Simon Frankel Pratt
@simonpratt.bsky.social
Political scientist at the University of Melbourne. Formerly of other places. Research: war, intelligence, innovation, and normative change in international politics. Cat paparazzo. He/Him 🇨🇦🏳️🌈✡️
Pinned
Well, I was in Istanbul recently and I photographed many cats. By popular demand, here are some of them.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Israeli Academics Find Themselves Isolated Despite Gaza Cease-Fire
Boycotts of Israeli universities, largely imposed in Europe, have multiplied since the start of the war and reflect Israel’s international isolation over its conduct in Gaza.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/w...
Boycotts of Israeli universities, largely imposed in Europe, have multiplied since the start of the war and reflect Israel’s international isolation over its conduct in Gaza.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/w...
Israeli Academics Find Themselves Isolated Despite Gaza Cease-Fire
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Israeli Academics Find Themselves Isolated Despite Gaza Cease-Fire
Boycotts of Israeli universities, largely imposed in Europe, have multiplied since the start of the war and reflect Israel’s international isolation over its conduct in Gaza.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/w...
Boycotts of Israeli universities, largely imposed in Europe, have multiplied since the start of the war and reflect Israel’s international isolation over its conduct in Gaza.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/w...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
“I've been a commander for seven months now," said Vova. "In that time, about 2,000 guys have passed through my unit. Three-quarters of them are no longer here. It's only because they have given their lives that we are sitting here now, instead of the Russians."
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
In Donbas, Ukrainian troops fight off endless Russian assaults | CBC News
In Dobropillia, a coal-mining town just a few kilometres from the front line with Russia in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, its few remaining inhabitants shuffle to find food or water under the const...
www.cbc.ca
November 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
“I've been a commander for seven months now," said Vova. "In that time, about 2,000 guys have passed through my unit. Three-quarters of them are no longer here. It's only because they have given their lives that we are sitting here now, instead of the Russians."
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
This is a good article on the changes in warfare brought about by drones. And the changes in the character of war happening during this war.
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
November 10, 2025 at 11:12 AM
This is a good article on the changes in warfare brought about by drones. And the changes in the character of war happening during this war.
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
The BBC will also find out that they will never be far right enough for its critics.
Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage
Davie says departure is ‘my own decision’, while head of news also quits. Insiders say it ‘feels like a coup’ by broadcaster’s enemies
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
The BBC will also find out that they will never be far right enough for its critics.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
““Whether you want to judge it by the number of supporters of the white nationalist movement, by their capacity for fundraising, or by the number of people who are signing up for their more militant groups, the white nationalist movement in Canada has never been larger.”
MMA gym owners, coaches ID’d at secretive neo-Nazi event in B.C. | CBC News
This summer in Vancouver, dozens of people gathered to attend a conference organized and attended by some of Canada’s most prominent white supremacist organizations. CBC’s visual investigations team l...
www.cbc.ca
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
““Whether you want to judge it by the number of supporters of the white nationalist movement, by their capacity for fundraising, or by the number of people who are signing up for their more militant groups, the white nationalist movement in Canada has never been larger.”
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Trump's former Israel ambassador David Friedman will become executive chairman of the sanctioned spyware firm NSO Group as it shifts to full American ownership
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Ex-Trump ambassador to Israel named NSO chairman, as spyware firm shifts to U.S. ownership
Move Comes After Months of Failed Lobbying to Lift U.S. Sanctions NSO's Founders No Longer Hold Any Stake in the Company Lawyer Linked to Israeli Minister, Shin Bet Chief Appointed Director
www.haaretz.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Trump's former Israel ambassador David Friedman will become executive chairman of the sanctioned spyware firm NSO Group as it shifts to full American ownership
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Someone needs to give the author of the Torment Nexus tweet a Macarthur fellowship because they really nailed what life would be like in the 2020s
Armstrong said he “envisioned ‘the IVF clinic of the future’ powered by a ‘Gattaca stack’ of technologies—a reference to the 1997 movie depicting a dystopian eugenic future—combining embryo editing and genetic screening.”
Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Silicon Valley startups are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics, hoping to prevent diseases as well as improve chances for a high IQ and other traits.
www.wsj.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Someone needs to give the author of the Torment Nexus tweet a Macarthur fellowship because they really nailed what life would be like in the 2020s
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
40 men Trump sent to CECOT tell the NYT they were beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted. The details are worse than you can imagine.
We can’t let them get away with this. Miller and the other architects of this sadism need to go to prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
We can’t let them get away with this. Miller and the other architects of this sadism need to go to prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 AM
40 men Trump sent to CECOT tell the NYT they were beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted. The details are worse than you can imagine.
We can’t let them get away with this. Miller and the other architects of this sadism need to go to prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
We can’t let them get away with this. Miller and the other architects of this sadism need to go to prison.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
One government run by genocide deniers targeting another.
Turkey has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dozens of other Israeli officials on “genocide” charges.
Turkey issues ‘genocide’ arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials | CNN
Turkey on Friday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dozens of other Israeli officials on “genocide” charges.
www.cnn.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:28 AM
One government run by genocide deniers targeting another.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
"The scale of the firings also has alarmed some in Congress, like Sen. Elissa Slotkin... who previously served as a C.I.A. officer analyzing foreign militaries. She recently described Mr. Hegseth’s moves as a 'purge.' “The places where we’ve looked at these kinds of things are places like China"
Read this story. Trump is replacing experienced officers with those he believes will obey any order unquestionably. He is rushing to consolidate an authoritarian regime.
November 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
"The scale of the firings also has alarmed some in Congress, like Sen. Elissa Slotkin... who previously served as a C.I.A. officer analyzing foreign militaries. She recently described Mr. Hegseth’s moves as a 'purge.' “The places where we’ve looked at these kinds of things are places like China"
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
“For a state that claims to be a Jewish state for all Jews, if you just show up one day and stand in support of Palestinians by doing something as basic as picking olives together, actually, then your Jewishness is irrelevant.” www.timesofisrael.com/banned-from-...
Banned from Israel for 10 years, US Jewish peace activist feels ‘sense of betrayal’
Leila Stillman-Utterback, 18, says her deportation for entering closed military zone to help Palestinians facing settler violence sends message that, for Israeli authorites, she's not 'right kind of J...
www.timesofisrael.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
“For a state that claims to be a Jewish state for all Jews, if you just show up one day and stand in support of Palestinians by doing something as basic as picking olives together, actually, then your Jewishness is irrelevant.” www.timesofisrael.com/banned-from-...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Ukraine's strike campaign v Russian oil. "Refineries are still running, but with deferred maintenance, rushed emergency repairs, and a mounting backlog of safety and efficiency issues. The result is not collapse, but quiet degradation." www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/slow-...
The Slow Death of Russian Oil
Why Ukraine’s campaign against Moscow’s energy sector is working.
www.foreignaffairs.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Ukraine's strike campaign v Russian oil. "Refineries are still running, but with deferred maintenance, rushed emergency repairs, and a mounting backlog of safety and efficiency issues. The result is not collapse, but quiet degradation." www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/slow-...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Can you imagine if someone released a computer game, or a musical album, or *whatever*, that was designed to sexual groom children, or encourage them to commit suicide or any of the things LLMs are doing on a daily basis, how quick the media and political condemnation would be?
Oh my god I’m crying
November 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Can you imagine if someone released a computer game, or a musical album, or *whatever*, that was designed to sexual groom children, or encourage them to commit suicide or any of the things LLMs are doing on a daily basis, how quick the media and political condemnation would be?
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
The BBC visits an IDF outpost on the eastern edge of Gaza City:
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees…there's almost nothing left to orient you here or identify the neighbourhoods.”
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees…there's almost nothing left to orient you here or identify the neighbourhoods.”
Inside Gaza, BBC sees total devastation after two years of war
With endless rubble and destroyed streets as far as the eye can see, any plans for Gaza's future are a far cry from where it is today, writes Lucy Williamson.
www.bbc.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The BBC visits an IDF outpost on the eastern edge of Gaza City:
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees…there's almost nothing left to orient you here or identify the neighbourhoods.”
“The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees…there's almost nothing left to orient you here or identify the neighbourhoods.”
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
There are no words for how evil this is
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 AM
There are no words for how evil this is
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
“Welcome to Hell” is a report on the abuse and inhuman treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. B’Tselem collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians held during that time and released, almost all with no charges.
Full report:
www.btselem.org/publications...
Full report:
www.btselem.org/publications...
November 7, 2025 at 9:10 AM
“Welcome to Hell” is a report on the abuse and inhuman treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. B’Tselem collected testimonies from 55 Palestinians held during that time and released, almost all with no charges.
Full report:
www.btselem.org/publications...
Full report:
www.btselem.org/publications...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
‘There are more of us’: The Palestinians risking everything to build a future with Israelis and Jews
Three Palestinians tell Jewish News why they choose coexistence over extremism – even when speaking out means exile, threats or worse
www.jewishnews.co.uk/there-are-mo...
Three Palestinians tell Jewish News why they choose coexistence over extremism – even when speaking out means exile, threats or worse
www.jewishnews.co.uk/there-are-mo...
'There are more of us': The Palestinians risking everything to build a future with Israelis and Jews - Jewish News
Three Palestinians tell Jewish News why they choose coexistence over extremism – even when speaking out means exile, threats or worse
www.jewishnews.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 9:23 AM
‘There are more of us’: The Palestinians risking everything to build a future with Israelis and Jews
Three Palestinians tell Jewish News why they choose coexistence over extremism – even when speaking out means exile, threats or worse
www.jewishnews.co.uk/there-are-mo...
Three Palestinians tell Jewish News why they choose coexistence over extremism – even when speaking out means exile, threats or worse
www.jewishnews.co.uk/there-are-mo...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
New from BBC Verify: 'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre
Our team verified dozens of videos, analysed satellite imagery and tracked RSF fighters across social media to piece together how the mass killings unfolded www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Our team verified dozens of videos, analysed satellite imagery and tracked RSF fighters across social media to piece together how the mass killings unfolded www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre in el-fasher
BBC Verify tracks how the RSF killed unarmed people in a massacre that humanitarian officials believe left 2,000 dead.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:07 AM
New from BBC Verify: 'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre
Our team verified dozens of videos, analysed satellite imagery and tracked RSF fighters across social media to piece together how the mass killings unfolded www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Our team verified dozens of videos, analysed satellite imagery and tracked RSF fighters across social media to piece together how the mass killings unfolded www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
Germ theory is out, Physiognomy is in.
bro are you fucking kidding me
November 6, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Germ theory is out, Physiognomy is in.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
the word "taqqiya" hits my ears like the voice of my third grade homeroom teacher. something from the deep past. an echo of memories long in the dust. a single tear slides down my cheek.
November 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
the word "taqqiya" hits my ears like the voice of my third grade homeroom teacher. something from the deep past. an echo of memories long in the dust. a single tear slides down my cheek.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
A new Bellingcat investigation geolocates the site of a mass killing near Al Fashir, Darfur. More than eighty bodies were found beside destroyed vehicles along an earthen berm built around the city.
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...
Geolocating Darfur Killings of Those Escaping Al Fashir - bellingcat
Warning: Contains written descriptions of extreme violence including murder. All graphic footage has been omitted. A Bellingcat investigation has identified and verified the exact location of a mass k...
www.bellingcat.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A new Bellingcat investigation geolocates the site of a mass killing near Al Fashir, Darfur. More than eighty bodies were found beside destroyed vehicles along an earthen berm built around the city.
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
This could be framed as either “an overwhelming two-thirds of New York Jews voted against Mamdani” or as “a record 1 in 3 New York Jews supported an avowed anti-Zionist.” Both framings are technically true, but bear very different implications.
This is a stunning political realignment--Mamdani lost Jews, Catholics, and Protestants but won by sweeping "Other" and "None."
As a Jewish voter in the 33% I hope my neighbors (literally) in the 63%, who were flooded with dishonest mailers, social media, and texts, will now keep an open mind.
As a Jewish voter in the 33% I hope my neighbors (literally) in the 63%, who were flooded with dishonest mailers, social media, and texts, will now keep an open mind.
November 5, 2025 at 7:55 PM
This could be framed as either “an overwhelming two-thirds of New York Jews voted against Mamdani” or as “a record 1 in 3 New York Jews supported an avowed anti-Zionist.” Both framings are technically true, but bear very different implications.
Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt
🚨 Publication Alert 🚨
"Neoclassical Realist Theory of Populist Foreign Policy" just out with @risjnl.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S026...
I explore how populism affects state behavior over time. This aims at further integrating populism scholarship into, and combining it with, IR theory.
1/9
"Neoclassical Realist Theory of Populist Foreign Policy" just out with @risjnl.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S026...
I explore how populism affects state behavior over time. This aims at further integrating populism scholarship into, and combining it with, IR theory.
1/9
Neoclassical realist theory of populist foreign policy | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core
Neoclassical realist theory of populist foreign policy
www.cambridge.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM
🚨 Publication Alert 🚨
"Neoclassical Realist Theory of Populist Foreign Policy" just out with @risjnl.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S026...
I explore how populism affects state behavior over time. This aims at further integrating populism scholarship into, and combining it with, IR theory.
1/9
"Neoclassical Realist Theory of Populist Foreign Policy" just out with @risjnl.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S026...
I explore how populism affects state behavior over time. This aims at further integrating populism scholarship into, and combining it with, IR theory.
1/9