Paul MacDonald
@pkmacdonald.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. Focus on war, peace, and strategery. Proud father of Field Marshal von 9th Grader and Vice Admiral Lord 7th Grader
“What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October. Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.” www.bbc.com/news/article...
Nato chief Mark Rutte jokes about 'limping' Russian submarine
Moscow denies one of its vessels had to surface in the English Channel because of technical issues.
www.bbc.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
“What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October. Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.” www.bbc.com/news/article...
Kudos to the photo intern who put a photo of UC Berkeley’s famous Sather Gate for a story ostensibly praising Stanfurd
October 12, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Kudos to the photo intern who put a photo of UC Berkeley’s famous Sather Gate for a story ostensibly praising Stanfurd
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
As scary as this moment is, remember that support for political violence went DOWN after the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump, not up www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
We need to make the same thing happen this time.
We need to make the same thing happen this time.
September 10, 2025 at 9:13 PM
As scary as this moment is, remember that support for political violence went DOWN after the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump, not up www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
We need to make the same thing happen this time.
We need to make the same thing happen this time.
Don’t you go and make me feel sympathy for John Bolton
August 22, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Don’t you go and make me feel sympathy for John Bolton
The last thing 2025 needed was an empirical test of the stability-instability paradox
May 10, 2025 at 1:30 AM
The last thing 2025 needed was an empirical test of the stability-instability paradox
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
Based on what I've seen credibly reported over the last 2-3 hours, it is fair to now call this a full-scale war.
Another threshold of escalation crumbles: India apparently has started air operations inside Pakistan. (This was the suggestion with the SEAD strikes yesterday.)
May 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Based on what I've seen credibly reported over the last 2-3 hours, it is fair to now call this a full-scale war.
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
Escalatory dynamics kicking in hard - air bases being tit-for-tat hit with missiles. Reports of IAF ops in Pakistani airspace, Pak attacks on Indian missile storage. Like when the war games start spinning into very bad outcomes. Hopefully US, PRC, Saudis burning up the phones. Deeply alarming.
May 10, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Escalatory dynamics kicking in hard - air bases being tit-for-tat hit with missiles. Reports of IAF ops in Pakistani airspace, Pak attacks on Indian missile storage. Like when the war games start spinning into very bad outcomes. Hopefully US, PRC, Saudis burning up the phones. Deeply alarming.
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
I'll just take this moment to point out that the US Institute of Peace, just a few weeks ago, contained one of the finest concentrations of US expertise on India and Pakistan, and crisis management in South Asia.
May 10, 2025 at 12:24 AM
I'll just take this moment to point out that the US Institute of Peace, just a few weeks ago, contained one of the finest concentrations of US expertise on India and Pakistan, and crisis management in South Asia.
“A few days later, a cadet sent her an email thanking her for her courage. He wrote that it was first time he had ever seen someone stand up for something that directly cost them.” We’re so degraded as a nation, we’ve forgotten what a profile in courage looks like… www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
The Pentagon’s Culture Wars Strike West Point
www.nytimes.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:08 AM
“A few days later, a cadet sent her an email thanking her for her courage. He wrote that it was first time he had ever seen someone stand up for something that directly cost them.” We’re so degraded as a nation, we’ve forgotten what a profile in courage looks like… www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
No worries, I’m sure they’ll only cut the woke parts of the CIA www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump administration plans major downsizing at U.S. spy agencies
The CIA plans to cut 1,200 positions, along with thousands more from other parts of the U.S. intelligence community.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 2, 2025 at 10:49 PM
No worries, I’m sure they’ll only cut the woke parts of the CIA www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
When ending the Women, Peace, & Security program at DOD, Sec Hegseth said that “troops HATE it”—apparently “troops” didn’t include the Joint Staff and leaders of combatant commands, who recommended maintaining the program and touted its value in a memo obtained by @lawfaremedia.org
April 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
When ending the Women, Peace, & Security program at DOD, Sec Hegseth said that “troops HATE it”—apparently “troops” didn’t include the Joint Staff and leaders of combatant commands, who recommended maintaining the program and touted its value in a memo obtained by @lawfaremedia.org
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
Awesome article by Stacie Goddard in @foreignaffairs.com. Key points:
• Great-power competition? Lol.
• Is Trump aiming at a great-power concert? Sort of.
•Trump's constitutionally incapable of making a concert work.
• We probably don't want to live in a world with a great-power concert anyway.
• Great-power competition? Lol.
• Is Trump aiming at a great-power concert? Sort of.
•Trump's constitutionally incapable of making a concert work.
• We probably don't want to live in a world with a great-power concert anyway.
The Rise and Fall of Great-Power Competition
Trump’s new spheres of influence.
www.foreignaffairs.com
April 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Awesome article by Stacie Goddard in @foreignaffairs.com. Key points:
• Great-power competition? Lol.
• Is Trump aiming at a great-power concert? Sort of.
•Trump's constitutionally incapable of making a concert work.
• We probably don't want to live in a world with a great-power concert anyway.
• Great-power competition? Lol.
• Is Trump aiming at a great-power concert? Sort of.
•Trump's constitutionally incapable of making a concert work.
• We probably don't want to live in a world with a great-power concert anyway.
“Communication is key in every strong marriage, and that includes communication about airstrikes on foreign adversaries.” theonion.com/pete-hegseth...
Pete Hegseth: ‘There Are No State Secrets In A Healthy Relationship’
WASHINGTON—Staunchly defending his decision to share sensitive military data in messages to his wife, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday, “There are no state secrets in a healthy rel...
theonion.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:12 AM
“Communication is key in every strong marriage, and that includes communication about airstrikes on foreign adversaries.” theonion.com/pete-hegseth...
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
Dear USG,
Sorry to hear that you accidentally turned in a preliminary draft of your letter. Unfortunately, now that a grade has been submitted, we cannot accept a revised version, and the original grade must stand. I hope this will serve as a reminder to double check your work before submitting it.
Sorry to hear that you accidentally turned in a preliminary draft of your letter. Unfortunately, now that a grade has been submitted, we cannot accept a revised version, and the original grade must stand. I hope this will serve as a reminder to double check your work before submitting it.
Breaking News: Trump officials blame a mistake for setting off the tectonic confrontation with Harvard.
Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard
An official on the administration’s antisemitism task force told the university that a letter of demands had been sent without authorization.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Dear USG,
Sorry to hear that you accidentally turned in a preliminary draft of your letter. Unfortunately, now that a grade has been submitted, we cannot accept a revised version, and the original grade must stand. I hope this will serve as a reminder to double check your work before submitting it.
Sorry to hear that you accidentally turned in a preliminary draft of your letter. Unfortunately, now that a grade has been submitted, we cannot accept a revised version, and the original grade must stand. I hope this will serve as a reminder to double check your work before submitting it.
If you have time, go read my colleague @ismarvolic.bsky.social’s piece on why TPS status matters and what we all gain when our immigration systems are grounded in empathy and not exclusion
April 15, 2025 at 11:51 PM
If you have time, go read my colleague @ismarvolic.bsky.social’s piece on why TPS status matters and what we all gain when our immigration systems are grounded in empathy and not exclusion
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
Today, class, we will once again discuss “revealed preferences”
The bipartisan belief that America would be a better place if *other people* worked in a factory.
www.ft.com/content/8459...
www.ft.com/content/8459...
April 13, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Today, class, we will once again discuss “revealed preferences”
What’s the comparative politics term for backsliding into an Idiocracy?
New study analyzed 145 years of U.S. congressional speeches and found a clear shift away from evidence-based language toward more intuition-based language—especially since the mid-1970s.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Computational analysis of US congressional speeches reveals a shift from evidence to intuition - Nature Human Behaviour
This research explores the linguistic traces of evidence-based reasoning and intuitive decision-making in congressional speeches from 1879 to 2022. The analysis suggests that evidence-based language h...
www.nature.com
April 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
What’s the comparative politics term for backsliding into an Idiocracy?
@zachlowenba.bsky.social a bit bummed that Quinten Post did not get at least an honorable mention for an all rookie team spot. Highest 3-pt % for a rookie at 43% and playing meaningful minutes for a (playoff? gulp) team that really needs spacing off the bench
April 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
@zachlowenba.bsky.social a bit bummed that Quinten Post did not get at least an honorable mention for an all rookie team spot. Highest 3-pt % for a rookie at 43% and playing meaningful minutes for a (playoff? gulp) team that really needs spacing off the bench
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
To recap, Trump officials have suspended funds to:
1. Columbia ($400 million)
2. Brown ($510 million)
3. UPenn ($175 million)
4. Harvard ($9 billion)
5. Cornell ($1 billion)
Perhaps we need to form a coalition or an alliance to band together. Maybe a League of some kind?
1. Columbia ($400 million)
2. Brown ($510 million)
3. UPenn ($175 million)
4. Harvard ($9 billion)
5. Cornell ($1 billion)
Perhaps we need to form a coalition or an alliance to band together. Maybe a League of some kind?
We hang together or we hang separately. Could not be clearer what is happening and how universities must respond.
Trump Officials Freeze $1 Billion for Cornell and $790 Million for Northwestern
The funding pause amid civil rights "investigations" into both universities sharply escalates the Trump administration’s campaign against elite colleges.
The funding pause amid civil rights "investigations" into both universities sharply escalates the Trump administration’s campaign against elite colleges.
April 9, 2025 at 1:22 AM
To recap, Trump officials have suspended funds to:
1. Columbia ($400 million)
2. Brown ($510 million)
3. UPenn ($175 million)
4. Harvard ($9 billion)
5. Cornell ($1 billion)
Perhaps we need to form a coalition or an alliance to band together. Maybe a League of some kind?
1. Columbia ($400 million)
2. Brown ($510 million)
3. UPenn ($175 million)
4. Harvard ($9 billion)
5. Cornell ($1 billion)
Perhaps we need to form a coalition or an alliance to band together. Maybe a League of some kind?
Look forward to moment, decades from now, when Trump’s decision to devastate the global economy because he’s a racist dude who became convinced trade deficits were bad because of Japan in the 1980s gets explained by future IPE scholars as “sectoral interests”
April 9, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Look forward to moment, decades from now, when Trump’s decision to devastate the global economy because he’s a racist dude who became convinced trade deficits were bad because of Japan in the 1980s gets explained by future IPE scholars as “sectoral interests”
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
It’s like Watergate, only in this version Nixon directly mails the tapes to Woodward and Bernstein
March 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It’s like Watergate, only in this version Nixon directly mails the tapes to Woodward and Bernstein
“Unpublishing” articles and scrubbing websites is one thing. I’m also hearing from my friends in the PME space about how these initiatives are putting their colleagues and institutions at risk. It’s as if this administration wants a military that is less intellectual, self reflective, and adaptive.
March 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
“Unpublishing” articles and scrubbing websites is one thing. I’m also hearing from my friends in the PME space about how these initiatives are putting their colleagues and institutions at risk. It’s as if this administration wants a military that is less intellectual, self reflective, and adaptive.
Reposted by Paul MacDonald
A small drop in an ocean of suck, but for the past few weeks friends have let me know that my book (Divided Armies), along w/ related articles + briefings, was removed from DoD reading lists & curricula for being "too woke"
Now JFQ has literally "unpublished" its review & any mention of the book ⬇️
Now JFQ has literally "unpublished" its review & any mention of the book ⬇️
Everything is unbelievably stupid, and among this is Joint Force Quarterly being forced to unpublish multiple articles and some entire issues as far back as *2006* because of "DEI material"
March 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
A small drop in an ocean of suck, but for the past few weeks friends have let me know that my book (Divided Armies), along w/ related articles + briefings, was removed from DoD reading lists & curricula for being "too woke"
Now JFQ has literally "unpublished" its review & any mention of the book ⬇️
Now JFQ has literally "unpublished" its review & any mention of the book ⬇️
Includes articles written by notorious wokeness warrior John Nagl
Everything is unbelievably stupid, and among this is Joint Force Quarterly being forced to unpublish multiple articles and some entire issues as far back as *2006* because of "DEI material"
March 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Includes articles written by notorious wokeness warrior John Nagl
