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Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.7K following 3.7K posts

Historian at Stanford University, author of "Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World" and "Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion." It's good to have options.

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Reposted by Rob Rakove
joey-stabile.bsky.social @joey-stabile.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Really enjoyed the opportunity to review @augustacaesar.bsky.social's great new book 'Saving Apartheid: White Internationalism at the End of the Cold War' Many thanks to @patrickobrienstrickland.com + @inkstickmedia.com for the opportunity to write about it!
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Luke Johnson @ljohnson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Important conversation with @emmanuellechaze.com on the humanitarian catastrophe in #Oleshky publicsphere.news/p/q-and-a-59...
publicsphere.news
Q&A #59: Journalist Emmanuelle Chaze on the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Russian-Occupied Oleshky
Russia is engineering a humanitarian crisis in occupied Ukraine
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Zoom just sent me a summary of my neighbor's conversation with a repairman (my window was open during a guest-free office hour).
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Passport @passportshafr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The countdown has started! Our new website will be arriving on Monday, October 5, 2026. We're so excited to share this new step in Passport's journey with you! P.S.: Keep an eye out for a sneak peek later this week.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Nathan Fillion's Blasé Look
Alt: Nathan Fillion struggling to find words
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
No blood for Agamemnon
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Joe Flynn @chinajoeflynn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hi folks. If you saw this, you know the administration plans to only accept white South Africans next year. Tomorrow is Congress's formal say before the determination is signed. Please check this brief thread on why I'd like you to speak out for the Afghan people still in limbo...
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Dr. Todd Arrington @btarrington.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
President James A. Garfield died OTD in 1881, nearly 80 days after being shot by Charles J. Guiteau on Jul. 2. Here’s part 2 of a 2-parter I wrote about the Garfield assassination. For more on Garfield’s election to the presidency, see my book on this subject. kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700636037/
werehistory.org
The Assassination of President Garfield, Part II
Partisanship, Insanity, and Murder
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I had my first ever trip to the National Archives in San Bruno today. It’s a great facility with very friendly staff. Sadly it faces an uncertain future, as the present NARA leadership plans to close it and disperse its records.
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Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 02/09/2026
Terrible news today! Konrad Jarausch was a towering scholar of German history. He was also on my dissertation committee and so influential in making me the scholar that I am today. His graduate writing seminar was the single most important class I ever took. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/c...
newsobserver.com
Noted UNC history professor drowns in Chapel Hill lake
Chapel Hill police said the call about a missing swimmer came in around 11 a.m. Tuesday.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I’ll just reiterate:
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Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
For Doomsday Machines this week I wrote about one of the most remarkable early-20th century “end of the world” science fiction stories I have read — E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909). It is impressively prescient and relevant to our present moment.
doomsdaymachines.net
Rage against the Machines
E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909)
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Most devastating use of a pen since Casino (1995).
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Brian McNeil's much-anticipated study of U.S. humanitarianism during the Nigerian Civil War is now in print.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Soundgarden did it first.
theguardian.com
Astronomers discover a new kind of cosmic object – a black hole ‘star’
The body is the size of the entire solar system and glows with a brilliant red light billions of light years from Earth
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James Lin @jamestwotree.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I'm honored to announce the publication of my article in the Journal of Asian Studies on the history of empire and postempire between Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Link for free guest access (for 3 months), and a thread: read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-a...
read.dukeupress.edu
Taiwan and Southeast Asia: Development, Empire, and Post/coloniality
Abstract. Inspired by the late historian Aaron Moore's work exploring the continued legacies of the Japanese Empire in postwar Southeast Asia, this article examines a similar trajectory for Taiwan in ...
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Brad Simpson @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I am thrilled to be one of the organizers for what promises to be a landmark conference on the history of Indonesian internationalism, to be held next July 2027 at UGM In Yogyakarta. Please distribute widely @asianstudies.org m.facebook.com/story.php?st...
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Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
81 years ago today, on August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped upon the city of Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States. This was 3 days after the first atomic attack on Hiroshima.
Nagasaki, bomber's eye view: Close-up view of the head of the mushroom cloud at the Nagasaki explosion, as seen from either the bomber or the observation plane.Nagasaki, distant ground view: Photo of the Nagasaki cloud taken ~15 minutes after the atomic bomb detonation, by Hiromichi Matsuda, stationed at Koyagi-jima Island, some 5 miles / 8 km away.Nagasaki, before and after, aerial views. Nagasaki, ground view, some weeks after the attack.
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Cornell University Press @cornellupress.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
EUROPE’S LITTLE ANARCHY uncovers the history of Neutral Moresnet: a once-forgotten space without borders, #nationalism, or a recognized government. #EuropeanHistory #NeutralMoresnetHistory Learn more here: ow.ly/Yexx50Z6pfu
ow.ly
Europe's Little Anarchy by Steven Press | Hardcover | Cornell University Press
Europe's Little Anarchy uncovers the history of Neutral Moresnet: a once-forgotten space without borders, nationalism, or a recognized government. Between 1815 and 1919, this square mile of land wedged...
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Not even a little concern?
pressherald.com
Susan Collins has no comment on Republicans holding Fauci in contempt; Angus King criticizes move
Republicans on a Senate committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked the Fifth Amendment to not answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic and its orig...
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Chris Nehls @nehls.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Reminder that when House members like Chuck Edwards leave, the Ethics Committee just packs up their investigation and puts it away and we don't know all that happened. Its an accountability dodge and Ethics should required to release what it has
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This sounds great:
abc.net.au
Australians are the villains in star-studded New Zealand spy comedy
What happens when you take the exciting world of spies and subterfuge to 1970s New Zealand? We talk to Paul Williams and Bret McKenzie about making their childhood fantasies come true in hilarious new...
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
FOX thinks it’s TMZ with all these celebrity shots.
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Lauren Turek @laurenfturek.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I am really excited to be co-chairing the conference program committee for #SHAFR2027. I love all things about the SHAFR conference, but I'm especially excited to bring a greater focus on public history to the conference and for our inaugural poster session (including an undergrad poster session!)
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Renata Keller @renatakeller.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
So excited to see my article on hemispheric responses to the Cuban Missile Crisis up on the Americas Quarterly website! americasquarterly.org/article/the-... #History 🗃️
americasquarterly.org
When the Cuban Missile Crisis Shook the Hemisphere
As nuclear war loomed, ordinary people throughout Latin America made their voices heard.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Seriously?
Word thinks "the" is a typo. Help.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
House of the Dragon makes a compelling case for the Third Amendment.
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Kent State University Press @ksupress.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
First look! We’re excited to share an excerpt from Mark Burrell’s “The View from Havana: Searching for Ernest Hemingway,” coming in November from Kent State UP: kentstatebooks.wordpress.com/2026/07/13/f...
Text: The View from Havana: Searching for Ernest Hemingway, Mark Burrell
Cover image: Three ships, four fish, and a sea bird against stylized waves.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
May the best Harold win.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I am begging critics to have an iota of either curiosity or self-doubt. Failing that, look up the Exodusters.
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Mattie Christine Webb @mattiecwebb.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
In my new piece for @lawfaremedia.org, I trace the longer history of the Trump administration's controversial Afrikaner refugee policy and examine South Africa's response to it: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/afri...
lawfaremedia.org
Afrikaner Refugees and the Limits of U.S. Pressure on South Africa
Beyond Washington’s refugee policy is a larger story about South Africa’s foreign policy and the limits of U.S. power in a multipolar world.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 09/07/2026
yeah, not all that surprised that a guy who was incapable of taking responsibility for any of his choices or decisions also refuses to take responsibility for this one.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
#Mitchellmentum
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
At no point in this sordid saga has Platner pantomimed anything resembling contrition. Somehow he always seemed to think he was the victim.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
George Mitchell, a weary nation summons you back to public service.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
France can do this all day.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Vastly more people were watching the World Cup in Redwood City's central plaza the other night.
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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
As an American history professor, I regularly read new books, articles, and dissertations, and also evaluate unpublished manuscripts for journals and book publishers. I would not categorize the recent and emerging historiography in the binary way that Ezra Klein does.
There has been a severing of American history into two visions: one that can only see glory and one that can only see suffering and sin.
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Stacy Fahrenthold @sfahrenthold.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
The NARA San Francisco office is *the* place to study histories of US immigration and western histories of all sorts. Its staff are extraordinarily valuable for researchers, historians, and citizens who visit daily to learn more about these topics. This is terrible. www.kqed.org/news/1208890...
kqed.org
Exclusive: The Bay Area’s National Archives Office Is Closing. Researchers Are Worried | KQED
The Bay Area collection includes original records from landmark birthright citizenship case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, and inmate records from Alcatraz. Federal officials didn’t provide details ab...
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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I got angrier and angrier as I wrote this for @damemagazine.bsky.social. The collapse of this country’s civic morality dovetails with the cruelty and corruption that dominates policy. The rest of our institutions are being dragged down by or are abetting it. That’s the thing on my mind this 4th.
damemagazine.com
How Trumpism Is Destroying America's Civic Morality
Trumpism has normalized cruelty, corruption, and public spectacle. Rebuilding democracy requires restoring civic morality, accountability, and decency.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
This essay covers some of the same (literal) terrain as Jay Sexton's terrific presidential address at #SHAFR2026 foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/23/a...
foreignpolicy.com
From Bloody Kansas to the Rebuilding of Europe
In trying to restore order after World War II, U.S. leaders drew lessons from a dark chapter in their country’s history.
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Just a french cat @justafrenchcat.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
It was worse than that. I remember that considering the total lack of federal action some govs or medical institutions bought emergency supplies themselves, only to have them confiscated by feds for later political distribution. For example: www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
latimes.com
Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word
As hospitals battle the coronavirus, they're baffled as the Trump administration seizes hard-to-stock medical supplies.
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
This happened with ventilators (probably with other medical supplies) during the pandemic.
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Rachel Hope Cleves @rachelcleves.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
During WWII, the US govt targeted birthright citizens with exclusionary hate & discrimination. Many of those Japanese Americans happened to be hugely talented athletes, & used sports to resist & offer an inspiring alternative. Check out my column & podcast season on baseball at the camps for more! 🗃️
historians.org
Diamonds in the Rough – AHA
Baseball became a powerful form of collective resistance for Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.
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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Another piece that I was really excited to write. Why has South Africa’s judicial transformation been so successful when the judiciary was so heavily implicated in apartheid’s crimes? And what lessons does that transformation hold for us?
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Rob Rakove @robrakove.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
France seems very patient.
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Jack Rakove @jrakove.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
For all of you who admired and learned from Gordon Wood's work, as I manifestly did, here is a fresh set of tributes at the Library of America website. www.loa.org/news-and-vie...
loa.org
In Memoriam: Gordon S. Wood 1933–2026 - Library of America
It is with deep sadness that we learn of the death of historian Gordon S. Wood at the age of 92. Wood was a longtime friend and advisor to the Library of America who generously shared his incomparable...
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Emma Kluge @emmakluge.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
New article out, open access, in Itinerario: “West Papuans between transnationalism and internationalism.” I trace how West Papuan activists used regional organisations and the UN to push for self‑determination, linking their campaigns to debates about race, sovereignty, and representation.
cambridge.org
West Papuans between Transnationalism and Internationalism | Itinerario | Cambridge Core
West Papuans between Transnationalism and Internationalism
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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
The Covid stuff makes me really queasy. I don’t really know what to say to that.
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