Mark Nance
@mnance.bsky.social
Poli Sci prof., Global Governance, Global financial relations, money laundering, illicit markets, and comparative welfare state stuff. Also music, food, and the abysmal state of North Carolina politics. #firstgen
Let me know when you want to bring the book tour to Raleigh! I’ll buy a copy for every member of our city council.
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Let me know when you want to bring the book tour to Raleigh! I’ll buy a copy for every member of our city council.
Or in other, more elegant words, here’s an essay by @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social on US presidential politics as a perpetual choice between The Ugly American and The Quiet American. The choice has long been about choosing to inflict harm internally or externally.
November 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Or in other, more elegant words, here’s an essay by @vietthanhnguyen.bsky.social on US presidential politics as a perpetual choice between The Ugly American and The Quiet American. The choice has long been about choosing to inflict harm internally or externally.
I would emphasize the strategic construction part of the post-9/11 moment. Allies chose to ignore the atrocities so that the decisions wouldn’t become system upending. They did it to save the system because it seemed possible and worth it. It’s reasonable to expect they no longer feel the same.
August 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I would emphasize the strategic construction part of the post-9/11 moment. Allies chose to ignore the atrocities so that the decisions wouldn’t become system upending. They did it to save the system because it seemed possible and worth it. It’s reasonable to expect they no longer feel the same.
Right. In other words, because Trump was in power, it will be harder. Or more precisely, it will be increasingly costly to make a credible commitment, assuming we’re willing to try anymore at all. And of course this goes beyond “just” security: any kind of cooperation will be costlier for the US.
August 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Right. In other words, because Trump was in power, it will be harder. Or more precisely, it will be increasingly costly to make a credible commitment, assuming we’re willing to try anymore at all. And of course this goes beyond “just” security: any kind of cooperation will be costlier for the US.
I think this is what a lot of USians, including the pundit class, don’t get. It’s not that Trump is as steady as a willow branch in a windstorm. Trump 2 showed the world that the US electorate is fundamentally unreliable.
August 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I think this is what a lot of USians, including the pundit class, don’t get. It’s not that Trump is as steady as a willow branch in a windstorm. Trump 2 showed the world that the US electorate is fundamentally unreliable.