Deborah Avant

@deborahavant.bsky.social

3.3K followers 710 following 260 posts

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Deborah Denise Avant is an American political scientist and faculty member at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Avant was also the inaugural Director of the university's Sie Cheou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy and is a Distinguished University Professor. In 2015 Professor Avant launched the Journal of Global Security Studies for which she served as Editor-in-Chief until 2020. She was the 2022-2023 president of the International Studies Association. .. more

Political science 66%

Economics 18%

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Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 3d

America first?

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 3d

Senior state department official Sarah Rogers travelled to European cities in December and has spoken to key figures in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party about deploying grants to spread ‘American values’. ft.trib.al/Kx8ta8a

Reposted by Amir Attaran, Deborah Avant, Nicolai von Ondarza

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 3d

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 3d

Priceless

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 3d

there’s a rare sense of justice in the thought that there are people looking at their trumpcoin or melaniacoin wallets and thinking, dammit, should’ve bought fartcoin

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

There are drawdowns. And then there’s Melania Coin.

Reposted by Deborah Avant, Daxton R. Stewart

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 3d

there’s a rare sense of justice in the thought that there are people looking at their trumpcoin or melaniacoin wallets and thinking, dammit, should’ve bought fartcoin

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

There are drawdowns. And then there’s Melania Coin.

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 3d

No words.
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...

Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.

www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Deborah Avant, Daxton R. Stewart

Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 3d

Very big win here. A federal judge says it's just fine for funds and pension plans to boycott fossil fuels
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/c...

Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law Targeting Critics of Fossil Fuels

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Claire L. Adida, Deborah Avant

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 3d

NEW: Trump's plan to steal the Midterms. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/trumps-pla...

Trump’s Plan to Nationalize Elections Using Fabricated Claims of Foreign Interference

A recent history of Donald's attempts to conjure up foreign election interference in an effort to seize voting machines and control elections in the name of national security.

www.muellershewrote.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 6d

@matthewhoffman.bsky.social has some hopeful words on the possibilities of meeting the climate challenge in the wake of the "rule based order".
theconversation.com/addressing-c...

Addressing climate change without the ‘rules-based order’

Everyone who cares about climate action must now grapple with how climate politics can function in a new world of uncertainty.

theconversation.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 9d

The United States is responsible for about 95 percent of the money owed to the United Nations, about $2.2 billion...

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/w...

U.N. Says It’s in Danger of Financial Collapse Because of Unpaid Dues

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Kim L. Scheppele, Nandita Sharma , and 33 more Anne Applebaum, Kim L. Scheppele, Nandita Sharma, Stephan Lewandowsky, David Brady, Andrew Scott, Mark D. White, Maarten Vink, Guy Grossman, Paul Goldstein, Daniel W. Drezner, Michael Kevane, Trevon D. Logan, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Aaron Sojourner, Martha Albertson Fineman, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Scott A. Imberman, Michael H. Whitworth, David C. Kimball, Jason Lyall, Michael Jones‐Correa, Nancy Langston, Mark Priestley, Ann Bartow, Deborah Avant, Matthew P. McAllister, Karen O’Leary, Christina Pagel, Olivier Mannoni, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Timothy D. McBride, Dunlap, Peter Jacobs, Jesse R. Lasky

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9d

This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.

(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 13d

@crow.house.gov : the tactics you use to build are different from those you use to destroy. But they should not be confused with weakness. We need to use building tactics, but build something new and better - a government that works. @josefkorbelschool.bsky.social

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 13d

@crow.house.gov telling Dean Mayer and the @josefkorbelschool.bsky.social audience how he is using appropriations, legislation, and litigation to push back. And he is grateful for the citizens around the country overseeing ICE in ways that make it easier for him to do his job.

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 14d

Quite a lot here to think about but just the lede is worth repeating: change seems impossible until it doesn't.
open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...

Change seems impossible until it doesn't

The killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis yesterday feels like a significant turning point in what was already an awful and authoritarian situation.

open.substack.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 15d

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/m...

Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, W. Andy Knight, Deborah Avant , and 1 more Rosemary A. Joyce, W. Andy Knight, Deborah Avant, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d

Murphy: "It's always been the fear & now is closer to the reality that the Trump admin is creating this mayhem, particularly in cities in swing states, to take control of elections. They're trying to trade the presence of ICE & the murder & mayhem they are causing for control of MN's elections"

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 20d

Whoa

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · 24d

There is nothing funny about what is going on in Minnesota, but the Stripes clip at the end is spot on.
open.substack.com/pub/danieldr...

I'm Worried About Fragile American Men

Lighten up, Francises.

open.substack.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · Jan 8

Denver folks - check out this event in which I talk with my very smart friends about what fresh hell we're facing. I will touch on civ-mil relations, global governance, and the role of business and they will cover much more...
t.e2ma.net/webview/bddt...

Trump 2.0 Year 1: Policy, Politics, and Global Implications

Join us on Jan 20 # Trump 2.0 Year 1: Policy, Politics, and Global Implications Join the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy and Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy exactly ...

t.e2ma.net

Reposted by Valerie Mueller, Deborah Avant, John H. Knox

Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · Jan 8

one net effect of this will just be to make life a little harder for Americans in ways, they can’t quite put their finger on, because some of these organizations do the invisible work of multilateralism that enables contemporary life; another will be to hold up progress on most shared global goal…

Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United

www.whitehouse.gov

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer, Deborah Avant, Christina Pagel

PM2.5 Kills ~9 Million People Worldwide Annually @tkovach.bsky.social · Jan 7

They're withdrawing from the UNFCCC.

Reposted by Deborah Avant

Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · Jan 7

"for those who view America’s allies as its greatest asset in an era of rising geopolitical tension, spiking that alliance system—all for an island in which American military power is already assured—would be a suicidal maneuver, without modern compare." foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...

Annexing Greenland Would Be a Strategic Catastrophe

Any attempt by the United States to claim the island would quickly spiral out of control.

foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Tom Clark, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 7 more Tom Clark, David H. Kaye, Rosemary A. Joyce, Juan Cole, David R. Miller, Victor Pickard, Greg Linden, Deborah Avant, Manisha Sinha, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jan 4

Chris Murphy: "Clearly this is wildly illegal. This is a president who has been operating illegally since he was sworn in -- stealing from the American people, seizing spending power, now dragging America into a war overseas ... Donald Trump's entire foreign policy is corrupt."

Reposted by Deborah Avant

Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · Jan 3

Always a good idea to read @profsaunders.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...

What happens now in Venezuela – and the world?

What happens now in Venezuela – and the world? Trump’s no-guardrails foreign policy raises big questions about the global order, not just about who will run Venezuela.

goodauthority.org

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · Jan 3

Feeling a little sad for the Venezuelans dancing in the streets of DC. Not sure this is what they are dancing about.

"We have tremendous energy in that country,” Trump said. “It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump’s Venezuela move pushes the limits of ‘America First’

Once a critic of entanglements abroad, Trump now appears willing to embrace regime change as a tool of American influence, risking a backlash from his MAGA base.

www.washingtonpost.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · Jan 3

I prefer regime change at home... and via the ballot box.

Reposted by Deborah Avant

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · Jan 3

Always read Jim Fallows

fallows.substack.com/p/blind-into...

‘Blind Into Caracas’

Less than 24 hours in, members of the Trump team are celebrating victory. None of them seem to have wondered what happens a day, a month, a decade from now.

fallows.substack.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · Dec 14

Indeed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/o...

Opinion | The Billionaires Have Gone Full Louis XV

www.nytimes.com

Deborah Avant @deborahavant.bsky.social · Dec 11

!!!!!

Seva @seva.bsky.social · Nov 29

one reason "great power competition" is a bad description of the emerging order is that an interlinked global kleptocracy does not care about national interests or rivalries

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · Nov 29

Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.

🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...