Christopher Blair
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chriswblair.bsky.social
Christopher Blair
@chriswblair.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at Princeton Politics | Ph.D. at UPenn | Alum at UVA | Borders, Militancy, Forced Displacement, Climate Change, Foreign Policy

http://www.chriswblair.com
Pinned
🚨🚨🚨🚨 New WP (with @benckrick.bsky.social @austinlw.bsky.social) available at the ESOC working paper series:

esoc.princeton.edu/wp39
Reposted by Christopher Blair
These people are evil. Never stop saying so. Don’t be intimidated into shutting up.
Here’s video of the incident
October 8, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I was quite pessimistic about the trajectory of American democracy in my last response to a Brightline Watch survey.

Clearly I was not sufficiently pessimistic.
September 18, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
Our article on civilian harm and military legitimacy is now available at @iojournal.bsky.social. We believe it has timely implications for events playing out now in the Middle East and beyond.

From North Carolina to Northern Iraq, working with Jon and Mara has been a truly rewarding experience!
Excited to share a new open-access article with @benckrick.bsky.social @jonpetkun.bsky.social in @iojournal.bsky.social, "Civilian Harm & Military Legitimacy" www.cambridge.org/core/journal.... This project started in 2018 Mosul, Iraq’s 2nd largest city, in the aftermath of a 9-month battle … 1/7
July 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
July 1, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
🚨 “Good Description” with @annagbusse.bsky.social 🚨

What sets 'good' description apart from 'mere' description?

We develop a framework for evaluating descriptive research, whether we are doing it as scholars or assessing it as readers.

Two main contributions...

🔗📄 tinyurl.com/gooddesc
good_description/good_description_ddk_agb.pdf at main · ddekadt/good_description
Homepage of "Good Description" by Daniel de Kadt & Anna Grzymala-Busse - ddekadt/good_description
tinyurl.com
May 14, 2025 at 9:52 PM
A new Trump administration policy offers cash to migrants undertaking "self-deportation." It was a pleasure to speak with @bloomberg.com on some of the potential pitfalls of this approach, building on my research on a cash-for-repatriation scheme in Pakistan

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Refugee Return and Conflict: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
We estimate the causal effect of a large-scale cash assistance program for refugee returnees on conflict in Afghanistan. The program led to a significant increa
papers.ssrn.com
May 5, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
This dataset is truly awesome. Check out this example map (especially Latin America) from their report introducing the dataset. Thanks to the authors & contributors! @chriswblair.bsky.social @guygrossman.bsky.social
April 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
The most revolting Oval Office presser since Feb. 28 (the Zelensky one).

Even just hitting a few of the lowlights of this will leave you sickened and dismayed.

BUT it's also clarifying. Anyone who has been talking about "the road to authoritarianism" can stop that now. The road is behind us.
COLLINS: Can President Bukele weigh in on this? Do you plan to return Garcia?

BUKELE: How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous

TRUMP: These are sick people
April 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
As my colleagues and I wrote in the Daily Princetonian last week, we all have to stand up for our science, and not accept this attack on universities. www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025...
To stop intimidation, Eisgruber needs your help
When targeting one institution is a bald attempt to divide and conquer, as is the case with Columbia, it is essential for a coalition or group of institutions and individuals to stand up together.&nbs...
www.dailyprincetonian.com
April 1, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
What I feel is ashamed.
Trump to Zelenskyy: "Don't tell us what we're gonna feel. You're in no position to dictate that. You're in no position to dictate what we're gonna feel. We're gonna feel very good and very strong. You're right now not in a very good position. You're gambling with World War 3."
February 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
Watching Putin’s little stooges try to bully Zelenskyy in our goddamned White House is pretty repulsive.
February 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
🚨🚨🚨🚨 New WP (with @benckrick.bsky.social @austinlw.bsky.social) available at the ESOC working paper series:

esoc.princeton.edu/wp39
February 26, 2025 at 11:06 PM
🚨🚨🚨🚨 New WP (with @benckrick.bsky.social @austinlw.bsky.social) available at the ESOC working paper series:

esoc.princeton.edu/wp39
February 26, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
1/ Musk seeking control over nerve systems of the federal government. As someone who spent a decade studying how centralized information systems are used for coercion this is a five alarm fire. We need to name it, identify risks, and seek to mitigate their impacts.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...
Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
Draw your own conclusions, but Donald Trump is not behaving like a leader who expects democratic accountability for himself or his party next year or in 2028.
February 2, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
Scholars across many fields are frantically grabbing government data that’s disappearing from the public domain.

Is there any forum for sharing access - like an open source, central repository - that all of us who archived data could contribute to for purposes of scholarship and public interest?
From a journalist friend: Just spreading the word. The CDC is purging data, so people should archive their favorite CDC datasets today, namely ones around race/ethnic diversity, LGBTQ, and reproductive health. Also health data involving climate. The youth risk behavior survey has already gone down.
January 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM
The new Gitmo plan is horrifying.

As a research aside, I’ve got FOIA’ed data on every migrant and drug interdiction by the USCG from 1997-2017 - haven’t had much time to work with it, but I will say they patrol a huge area as far south as the Galapagos and the Colombian coast.
Here at the White House, DHS Secretary Noem and border czar Homan tell reporters that as a result of the president's latest executive order the US Coast Guard, already tasked to intercept migrants at sea, “can take them straight to Guantanamo Bay.”
January 29, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
In @apsrjournal.bsky.social, @sabrinabarias.bsky.social and @chriswblair.bsky.social show that individuals affected by Hurricane Ian reported increased support for climate policy action and more positive attitudes towards climate migrants for up to six months after the hurricane.

bit.ly/4g5aBVq
In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes - Volume 118 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
December 5, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
From our new issue: "In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes" by Sabrina Arias (@sabrinabarias.bsky.social) and Christopher Blair (@chriswblair.bsky.social). www.cambridge.org/core/service...
November 20, 2024 at 2:50 PM
🚨🚨 Thrilled that my work with @sabrinabarias.bsky.social in @apsrjournal.bsky.social is featured on the cover of the latest issue. 🚨🚨

Article available Open Access here: doi.org/10.1017/S000...
In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core
In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes - Volume 118 Issue 4
doi.org
November 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM
These have to be some of the bleakest sentences ever written.
November 14, 2024 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Christopher Blair
the trump campaign was literally bought and paid for by the wealthiest people on the planet — openly! — and dim-witted pundits are going on about how voters are tired of "elitist democrats"
November 9, 2024 at 8:35 PM