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.
Posting in a personal capacity.
Texts mostly in LRB, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Architectural Review.
Representation: Wylie.
Reposted by Jan-Werner 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.
November 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Replace “Dems” for “mainstream parties” and “GOP” for “far right” and you have West European politics.
"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:
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
November 11, 2025 at 1:25 AM
"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:
Helpful article by Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis:
'...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...?
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
November 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM
'...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...?
Lookism taken to a new level; loyalty tests purely through facial recognition...?
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
November 10, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Jan-Werner 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
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
November 10, 2025 at 10:37 AM
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
taz: tinyurl.com/yr67amy6
WELT: tinyurl.com/yw3pzbkm
Perlentaucher: tinyurl.com/yfsz7xyh
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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."
November 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What's there not to like about one TV personality helping out another in the hour of need?
Reposted by Jan-Werner 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
November 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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.
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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.
*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
November 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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.
*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.
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
I’ve had two conferences—one in the US and one international—change titles of panels or the entire gathering to avoid being targeted or make people’s lives more difficult.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
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.
November 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I’ve had two conferences—one in the US and one international—change titles of panels or the entire gathering to avoid being targeted or make people’s lives more difficult.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
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...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"...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
November 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
"...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."
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."
November 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What's there not to like about one TV personality helping out another in the hour of need?
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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...
November 8, 2025 at 2:33 PM
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...
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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
November 9, 2025 at 2:41 AM
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...
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
Every decor choice that Trump makes for the White House absolutely screams mid-tier Long Island wedding banquet hall
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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
November 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
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…)
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
A shining light has gone from the world. Alison was as compassionate as she was brilliant, with an infectious spirit of generosity. I got a chance to see her present her research on the life and death of Harlan Joseph and I really hope that this amazing project will eventually be published.
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
November 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
A shining light has gone from the world. Alison was as compassionate as she was brilliant, with an infectious spirit of generosity. I got a chance to see her present her research on the life and death of Harlan Joseph and I really hope that this amazing project will eventually be published.
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
Good look for the NYT:
November 6, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Good look for the NYT:
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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/...
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics - Nuffield College Oxford University
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The Nuffield PPRF is an amazing postdoc - a brilliant community, lovely college, and yes, great food. And, usually, also with a family of ducks.
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
This would 💯 happen in the UK if the same political dispensation took power here
I feel like a sizeable chunk of British journalism is in complete denial about that
I feel like a sizeable chunk of British journalism is in complete denial about that
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.
November 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
This would 💯 happen in the UK if the same political dispensation took power here
I feel like a sizeable chunk of British journalism is in complete denial about that
I feel like a sizeable chunk of British journalism is in complete denial about that
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
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.”
November 6, 2025 at 8:28 PM
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.”
Reposted by Jan-Werner Mueller
One thing that the Trump administration did by telling states to make half of SNAP payments is to make sure no payments were made: restructuring the payment system is just not something that can happen overnight. Strategic use of burdens to ensure the program did not function.
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
McConnell is very even-keel
November 6, 2025 at 9:48 PM
One thing that the Trump administration did by telling states to make half of SNAP payments is to make sure no payments were made: restructuring the payment system is just not something that can happen overnight. Strategic use of burdens to ensure the program did not function.