Nicholas Danforth
@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social
"It is hard to know just how much hypocrisy is too much for the world to bear. Ironically, the more clear-eyed one is about Washington’s record of abandoning allies or supporting genocide, the harder it is to think that any new betrayal can finally ruin the country’s credibility.
February 11, 2026 at 12:08 PM
"It is hard to know just how much hypocrisy is too much for the world to bear. Ironically, the more clear-eyed one is about Washington’s record of abandoning allies or supporting genocide, the harder it is to think that any new betrayal can finally ruin the country’s credibility.
Similar to progressive confusion over the relationship between racism and support for the "well-regulated militia" clause
February 10, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Similar to progressive confusion over the relationship between racism and support for the "well-regulated militia" clause
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
A very basic test of U.S. historical literacy is “which side of the slave/free divide in America’s founding wanted slaves to count as a whole person and why” and yet I see it being failed so consistently
February 10, 2026 at 5:58 PM
A very basic test of U.S. historical literacy is “which side of the slave/free divide in America’s founding wanted slaves to count as a whole person and why” and yet I see it being failed so consistently
"Syria provoked such a divisive policy debate in part because it lay at the racial and geographic fault lines of Washington’s worldview. It wasn’t white & European enough to necessitate an intervention, but it wasn’t Black & African enough that Americans could ignore it either.
February 10, 2026 at 5:03 PM
"Syria provoked such a divisive policy debate in part because it lay at the racial and geographic fault lines of Washington’s worldview. It wasn’t white & European enough to necessitate an intervention, but it wasn’t Black & African enough that Americans could ignore it either.
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
From Kosovo to Greenland, FP’s Nick Danforth conducts a postmortem on the liberal international order.
Who Killed the Liberal International Order?
A contested idea has seen many alleged deaths.
foreignpolicy.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:30 PM
From Kosovo to Greenland, FP’s Nick Danforth conducts a postmortem on the liberal international order.
"Putin’s first act of naked aggression against a neighbor was the 2008 invasion of Georgia. Washington offered relatively little by way of response. But because it happened while Bush was in office, it didn’t particularly fit with anyone’s theory of the case.
February 10, 2026 at 12:29 PM
"Putin’s first act of naked aggression against a neighbor was the 2008 invasion of Georgia. Washington offered relatively little by way of response. But because it happened while Bush was in office, it didn’t particularly fit with anyone’s theory of the case.
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
"While many critics of U.S. intervention argued that Iraq killed the liberal order, this wasn’t so much a causal claim. Rather, they were insisting the real danger lay in Washington’s hawkish impulses— that even if the order wasn’t gone then, U.S. unilateralism would destroy it.
February 10, 2026 at 12:28 PM
"While many critics of U.S. intervention argued that Iraq killed the liberal order, this wasn’t so much a causal claim. Rather, they were insisting the real danger lay in Washington’s hawkish impulses— that even if the order wasn’t gone then, U.S. unilateralism would destroy it.
"While many critics of U.S. intervention argued that Iraq killed the liberal order, this wasn’t so much a causal claim. Rather, they were insisting the real danger lay in Washington’s hawkish impulses— that even if the order wasn’t gone then, U.S. unilateralism would destroy it.
February 10, 2026 at 12:28 PM
"While many critics of U.S. intervention argued that Iraq killed the liberal order, this wasn’t so much a causal claim. Rather, they were insisting the real danger lay in Washington’s hawkish impulses— that even if the order wasn’t gone then, U.S. unilateralism would destroy it.
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
"The claim that Washington broke the liberal international order by intervening to create an independent Kosovo is a niche one. But it appeals to a particular kind of legalistic leftist with a penchant for contrarianism and geopolitical deep cuts.
February 9, 2026 at 7:28 PM
"The claim that Washington broke the liberal international order by intervening to create an independent Kosovo is a niche one. But it appeals to a particular kind of legalistic leftist with a penchant for contrarianism and geopolitical deep cuts.
"The claim that Washington broke the liberal international order by intervening to create an independent Kosovo is a niche one. But it appeals to a particular kind of legalistic leftist with a penchant for contrarianism and geopolitical deep cuts.
February 9, 2026 at 7:28 PM
"The claim that Washington broke the liberal international order by intervening to create an independent Kosovo is a niche one. But it appeals to a particular kind of legalistic leftist with a penchant for contrarianism and geopolitical deep cuts.
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
The whole online discussion of Turkey-EU Customs Union negotiations is phony.
I feel like it's an urgent matter for Turkey, but it's not a big deal for the EU. Makes me think that Turkey is making online fuss to pressure the EU, which seems weak and ineffectual.
I feel like it's an urgent matter for Turkey, but it's not a big deal for the EU. Makes me think that Turkey is making online fuss to pressure the EU, which seems weak and ineffectual.
February 9, 2026 at 1:26 PM
The whole online discussion of Turkey-EU Customs Union negotiations is phony.
I feel like it's an urgent matter for Turkey, but it's not a big deal for the EU. Makes me think that Turkey is making online fuss to pressure the EU, which seems weak and ineffectual.
I feel like it's an urgent matter for Turkey, but it's not a big deal for the EU. Makes me think that Turkey is making online fuss to pressure the EU, which seems weak and ineffectual.
Who really killed the Liberal International Order. My latest from @foreignpolicy.com
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/09/l...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/09/l...
Who Killed the Liberal International Order?
A contested idea has seen many alleged deaths.
foreignpolicy.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Who really killed the Liberal International Order. My latest from @foreignpolicy.com
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/09/l...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/09/l...
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
The Foreign Policy Union stands in solidarity with the Washington Post journalists who were affected by mass layoffs this week. 1/3
February 6, 2026 at 9:05 PM
The Foreign Policy Union stands in solidarity with the Washington Post journalists who were affected by mass layoffs this week. 1/3
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
Solidarity with all the fine people at the Washington Post finding themselves without work today. It’s been a critical resource for so many of us working on the Middle East. A newspaper that’s incurious about the world outside the US is not one worth reading.
February 4, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Solidarity with all the fine people at the Washington Post finding themselves without work today. It’s been a critical resource for so many of us working on the Middle East. A newspaper that’s incurious about the world outside the US is not one worth reading.
somehow police forces in countries with no imperial history still figure out how to brutalize people
February 4, 2026 at 4:06 PM
somehow police forces in countries with no imperial history still figure out how to brutalize people
Sometimes feels like the goal of progressive history is to prove everything bad in the world is causally related to everything else bad.
The Gestapo did not copy slave catchers. That’s not a thing that happened.
Instead of "Stop saying 'gestapo,' just compare them to the slave catchers from our own history" you can say "That's exactly right, and we know the gestapo well because they copied the slave catchers from our own history" and then you're on the same team magic trick boom.
February 4, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Sometimes feels like the goal of progressive history is to prove everything bad in the world is causally related to everything else bad.
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
Great to have @akmckeever.bsky.social joining Kulturkampf from Damascus to discuss the latest developments in northeast Syria
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
Discussing Northern Syria with Alexander McKeever
On the ongoing conflict between Damascus and the SDF
kulturkampftr.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Great to have @akmckeever.bsky.social joining Kulturkampf from Damascus to discuss the latest developments in northeast Syria
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
I hate to have become one of those people who complain about nytimes headlines but they're really bad sometimes
February 3, 2026 at 1:55 PM
I hate to have become one of those people who complain about nytimes headlines but they're really bad sometimes
Any historians out there want to write about watching the entire internet go through the Epstein emails and discover the possibilities and perils of doing primary source research in real time?
February 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Any historians out there want to write about watching the entire internet go through the Epstein emails and discover the possibilities and perils of doing primary source research in real time?
Which will now forever be enshrined as codified truth by a generation of conspiracy theorists
February 2, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Which will now forever be enshrined as codified truth by a generation of conspiracy theorists
One takeaway from the latest Epstein emails is that a lot of rich, powerful people have the same half-baked views on foreign affairs as everyone else
February 1, 2026 at 5:13 PM
One takeaway from the latest Epstein emails is that a lot of rich, powerful people have the same half-baked views on foreign affairs as everyone else
Great to have @akmckeever.bsky.social joining Kulturkampf from Damascus to discuss the latest developments in northeast Syria
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
Discussing Northern Syria with Alexander McKeever
On the ongoing conflict between Damascus and the SDF
kulturkampftr.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Great to have @akmckeever.bsky.social joining Kulturkampf from Damascus to discuss the latest developments in northeast Syria
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/discussing...
Reposted by Nicholas Danforth
Fascinating piece on broader Russian and Turkish political identity by @samharshbarger.bsky.social.
Russian or “of Russia?” Turkish or “of Turkey?”
Turkish nationalism has become more like its Russian counterpart
kulturkampftr.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Fascinating piece on broader Russian and Turkish political identity by @samharshbarger.bsky.social.