Rob Rakove
@robrakove.bsky.social
Historian at Stanford University, author of "Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World" and "Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion." It's good to have options.
Pinned
Rob Rakove
@robrakove.bsky.social
· Jan 20
Some days you wrestle with big interpretive questions. Others, you try to determine when and how a few hundred tons of lambskin hides left Karachi.
Reposted by Rob Rakove
I chart how 60s' liberals' frustration with House minority rule in their own party led us to a different kind of minority rule now, unintentionally accelerated by Pelosi's iron grip as Speaker. Johnson's turned the strong speaker model into a WH appendage, so we need a new one
Master of the House: The Pelosi Paradox
How the Strongest Speaker Made Congress Weak
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I chart how 60s' liberals' frustration with House minority rule in their own party led us to a different kind of minority rule now, unintentionally accelerated by Pelosi's iron grip as Speaker. Johnson's turned the strong speaker model into a WH appendage, so we need a new one
Reposted by Rob Rakove
Happy news: My new book -- Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction -- now has a cover and is available for preorder! The book is a concise history of humanitarianism in an international and global perspective, from the 18th century to the present. More info here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Happy news: My new book -- Humanitarianism: A Very Short Introduction -- now has a cover and is available for preorder! The book is a concise history of humanitarianism in an international and global perspective, from the 18th century to the present. More info here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
It would be lovely if Virginia reformed its board system entirely. Youngkin appointees have disgraced the Board of Visitors – I'm not just talking about Bert Ellis. One only need look at UNC to see how a board can sabotage a system.
"Bethany Letiecq, a professor at George Mason University...said she expected Ms. Spanberger, a former member of Congress, to defend the state’s university system against the White House [and] to rescind initiatives imposed in recent years by appointees of Glenn Youngkin [the outgoing governor]."
Democrat’s Win May Upend a Conservative Push in Virginia Universities
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
It would be lovely if Virginia reformed its board system entirely. Youngkin appointees have disgraced the Board of Visitors – I'm not just talking about Bert Ellis. One only need look at UNC to see how a board can sabotage a system.
Reposted by Rob Rakove
When a party leader of any type cannot wrangle their caucus to do or not do things in the best interest of the whole, factions emerge & chart their own path, that is fine, but it is a failure of leadership & a failure of collective action. Plain & simple. Past, present, & future. For any party.🗃️
November 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
When a party leader of any type cannot wrangle their caucus to do or not do things in the best interest of the whole, factions emerge & chart their own path, that is fine, but it is a failure of leadership & a failure of collective action. Plain & simple. Past, present, & future. For any party.🗃️
There's no Kool-Aid like Senate Kool-Aid
November 10, 2025 at 12:27 AM
There's no Kool-Aid like Senate Kool-Aid
Have we learned nothing from the 1919 World Series?
November 9, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Have we learned nothing from the 1919 World Series?
Reposted by Rob Rakove
Since Trump took office, the US has killed 70 people in its campaign to allegedly defend the border from narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean. Over 28 years, the Berlin Wall caused 140 deaths taking into account not just the shootings but also the accidents, drownings and borders guard deaths.
Updated: Our tracking guide with the Pentagon’s latest lethal strike on a boat suspected of drug trafficking. Three men were killed in the Caribbean Sea, Defense Secretary Hegseth posted last night, raising the toll to at least 70 killed in this bombing campaign. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks
In two months, the Trump administration has killed dozens of people it accused of smuggling drugs aboard boats. Here are the acknowledged strikes so far.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Since Trump took office, the US has killed 70 people in its campaign to allegedly defend the border from narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean. Over 28 years, the Berlin Wall caused 140 deaths taking into account not just the shootings but also the accidents, drownings and borders guard deaths.
A casino is probably on the drawing board.
Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School at His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbors Revolted
Neighbors complained about noise, security guards, and hordes of traffic. An unlicensed school named after the Zuckerbergs’ pet chicken tipped them over the edge.
www.wired.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
A casino is probably on the drawing board.
We go live to Bill Ackman
November 5, 2025 at 5:24 PM
We go live to Bill Ackman
No primary election in the history of the world is better than the one unfolding in George Clooney's head.
This man has learned absolutely nothing from the last election cycle.
It's not that he thinks replacing Biden was a mistake, oh no, he still stands by his op-ed from last summer; it's just that she was the replacement.
apple.news/Al39bFBpbR8a...
It's not that he thinks replacing Biden was a mistake, oh no, he still stands by his op-ed from last summer; it's just that she was the replacement.
apple.news/Al39bFBpbR8a...
George Clooney says replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris ‘was a mistake’ — Guardian US
Actor says Harris ‘was given a very tough task’ because ‘she had to run against her own record’, and extends an olive branch to Hunter Biden
apple.news
November 3, 2025 at 4:06 AM
No primary election in the history of the world is better than the one unfolding in George Clooney's head.
A thrilling World Series makes for a very long off season.
November 2, 2025 at 5:29 AM
A thrilling World Series makes for a very long off season.
2014-15 was a deeply unremarkable teaching year.
This is an absolutely incredible thing to say. As someone in Ivy-ish (Duke) classrooms from 2016-2022… I call bull.
Or she was saying offensive shit.
Or she was saying offensive shit.
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
2014-15 was a deeply unremarkable teaching year.
Reposted by Rob Rakove
Congratulations to Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky, winner of the W. Bruce Lincoln Book Prize for Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State with Stanford University Press.
#ASEEESPrizes
See all winners: buff.ly/qNk3PSU
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#ASEEESPrizes
See all winners: buff.ly/qNk3PSU
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Congratulations to Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky, winner of the W. Bruce Lincoln Book Prize for Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State with Stanford University Press.
#ASEEESPrizes
See all winners: buff.ly/qNk3PSU
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
#ASEEESPrizes
See all winners: buff.ly/qNk3PSU
@stanfordpress.bsky.social
That's sort of how he got through the door in the first place, IIRC
When I worked in WaPo Opinions in 2017-2018, senior editors specifically told junior editors not to factcheck Marc Thiessen and other MAGA columnists, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to publish anything by them at all, and “we need them for intellectual diversity.”
It’s very telling that opening your publication to MAGA “thought” requires a massive downgrade in quality control.
October 31, 2025 at 12:27 AM
That's sort of how he got through the door in the first place, IIRC
Treating the glass as half-full, I'd propose the following set:
• Synchronicity II
• One World (Not Three)
• Driven to Tears
• Fragilidad
• Landlord
• Spirits in the Material World
plus:
• Message in a Bottle (encore)
• Synchronicity II
• One World (Not Three)
• Driven to Tears
• Fragilidad
• Landlord
• Spirits in the Material World
plus:
• Message in a Bottle (encore)
NFL Succumbs To Bad Bunny Criticism And Announces Special Super Bowl Concert With Sting
In an unexpected bid to calm the frenzy over Bad Bunny headlining the 2026 Super Bowl show, the NFL has introduced a special feature.
www.yahoo.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Treating the glass as half-full, I'd propose the following set:
• Synchronicity II
• One World (Not Three)
• Driven to Tears
• Fragilidad
• Landlord
• Spirits in the Material World
plus:
• Message in a Bottle (encore)
• Synchronicity II
• One World (Not Three)
• Driven to Tears
• Fragilidad
• Landlord
• Spirits in the Material World
plus:
• Message in a Bottle (encore)
Reposted by Rob Rakove
Happy to have contributed a review of Liliane Stadler's excellent book on Swiss diplomacy during the Soviet-Afghan War to the latest H-Diplo Roundtable. Other great contributions by Timothy Nunan, Sandra Bott, Vassily Klimentov and Robert Nichols.
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
October 27, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Happy to have contributed a review of Liliane Stadler's excellent book on Swiss diplomacy during the Soviet-Afghan War to the latest H-Diplo Roundtable. Other great contributions by Timothy Nunan, Sandra Bott, Vassily Klimentov and Robert Nichols.
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
Oh come on, the game hasn't gone that long
October 28, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Oh come on, the game hasn't gone that long
"It is one of the few 80s properties to really pass me by."
October 26, 2025 at 11:44 PM
"It is one of the few 80s properties to really pass me by."
Reposted by Rob Rakove
In today’s Guardian with @kcarterjackson.bsky.social, explaining why teach-ins (like the one we’re holding Sunday!) are a vital part of activism.
Why we’re holding a teach-in about American history at the Smithsonian | Kellie Carter Jackson and Nicole Hemmer
Podcasters, professors, journalists and ordinary citizens will gather in Washington as the Trump regime wages war on history
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:10 PM
In today’s Guardian with @kcarterjackson.bsky.social, explaining why teach-ins (like the one we’re holding Sunday!) are a vital part of activism.
I'll forgive the musical choices in exchange for Garfield getting some overdue cred.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jop...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jop...
Death by Lightning | Official Trailer | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
www.youtube.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I'll forgive the musical choices in exchange for Garfield getting some overdue cred.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jop...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jop...
Reposted by Rob Rakove
One more anniversary thread from The Fate of the Americas before I leave tomorrow for the first leg of my book tour (Hi OH, PA, and NJ)! This one comes from a cool collection of left and right-wing pamphlets that intelligence agents in Argentina collected during the crisis... (1/12) #History 🗃️
October 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
One more anniversary thread from The Fate of the Americas before I leave tomorrow for the first leg of my book tour (Hi OH, PA, and NJ)! This one comes from a cool collection of left and right-wing pamphlets that intelligence agents in Argentina collected during the crisis... (1/12) #History 🗃️
UCSB's American Presidency Project is a great, indispensable online resource, containing all of the published remarks and written statements of the presidents. Helpfully, they've compiled, on their main page, 182 instances in which Reagan spoke about protectionist tariffs.
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
Welcome to The American Presidency Project | The American Presidency Project
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
October 25, 2025 at 3:08 PM
UCSB's American Presidency Project is a great, indispensable online resource, containing all of the published remarks and written statements of the presidents. Helpfully, they've compiled, on their main page, 182 instances in which Reagan spoke about protectionist tariffs.
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
The problem with the modern primary system in a nutshell.
*Looks at excuses being made for Platner, looks at Sinema* We are so fucking cooked because no one wants to consider that liking a person isn't the same as them being a good candidate
October 21, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The problem with the modern primary system in a nutshell.