Matteo Nebbiai
@matteonebbiai.bsky.social
tech & political economy & EU regulation | PhD King's College London | GPEP Fellow at Georgetown University | previously at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
https://matteonebbiai.site/
https://matteonebbiai.substack.com/
https://matteonebbiai.site/
https://matteonebbiai.substack.com/
Pinned
Matteo Nebbiai
@matteonebbiai.bsky.social
· Dec 18
I couldn't find a starter pack on the political economy of digitalisation, so I made one.
(Self-)recommendations accepted!
go.bsky.app/SGZAADH
(Self-)recommendations accepted!
go.bsky.app/SGZAADH
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
This effort to curry favor by acting like an insult comic will be forgotten within the Trump administration in a day, but will make headlines and be remembered for decades in the countries being insulted.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “Denmark’s investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant” www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/b...
Scott Bessent says U.S. is unconcerned by Treasury sell-off over Greenland, calls Denmark ‘irrelevant’
U.S. treasury secretary Scott Bessant addressed reporters at a news conference at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
www.cnbc.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:11 PM
This effort to curry favor by acting like an insult comic will be forgotten within the Trump administration in a day, but will make headlines and be remembered for decades in the countries being insulted.
Given Trump's mental health status, maybe newspapers are 4D chessing to let Trump believe he actually made that commitment.
World order by performativity
World order by performativity
it's bizarre to see both CNN and CNBC run with chyrons reporting that Trump said he won't "use force" to take Greenland, when the comments in question were clearly a threat to take Greenland by force. How naive are we at this point?
January 21, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Given Trump's mental health status, maybe newspapers are 4D chessing to let Trump believe he actually made that commitment.
World order by performativity
World order by performativity
A good explainer of what might happen domestically if Trump chooses the military option on #Greenland
A US military action against Denmark’s arctic territory would be a violation of US law, with potentially massive political consequences.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/74bx
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/74bx
January 21, 2026 at 2:53 PM
A good explainer of what might happen domestically if Trump chooses the military option on #Greenland
"Restaurants are opening in DC" - Trump, 2026.
"Restaurants are full" - Berlusconi, 2011, right before Italy's debt crisis.
"Restaurants are full" - Berlusconi, 2011, right before Italy's debt crisis.
January 21, 2026 at 2:46 PM
"Restaurants are opening in DC" - Trump, 2026.
"Restaurants are full" - Berlusconi, 2011, right before Italy's debt crisis.
"Restaurants are full" - Berlusconi, 2011, right before Italy's debt crisis.
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
1/Its easy to write off Trump as a mad king on Greenland. But it is as much about Court politics -- Trump and his insiders -- than simply a tantrum. Like any King, it is about makeup (hint: Estee Lauder).
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
How a billionaire with interests in Greenland encouraged Trump to acquire the territory
US president’s friend Ronald Lauder – who first proposed Arctic expansion – is now making deals in the island
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:24 PM
1/Its easy to write off Trump as a mad king on Greenland. But it is as much about Court politics -- Trump and his insiders -- than simply a tantrum. Like any King, it is about makeup (hint: Estee Lauder).
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
"there's a third possible response to tariffs, one that's just sitting there, begging to be tried: what about repealing anticircumvention law?"
pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...
pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...
Pluralistic: The Post-American Internet (01 Jan 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
January 20, 2026 at 6:06 PM
"there's a third possible response to tariffs, one that's just sitting there, begging to be tried: what about repealing anticircumvention law?"
pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...
pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Carney: "American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, a stable financial system... this bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs as leverage ... "
January 20, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Carney: "American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, a stable financial system... this bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition... recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs as leverage ... "
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
🧵 Thread on beautiful data centers:
MareNostrum 4 (Barcelona SCC): Often called "the most beautiful data center in the world," this facility is housed inside the Torre Girona Chapel, a deconsecrated 19th-century church.
When fully installed, it will have a peak performance of 13.9 Petaflops.
MareNostrum 4 (Barcelona SCC): Often called "the most beautiful data center in the world," this facility is housed inside the Torre Girona Chapel, a deconsecrated 19th-century church.
When fully installed, it will have a peak performance of 13.9 Petaflops.
January 12, 2026 at 5:28 PM
🧵 Thread on beautiful data centers:
MareNostrum 4 (Barcelona SCC): Often called "the most beautiful data center in the world," this facility is housed inside the Torre Girona Chapel, a deconsecrated 19th-century church.
When fully installed, it will have a peak performance of 13.9 Petaflops.
MareNostrum 4 (Barcelona SCC): Often called "the most beautiful data center in the world," this facility is housed inside the Torre Girona Chapel, a deconsecrated 19th-century church.
When fully installed, it will have a peak performance of 13.9 Petaflops.
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
5/This is not a world marked by spheres of interest in the traditional sense because the focus is not about competing blocks. It is about extraction and dominance for the insider elite clique.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/u...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/u...
The Trump Doctrine in Venezuela
Richard Haass explains why the US military intervention and arrest of Nicolás Maduro will play well in Beijing and Moscow.
www.project-syndicate.org
January 4, 2026 at 3:07 PM
5/This is not a world marked by spheres of interest in the traditional sense because the focus is not about competing blocks. It is about extraction and dominance for the insider elite clique.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/u...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/u...
We may be witnessing a perversion of neoconservatism similar to what happened to neoliberalism. Original neoliberalism was about *impartial rules* promoting markets. Trump’s neolibs are for markets *without impartial rules*. Trump’s neocons are for coups without principles (i.e., democracy).
January 3, 2026 at 4:11 PM
We may be witnessing a perversion of neoconservatism similar to what happened to neoliberalism. Original neoliberalism was about *impartial rules* promoting markets. Trump’s neolibs are for markets *without impartial rules*. Trump’s neocons are for coups without principles (i.e., democracy).
Good point, also connected to the fact that Trump doesn't seem to have a particular plan for elections/democratic institutions.
I feel neoconservatism was at least worried about what "good institutions" should be exported after intervention.
I feel neoconservatism was at least worried about what "good institutions" should be exported after intervention.
Actually (and I've read good articles about this, but can't find them right now), neoconservativism was vastly more principled than anything happening here.
It was dumb, naive, and violent, but there was an attempt at principled logic underpinning the actions.
Whereas there's none of that here.
It was dumb, naive, and violent, but there was an attempt at principled logic underpinning the actions.
Whereas there's none of that here.
"America First" looks a lot like U.S. neoconservatism...
January 3, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Good point, also connected to the fact that Trump doesn't seem to have a particular plan for elections/democratic institutions.
I feel neoconservatism was at least worried about what "good institutions" should be exported after intervention.
I feel neoconservatism was at least worried about what "good institutions" should be exported after intervention.
Have you heard of the Great Meme Reset
January 3, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Have you heard of the Great Meme Reset
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.
January 3, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
A deluge of work on regime change after the 2003 invasion of Iraq yielded strong (and rare) agreement in IR: it doesn't work & has terrible consequences. @profdownes.bsky.social's book Catastrophic Success lays it out, but it's right there in the title. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
January 3, 2026 at 1:41 PM
A deluge of work on regime change after the 2003 invasion of Iraq yielded strong (and rare) agreement in IR: it doesn't work & has terrible consequences. @profdownes.bsky.social's book Catastrophic Success lays it out, but it's right there in the title. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
Rwanda-Albania model in full spree?
For the Iraq War, oil made sense as a cynical imperialist motivation. In 2003, the US imported ≈11k barrels/day.
These days, the US *exports* ≈3k barrels/day. We have a surplus of oil.
I think Trump's plan in Venezuela is to expand on the El Salvador CECOT model, scale up his concentration camps.
These days, the US *exports* ≈3k barrels/day. We have a surplus of oil.
I think Trump's plan in Venezuela is to expand on the El Salvador CECOT model, scale up his concentration camps.
January 3, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Rwanda-Albania model in full spree?
Now let’s see how many Iraq war "critics" are doubling down on Venezuela 😬
January 3, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Now let’s see how many Iraq war "critics" are doubling down on Venezuela 😬
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Im seeing discussions about consultations with congress, authorizations of force etc. I have to say this transcends any of what I would call sub constitutional technicalities. The president has gone to war with a foreign power and, it seems, kidnapped a foreign head of state on the basis of nothing.
January 3, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Im seeing discussions about consultations with congress, authorizations of force etc. I have to say this transcends any of what I would call sub constitutional technicalities. The president has gone to war with a foreign power and, it seems, kidnapped a foreign head of state on the basis of nothing.
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
you could say unbelievable, our European leaders will not condemn Trump's flagrant breach of international laws, but we've all watched them cower on US/Israel impunity in Gaza.
January 3, 2026 at 11:15 AM
you could say unbelievable, our European leaders will not condemn Trump's flagrant breach of international laws, but we've all watched them cower on US/Israel impunity in Gaza.
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Venezuela is an important oil producer (~top15 in global ranking), with some of the world's largest proven oil reserves. Supply chocked last year but export to 🇨🇳 was picking up.
The current uncertainty will be profitable to other fossil giants (🇷🇺)
Unless, just an idea: we take renewables seriously
The current uncertainty will be profitable to other fossil giants (🇷🇺)
Unless, just an idea: we take renewables seriously
January 3, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Venezuela is an important oil producer (~top15 in global ranking), with some of the world's largest proven oil reserves. Supply chocked last year but export to 🇨🇳 was picking up.
The current uncertainty will be profitable to other fossil giants (🇷🇺)
Unless, just an idea: we take renewables seriously
The current uncertainty will be profitable to other fossil giants (🇷🇺)
Unless, just an idea: we take renewables seriously
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
🧵
🧵
January 1, 2026 at 5:13 PM
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
Wow, seems terrible. If only they put a Smart Businessman in with near-total, unconstitutional remit over federal spending, I bet he could find out and then stomp it all out easily!
December 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Wow, seems terrible. If only they put a Smart Businessman in with near-total, unconstitutional remit over federal spending, I bet he could find out and then stomp it all out easily!
"it can’t be overstated what an own-goal supporting this whole dumb thing was for Democrats, who not only helped Trump’s friends steal partial ownership of #TikTok, they saber-rattled over a ban during an election season where they desperately needed young people to vote".
I wrote about the cronyistic TikTok deal, and how it once again shows the U.S. is too corrupt to function in the public interest, despite a whole lot of pretense to the contrary
TikTok Deal Done And It’s Somehow The Shittiest Possible Outcome, Making Everything Worse
There were rumblings about this for a while, but it looks like the Trump TikTok deal is done, and it’s somehow the worst of all possible outcomes, amazingly making all of the biggest criticis…
www.techdirt.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"it can’t be overstated what an own-goal supporting this whole dumb thing was for Democrats, who not only helped Trump’s friends steal partial ownership of #TikTok, they saber-rattled over a ban during an election season where they desperately needed young people to vote".
Reposted by Matteo Nebbiai
I wrote about a conference marking the culmination of tens of millions of dollars of philanthropic spending to transcend neoliberalism. lpeproject.org/blog/post-ne...
December 19, 2025 at 11:58 AM
I wrote about a conference marking the culmination of tens of millions of dollars of philanthropic spending to transcend neoliberalism. lpeproject.org/blog/post-ne...