression.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Firing the chief labor statistician isn’t just a scandal—it echoes the early warning signs from Argentina, Turkey, and the Soviet Union, where gutting independent economic institutions paved the way for autocracy and economic collapse. We’ve seen this movie before. It doesn't end well.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
This was an excruciating read. Torture and rape facilitated by the US government. Unconscionable crimes. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
washingtonpost.com
‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants
Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
The window is closing to stop Putin: my latest. www.americanprogress.org/article/amer...
americanprogress.org
America’s Window To Stop Russia Is Closing
Trump’s hasty ultimatum and symbolic tariffs will not deter Putin; only rapid weapons deliveries and enforceable energy sanctions can shift the battlefield and force Moscow to meaningfully negotiate, ...
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Do join!
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Some thoughts on what we can expect at next week's NATO summit: hint, Trump may be itching for a fight. www.americanprogress.org/article/nato...
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Reposted by Robert Benson
Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
We're going to see quite a split screen today: Millions protesting peacefully in defense of democracy, and a would-be dictator ordering tanks to tear up DC streets to make him feel powerful. It's obvious what the right side is. Be on it.
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Ben Rhodes @rhodesben.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Israel bombing Iran in the middle of US diplomacy is an astonishing and totally unnecessary escalation and humiliating for Trump who said he was ending wars.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Authoritarians’ early popularity can delay resistance — but that’s when the real damage gets done. My piece for Politico. www.politico.eu/article/demo...
politico.eu
Democratic backsliding in Europe holds lessons for America
Authoritarians’ early popularity can delay resistance — but that’s when the real damage gets done.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Fourth Circuit opinion: make this go viral. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order....
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Center for American Progress @americanprogress.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The same patterns of systemic corruption, democratic backsliding, & economic exploitation that have marred other parts of the world are now happening in the U.S. New from @robertbenson92.bsky.social:
americanprogress.org
How State Capture and Corruption Harms Citizens: Lessons From Abroad
Examples from abroad serve as prescient warnings that corruption and state capture erode services, impoverish societies, and compromise public safety.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
We’re not in a good place.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Examples from abroad serve as prescient warnings that corruption and state capture erode services, impoverish societies, and compromise public safety. www.americanprogress.org/article/how-...
americanprogress.org
How State Capture and Corruption Harms Citizens: Lessons From Abroad
Examples from abroad serve as prescient warnings that corruption and state capture erode services, impoverish societies, and compromise public safety.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Last week may be remembered as the true, quantifiable beginning of the end of American economic exceptionalism. Terrifying. on.ft.com/4cuKN3T
on.ft.com
America the Unstable
The US will pay a market penalty for Trump’s turmoil
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Rarely have I come across such a perfect crystallization of the difference between American and European thinking—one that I’m increasingly convinced will lead to U.S. disaster. Quote below from the FTs Big Read.
ft.com
Financial TimesFinancial Times
News, analysis and opinion from the Financial Times on the latest in markets, economics and politics
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Take a look at our new CAP report on threats to democracy abroad and what lessons can be derived here at home.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Can someone explain to me the absolutely mind boggling silence of elected officials over these state sanctioned kidnappings of U.S. residents.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Unlike the U.S., Beijing doesn’t self-sabotage. Grotesque spectacle. www.google.com/url?q=https:...
google.com
Greenland PM denounces US 'foreign interference' ahead of visit
Greenland's prime minister, Mute Egede, accused Washington on Monday of interfering in its political affairs by sending a US delegation to the Danish territory, which is coveted by US President Donald...
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Assaults on due process should alarm all of us. The state cannot kidnap legal U.S. residents and hand them over to third-party dictatorships for indefinite detention. What the hell are we doing? time.com/7269604/el-s...
time.com
What the Venezuelans Deported to El Salvador Experienced
Exclusive photos of the arrival of Venezuelan detainees deported from the U.S.
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Reposted by Robert Benson
Center for American Progress @americanprogress.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
"Should both sides of the Atlantic succumb, the future that unfolds will be unrecognizable to most — a world of barbed, militarized borders, blotted freedoms, and sapped economic and cultural ties." CAP's @robertbenson92.bsky.social for @inkstickmedia.com:
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The Destroyers Are Here: The Rise of the New Authoritarians
As the Trump administration swings the US to the hard right, it's also retreating from the rest of the world.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Some thoughts on where we find ourselves: the destroyers are here: read more at inkstickmedia.com/the-destroye...
inkstickmedia.com
The Destroyers Are Here: The Rise of the New Authoritarians
As the Trump administration swings the US to the hard right, it's also retreating from the rest of the world.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Russia is a dangerous imperialist autocracy with ambitions far beyond Ukraine. "Negotiating peace" by handing the Kremlin land and leverage isn’t strength—it’s surrender. Appeasement won’t stop Putin; it will invite more war.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Trump didn’t "stand up" to Zelenskyy—he and Vance staged a cowardly ambush and failed. It wasn’t strength; it was a brazen attack of a wartime hero. www.americanprogress.org/article/trum...
americanprogress.org
Trump and Vance’s Disgraceful Oval Office Ambush of Zelenskyy Comes at America’s Expense and Only Benefits Putin
Trump and Vance’s deliberate humiliation of Zelenskyy in Washington signaled to allies and adversaries alike that America’s leadership is in crisis, jeopardizing Ukraine’s fight for survival and embol...
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Far from keeping us safe, Trump’s fantasy imperialism—rambling about Greenland and Panama—alienates vital partners, spreads lies, and makes America weaker. Delusion isn’t strength; it’s reckless, embarrassing, and dangerous.
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Robert Benson @robertbenson92.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
So, I'm new here @americanprogress.bsky.social
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