Reposted by Robert RalstonMichael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026does he ask ChatGPT “make this sound more uncanny” for every sentence? 1424825
Reposted by Robert Ralstonsianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I don’t understand why I or anyone should care what Ratcliffe has to say or why it is on the news 167269
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 18/09/2026It was great to recieve a surprise package from Singapore with a special treat inside: "Transatlantic Storms in Anglo-American Relations: How the Alliance Weathers Crises" (not timely at all....) from @wdjames.bsky.social. press.georgetown.edu/Book/Transat... 010
Reposted by Robert Ralstonvictoria scott @victoriascott.bsky.social · 17/09/2026This isn’t funny. Commodities traders only do this when they’re in extreme distress 231101160
Reposted by Robert RalstonEnough Of That Now @andygilder.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Trump becomes the first orange man to support a united Ireland 682127574
Reposted by Robert RalstonIn Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 11/09/2026It 100% happened and was real to the point it quickly felt weirdly oppressive on its own terms, but we have literal numbers for this! Dubya had approval ratings in the 90s! 1520814
Reposted by Robert RalstonHenry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 09/09/2026There's a constant insinuation that Ed Miliband is not a 'real Jew', and it seems very bad 711123174
Reposted by Robert RalstonAkivaMCohen @akivamcohen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026It's worse than this. Because in the early morning of October 7, Israeli intelligence picked up signs that Hamas was doing something - but concluded that it was likely just a drill. Had Netanyahu passed along the specific warning from MBZ that Sinwar was planning something big and imminent ... 20840247
Reposted by Robert RalstonSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026New PISA data out England is now top ten in all three areas (reading, maths, science) and the second highest performing country outside of east Asia (after Estonia). This is a huge public policy success. 451039254
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 02/09/2026As I'm prepping for teaching rising powers and global order again (with @macvieira.bsky.social), this recent review essay is excellent. Non-Western Visions of International Order - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...annualreviews.orgNon-Western Visions of International OrderThe scholarship on the concept of order has been expanding within international relations. The continuous upheaval of world politics first triggered a broad debate on the resilience of the liberal int... 010
Reposted by Robert RalstonSumita Pahwa @sumitapahwa.bsky.social · 27/08/2026It's that time again.... 0164
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 27/08/2026We find something kinda similar in civ-mil -- that folks are happy deferring to the military when their man is out of power, but become lovers of civilian control when their man is out of office www.cambridge.org/core/journal...cambridge.orgNo Right to Be Wrong: What Americans Think about Civil-Military Relations | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge CoreNo Right to Be Wrong: What Americans Think about Civil-Military Relations - Volume 21 Issue 2 120
Reposted by Robert RalstonIn Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I don’t know what the word is, but the Trump administration’s record in everything in and around my expertise makes me feel like watching someone torching the library of Alexandria 914031
Reposted by Robert RalstonWalter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Trump has threatened to sue the left-leaning @americanprogress.bsky.social (CAP) and its donors over a study it published questioning the benefits of his National Guard deployment. I'm proud that Cato's president is speaking out against this act of intimidation. "We stand with CAP." /1 9719158
Reposted by Robert RalstonStephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 23/08/2026#Trump is torching relations with some of our closest friends (e.g., Canada) because 1) he’s a vengeful bully, and 2) he mistakenly thinks a trade deficit means other countries are stealing from us. In other words, he does not understand how international trade works. At all. 0213
Reposted by Robert RalstonIan Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 23/08/2026I guess it's kind of hard to view the dismissal of one grublike phrenologist as a major hit to free speech after major American universities have in the past year banned the use of words and eliminated entire departments in the hopes of pleasing the senile president 384788998
Reposted by Robert RalstonMichael Clemens @mclem.org · 12/08/2026Incredible. When E—n M—k & his crew obliterated USAID in a weekend, they deleted a vast trove of publicly-funded knowledge: the Development Experience Clearinghouse. A Canadian high school student (!) happened to have downloaded the entire thing for a project. AidData has now posted it for all.aiddata.orgBefore reimagining development data, remember what we’ve learnedWhy we’re publishing a free, searchable, and ungated archive featuring a quarter-century of USAID evaluation reports. 374442808
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 02/08/2026“It’s not an intentional attack but it’s the unintended consequences. No one is looking at the cumulative effect, which has been as bad or worse than anything that’s happened in the US,” Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, LSE head says giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...giftarticle.ft.comLabour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head saysLSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic students’ fees, limits on international students and rise in employers’ national insurance 010
Reposted by Robert RalstonGary Dauphin @ebogjonson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026I try to resist the impulse to read any single story as a sure sign of impending national/civilizational collapse. but at any given moment there are four or five things happening at once that I'm trying not to be a doomer about, which is about three too many 0202
Reposted by Robert RalstonDan Nexon @dhnexon.net · 27/07/2026This is yet another reminder that fascism has been normalized across much — but not all — of the so-called "advanced industrial democracies." The ultimate goal should be to re-stigmatize it, but the reality is that, at least for now, it's going to be a "normal" part of the political landscape. 1/2 13711
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 20/07/2026unfortunately a widespread phenomenon: "Research income targets for Liverpool’s new academics ‘unfair’" - Growing pressure on probationary staff to win grants represents ‘material divergence’ from agreed policies, argue UCU leaders www.timeshighereducation.com/news/researc...timeshighereducation.comResearch income targets for Liverpool’s new academics ‘unfair’Growing pressure on probationary staff to win grants represents ‘material divergence’ from agreed policies, argue UCU leaders 000
Reposted by Robert RalstonMatt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 16/07/2026If anyone wants to read about what efforts are being taken to regulate prediction markets, and how the Trump admin is trying to stand in the way... @robertralston.bsky.social and I wrote about this recently! theconversation.com/prediction-m...theconversation.comPrediction markets are opening many new opportunities for unregulated insider trading and unethical bets – in the name of making a game out of politicsThe rapidly growing popularity of prediction markets is sparking worries about the markets’ effects on US politics, where campaign staff has bet on its candidate’s electoral performance. 033
Reposted by Robert RalstonArthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 16/07/2026We aren’t a serious country. 214840
Reposted by Robert RalstonRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Zia Yusuf claims Farage is bravely "bringing forward" the judgment of "the ultimate authority": the people of Clacton. Two problems here: 1) He's insisting they judge *before* the full evidence has been heard, not *after*; 2) No constituency can exempt its MP from rules designed to protect us all 44784228
Reposted by Robert RalstonTed Underwood @tedunderwood.com · 06/07/2026If England barely fights off the Norwegians, but then is too exhausted to resist France, you do realize we’re getting a tapestry about it 14352112
Reposted by Robert RalstonJosh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 06/07/2026see this is why it was a mistake for the LSAT to get rid of the logic games 3999
Reposted by Robert Ralstonlastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 06/07/2026I don't know if we can attribute everything to Greggs' patriotic decision to remove their Mexican menu items, but we can surely attribute some credit thereto. 414716
Reposted by Robert RalstonMark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 05/07/2026How it started / how it’s going 131211327
Reposted by Robert RalstonNY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 26/06/2026My grandkids have measles and I’m about to get kicked out of my nursing home since they had to fire all the Haitian nurses. But at least now I know that the students at some school I never heard of aren’t going to get trigger warnings anymore. 665194
Reposted by Robert RalstonNaomi Schalit @democracyeditor.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Prediction markets may not be only influencing international affairs; they could also affect the 2026 midterm elections. @mattmotta.bsky.social & @robertralston.bsky.social sound the alarm theconversation.com/prediction-m...theconversation.comPrediction markets are opening many new opportunities for unregulated insider trading and unethical bets – in the name of making a game out of politicsThe rapidly growing popularity of prediction markets is sparking worries about the markets’ effects on US politics, where campaign staff has bet on its candidate’s electoral performance. 032
Reposted by Robert RalstonIn Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Not to make it All About Me but when you need a cite for how high gas prices affect public support for foreign policy (say because the WH just made this explicit) you can read my new @fpajrnl.bsky.social piece academic.oup.com/fpa/article/...academic.oup.comPay Any Price? Measuring Americans’ Willingness-to-Pay for Sanctions on Russia and ChinaAbstract. Economic sanctions appear to be an inexpensive means for wealthy countries to punish or coerce targets. Not all sanctions are, or will be, cheap, 57020
Reposted by Robert RalstonMatt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Prediction markets are turning US politics into a game. Today in @us.theconversation.com, @robertralston.bsky.social and I discuss how prediction markets could impact the Midterms, and why some efforts to regulate them are challenging Trump admin. priorities. theconversation.com/prediction-m...theconversation.comPrediction markets are opening many new opportunities for unregulated insider trading and unethical bets – in the name of making a game out of politicsThe rapidly growing popularity of prediction markets is sparking worries about the markets’ effects on US politics, where campaign staff has bet on its candidate’s electoral performance. 022
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 16/06/2026new from @mattmotta.bsky.social and me: Prediction markets are opening many new opportunities for unregulated insider trading and unethical bets – in the name of making a game out of politics theconversation.com/prediction-m...theconversation.comPrediction markets are opening many new opportunities for unregulated insider trading and unethical bets – in the name of making a game out of politicsThe rapidly growing popularity of prediction markets is sparking worries about the markets’ effects on US politics, where campaign staff has bet on its candidate’s electoral performance. 011
Reposted by Robert RalstonGerasimos Tsourapas @tsourapas.bsky.social · 15/06/2026I am happy to share our new, open-access article in International Political Sociology: how enforced disappearance in Libya became a durable tool of authoritarian rule, from Italian colonial rule through Gaddafi to today. With Walid Ali & Iosif Kovras. Available here: doi.org/10.1093/ips/... 062
Reposted by Robert RalstonPlague Poems @plaguepoems.bsky.social · 12/06/2026When you see the story about how the world now has its first trillionaire, and when you see the story about how laboratories in Congo have run out of supplies to test for Ebola, it is important to understand that in many ways these are the same story. 8258072410
Reposted by Robert RalstonSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 04/06/2026DfE pupil data is out today and shows that the number of private school pupils has dropped 5.6% since VAT was introduced. Not 25% like the independent schools council predicted. Or the 50% we saw in some right-wing papers. 5.6%. 851352421
Reposted by Robert RalstonIn Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 02/06/2026It’s funny that rich people nurseries have low-no tech and just endless amounts of wood 35711
Reposted by Robert RalstonG Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 02/06/2026New report out today with my friends at Verasight writing up a couple new studies I designed on AI “digital twins” in polling. The upshot is basically these tools are very inaccurate unless you have raw polling data to build on (which defeats the purpose!)verasight.ioCan AI "Digital Twins" Replace Human Survey Respondents? | VerasightVerasight ran four experiments on AI "digital twins." Synthetic samples can match polls on Trump approval and the generic ballot, but fail systematically on almost everything else. 514036
Reposted by Robert RalstonDuck of Minerva @duckofminerva.bsky.social · 02/06/2026We are saddened to learn of the passing of Duck contributor @raulpachecovega.bsky.social. He was a friend to all on their social science journeys. If anyone would like to write a tribute, please DM us. 0209
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 27/05/2026"The Office for Students, which regulates the sector, found this month that 43 per cent of universities were likely to have ended 2025-26 in deficit after “over-optimistic” attempts to boost student recruitment." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... 000
Reposted by Robert RalstonStarfire’s Deranged Neocon Foreign Policy Podcast @irhottakes.bsky.social · 22/05/2026See, the thing is that whether USAID was a cynical op to expand imperial influence or a sincere act of goodwill from the United States, all those Africans are still dead. 392188451
Reposted by Robert Ralstonae @aelkus.bsky.social · 17/05/2026really hard to beat this as a symbol of institutional decay. the SEALs — a unit that has become infamously loose in discipline — escorting a corrupt politician without any discipline (Patel) on a party inside a hallowed watery graveyard for the fallen 15838192
Reposted by Robert RalstonBen Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Did not expect Mahmood to deny Starmer ILR but I guess those are the new Home Office rules. 1025948
Reposted by Robert RalstonOona Hathaway @oonahathaway.bsky.social · 07/05/2026The Defense Department has requested funds for danger pay to troops that are at increased risk of taking hostile fire or other dangers. Rather than paying more danger pay, let's stop the illegal war of choice that's putting our troops in danger. www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...militarytimes.comDanger pay for US troops could double, expand to more regionsThe U.S. defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2027 has raised the prospect of an increase in the monthly stipend paid out to troops in dangerous regions. 1193
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 05/05/2026lol, typically understated by Barry Posen: "Barry Posen, a professor of political science at MIT and former director of its Security Studies program, said Hegseth appears to “have a preference for people who look like him.”" www.salon.com/2026/05/01/r...salon.comRepublican lawmakers increasingly concerned over Hegseth's ideological military - Salon.comConservatives are voicing criticisms after Hegseth unceremoniously fired a top military leader 010
Reposted by Robert RalstonMike Black @mikeblack114.bsky.social · 03/05/2026the thing dem pols need to internalize is this guy and his entire family will vote republican for the rest of their lives, regardless of the republican party literally ending their livelihood 17663571429
Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Have you been to/facilitated a writing retreat for faculty? If so, do you have any tips? 000