Jan-Werner Mueller
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jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social

Political Theory and Intellectual History. Politics of Architecture and Iconography. Some Public Affairs Commentary.

Posting in a personal capacity.

Texts mostly in LRB, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Architectural Review.

Representation: Wylie. .. more

Computer science 57%
Mathematics 29%

"Based on our shared understanding of what militaries do, domestic military use is liable to express, and even communicate, that the target of such state action is an enemy."

Helpful article by Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis:
Citizenship, Enmity, and the Normative Theory of Domestic Military Use - Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis, 2024
Historical and legal accounts of domestic military and militarized use abound, but there is no systematic normative treatment of the issue. This article argues ...
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Replace “Dems” for “mainstream parties” and “GOP” for “far right” and you have West European politics.
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.

'...an influx of newly arrived political insiders asking for "a more done look, like that Mar-a-Lago face"...these people wanted extra fillers and injections on top of already treated faces.'

Lookism taken to a new level; loyalty tests purely through facial recognition...?
D.C. plastic surgeons see surge in "Mar‑a‑Lago face" requests from Trump insiders
"[They] want to look like they had something done."
www.axios.com
Texas A&M reinventing "prior restraints"

www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Große Medienresonanz für die von @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social, P. Felsch, D. Scholz (KWI) & D. Höhn organisierte Konferenz „Kritik der transatlantischen Vernunft“ Ende Oktober in Berlin. Hier zum Nachlesen:
taz: tinyurl.com/yr67amy6
WELT: tinyurl.com/yw3pzbkm
Perlentaucher: tinyurl.com/yfsz7xyh
Debatte über transatlantisches Vertrauen: Reeducation – diesmal aber als Farce
Der Aufstieg der Rechten wirft das Verhältnis zwischen Europa und den USA in die Krise. Eine Konferenz lud zu Kritik der „transatlantischen Vernunft“.
tinyurl.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Nicolás Maduro is a mafia boss, not a president, and the Venezuelan government is now a criminal enterprise with the power of a state. It poses a threat to democracies everywhere.
How Venezuela Became a Gangster State | Journal of Democracy
Nicolás Maduro is a mafia boss, not a president, and the Venezuelan government is now a criminal enterprise with the power of a state. It poses a threat to democracies everywhere.
www.journalofdemocracy.org

"...sollen in Saudi-Arabien bewusst Zonen mit maximal unterschiedlichen Gesellschaften entstehen: religiöse Eiferer in Mekka, Ölmilliardäre in Riad, eine globale Tech-Elite in Neom... Zum maximal ungleichen Fortschrittsmodell gehört es, dass in den fortschrittlichen Zentren...andere Gesetze gelten."
Baustopp bei The Line: Was wird aus den saudischen Gigaprojekten?
Saudi-Arabien soll zum mächtigsten Land der Region werden. Deshalb treibt Bin Salman architektonische Großvorhaben voran. Doch nun ist der Bau der futuristischen Wüstenstadt „The Line“ gestoppt. Und j...
www.faz.net

What's there not to like about one TV personality helping out another in the hour of need?
Sean Duffy: "The secretary of war texted me yesterday and said, 'I might have some air traffic controllers. If you could use them, I'm gonna offer them to you.' I don't know that I can, Jake, because they're not certified in the airspaces that we need them. But if I can, I'm going to use them."
Going to a research conference next week. One of my panels featured researchers coming from Asia, who decided to withdraw given the uncertainty about domestic travel with flight cancelations. Just one more reference point for how the US under Trump has become seen as a basket case country.
Sean Duffy: "The secretary of war texted me yesterday and said, 'I might have some air traffic controllers. If you could use them, I'm gonna offer them to you.' I don't know that I can, Jake, because they're not certified in the airspaces that we need them. But if I can, I'm going to use them."
This is an absolutely insane administrative process. Within the space of a week, states were told by judges/White House
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Our reporters interviewed 40 of the men the Trump administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador: They described being beaten, sexually assaulted by guards and driven to the brink of suicide. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
Every decor choice that Trump makes for the White House absolutely screams mid-tier Long Island wedding banquet hall

Don’t think the right response is to belittle Hungary - as opposed to explaining how nativism, natalism, pro-Ru foreign policy are all failures (maybe that had been meant to be the point…)
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
A good summary of why Cornell's capitulation to authoritarian extortion is an affront to democracy and academic freedom. aaup-cornell.org/2025/11/07/s...
I've been waiting to comment publicly on this until the university made its announcement, but the Department of History at Princeton is devastated by the recent death of our wonderful colleague Alison Isenberg.
Alison Isenberg, distinguished urban historian and co-founder of Princeton-Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism and the Humanities, dies
A public memorial and celebration of Isenberg’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the University Chapel.
www.princeton.edu

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Good look for the NYT:

Profiles in Compassion.
holy shit -- one of Trump's toadies just passed out and the White House event is brought to an abrupt end

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Becker: YOUR HONOR, the gov't complied with the order. We resolved all the burdens that the government is responsible for. We interpreted the order as us have to resolve all the issues on our end. We've been complying. We've released the entire contingency fund.

McConnell is very even-keel
This is obviously terrible, but I appreciate Jackson pointing out that Trump’s legal argument is basically “I should be allowed to do whatever I want.”
The Nuffield PPRF is an amazing postdoc - a brilliant community, lovely college, and yes, great food. And, usually, also with a family of ducks.
We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food)

www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics - Nuffield College Oxford University
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
New: Conde Nast fired four employees who were among a group that confronted the company's head of human resources on Wednesday over the decision to fold Teen Vogue into Vogue/recent cuts. Employees who were fired included journalists from the New Yorker, Wired, and Bon Appétit.
holy shit -- one of Trump's toadies just passed out and the White House event is brought to an abrupt end

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Seidls Essay ist ein Beispiel für die Grenzen eines politischen Feuilletonismus, der über das Geschmacksurteil nicht hinauskommt. Den bürgerlichen Habitus Rödders nimmt der Helmut-Dietl-Biograph als Entwarnung. So wurde vom bürgerlichen Feuilleton schon Gauland unterschätzt. 9/12

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