Lawrence Freedman
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ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman
@ldfreedman.bsky.social
53K followers 120 following 550 posts

Emeritus Professor of War Studies King's College London. Latest Book Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine. Substack Comment is Freed https://samf.substack.com/

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Sir Lawrence David Freedman, is a British academic, historian and author specialising in foreign policy, international relations and strategy. He has been described as the "dean of British strategic studies" and was a member of the Iraq Inquiry. He is an Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London. .. more

Political science 82%
Sociology 6%
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ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
He doesn’t think things through. I suspect it reflects his own frustration with his options, and an instinctive reach for tariffs. I’m guessing Steve Miller was instrumental.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Will Jennings, Christina Pagel

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d
New post just out:

"Power to the People"

Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community.

(Free to read)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
Power to the People
How Labour can restore civic life and counter the "Britain is broken" narrative
open.substack.com

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Greenland was Trump’s idea. I suspect Miller was in the office today.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
If Congress and courts go along with this you are right but at the moment we are reacting to a post on social media.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Ha. I’ll do full penance if I’m wrong.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Yep

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
He is a bully and doesn’t like to be resisted. But he also doesn’t like to be seen to fail.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Its Trump, Vance and Miller. Very little support in Congress.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Michelle Everson , and 2 more

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
All key European leaders now said they won’t go along with this. So if the objective was coercion it has already failed. (This is not a US miscalculation- its a very Trumpian one).
jamesrball.com James Ball @jamesrball.com · 1d
Keir Starmer often takes 2-3 days to issue very mild criticism of US actions. This is both direct and issued fast.

I think there is a serious risk that the US miscalculated quite what a big deal the Greenland thing is to Europe (and in Europe).
bruceandy.bsky.social Andy Bruce (Reuters) @bruceandy.bsky.social · 1d
NEW - Starmer says US "completely wrong" in threatening tariffs over Greenland

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
No. I don’t think these tariffs will be implemented because of the pushback.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Quite possible. It should give some urgency to getting out their ruling.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
We have had quick and appropriate responses from E3 and others saying they can’t and won’t hand over Greenland. So we already know coercion of this sort won’t work. The next step is for EU and UK to start working out forms of retaliation if he does go ahead - but I wouldn’t assume he will.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
He said he was running Venezuela and he isn’t. He said he was going to take military action against Iran and he didn’t. He was going to take Greenland by force and he can see why that might look bad. So now he bullies. He doesn’t have an indomitable will.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
I think you’ll find Stephen Miller was in office today.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
I agree. I’m saying push back and not assume done deal.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Not counting on anything - but in hearings they were sceptical. Could pronounce on Tuesday

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
We should take it seriously and push back. Not assume that it is now fixed. His tariffs policy has been all over the place.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Will Jennings, Steve Peers , and 5 more

jamesrball.com
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 1d
Keir Starmer often takes 2-3 days to issue very mild criticism of US actions. This is both direct and issued fast.

I think there is a serious risk that the US miscalculated quite what a big deal the Greenland thing is to Europe (and in Europe).
bruceandy.bsky.social Andy Bruce (Reuters) @bruceandy.bsky.social · 1d
NEW - Starmer says US "completely wrong" in threatening tariffs over Greenland
Starmer: "Our position on Greenland is very clear – it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes. "We have also made clear that Arctic Security matters for the whole of NATO and allies should all do more together to address the threat from Russia across different parts of the Arctic. "Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration."

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Christian Odendahl, Nick Pearce

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
We should know by now not to respond to one of Trump’s weekend posts as a definitive statement of policy. The content is as outrageous as it is absurd. For that reason there will be strong pushback from markets, Congress, perhaps Supreme Court as well as European governments.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Elizabeth Saunders, Steve Peers , and 15 more

twseal.bsky.social
Thomas Seal @twseal.bsky.social · 1d
Trump says he'll impose a 10% tariff (rising to 25% in June) on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland, because they've sent people to Greenland, until the US can buy Greenland.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 3d
On 16 January 1979 the Shah fled Iran for good. Now the question is how long will the regime that replaced him last. In this post I compare the situation 1979 revolution to the one currently underway. (£/free trial), open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/r...?
Revolution in Iran : Now and Then
Why the regime is doomed
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Steve Peers

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 4d
From the post I wrote about Reform vs. the Tories last September.

samf.substack.com/p/last-rites

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 6d
New post from Sam identifies areas where peoples interactions with the state are frustrating and which governments should be able to fix without great expense. If they can sort out driving license applications why not driving tests? (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/troublesho...
Troubleshooters
How to get people believing in the state again
samf.substack.com

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 8d
As it says £ or free trial.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 8d
New post on how Trump is failing to run Venezuela even as he moves on to Greenland. How does one deal with a president that regularly makes untrue assertions and delusional boasts that affect real places and people? (£/free trial), open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/f...?
From Venezuela to Greenland
On the challenges of managing Trump
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Amir Attaran

chadbourn.bsky.social
Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 8d
Oops.

“US citizens in Venezuela should leave the country immediately…

“There are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of US citizenship or support for the United States.”
UPDATE FOR U.S. CITIZENS ABROAD SECURITY ALERT VENEZUELA STATE