John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
political thinker & writer|sense of humour|lover of deserts|against hubris|democrat|VMO|forever young
Born in southern Australia, John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney. For 25 years he also held a position at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), which he resigned from in November 2023. .. more
Political science
55%
Sociology
19%
just published: my unorthodox thoughts on the past, present and future of revolution, including the unfinished ‘slow motion’ democratic revolutions of our times…https://johnkeane.substack.com/p/on-revolutions
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· May 31
Statement by Jewish university staff and students regarding racial vilification allegations at the University of Sydney - Overland literary journal
As Jewish university staff and students we are appalled by the attempt to use racial vilification laws and the Australian Human Rights Commission complaints process to silence Dr Nick Riemer and Profe...
overland.org.au
‘we repudiate the attempt…to conflate Zionism, a political ideology with Jewish and non-Jewish adherents, with Jewish identity’:
a brave and honest statement of support for Dr Nick Riemer and me in our current legal battle against local apologists of genocide….
overland.org.au/2025/05/stat...
a brave and honest statement of support for Dr Nick Riemer and me in our current legal battle against local apologists of genocide….
overland.org.au/2025/05/stat...
…and in Spanish…https://letraslibres.com/revista/keane-amerika-maga-china-decadencia-imperial-y-democracia/
استعادة عظمة أميركا: الصين، والانحدار الإمبراطوري، والديمقراطية
يقول المثل الصيني: "عندما تهبّ رياح التغيير، يُشيّد بعضهم جدرانًا في حين يبني آخرون طواحين هواء"
www.dohainstitute.org
…and in Arabic…https://www.dohainstitute.org/ar/PoliticalStudies/Pages/making-america-great-again-china-imperial-decline-and-democracy.aspx
my unorthodox account of MAGA and Trump’s demagoguery as symptoms of US imperial decline is now available in Dutch…
Amerika
MAGA, China, Imperial Decline, Democracy
open.substack.com
my thoughts on the decline of the American empire and the future of democracy open.substack.com/pub/johnkean...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Apr 11
'We see what’s happening in the United States'
'Antisemitism' crackdown intensifies at Sydney University
everythingisfine.beehiiv.com
‘Weaponising “antisemitism” on university campuses to punish students and staff who express support for Palestinians has long been a goal of Zionist lobby groups’, writes @mckinnon_a in his report on conflicts and crackdowns @Sydney_Uni @jewishcouncilAU
everythingisfine.beehiiv.com/p/we-see-wha...
everythingisfine.beehiiv.com/p/we-see-wha...
Opinion | The decline of the American empire: how Trumpism threatens democracy worldwide
The United States once championed democracy. Now it is retreating behind militarism, demagoguery and despotism.
sc.mp
why the American empire’s retreat and decline threatens democracy at home and abroad - and why the future of democracy now depends on the courage and willingness to refuse US ‘approval’ and ‘support’….my thoughts (part two)…
sc.mp/356on
sc.mp/356on
Opinion | The rise of China and the retreat of the US: a new global empire takes shape
With the US putting up walls of protectionism and denial, the 21st century belongs to a resilient, dynamic Chinese empire.
sc.mp
my thoughts on why Trump’s MAGA isn’t a push to restore America’s global dominance, but rather a symptom of a shrinking empire in retreat & outflanked economically, diplomatically and geopolitically by a new Chinese global empire (part one)…
sc.mp/w207s
sc.mp/w207s
The Despot
There once was a land ruled by a despot grown fat on the fineries of power.
johnkeane.substack.com
penned a while ago, my short allegory on despotism seems to have a new relevance: ‘There once was a land ruled by a despot grown fat on the fineries of power….’ johnkeane.substack.com/p/the-despot
China gains U.N. clout, filling void left by Trump's 'America First'
Contributions to top 20% while Chinese officials take senior roles at world body
asia.nikkei.com
a sign of the times: this year, China will pay a record 20% of the UN’s overall budget - for the first time, more than the US pays… asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Int...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Feb 28
my interview with Lithuanian writer Almantis Samalavičius on the gamification of war, citizen indifference towards genocide and the role of rebel journalists in exposing war’s barbarities…it’s also published this week in Lithuanian @TodaInstitute toda.org/assets/files...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Feb 13
my latest essay, just published: ‘The Beautification of War - برحلا ليمجت: Digital Communications, Public Indifference, Rebel Journalism, and Civilian Resistance in the Age of Meta Wars’ www.jstor.org/stable/48806...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Feb 12
Tunisia: Opposition Politicians and Journalists Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms, #shorts
YouTube video by Arezki on Africa & the Mid East
youtu.be
Rafik Abdessalem Bouchlaka, among my most brilliant PhD students in London who later became Tunisia’s foreign minister, sentenced last week in absentia to 34 years’ prison by a despot’s kangaroo court…shame!
youtu.be/cdJU5sFbs7A
youtu.be/cdJU5sFbs7A
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Feb 11
The best books about the abuse of power and its most effective remedy: democracy
John Keane shares the 5 best books on the abuse of power and democracy. Have you read Jacques the Fatalist?
shepherd.com
Would Hannah Arendt have been surprised by the way a ‘democratic’ state born of the ashes of genocide is trying militarily to destroy ‘in whole or in part’ (Genocide Convention Article 2c) a ‘superfluous’ people known as Palestinians? Almost surely not!
shepherd.com/best-books/t...
shepherd.com/best-books/t...
How demagogues destroy democracy: a step-by-step global guide
Today's demagogues are the harbingers of a new, 21st-century form of despotism: a corrupted, "phantom democracy" in which periodic elections are held but the rich become super-rich and omnipotent—whil...
thebulletin.org
my thought for today: ‘despite their populist bluster, demagogues are saboteurs of democracy, harbingers of despotism; craving concentrated power, ignoring the niceties of public accountability, unchecked ambition is their thing…’ @bulletinatomic.bsky.social
thebulletin.org/premium/2024...
thebulletin.org/premium/2024...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Jan 31
amidst the most serious student uprising in Europe since 1968, my interview with the distinguished journalist Stefan Slavković appeared this week in Belgrade’s Radar magazine; for curious readers there’s a rough English translation…https://johnkeane.substack.com/p/the-serbian-government-is-a-modern
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Jan 29
The best books about the abuse of power and its most effective remedy: democracy
John Keane shares the 5 best books on the abuse of power and democracy. Have you read Jacques the Fatalist?
shepherd.com
five of my favourite books….
shepherd.com/best-books/t...
shepherd.com/best-books/t...
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Jan 26
a spectre is haunting Vučić’s Serbia: a youthful, smart, courageous, digitally savvy civil society disgusted by systemic corruption & abusive power| my interview published in @RadarsRs coincided with last week’s general strike ✍️ Stefan Slavković
radar.nova.rs/politika/dzon-…
radar.nova.rs/politika/dzon-…
John Keane
@professorjkeane.bsky.social
· Jan 14
‘Might we be living in times in which many real-world things are happening to democracy that are not just unexpected or strange but far weirder than we can presently think? But what does it mean to think about democracy? Come to think about it, what exactly is thinking?’