Kevork Oskanian
@drkevorko.bsky.social
IR, International (Dis)Order, Eurasian Politics. Lecturer at @uniexeter.bsky.social. Onetime Liberal. Enemy of Pigeonholes. X refugee. Personal views, Repost ≠ 'Like'. Cosmopolitan mutt: roots in 🇦🇲🇬🇷🇩🇪🇱🇧🇧🇪🇬🇧.
Pinned
Liberty beyond Liberal Hegemony
How to safeguard progressive societies in post-liberal times.
ageofchaos.substack.com
Welcome to my first substack post:
"Liberty beyond Liberal Hegemony."
A thread. 🧵
ageofchaos.substack.com/p/liberty-be...
"Liberty beyond Liberal Hegemony."
A thread. 🧵
ageofchaos.substack.com/p/liberty-be...
Քրիստոս Ծնաւ եւ Յայտնեցաւ:
Christ is born and is revealed.
Happy Armenian Christmas.
Christ is born and is revealed.
Happy Armenian Christmas.
January 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Քրիստոս Ծնաւ եւ Յայտնեցաւ:
Christ is born and is revealed.
Happy Armenian Christmas.
Christ is born and is revealed.
Happy Armenian Christmas.
Judging by the UK Reform/MAGA-sphere, real patriots call for invasions of their own country.
January 5, 2026 at 7:09 AM
Judging by the UK Reform/MAGA-sphere, real patriots call for invasions of their own country.
It will take time - we're only 1 year into Trump's term - but at some point, the consequences of current follies will coalesce into something the US won't be able to handle.
Something will inevitably break when you take so many risks.
Something will inevitably break when you take so many risks.
January 5, 2026 at 6:52 AM
It will take time - we're only 1 year into Trump's term - but at some point, the consequences of current follies will coalesce into something the US won't be able to handle.
Something will inevitably break when you take so many risks.
Something will inevitably break when you take so many risks.
I’m sure that there will be plenty of quotes from Thucydides by people trying their hand at the crude argument that ‘might makes right’.
Forgetting the coda to his ‘Peloponnesian War’, where Athens sinks because of its own hubris.
Forgetting the coda to his ‘Peloponnesian War’, where Athens sinks because of its own hubris.
January 4, 2026 at 7:30 PM
I’m sure that there will be plenty of quotes from Thucydides by people trying their hand at the crude argument that ‘might makes right’.
Forgetting the coda to his ‘Peloponnesian War’, where Athens sinks because of its own hubris.
Forgetting the coda to his ‘Peloponnesian War’, where Athens sinks because of its own hubris.
You can always rely on regime-change aficionados to engage in blatant perception bias: listening to those voices who fit their outsized expectations, ignoring those who fall outside their best-case assumptions.
January 4, 2026 at 7:17 PM
You can always rely on regime-change aficionados to engage in blatant perception bias: listening to those voices who fit their outsized expectations, ignoring those who fall outside their best-case assumptions.
Plenty of people transitioning straight from liberal interventionism to naked 'Machtpolitik'.
I guess that's what's left once you remove the sheen of a 'rules-based order' from their universe.
Adopting the moral framework of realist restraint is too complicated.
I guess that's what's left once you remove the sheen of a 'rules-based order' from their universe.
Adopting the moral framework of realist restraint is too complicated.
January 4, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Plenty of people transitioning straight from liberal interventionism to naked 'Machtpolitik'.
I guess that's what's left once you remove the sheen of a 'rules-based order' from their universe.
Adopting the moral framework of realist restraint is too complicated.
I guess that's what's left once you remove the sheen of a 'rules-based order' from their universe.
Adopting the moral framework of realist restraint is too complicated.
Always coupled with the shameless assumption that the West somehow has a God-given right to global hegemony.
One of the advantages of the present-day is seeing Western supremacists admit that their blather about the 'rules-based order' was only ever a ruse aimed at justifying an underlying Machtpolitik that would make die-hard realists blush.
January 4, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Always coupled with the shameless assumption that the West somehow has a God-given right to global hegemony.
One of the advantages of the present-day is seeing Western supremacists admit that their blather about the 'rules-based order' was only ever a ruse aimed at justifying an underlying Machtpolitik that would make die-hard realists blush.
January 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM
One of the advantages of the present-day is seeing Western supremacists admit that their blather about the 'rules-based order' was only ever a ruse aimed at justifying an underlying Machtpolitik that would make die-hard realists blush.
Who'd have thought that a 'geopolitical EU' would so easily turn into a 'farcical EU'?
January 4, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Who'd have thought that a 'geopolitical EU' would so easily turn into a 'farcical EU'?
However much Kyiv tries to ‘manage’ Trump, the past 24 hours have clearly shown the man - like Putin - thinks in terms of spheres of interest.
And last time I looked, Ukraine is not in the Western hemisphere.
That should ring alarm bells.
And last time I looked, Ukraine is not in the Western hemisphere.
That should ring alarm bells.
January 4, 2026 at 6:43 AM
However much Kyiv tries to ‘manage’ Trump, the past 24 hours have clearly shown the man - like Putin - thinks in terms of spheres of interest.
And last time I looked, Ukraine is not in the Western hemisphere.
That should ring alarm bells.
And last time I looked, Ukraine is not in the Western hemisphere.
That should ring alarm bells.
Reposted by Kevork Oskanian
We've been upgraded from 'forever wars' to 'whatever wars'.
January 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
We've been upgraded from 'forever wars' to 'whatever wars'.
Looking forward to the next time they organise a ‘Decolonise Russia’ event in Washington DC.
January 3, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Looking forward to the next time they organise a ‘Decolonise Russia’ event in Washington DC.
The Nobel Prize Committee has some serious explaining to do after today.
January 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
The Nobel Prize Committee has some serious explaining to do after today.
Good old colonialism is back, folks.
Breaking news: President Trump says the United States will ‘run’ Venezuela during transition after a U.S. raid captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Live updates: Trump says U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela during transition after U.S. raid captured Maduro
The United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, and flew him out of the country, President Trump said.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Good old colonialism is back, folks.
January 3, 2026 at 4:57 PM
"Screw that, we'll just grab it".
Up next:
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
Venezuelans.now
January 3, 2026 at 4:50 PM
"Screw that, we'll just grab it".
Up next:
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
Venezuelans.now
January 3, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Up next:
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
"We freed you, Venezuelans. Here's the bill, you can pay us in oil, thanks.".
Reposted by Kevork Oskanian
"if you are pronouncing a new law that wherever Communism reigns against the will of the people, even though it's happened internally, there the United States shall enter, then we are going to have really terrible wars in the world".
Margaret Thatcher, 1983.
www.margaretthatcher.org/document%2F1...
Margaret Thatcher, 1983.
www.margaretthatcher.org/document%2F1...
January 3, 2026 at 11:19 AM
"if you are pronouncing a new law that wherever Communism reigns against the will of the people, even though it's happened internally, there the United States shall enter, then we are going to have really terrible wars in the world".
Margaret Thatcher, 1983.
www.margaretthatcher.org/document%2F1...
Margaret Thatcher, 1983.
www.margaretthatcher.org/document%2F1...
Team America - Part 2 is writing itself.
a statue of the presidents of the united states on a mountain
ALT: a statue of the presidents of the united states on a mountain
media.tenor.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Team America - Part 2 is writing itself.
We're creeping closer to a threshold of global uncertainty at which 'going nuclear' will become a perfectly rational choice for a growing number of actors.
January 3, 2026 at 10:04 AM
We're creeping closer to a threshold of global uncertainty at which 'going nuclear' will become a perfectly rational choice for a growing number of actors.
You might also have a reference point for anything that happens in the future - and that you might not agree with.
If Maduro has indeed been captured, you now have a reference point for February 2022. This is what was supposed to happen, and it only didn't because Ukrainians didn't let it to.
January 3, 2026 at 9:57 AM
You might also have a reference point for anything that happens in the future - and that you might not agree with.
We've been upgraded from 'forever wars' to 'whatever wars'.
January 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
We've been upgraded from 'forever wars' to 'whatever wars'.
Happy 2026 to everyone!
a happy new year greeting with a clock and balloons
ALT: a happy new year greeting with a clock and balloons
media.tenor.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Happy 2026 to everyone!
Santa has been good to me this year.
December 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Santa has been good to me this year.
Yes, freedom of speech is their fist and foremost concern.
Nothing says ‘authoritarian’ quite like trying to shut down anyone who doesn’t praise you.
December 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Yes, freedom of speech is their fist and foremost concern.