iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It 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...

Book: Transatlantic Storms in Anglo-American Relations: How the Alliance Weathers Crises

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

In Oxford, which means one thing: a trip to the Ashmolean to see the Amarna exhibit

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

How do US elites and the public think about competition w/ China? And who finds what Chinese diplomatic signals reassuring/ threatening, and by how much? Alex Yu-Ting Lin and I have a new article in @twqgw.bsky.social that answers these questions. Open access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Washington Quarterly Spring 2026 issue cover

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Excited to have this piece published in The Political Quarterly with @blagdendavid.bsky.social & Ronald Krebs. We have explored in previous work the concerning deference to the military in the U.S. context. After fielding a survey in the UK, we see similar concerning patterns of military deference.

Accepted norms of democratic civil-military relations aver, regarding the use of force, thatmilitary ofﬁcers may not substitute civilians’ judgement with their own and that civiliansshould not follow their guidance blindly. These theories often rest on the presumption thatthree critical actors—government, armed forces, and the public—adhere to these norms.Democracy suffers if voters are unduly deferential to military leaders and if their elected rep-resentatives follow suit. Existing research has questioned Americans’ commitment to demo-cratic civil-military relations, but we know little about Britons’ views. A popular stereotypeportrays Americans as unique among Western democracies in their veneration of the mili-tary, yet our novel survey data show that the British public’s attitudes toward civil-militaryrelations are strikingly—and concerningly—similar. Many British respondents appear tobelieve that civilian policy makers should defer to the military, even on fundamental ques-tions regarding decisions over whether to use force, and many are comfortable with militaryofﬁcers publicly advocating for their preferred policies. As the new Labour government hasrecently increased the strategic authority of the UK’s most senior military ofﬁcers, these ﬁnd-ings have pressing implications for policy. Elected civilians and military leaders alike mustreafﬁrm civilian primacy, rebuild trust in civilian government, and educate the public on ahealthily democratic civil-military compact.

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Looking for a Monday panel at ISA? Join us for a panel on "Great Power Decline and the Reconfiguration of Global Order," where @doncasler.bsky.social and I will present our paper on declining power and threat credibility alongside a group of extremely interesting (and unfortunately topical) papers.

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

When you need a book and the library has an ebook available

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

It was great to discuss @patporter76.bsky.social's new book 📕 "How to Survive A Hostile World: Power, Politics, and the Case for Realism" (lnkd.in/e2J27rWC) yesterday at the University of Birmingham book launch event (with Rita Floyd and Marco Vieira). Get a copy today!

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Withdrawing from the JCPOA was an obvious own goal from the start

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

University of Birmingham MA students in politics and international relations visited the European Commission today to hear about the Commission's work as well as the External Action's work on human rights. For more info on the Brussels tour, see: www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/gove....

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

It was a real pleasure to visit the UK Mission to the EU today with University of Birmingham Masters students in politics/IR. We heard about life in the civil service and the UK's relationship with the EU www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/gove... @unibirmingham.bsky.social

a group of university of birmingham students

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

The sun has set Not long ago Now everyone goes below To take a bath in one big tub With soap all over Scrub, scrub, scrub

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

When the wife tries to extract details from me

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Astonishing figure from the American Presidency Project

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

I don't have anywhere else to post an obituary, but he deserves one. Beau was our 'baked potato.' An excellent, if reluctant, big brother. He suffered with epilepsy, and his life became seizure-recover-repeat. But he was a good boy. He can rest easy now.

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

A moment of Zen on the University of Birmingham campus

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Feel for these workers, as well as those who planned to do research at the fantastic JFK library

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Me proposing a new course to teach vs me actually having to prep and teach that new course

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Me to myself when I'm in a research rut

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Ron Krebs and I have a chapter in this new volume edited by Kreps and Kriner. The chapter explores a pattern we observed in surveys: Sephardic or Mizrahi Jewish respondents and nonwhite respondents show greater casualty sensitivity than do their Ashkenazi or white counterparts. lnkd.in/d52e2ryC

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Robert Ralston @robertralston.bsky.social · 25/01/2024

just finished David Lodge's Campus Trilogy, with lots of connections to the University of Birmingham/"Rummidge" -- a very good trilogy!

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