Nick Mertens
@gezanick.bsky.social
American Studies Scholar | Geopolitics | Author | ✍️ a book for Ertsberg | Loves the US, books (#tsundoku) & history
"Auteur en Amerika-kenner Nick Mertens denkt dat het kappen op Obama wel eens een averechts effect kan hebben."
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/waaro...
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/waaro...
Waarom Trump door Epstein-problemen op ‘antichrist’ Obama schiet
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump deelt een AI-filmpje over hoe zijn voorganger Barack Obama in de gevangenis wordt gegooid. Waarom moet Obama het nu opeens ontgelden?
www.demorgen.be
July 23, 2025 at 7:28 AM
"Auteur en Amerika-kenner Nick Mertens denkt dat het kappen op Obama wel eens een averechts effect kan hebben."
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/waaro...
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/waaro...
Yesterday, I attended an event where Tom Sauer spoke with Robert D. Kaplan about his latest book 'Waste land'. Very interesting!
June 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Yesterday, I attended an event where Tom Sauer spoke with Robert D. Kaplan about his latest book 'Waste land'. Very interesting!
Whoever follows #Trump will have to reckon with a complex, multipolar international order and decide what role the United States should play in it.
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
Absent at the Creation?
American strategy and the delusion of a post-Trump restoration.
www.foreignaffairs.com
June 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Whoever follows #Trump will have to reckon with a complex, multipolar international order and decide what role the United States should play in it.
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
Under #Trump, the United States has gone from indispensable to insufferable...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
Dispensable Nation
America in a post-American world.
www.foreignaffairs.com
June 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Under #Trump, the United States has gone from indispensable to insufferable...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
"It may not be long before more Palestinians, Lebanese, Iranians, and others motivated by their cause—desperate, friends or family members wiped out, craving revenge, with darkness as their sole horizon—resort to unconventional forms of warfare, 1/2
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/peril...
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/peril...
The Perils of Middle East Triumphalism
Iran, Israel, and the ghosts of history.
www.foreignaffairs.com
June 23, 2025 at 11:18 AM
"It may not be long before more Palestinians, Lebanese, Iranians, and others motivated by their cause—desperate, friends or family members wiped out, craving revenge, with darkness as their sole horizon—resort to unconventional forms of warfare, 1/2
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/peril...
www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/peril...
'But the track record of American military interventions in the Middle East and the nature of war over human history shows that American involvement comes with tremendous risk." #Iran
www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/...
www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/...
America's War With Iran
What comes after U.S. strikes.
www.foreignaffairs.com
June 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
'But the track record of American military interventions in the Middle East and the nature of war over human history shows that American involvement comes with tremendous risk." #Iran
www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/...
www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/...
"#China already has the world’s largest navy; its overall battle force is expected to grow to 395 ships this year and to 435 by 2030. China also aims to have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030."
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/20/t...
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/20/t...
The World Needs a Stronger NATO
A Plan to Invest in the Alliance
reader.foreignaffairs.com
June 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
"#China already has the world’s largest navy; its overall battle force is expected to grow to 395 ships this year and to 435 by 2030. China also aims to have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030."
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/20/t...
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/20/t...
"It is presumably not lost on Iranian leaders that governments that give up their nuclear program (Libya, Iraq) are toppled, while those that do not (North Korea) survive."
#Iran
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/21/a...
#Iran
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/21/a...
America Is on the Verge of Catastrophe in the Middle East
U.S. Intervention in Iran Would Be a Terrible Gamble
reader.foreignaffairs.com
June 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"It is presumably not lost on Iranian leaders that governments that give up their nuclear program (Libya, Iraq) are toppled, while those that do not (North Korea) survive."
#Iran
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/21/a...
#Iran
reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/06/21/a...
In @demorgen.be laat ik vandaag mijn licht schijnen over de mogelijke gevolgen van het einde van de bromance tussen Elon #Musk en Donald #Trump
En toen was de bromance voorbij: Trump riskeert véél in een open oorlog met Musk ift.tt/qwnudo6
En toen was de bromance voorbij: Trump riskeert véél in een open oorlog met Musk
Maandenlang was hij de voornaamste geldschieter en bondgenoot van Donald Trump. Nu praat Elon Musk over de oprichting van een nieuwe partij en een impeachment-procedure tegen de Amerikaanse president....
ift.tt
June 7, 2025 at 10:16 AM
In @demorgen.be laat ik vandaag mijn licht schijnen over de mogelijke gevolgen van het einde van de bromance tussen Elon #Musk en Donald #Trump
Marco Rubio is now temporarily serving as both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Since Henry Kissinger under the Nixon and Ford administrations, no other official has held both roles at the same time.
May 2, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Marco Rubio is now temporarily serving as both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Since Henry Kissinger under the Nixon and Ford administrations, no other official has held both roles at the same time.
Maggie Haberman (NYT) over de eerste 100 dagen van #Trump zijn tweede ambtstermijn: "He has already changed the way America is perceived more than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
April 30, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Maggie Haberman (NYT) over de eerste 100 dagen van #Trump zijn tweede ambtstermijn: "He has already changed the way America is perceived more than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
Voor De Morgen analyseer ik vandaag waarom zoveel universiteiten en advocatenkantoren plat op de buik gaan voor #Trump
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/het-w...
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/het-w...
‘Als er geen doorbraak komt, vrees ik dat de samenleving verlamd geraakt’: waarom iedereen buigt voor Trump
Van Ivy League-universiteiten tot prestigieuze advocatenkantoren: bijna geen enkele Amerikaanse instelling ontsnapt aan de brute machtspolitiek van Donald Trump. Wie legt de president nog wat in de we...
www.demorgen.be
April 18, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Voor De Morgen analyseer ik vandaag waarom zoveel universiteiten en advocatenkantoren plat op de buik gaan voor #Trump
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/het-w...
www.demorgen.be/nieuws/het-w...
#CartoonOfTheDay Elon #Musk poured $25 million into the campaign of a #Trump-aligned candidate for the #Wisconsin Supreme Court – and lost. Turns out voters aren’t that easy to buy after all.
#SusanCrawford #ElonMusk #SCOTUS #JudicialElections
#SusanCrawford #ElonMusk #SCOTUS #JudicialElections
April 2, 2025 at 6:20 AM
#CartoonOfTheDay Elon #Musk poured $25 million into the campaign of a #Trump-aligned candidate for the #Wisconsin Supreme Court – and lost. Turns out voters aren’t that easy to buy after all.
#SusanCrawford #ElonMusk #SCOTUS #JudicialElections
#SusanCrawford #ElonMusk #SCOTUS #JudicialElections
"I suspect historians will one day remember the Department of Government Efficiency the way we now remember lobotomies. It seemed, to some at the time, like a good idea."
#DOGE
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/o...
#DOGE
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/o...
Opinion | Nothing Ever Goes Wrong in Trump’s White House
The problem is that competence and execution matter.
www.nytimes.com
March 31, 2025 at 10:48 AM
"I suspect historians will one day remember the Department of Government Efficiency the way we now remember lobotomies. It seemed, to some at the time, like a good idea."
#DOGE
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/o...
#DOGE
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/o...
Dank aan iedereen die al geabonneerd is op mijn nieuwsbrief/blog 🙏 Aan alle anderen: abonneren op unickus.substack.com is VOLLEDIG GRATIS 😀!!!
March 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Dank aan iedereen die al geabonneerd is op mijn nieuwsbrief/blog 🙏 Aan alle anderen: abonneren op unickus.substack.com is VOLLEDIG GRATIS 😀!!!
The new book by Russel Shorto has finally arrived. Shorto is a master storyteller—he has a unique ability to bring history to life. His books are captivating from start to finish. And this one is beautifully designed as well 😍
March 24, 2025 at 11:41 AM
The new book by Russel Shorto has finally arrived. Shorto is a master storyteller—he has a unique ability to bring history to life. His books are captivating from start to finish. And this one is beautifully designed as well 😍
Met het oog op de verkiezingen van 2028 en Bernie Sanders die wellicht geen presidentskandidaat meer is, zien sommigen aan de linkerzijde Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez als de volgende leider van de progressieven. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/u...
Left-Wing Democrats Wait on AOC’s Decision as They Look to 2028 Election
With Bernie Sanders unlikely to run for president again and Democratic voters fuming at party leaders, many progressives see an open lane. But who will fill it?
www.nytimes.com
March 23, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Met het oog op de verkiezingen van 2028 en Bernie Sanders die wellicht geen presidentskandidaat meer is, zien sommigen aan de linkerzijde Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez als de volgende leider van de progressieven. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/u...
Bij de Democraten woedt er een generatiestrijd: “The generation that got us to this point does not have the skills or stomach to get us to the next point” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
Schumer’s Retreat From a Government Shutdown Has Young Democrats Fuming
A generational divide, seen in newer lawmakers’ impatience with bipartisanship and for colleagues who don’t understand new media, has emerged as one of the deepest rifts within the party.
www.nytimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Bij de Democraten woedt er een generatiestrijd: “The generation that got us to this point does not have the skills or stomach to get us to the next point” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
Aan het genieten van @bsoenensvrt.bsky.social zijn boek. Het is niet alleen een reis langs de Amerikaanse geschiedenis, maar staat ook vol boeken- en filmtips 🇺🇲
March 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Aan het genieten van @bsoenensvrt.bsky.social zijn boek. Het is niet alleen een reis langs de Amerikaanse geschiedenis, maar staat ook vol boeken- en filmtips 🇺🇲
Pete #Buttigieg for President! www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...
Pete Buttigieg, a Possible 2028 Contender, Won’t Run for Senate in Michigan
The former transportation secretary, who moved to Michigan from Indiana in 2022, had been seen as the most prominent potential candidate in next year’s marquee contest.
www.nytimes.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Pete #Buttigieg for President! www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...
“#Trump is an isolationist-imperialist. He wants all the benefits of imperialism, including your territory and your minerals, without sending any U.S. troops or paying any compensation." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/o...
Opinion | A Great Unraveling Is Underway
Trump’s foreign policy philosophy is not “containment” or “engagement,” but “smash and grab.”
www.nytimes.com
March 12, 2025 at 12:26 PM
“#Trump is an isolationist-imperialist. He wants all the benefits of imperialism, including your territory and your minerals, without sending any U.S. troops or paying any compensation." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/o...
