Elizabeth N. Saunders
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profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders
@profsaunders.bsky.social

Professor of Political Science & Director of the Saltzman Institute of War & Peace Studies, Columbia. New Book: The Insiders' Game: How Elites Make War and Peace https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691215808/the-insiders-game .. more

Biology 52%
Environmental science 20%
Pinned
Hard to think through problems when we are in a mode where the current problem gets eaten by a bigger problem within hours.

"A topography of silence and absences" -- @qjurecic.bsky.social on what "The Third Red Scare" is doing to us.
This is really good--one of the most powerful and insightful pieces I've read about what @qjurecic.bsky.social appropriately calls "The Third Red Scare." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Reposted by David R. Miller

Credible commitment problem has come for almost anything R's in Congress do. They may mean it but the administration may not.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

This is really good--one of the most powerful and insightful pieces I've read about what @qjurecic.bsky.social appropriately calls "The Third Red Scare." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Reposted by David R. Miller

Ending or cutting back SNAP was the point, so why believe R's will do anything to stop the Trump administration from trying other ways once the government re-opens?
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TELLS U.S. SUPREME COURT IT CONTINUES TO SEEK HALT OF JUDGE'S ORDER THAT REQUIRED IT TO FULLY FUND FOOD AID THIS MONTH FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TELLS U.S. SUPREME COURT IT CONTINUES TO SEEK HALT OF JUDGE'S ORDER THAT REQUIRED IT TO FULLY FUND FOOD AID THIS MONTH FOR 42 MILLION AMERICANS
The United States killed six more men in Sunday strikes on suspected drug boats. Our news article and tracker on this offensive, which has killed at least 76 people in 19 attacks in the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea since early September.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
U.S. Military Kills 6 in Strikes on Suspected Drug Boats, Hegseth Says
www.nytimes.com

REALLY this 👇
if they were going to cave anyway they should’ve done it a week ago to spare SNAP recipients the agony.
if they were going to cave anyway they should’ve done it a week ago to spare SNAP recipients the agony.

This this this
I think some of you have not taken a single moment to consider that the people who’ve been out of work for the last 40 days and who are presently staring down the prospect of going into the holiday season without a paycheck are *also* calling their congresspeople.
tomorrow's announcement on truth social
darth vader says " i am altering the deal pray i don t alter it any further "
Alt: darth vader says " i am altering the deal pray i don t alter it any further "
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

I think some of you have not taken a single moment to consider that the people who’ve been out of work for the last 40 days and who are presently staring down the prospect of going into the holiday season without a paycheck are *also* calling their congresspeople.
Democrats have to stop bailing out Republicans from facing the consequences of their own policies. And yeah, that means they have to stop sparing voters from experiencing what GOP government truly means.

Every time Dems step in, it only emboldens the GOP & they make it even worse the next time.
So Democrats get:

1. A CR that will prevent the GOP from facing the wrath of Americans for a shutdown over the holidays

2. A coupon for one (1) meaningless ACA vote that will fail

3. An end to the illegal RIF/SNAP moves that are already before the courts

Those all seem like wins for the GOP.

And the credible commitment from R’s not to let the administration make facts on the ground is where?
Here's the full text of the deal:
- House CR extended to January 30, no RIFs permitted until then
- Minibus
- Ds get a filibusterable ACA vote in December

Read the text:
hillheat.com/files/467/co...

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Here's the full text of the deal:
- House CR extended to January 30, no RIFs permitted until then
- Minibus
- Ds get a filibusterable ACA vote in December

Read the text:
hillheat.com/files/467/co...

Thanks @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org for ungating my @iojournal.bsky.social article on presidential advisers!

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky -

@profsaunders.bsky.social references her @iojournal.bsky.social article in her @goodauth.bsky.social piece on presidential advisers -

https://cup.org/43oHMim
Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky.
Take a close look at who is advising the president on U.S. policy.
goodauthority.org

I keep asking, what is our China policy?

Universities’ rollout of AI feels similar…who could possibly have foreseen? (Everyone)
“gambling is the worst, most game integrity destroying crime you can commit against the game of baseball

now please read this sports betting advertisement, they’re our biggest sponsor”

truly one of the most predictable disasters of all time

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

“gambling is the worst, most game integrity destroying crime you can commit against the game of baseball

now please read this sports betting advertisement, they’re our biggest sponsor”

truly one of the most predictable disasters of all time

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

This was inevitable. And it's astonishing to me that the major sport whose history is most marked by very well-known gambling scandals (the Black Sox, Pete Rose) has so promoted betting on baseball in recent years.

Damn, thought I’d accounted for him!

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

“Last week, the Pentagon ordered an aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, to join the large buildup of U.S. forces off the Venezuelan coast. Trump and his team have talked openly about attacking targets inside Venezuela.” @profsaunders.bsky.social
Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky.
Take a close look at who is advising the president on U.S. policy.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Terrific piece by @profsaunders.bsky.social on Trump's foreign policy advising and the risks it runs.

goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...
Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky.
Take a close look at who is advising the president on U.S. policy.
goodauthority.org

As good an explanation as any

So, uh, what exactly is our defense posture? Does anyone know what our China policy is? Will we have any generals to implement it?

“Mr. Hegseth’s moves have fed the impression that there are pro-Trump and anti-Trump generals, officials said.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Hegseth Is Purging Military Leaders With Little Explanation
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Word.

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner

The Omnimergency Presidency
Some belated thoughts on the Supreme Court arguments about the tariffs: danieldrezner.substack.com/p/sometimes-...
Sometimes Constitutional Law is Dumb
A meditation on the Supreme Court argument regarding Trump's tariffs
danieldrezner.substack.com