Viewing Ukraine through a “working-class” lens shows how little one knows about the country. It’s a Western “critical”/leftist supremacy frame. The term isn’t operative in Ukraine’s political or social discourse—and hasn’t been for some time. Get a grip.

Ah yes, classic @economist.com’s take on Ukraine this week:
– Ukraine can’t win back its land, so don’t bother
– Its democracy is too militarized (traditionally?), so watch out if it survives
A masterclass in defeatism wrapped in condescension.
Maybe the real rot isn’t in Ukraine.

It tells the world that the Trump administration does not consider the Russian government to be an adversary, but a partner and perhaps a friend
– Dr Ruth Deyermond

Passed my PhD viva this afternoon! Many thanks to my supervisors and examiners!

Finally hit the big time and got a review back that accused me of not engaging enough with my own work, or understanding what it did.

'Let's not make an enemy out of Russia' is a delusional argument that fails to account for how Russia itself sees the West: as its enemy with whom it is at war. The denial of this reality is a luxury that Western states are able to afford by outsourcing warfighting to Ukraine.

The West’s flexibility of tolerated self-defense is amusing:
Ukraine has the right to self-defense in Ukraine. But maybe Kursk.
Russia has the right to “self-defense” in Ukraine, too. But let’s keep buying gas.
Israel has the right to unlimited self-defense (?) anywhere. But let’s not talk about it.

Let the @Bundeskanzler phonecall be the last dying breath of the failed strategy of trading land for "peace" with a genocidal dictator. History keeps telling us that true peace can only be achieved through strength.

Excited to be working on the final chapter of my PhD thesis!

TLDR: Identity matters and narratives create.