Elspeth O’Riordan
@elspethoriordan.bsky.social
International Historian, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London.
Cold War; Diplomacy; British Foreign Policy.
Views my own.
Cold War; Diplomacy; British Foreign Policy.
Views my own.
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
My take on the US-Iran talks, in case you slept through the Today programme this morning! Why talks now? There is an urgency. After Trump pulled out of the JCPOA, Iran has amassed enough 60% enriched uranium that it has drastically shortened the timeline if it decided to go for a nuclear weapon. 1/7
April 12, 2025 at 12:12 PM
My take on the US-Iran talks, in case you slept through the Today programme this morning! Why talks now? There is an urgency. After Trump pulled out of the JCPOA, Iran has amassed enough 60% enriched uranium that it has drastically shortened the timeline if it decided to go for a nuclear weapon. 1/7
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
The AHA and the OAH have released a joint statement condemning recent efforts to censor historical content on federal government websites, at many public museums, and across a wide swath of government resources that include essential data. 🗃️
AHA–OAH Joint Statement on Federal Censorship of American History
The American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) have released a joint statement condemning federal censorship of American history.
www.historians.org
March 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The AHA and the OAH have released a joint statement condemning recent efforts to censor historical content on federal government websites, at many public museums, and across a wide swath of government resources that include essential data. 🗃️
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Off the charts level of institutional vandalism this past week. Kennan Institute long gathered superb Russian military expertise at a time when the subfield was not terribly fashionable. DOGE & co actively destroying DoD intellectual capacity in their mindless rampage through the bureaucracy.
Trump is eliminating Wilson Center, a stellar US foreign policy study establishment. Along with it goes the Kennan Institute - one of the best Russia study institutions.
I was fortunate to be a Kennan Fellow in 2017.
Such a loss
I was fortunate to be a Kennan Fellow in 2017.
Such a loss
Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
March 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Off the charts level of institutional vandalism this past week. Kennan Institute long gathered superb Russian military expertise at a time when the subfield was not terribly fashionable. DOGE & co actively destroying DoD intellectual capacity in their mindless rampage through the bureaucracy.
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
For those of us who have worked in the DC think tank sector, the idea that the Wilson Center and USIP could disappear overnight is just unfathomable. A terrible loss of knowledge and collaboration and understanding.
Gutted to see the Woodrow Wilson Center included in this. It has been a crucial institution in the production, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge about the history of the U.S. and the world. Its Cold War archives are a priceless teaching and research tool. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/u...
Trump Orders Gutting of 7 Agencies, Including Voice of America’s Parent (Gift Article)
The order targeting the agencies, largely obscure entities that address issues like labor mediation and homelessness prevention, appeared to test the bounds of the president’s power.
www.nytimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 1:16 PM
For those of us who have worked in the DC think tank sector, the idea that the Wilson Center and USIP could disappear overnight is just unfathomable. A terrible loss of knowledge and collaboration and understanding.
As ever, an excellent piece by Lawrence Freedman. Well worth a read…
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Great Crisis
Europe's military and diplomatic challenge
open.substack.com
March 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
As ever, an excellent piece by Lawrence Freedman. Well worth a read…
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University, by an anonymous academic.
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University -
Reading Time: 4 minutesBy an anonymous academic. Cover image by Adwitiya Pal On the second day of classes…
voice.cymru
February 21, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University, by an anonymous academic.
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Given this week’s events Assad's regime is finished & it’s a race to Damascus. The Russian position in Syria, and MENA region writ large is consequently in deep trouble, because of Syria’s importance as a logistics hub for Russian operations. Short thread. 1/
December 7, 2024 at 6:54 PM
Given this week’s events Assad's regime is finished & it’s a race to Damascus. The Russian position in Syria, and MENA region writ large is consequently in deep trouble, because of Syria’s importance as a logistics hub for Russian operations. Short thread. 1/
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Generous review by Gavin Daly of Wandering Army in English Historical Review. “Engagingly written, well organised, rich in detail & source material, vast in geographical sweep, & long in its time frame, this book offers a major new interpretation of the development of British military leadership…”
Gavin Daly reviews 'The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War', by Huw J. Davies @huwjdav.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @yalebooks.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @yalebooks.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social
The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War, by Huw J. Davies
This important book explores the evolution of improvements in the British army’s command, operations and fighting methods from the War of the Austrian Succ
academic.oup.com
November 28, 2024 at 10:36 AM
Generous review by Gavin Daly of Wandering Army in English Historical Review. “Engagingly written, well organised, rich in detail & source material, vast in geographical sweep, & long in its time frame, this book offers a major new interpretation of the development of British military leadership…”
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Cold War Historians...not at all thorough or complete so pleae make suggestions or ask to be added!
go.bsky.app/NAWTQUp
go.bsky.app/NAWTQUp
November 9, 2024 at 2:24 AM
Cold War Historians...not at all thorough or complete so pleae make suggestions or ask to be added!
go.bsky.app/NAWTQUp
go.bsky.app/NAWTQUp
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
In an essay adapted from their new book, Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Craig Mundie consider how artificial intelligence will change how wars are fought in the years ahead:
War and Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
What it will mean for the world when machines shape strategy and statecraft.
www.foreignaffairs.com
November 18, 2024 at 9:34 PM
In an essay adapted from their new book, Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Craig Mundie consider how artificial intelligence will change how wars are fought in the years ahead:
Any #ColdWar enthusiasts looking for a bargain?
‘Understanding the Cold War’ is currently available at a great discount…
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
‘Understanding the Cold War’ is currently available at a great discount…
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Understanding the Cold War
This book provides an advanced introduction to the Cold War, enabling students to navigate the field in terms of the relevant scholarly debates
link.springer.com
November 15, 2024 at 11:54 AM
Any #ColdWar enthusiasts looking for a bargain?
‘Understanding the Cold War’ is currently available at a great discount…
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
‘Understanding the Cold War’ is currently available at a great discount…
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
🧵 A few ideas about my forthcoming book: It will be organised around four overlapping themes: knowledge networks; technological transformation; indigenous influences and counter-influences; and the emergence of political ideological influences such as liberal imperialism, and imperial federation. 🗃️
Delighted to share that I have signed with Yale University Press for my fourth book. The working title is 'Forging Armageddon: The British Army and the Global War for Empire, 1835-1914'. I'm investigating the role of knowledge networks in British Army development up to the First World War.
November 14, 2024 at 9:58 AM
🧵 A few ideas about my forthcoming book: It will be organised around four overlapping themes: knowledge networks; technological transformation; indigenous influences and counter-influences; and the emergence of political ideological influences such as liberal imperialism, and imperial federation. 🗃️
Reposted by Elspeth O’Riordan
Delighted by the write up of my new book, Uncivil War: the British Army and the Troubles, in this weekend’s Belfast Telegraph
November 12, 2023 at 9:17 PM
Delighted by the write up of my new book, Uncivil War: the British Army and the Troubles, in this weekend’s Belfast Telegraph
New to Bluesky after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Other(now broken) Place. Hoping to reconnect with similar #ColdWar enthusiasts and history nerds.
October 28, 2023 at 4:00 PM
New to Bluesky after becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Other(now broken) Place. Hoping to reconnect with similar #ColdWar enthusiasts and history nerds.