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nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
The Non-Select Committee
@nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
6 followers 16 following 21 posts
An independent politics blog founded in 2025 by two Oxford grads with too much time on our hands. We’re non-partisan but opinionated; encouraging of discussion; and committed to rigorous long-form analysis.

Our website: https://www.nonselectcommittee.com
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nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
A contractarian view of the state emphasizes its obligations towards its own people. But this often leads richer states to ignore grinding poverty outside their borders. Here’s why governments, and individuals, should do more to help the world’s poorest people.

tinyurl.com/28c3zkhw
Governments have a duty to help the world’s poorest people (and so do you!)
Pictured : The last child ever infected with naturally occurring smallpox.
tinyurl.com
June 25, 2025 at 5:23 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
We scrutinise to death every penny of government spending. Except for in one, cosmically big, area: space policy. So, what are the key questions we should be asking about the future of spending on space?

tinyurl.com/ymfvz7yx
Shoot for the Stars (But Make Sure to Aim First)
Questions for the Future of Space Policy
tinyurl.com
June 11, 2025 at 6:54 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Georgian democracy is collapsing while the west looks away 🇬🇪 🗳️ Our latest article explores this silent strategic failure in the battle for liberal democracy.

tinyurl.com/bp9krnac

#GeorgiaProtests #democracy
How Georgian Democracy Died Right Under Our Noses
If you were to scroll through all the BBC News Online articles in their ‘Georgia’ category since the beginning of the year, you would find a curious collection: Orthodox Christians celebrating Christm...
tinyurl.com
May 28, 2025 at 5:47 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
In the aftermath of the electoral slap in the face Sir Keir Starmer received in the recent local elections, we posit some answers to that timeless question - why do politicians make what seem like obvious mistakes? 🧐🧐🧐

tinyurl.com/3envs26f

#localelections #politics
How Many Times Do We Have To Teach You This Lesson, Old Man? - Or, Why Do Politicians Get Things Wrong?
We’ve all done it.
tinyurl.com
May 14, 2025 at 5:35 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Saudi Arabia has been a faithful ally of the USA for decades 🇸🇦🥰🇱🇷 But now it’s growing closer to America’s strategic opponents. Why is this happening? And what can it tell us?

tinyurl.com/36n85ed3

#SaudiArabia #geopolitics #multialignment
Supreme geopolitical flirt: what’s the meaning of Saudi Arabia’s shift towards multi-alignment?
Since 1945, Saudi Arabia has been a pretty faithful ally of the USA: a Watson to the US’ Holmes, a Robin to their Batman, a Sam to their Frodo, a Luigi to their Mario… Recently, however, it appears to...
tinyurl.com
April 30, 2025 at 5:34 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Riggs or Rigged? North Carolina Republicans are still trying to overturn a five-month-old statewide election 🗳️ , with ominous implications for 2026 and beyond. See the full story here:

#allisonriggs #jeffersongriffin

www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/riggs-o...
Riggs or Rigged? North Carolina Republicans are trying to overturn a statewide election, with ominous implications for 2026 and beyond.
Harrison Moore investigates a North Carolina Republican attempt to overturn a statewide election and the ominous implications of this for 2026 and beyond.
www.nonselectcommittee.com
April 16, 2025 at 6:45 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Social media is predominantly a world of illusion 🪄 ✨ But our latest analysis of Starmer and Sunak’s (largely) unsuccessful attempts to self-fashion via Twitter in the run up to the 2024 election 🗳️ finds that no filter can manufacture charisma...

tinyurl.com/5y6p2mvy

#twitter #socialmediastrategy
Posting Through It: Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak’s Social Media Strategy on Twitter in the 2024 General Election
Oliver Haythorne analyses Starmer and Sunak's attempts at self-fashioning via Twitter before the 2024 election, and why they failed.
tinyurl.com
April 9, 2025 at 5:44 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
In tumultuous economic times, recession predictions abound. But what actually is a recession? And can we ever see them coming? Check out our latest article to find out. 🤓 📉 ✏️

#recessionindicator #macroeconomics
www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/predict...
Predictions not Prophecies: The Perils of Forecasting Recessions
Sam Peterson argues that predicting recessions is more nuanced than often assumed, and outlines measures we can adopt to find the best ones
www.nonselectcommittee.com
April 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
A man as mysterious and volatile as Jekyll and Hyde, now elevated to lead a nation that has had more than its fair share of political uncertainty- so who is Syria’s new leader, really? What does he want, how does he think, and how will this impact Syria’s future?

#syria

tinyurl.com/2k793fv7
Damascene Convert, Political Chameleon, or al-Qaeda Devotee? Who is Ahmed al-Sharaa?
Courtenay Crow breaks down the mystery that is Ahmed al-Sharaa's Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, suggesting that he is an arch-pragmatist
tinyurl.com
March 26, 2025 at 12:38 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
What do British trains, care homes, and nurseries have in common? 🚅👵👶 10 points to Gryffindor if you guessed they're all semi-private public services! Check out our latest article all about why this confusing fusion doesn't work.
tinyurl.com/492hbjx6
#socialcare #publicservices
One Way or Another, but not a Third: Why Semi-Private Public Services Cannot Work.
Thomas Britton makes the case against semi-private public services. As One Direction famously said, it has to be 'one way or another'.
tinyurl.com
March 19, 2025 at 6:25 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Canada’s Liberals are on for the political comeback of the decade, but how have they bucked the global anti-incumbent trend? Does most credit go to Trump or Trudeau? Read on our website or substack for the answers…

#canada #liberal #election

substack.com/@thenonselec...

tinyurl.com/yrtspvzw
Playing the Trump Card: Do Canada’s Liberals Show How to Escape the Curse of Incumbency?
Harrison Moore argues that Canada’s recent polling shows that we need to rethink 2024’s “Graveyard of Incumbents”
www.nonselectcommittee.com
March 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Ever wondered about the fundamental dilemmas facing Green Parties and how they might (or might not) be solved? Well look no further than our latest article which puts this heated topic (ba dm tsh) under the microscope... 🌎

www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/does-a-...

#greenparty #collectiveaction
Does a Rising Tide Sink All Boats Equally? The Dilemmas Facing Green Parties.
Green Parties and Power
substack.com
March 5, 2025 at 8:22 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
So often the Robin to CO2’s Batman, methane emissions should not be ignored when discussing climate policy, Sam Peterson argues, outlining the policy solutions available in the agricultural and fossil fuels sectors

#climatechange #methane #fossilfuels

www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/solving...
Solving the Methane Problem, One Wonky Policy At A Time: Policy Solutions for Methane Emissions
Sam Peterson outlines the policy options for dealing with methane emissions from agriculture and fossil fuels, and encourages intervention
www.nonselectcommittee.com
February 26, 2025 at 11:07 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Do Gen Z love dictators? Or do we need to drastically rethink how we use 'generations' in political analysis? 🤔Check out our latest article here:

www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/what-ex...

#GenZ #millennials #politicalanalysis
What explains Gen Z's pro-authoritarianism? And other questionable questions...
Courtenay Crow argues for radically changing how we think about ‘generations’ in political analysis.
www.nonselectcommittee.com
February 19, 2025 at 1:31 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
This is a really interesting read! Especially in conjunction with our recent article, 'Moneyball: The Way to the Future of International Peacekeeping'... 🌎

www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/moneyba...

#internationalrelations #UN #internationalpeacekeeping
February 16, 2025 at 2:50 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Could America's inwards-looking sporting culture be the cause of its almost uniquely passionate strand of popular isolationism? 🇺🇸 Only one way to find out...
www.nonselectcommittee.com/post/just-so...

#foreignpolicy #isolationism #superbowl
Just So: How America got her Toxic Isolationism
Thomas Britton proposes that America's uniquely insular sports culture has played a role in fostering a brand of popular isolationism
www.nonselectcommittee.com
February 14, 2025 at 8:09 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
We’ve all heard of populism, we all have strong feelings about it one way or the other, but when was the last time you thought deeply about why exactly people vote for populist candidates? Read this piece to understand the latest theories and research on populist voting.

tinyurl.com/5c3m3234
Why Do They Vote Like That? A Discussion of Populist Voting Trends
Oliver Haythorne discusses populist voting trends, seeking to establish what has increasingly motivated people to vote for populists.
tinyurl.com
February 13, 2025 at 3:58 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Are chickens agents of the deep state? 🐓 🕵️‍♂️ Well… probs not. But we should be keeping an eye on them! Check out our article on how policymakers should respond to the huge unaddressed externalities of animal agriculture. #animalagriculture #wetmarkets #deforestation

tinyurl.com/5aempnpc
Animal agriculture is incubating another pandemic. It's time for government action.
Sam Petersen makes the case for a much more proactive government approach to tackling zoonotic diseases before they tackle us.
tinyurl.com
February 12, 2025 at 8:00 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
What do Billy Beane and Boutros-Ghali have in common? Well, almost nothing. But in this piece, we show that by applying the Moneyball insights of baseball to peacekeeping operations, we can create a new model for the future that is more democratic, accountable, and participatory
tinyurl.com/mwac4pw7
Moneyball: The Way to the Future of International Peacekeeping
Thomas Britton proposes learning lessons from Moneyball in shaping the future of international peacekeeping post-US hegemony.
tinyurl.com
February 11, 2025 at 6:08 PM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
To mark the start of the 2025 AI Action Summit, we’ve pulled out the striking similarities, dramatic differences and big ole blindspots in government responses to the “the great public policy question of our generation” (Jamie Susskind) - how to govern AI 🤖 #AISummit

tinyurl.com/mwhm5rp4
A comparison of government responses to the AI revolution.
Courtenay Crow examines the striking similarities, dramatic differences, and big ole blindspots in government responses to AI.
tinyurl.com
February 10, 2025 at 10:15 AM
nonselectcommittee.bsky.social
Get excited… because The Non-Select Committee, an independent politics blog founded by two nerdy Oxford grads with too much time on our hands, is launching on Monday 10th Feb! Stay tuned for the latest #politicalanalysis. 🧐🧠😎
#politicsblog
February 6, 2025 at 8:09 PM