Stephen Walt
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Stephen Walt
@stephenwalt.bsky.social
3.7K followers 210 following 260 posts

Harvard professor, realist, FP columnist. Tennis enthusiast, amateur musician, proud dad, & grateful husband. Troubled by the state of the world & looking for solutions. For speaking engagements contact John Bute at john@chartwellspeakers.com .. more

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Stephen Martin Walt is an American political scientist serving as the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. A member of the realist school of international relations, Walt has made important contributions to the theory of neorealism and has authored the balance of threat theory. Books that he has authored or coauthored include Origins of Alliances, Revolution and War, and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. .. more

Political science 72%
Sociology 17%
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Reposted by Robert Wolfe

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 6h
Hot takes are always unreliable, but I suspect Xi Jinping is pleased by Trump’s intervention in Venezuela. Another costly distraction for the US, won’t affect flow of drugs much, sets a nice precedent for his Taiwan ambitions, and makes US look like a rogue state. Win-win for Beijing.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

ryanenos.bsky.social
Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6h
"‘Oh, gee, maybe it’s not constitutional.’ You know the same old stuff that we’ve been hearing for years and years and years."

The stuff of dictators. A shocking disrespect for the Constitution.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 21h
"Weiss is planning on chartering a private plane to fly to each location for the “Live From America” tour this month. Besides taking Dokoupil and CBS Evening News executive producer Kim Harvey on the flights, Weiss’ personal security detail of five armed bodyguards will also be on board."

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1d
Gives a good sense of the scale of the rebuilding task given how much more power Trump started with and how much more brazen and shameless his actions have been.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Elizabeth Saunders, Joe R. Feagin , and 6 more

agordon.me
Aaron W. Gordon @agordon.me · 1d
One thing I wrote about here is how technology has made buses *way* more convenient while techno-futurists were obsessed with flying taxis and self-driving cars.

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 2d
For Korean-speakers out there, a recent interview: www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/A2...
현실주의 대가 월트 "약탈적 패권국 돼 가는 미국 우려… 중국 부상 속 동맹 역할 중요" [새해 석학 인터뷰] | 한국일보
트럼프 2기 미국 국가안보전략(NSS)은 중국 견제와 동맹국 국방비 증액 요구 등 모순적 정책을 보인다. 월트 교수는 미국의 약탈적 패권주의, 신뢰 저하, 동맹 네트워크 약화, 한국의 안보·무역 다변화 필요성을 강조했다.
www.hankookilbo.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Marc Lynch, Juan Cole , and 4 more

rudbeckia.bsky.social
Rudbeckia @rudbeckia.bsky.social · 2d
uh holy SHIT?

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Francesco Nicoli

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d
Jack Posobiec, the guy posing next to the Hitler-admirer with the sweatshirt making fun of Holocaust victims, was a frequent co-host of Charlie Kirk’s podcast and his book about the left, Unhumans, was blurbed by JD Vance and DJT JR.
Jack Posobiec with proud antisemite and Hitler apologist Myron Gaines at TPUSA in 2025

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 2d
Some unsolicited advice for global VIPs and the New Year’s resolutions they should make. foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/01/n...
New Year’s Resolutions for Global VIPs
Some tailored advice for international elites in 2026.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3d
Fantastic piece putting the Bari Weiss Experiment in perspective
attackerman.bsky.social Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 4d
As it happens, I have experience with high-level government demands to stop an explosive, accurate story from running, and I also have experience with 60 Minutes spiking a story I was involved in, so I have thoughts about the travesty at CBS. If you want some journalism anecdotes, here are a lot:
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 4d
The industries of the future are remaking the world
owasow.bsky.social Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · 4d
“Over the past decade, while the United States ramped up fossil fuel exports, China has focused on dominating renewables. Today, Chinese companies make so many of the world’s solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries that they are slashing prices and scrambling to find buyers.” Gift link:
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

clancyreports.bsky.social
clancyreports.bsky.social @clancyreports.bsky.social · 4d
Trump's "Predatory Hegemony" Defines 2025: Prof. @stephenwalt.bsky.social reviews International Affairs in a special, year-end edition of "The Brief Podcast" with
@clancyreports youtu.be/RIInWxAAeRs?...
Trump's "Predatory Hegemony" Defines 2025: Prof. Stephen Walt
YouTube video by The Brief Podcast
youtu.be

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

bcfinucane.bsky.social
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 4d
I mean, what is even the point of a purely performative airstrike if you can’t brag about it?

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

bcfinucane.bsky.social
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 5d
For his next cognitive test, the commander in chief should be asked to locate the countries and waters his administration has bombed using an unlabeled map.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Nancy Kanwisher

dropsitenews.com
Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 6d
Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has introduced a new feature that lets you take control of your algorithm by suggesting topics you want to see more posts about. Look what happens when journalist @AymanM (X) tries adding ‘Gaza’ and ‘Palestine’ to his algo. 👇

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Gerald Friedman

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 6d
Frankly embarrassing. The temptation to be counter-intuitive at the NYT is dangerous - if you're not rigorous, can just induce lazy reporting. There is *so much room* to challenge reader perceptions on many issues but the merits of New College's takeover are not one of them.
donmoyn.bsky.social Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 6d
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!

So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College
A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost
donmoynihan.substack.com

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 6d
Check this out: foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/22/t...
Trump’s Fake Peace Deals Are Dangerous
Potemkin peace can be a threat all its own.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

jimgoldgeier.bsky.social
Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · 6d
“Bankruptcies soar” is certainly what you’d expect from Donald Trump www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Bankruptcies soar as companies grapple with inflation, tariffs
Businesses in vulnerable sectors found themselves caught between rising tariffs and beleaguered consumers.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

seancasten.bsky.social
Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 7d
Trump's economic policies did this.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Cullen S. Hendrix, Stella M. Rouse , and 1 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 7d
People have no idea what a premium we have enjoyed and what losing it will cost us
filipecampante.bsky.social Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 8d
This piece is a great illustration of how the long-term effect of Trump’s destruction of US institutions won’t be felt in a dramatic market collapse, but rather in permanently worse economic conditions, and lower prosperity.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... So long, American exceptionalism
So long, American exceptionalism
For the first time, investors are talking about ‘US risk’
giftarticle.ft.com

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Stephen M. Walt

drfarls.bsky.social
Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 8d
Trump’s Fake Peace Deals Are Dangerous foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/22/t...
Trump’s Fake Peace Deals Are Dangerous
Potemkin peace can be a threat all its own.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Anna O. Law, Brendan Nyhan , and 21 more

originalsp.in
Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 8d
Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, son of Italian immigrant Gaetano Crocetti

Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta

Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers
Stephen Miller • @St... • 13m Ø Watched the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas with my kids. Imagine watching that and thinking America needed infinity migrants from the third world.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Anna O. Law, Kim L. Scheppele , and 7 more

paolosandro.bsky.social
Paolo Sandro @paolosandro.bsky.social · 8d
I had missed this latest delirium by Adrian Vermeule on birthright citizenship

'Common law?! NAH, it's the Roman law of adoption that should govern the interpretation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution!'

thenewdigest.substack.com/p/immigratio...
What I suggest is different. Although broadly in the spirit of Aquinas’ two-or-three generations test insofar as it emphasizes the duties rather than the rights of immigrants who becomes citizens, it is derived not from theological principles but from a civil-law analogy — an analogy to the Roman law of adoption. After all, inclusion within “our posterity” may ordinarily arise not only through natural descent, but through legal adoption. In brief, I suggest that the legal immigrant should understand himself as an adopted son of a natural and concretely existing family, the American family, and this brings with it particular duties of filial piety and reverence for that particular family and for its thick heritage and traditions. Our laws as made, interpreted and applied should reflect that understanding as well. Because it is an analogy, not an identity, what I propose is not a set of legal rules to be directly mapped from Roman law into the American legal system. Rather it is a suggestion that the Roman law of adoption rested on a set of discernible principles of legal justice and political morality that represent the spirit of the laws bearing on immigration and citizenship in America — a time-honored mode of legal interpretation here, albeit not an originalist mode. Such principles should affect the interpretation of actually existing legal texts, rules, and doctrines; they should be understood as the soul of our law of citizenship. Needless to say, this does not answer or even purport to speak to all questions bearing on immigration. I do not speak here, for example, to the enforcement of the immigration laws against illegal immigrants, or to prospective questions of policy about exactly how much legal immigration, if any, there should be, and from where. All I address is the question what principles of legal justice and political duty apply, under existing law, to the immigrant who is already here legally. To that end I suggest a conceptual model for understanding the role and obligations of that immigrant — what justice classically understood requires of him.

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 8d
I didn’t know #Trump would bomb Nigeria on Xmas when I wrote this, but it’s hardly surprising that the phony peace Prez would do something like that. foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/22/t...
Trump’s Fake Peace Deals Are Dangerous
Potemkin peace can be a threat all its own.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Scott L. Greer, Samuel Moyn , and 3 more

wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 8d
First-ever US airstrikes in Nigeria put the second Trump admin’s 2025 combat actions at:

—Nigeria—tonight’s strikes
—Yemen—1,000+ strikes (Mar-Apr)
—Somalia—120 strikes, 1 ground raid
—Syria—78+ strikes, 3 ground raids
—Caribbean—11 strikes
—Eastern Pacific—20 strikes
—Iran—3 strikes
—Iraq—1 strike

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, David R. Miller

scottlgreer.bsky.social
Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 9d
“Who’s gonna stop you for that” is Trump’s key political insight
newrepublic.com The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 9d
Newly discovered recordings show how far Donald Trump went to attempt overturning the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Trump told the Speaker he could call the session “for transparency, and to uncover fraud,” adding, “Who’s gonna stop you for that?” trib.al/Yk7Lyb5

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio , and 4 more

larryglickman.bsky.social
Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 9d
This is not a “duel,” which suggests both sides are equally culpable, but the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s ideological war on Harvard and higher education.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/u...
In Private Letters, Harvard and Trump Administration Escalate Duel
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Gavin A. Schmidt, Anders Sundnes Løvlie , and 2 more

nkalamb.bsky.social
Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 9d
"We’re monitoring what you do online. Disseminating, writing, or publishing inciting content online is considered a terrorist crime in every sense and may lead to arrest or imprisonment. We have warned you."

Israel warns Palestinians that posting about their suffering will be considered terrorism.
Israeli occupation forces distributed warning leaflets in Tubas, in the northern occupied West Bank, this morning, threatening Palestinian residents that posting, sharing, or publishing online content critical of Israel would be treated as a terrorist offense, potentially resulting in arrest or imprisonment. The leaflets stated: "We are monitoring what you do online. Disseminating, writing, or publishing inciting content online is considered a terrorist crime in every sense and may lead to arrest or imprisonment, as has happened in this house. We have warned you."

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 10d
Trump’s goofy idea of building a giant battleship in an era of drones and antiship ballistic missiles gives new meaning to the term “sunk costs.” Not that it will ever get built, of course.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Alison Phipps

dropsitenews.com
Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 10d
🇺🇳 UN Secretary General’s Office:
“Over the past 24 hours, and despite the ceasefire, the UN has continued to receive reports of air strikes, shelling and gunfire in all 5 governorates of the Gaza Strip.”

(December 22, 2025)