Benjamin Coates
benjamincoates.bsky.social
Benjamin Coates
@benjamincoates.bsky.social
History Prof at Wake Forest studying US & the World, empire, law. Writing a history of the Us and economic sanctions. Co-editor, US in the World book series w/Cornell UP. Wrote a book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/legalist-empire-9780190055585
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
IT’S A REAL BOOK!!! My copy of ENTANGLED ALLIANCES arrived from @cornellupress.bsky.social! 📚
September 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Fantastic resource for historians: a spreadsheet of NARA's digitized microfilm, with links to the files in the Archives catalog. May it help you as much as it has helped me.

www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
www.archives.gov
August 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Paul Musgrave on the end of an era in U.S. foreign policy: “After Trump, U.S. commitments can no longer be relied upon to be structural; they will be viewed as individual.” musgrave.substack.com/p/a-new-era-...
A New Era of Foreign Policy. Damnit.
We can now mark the end of a period. Welcome to a new world.
musgrave.substack.com
August 7, 2025 at 11:44 AM
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We're excited to welcome our exhibitors to #SHAFR2025 next week! Be on the lookout for old friends, familiar faces, and some new kids on the block.
June 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
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The ICC’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

American staffers at the court have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest.

NGOs have stopped working with the ICC, the leader of one won’t even reply to ICC emails.
Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal's work
Nearly three months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.
apnews.com
May 15, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Tariff hero William McKinley, the day before he was assassinated: "We must not repose in fancied security that we can forever sell everything and buy little or nothing.... Commercial wars are unprofitable."
millercenter.org/the-presiden...
September 5, 1901: Speech in Buffalo, New York | Miller Center
millercenter.org
April 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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excellent opportunity for aspiring historians of Japan - focusing on blockade and WWII.

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — PhD Position: Blockades and the Second World War in Asia (4 years)
The Amsterdam School for Historical Studies (ASH) invites applications for a fully funded postdoctoral researcher position (3 years, 0.8ft). This position is part of the ERC Synergy-funded research pr...
werkenbij.uva.nl
April 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Absolutely. What is there to stop them?
April 5, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Trump just signed an executive order ordering the closure and elimination of the world renowned Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, created by an act of Congress in 1968. @shafrhistorians.bsky.social @raskin.house.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Continues the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy
ELIMINATING WASTE AND REDUCING GOVERNMENT OVERREACH: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order continuing the reduction of the Federal
www.whitehouse.gov
March 15, 2025 at 3:44 AM
OK hot cheesy poutine vs. hot cheesy Putin is pretty good.
‘We are not the 51st anything’: viral Canada ad gets Trump-inspired update
Remake of 2000 Molson beer ad has the same message as Trump threatens tariffs: Canada will not cower to the US
www.theguardian.com
March 6, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Obituary for Frank Wisner, son of the CIA plotter of the same name. Toward the end of his life he "voiced concern about the way the United States had exercised its global power, starting with the Vietnam War in the 1960s and through to the decades of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan"
Frank G. Wisner, Diplomat With Impact on Foreign Policy, Dies at 86
He headed U.S. embassies around the world and relished the role, bringing a gregarious style to promoting American interests. But he clashed with the Obama White House.
www.nytimes.com
February 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
🗃️February 19, 1862: Congress passed the Coolie Trade Prohibition Act outlawing involvement by US vessels in the transportation of unfree Chinese workers to foreign ports—an important but indirect step on the road to Chinese Exclusion. 🧵1/4 @bethlewwilliams.bsky.social @unlawfulentries.bsky.social
February 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Five employees at the JFK Library in Boston were laid off today in connection with a Trump administration overhaul of federal workers.

"Without them, we are unable to stay open," a source tells @gbhnews.bsky.social. "It has been chaotic and we are seeking clarity."
February 18, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
Trump is designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists (FTOs). But this is easier said than done.

In a new post, I discuss how the FTO label can cause chain-reaction patterns of de-risking -- with severe economic consequences.

#polisky #econsky #lawsky

mileskellerman.substack.com/p/the-design...
The Designation Dilemma
Trump wants to designate drug cartels as terrorists. The economic impact, both for America and Mexico, could be disastrous.
mileskellerman.substack.com
February 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"We are back to the age of Jackson and Tyler, but with nuclear weapons and a global reserve currency."
musgrave.substack.com/p/a-long-way...
A Long Way Down
When Caesar moves fast and breaks things, it's hard to catch up or rebuild
musgrave.substack.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reminiscent of Ruben Dario poets.org/poem/roosevelt
January 27, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
@agathedemarais.bsky.social explains how a staged sanctions lifting process could provide economic relief while ensuring accountability 👇
https://buff.ly/3VJxCFd
The purpose of sanctions: Why Europe and America should begin lifting measures on Syria
Europeans and Americans should work closely together on a staged sanctions lifting process. They must connect this to respect for human rights and the holding of elections
buff.ly
January 8, 2025 at 9:57 AM
“The current abandonment of the principles of neoliberal globalization leaves the entire field of international development in chaos…One cannot imagine how a World Bank mission to Egypt could argue for reduced tariff rates or lower subsidies…”
How the mainstream abandoned universal economic principles
(but forgot to mention it)
branko2f7.substack.com
January 8, 2025 at 11:24 AM
What can you even say at this point?
January 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
If you're in NYC for #AHA2025, I invite you to stop by the @CornellPress booth and pick up Bounds of Blackness for 40% off! 📚

Even if you're not in town, you can get the discount at the virtual booth (see link below) using promo code 09EXP40

Link: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/our-aha-2025...
January 3, 2025 at 7:13 PM
RIP Ricky
December 22, 2024 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Coates
It was an absolute delight to chat with Tom Smith about his new book WORD ACROSS THE WATER. Take a listen and be sure to order your copy! @cornellupress.bsky.social soundcloud.com/1869thecuppo...
December 13, 2024 at 7:29 PM