John Nilsson-Wright
@jnilssonwright.bsky.social
Fuji Bank Professor of Japanese Politics & the International Relations of East Asia, Cambridge; Head, Japan and Koreas Programme,
@CamGeopolitics , University of Cambridge
@CamGeopolitics , University of Cambridge
Reposted by John Nilsson-Wright
🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japan is under no illusion the US has its back long-term.
@jnilssonwright.bsky.social explains #SanaeTakaichi’s strategy to strengthen ties with Washington while building Japan’s defense capabilities.
More in #F24Debate ➡️ f24.my/BjFR
@jnilssonwright.bsky.social explains #SanaeTakaichi’s strategy to strengthen ties with Washington while building Japan’s defense capabilities.
More in #F24Debate ➡️ f24.my/BjFR
February 9, 2026 at 8:26 PM
🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japan is under no illusion the US has its back long-term.
@jnilssonwright.bsky.social explains #SanaeTakaichi’s strategy to strengthen ties with Washington while building Japan’s defense capabilities.
More in #F24Debate ➡️ f24.my/BjFR
@jnilssonwright.bsky.social explains #SanaeTakaichi’s strategy to strengthen ties with Washington while building Japan’s defense capabilities.
More in #F24Debate ➡️ f24.my/BjFR
Reposted by John Nilsson-Wright
As Japan's newly elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi celebrates her historic victory, Darwin's @jnilssonwright.bsky.social spoke to the Today programme about how younger voters have responded to the former heavy metal drummer's new style of politics.
From 49mins.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
From 49mins.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Today - 09/02/2026 - BBC Sounds
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 9:44 AM
As Japan's newly elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi celebrates her historic victory, Darwin's @jnilssonwright.bsky.social spoke to the Today programme about how younger voters have responded to the former heavy metal drummer's new style of politics.
From 49mins.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
From 49mins.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/m... A wise and thought provoking piece. Damassio’s work is exceptionally relevant.
Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/m... A wise and thought provoking piece. Damassio’s work is exceptionally relevant.
Asahi exit polls predicts that government coalition of LDP and Ishin will secure supermajority of 310 seats plus. Very good night for #Takaichi
February 8, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Asahi exit polls predicts that government coalition of LDP and Ishin will secure supermajority of 310 seats plus. Very good night for #Takaichi
Looking forward to this opportunity next Wednesday @darwincollegecam.bsky.social
January 31, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Looking forward to this opportunity next Wednesday @darwincollegecam.bsky.social
On January 27th, FAMES Univ of Camridge & the @camgeopolitics.bsky.social w/ Japanese partners from the Fujitsu Future Studies Center, Keio & Tokyo Universities held a discussion @darwincollegecam.bsky.social on War&Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder. It can seen here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlS8...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlS8...
War and Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder: Options for Japan and the United Kingdom
YouTube video by Centre for Geopolitics
www.youtube.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:42 PM
On January 27th, FAMES Univ of Camridge & the @camgeopolitics.bsky.social w/ Japanese partners from the Fujitsu Future Studies Center, Keio & Tokyo Universities held a discussion @darwincollegecam.bsky.social on War&Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder. It can seen here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlS8...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlS8...
Looking forward to this panel discussion as the rules based international order teeters on the edge of a catastrophic collapse
www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
War and Diplomacy in an Age of Disorder: options for Japan and the United Kingdom | Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
www.ames.cam.ac.uk
January 20, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Looking forward to this panel discussion as the rules based international order teeters on the edge of a catastrophic collapse
www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.ames.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/war-a...
Rivetting viewing. Smith's testimony is devastating, not only for its content but also for the calm assurance with which he responds to the questioning from the committee's counsel.
youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE?...
youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE?...
Jack Smith Deposition
YouTube video by House Judiciary GOP
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Rivetting viewing. Smith's testimony is devastating, not only for its content but also for the calm assurance with which he responds to the questioning from the committee's counsel.
youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE?...
youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE?...
Some thoughts on the state of South Korea's politics and diplomacy a year on from Yoon's extraordinary martial law declaration.
engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...
engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...
The long tail of Seoul's political crisis
A year on from the martial law disaster, South Korean democracy has recovered from its existential moment. Yet it would be premature to assume the country is back on a stable democratic track.
engelsbergideas.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Some thoughts on the state of South Korea's politics and diplomacy a year on from Yoon's extraordinary martial law declaration.
engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...
engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-l...
An optimistic perspective ahead of 2026. The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
Opinion | The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:04 AM
An optimistic perspective ahead of 2026. The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...
Confirmation that the authoritarian turn is real, global & a challenge to the democratic present AND the progressive past. To understand this appeal, focus on the emotional unmooring of Chileans who talk of “malestar,” - or unease, unrest, malaise. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
Opinion | Chile’s Election Is More Than Just a Swerve to the Right
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Confirmation that the authoritarian turn is real, global & a challenge to the democratic present AND the progressive past. To understand this appeal, focus on the emotional unmooring of Chileans who talk of “malestar,” - or unease, unrest, malaise. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
A provocative but productive starting point - what if feeling, or rather its subjective experiential quality, is not universal. The similarities and differences between the work of Rob Boddice and Javier Moscoso is fascinating.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
What if Our Ancestors Didn’t Feel Anything Like We Do?
The historians who want to know how our ancestors experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow
www.theatlantic.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM
A provocative but productive starting point - what if feeling, or rather its subjective experiential quality, is not universal. The similarities and differences between the work of Rob Boddice and Javier Moscoso is fascinating.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Trump continues to seek to corrupt the soul of America…the coarsening of values and the weakening of moral guardrails is an insidious thing.
smids://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion/trump-boat-strikes.html?smid=url-share
smids://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion/trump-boat-strikes.html?smid=url-share
Opinion | What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Trump continues to seek to corrupt the soul of America…the coarsening of values and the weakening of moral guardrails is an insidious thing.
smids://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion/trump-boat-strikes.html?smid=url-share
smids://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion/trump-boat-strikes.html?smid=url-share
A useful but sobering discussion of the state of populism in Europe and the failures of current governments to confront the challenge adequately.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...
Opinion | They Were Supposed to Save Europe. Instead, They’re Condemning It to Horrors.
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:50 AM
A useful but sobering discussion of the state of populism in Europe and the failures of current governments to confront the challenge adequately.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/o...
During the 1st Trump admin, I raised at a European workshop the possibility that the US might withdraw its troops from the Korean peninsula - an idea met with deep scepticism. Now the idea seems worryingly plausible as Chungin Moon explains in this compelling piece.
www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/...
www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/...
Thinking the Unthinkable | An East Asia without the U.S.? - CIRSD
CIRSD
www.cirsd.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM
During the 1st Trump admin, I raised at a European workshop the possibility that the US might withdraw its troops from the Korean peninsula - an idea met with deep scepticism. Now the idea seems worryingly plausible as Chungin Moon explains in this compelling piece.
www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/...
www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/...
Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
www.globalasia.org
November 19, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Without a doubt the most chilling account of the erosion of legal norms in Trump’s America. A full authoritarian, intimidatory assault on the rule of law in the United States. ‘It’s a Culture Now of Fear’: A Year of Chaos Inside the Justice Department www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department
Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Without a doubt the most chilling account of the erosion of legal norms in Trump’s America. A full authoritarian, intimidatory assault on the rule of law in the United States. ‘It’s a Culture Now of Fear’: A Year of Chaos Inside the Justice Department www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
@fareedzakaria.bsky.social is right to focus on the politics of nostalgia as a powerful explanation for #populism's contemporary and historical appeal. But equally powerful is the sense of anger and the agency that this emotion provides to the disaffected.
wapo.st/4orQjcD
wapo.st/4orQjcD
Opinion | The lessons Democrats need to learn to win again
Continued success for Democrats depends on drawing the right insights from this week’s elections.
wapo.st
November 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
@fareedzakaria.bsky.social is right to focus on the politics of nostalgia as a powerful explanation for #populism's contemporary and historical appeal. But equally powerful is the sense of anger and the agency that this emotion provides to the disaffected.
wapo.st/4orQjcD
wapo.st/4orQjcD
An interesting opportunity to think about Asian development from a comparative perspective from a thoughtful and experienced and distinguished sociologist.
New event! The four talent giants: National strategies for human resource development across Japan, Australia, China, and India, with Gi-Wook Shin & @jnilssonwright.bsky.social
🗓️Mon 10th Nov, 11:00-12:30
🗺️Bradfield Room, Darwin
🖋️https://bit.ly/4ntLG0k
🗓️Mon 10th Nov, 11:00-12:30
🗺️Bradfield Room, Darwin
🖋️https://bit.ly/4ntLG0k
October 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
An interesting opportunity to think about Asian development from a comparative perspective from a thoughtful and experienced and distinguished sociologist.
Timothy Cho’s story is extraordinary and testimony to his courage, resilience and faith.
Professor @jnilssonwright.bsky.social, Darwin Fellow and Head of the Japan and Koreas Programme at the Centre for Geopolitics, contributed to this powerful documentary by the BBC World Service on the life of North Korean defector and human rights activist Timothy Cho.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...?
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...?
Heart and Soul - The right thing: A deal with God - BBC Sounds
The North Korean defector who challenged God from a prison cell in Shanghai
www.bbc.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Timothy Cho’s story is extraordinary and testimony to his courage, resilience and faith.
New video of our recent Korea Foundation-한국국제교류재단 conference on US-Japan-ROK relations. Thanks to KF, @camgeopolitics.bsky.social @crasshlive.bsky.social , FAMES, @darwincollegecam.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org
sinel1: youtu.be/Q5g2aFRTmtg?...
Panel2: youtu.be/T17_gZAfFQQ?...
sinel1: youtu.be/Q5g2aFRTmtg?...
Panel2: youtu.be/T17_gZAfFQQ?...
Alliances in Alignment: Panel 1 - Trilateralism: the Past and the Present
YouTube video by Centre for Geopolitics
youtu.be
October 16, 2025 at 2:39 PM
New video of our recent Korea Foundation-한국국제교류재단 conference on US-Japan-ROK relations. Thanks to KF, @camgeopolitics.bsky.social @crasshlive.bsky.social , FAMES, @darwincollegecam.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org
sinel1: youtu.be/Q5g2aFRTmtg?...
Panel2: youtu.be/T17_gZAfFQQ?...
sinel1: youtu.be/Q5g2aFRTmtg?...
Panel2: youtu.be/T17_gZAfFQQ?...
Identifying the populist phenomenon and the sharp drop in faith in #democracy is depressingly easy. Understanding the root causes of this is harder, but it is surely not merely a function of economic precariousness.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
France is not alone in its political crisis – belief in a democratic world is vanishing | Simon Tisdall
The populist right offers a solution in the form of turning back the clock. Macron and his counterparts need to find a different answer fast, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Identifying the populist phenomenon and the sharp drop in faith in #democracy is depressingly easy. Understanding the root causes of this is harder, but it is surely not merely a function of economic precariousness.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Fascinating & illuminating discussion w/all star cast of commentators from #Japan, #SouthKorea, the #USA and #Europe. Thanks to Korea Foundation for support w/ Yuichi Hosoya Jeffrey Hornung Sheila Smith G Garbagni E Howell, Giwook Shin, Akita Hiroyuki Young-kwan Yoon Chris Hughes & Kuyoun Chung
October 12, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Fascinating & illuminating discussion w/all star cast of commentators from #Japan, #SouthKorea, the #USA and #Europe. Thanks to Korea Foundation for support w/ Yuichi Hosoya Jeffrey Hornung Sheila Smith G Garbagni E Howell, Giwook Shin, Akita Hiroyuki Young-kwan Yoon Chris Hughes & Kuyoun Chung
Professor #Chunginmoon of #Yonsei university provides an illuminating perspective on #ROK-#Japan-#US #trilateralism.
On Geopolitics, Currents - Episode 3 is available now! President Lee Jae-myung and South Korean Foreign Policy in a time of uncertainty
With Prof @jnilssonwright.bsky.social
Listen on:
Apple podcasts: bit.ly/Currents3Apple
Spotify: bit.ly/Currents3Spot
With Prof @jnilssonwright.bsky.social
Listen on:
Apple podcasts: bit.ly/Currents3Apple
Spotify: bit.ly/Currents3Spot
October 3, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Professor #Chunginmoon of #Yonsei university provides an illuminating perspective on #ROK-#Japan-#US #trilateralism.