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Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

2K followers 1.5K following 3K posts

Historian at Stanford University, author of "Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World" and "Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion." It's good to have options.

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Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Huh

November 25, 2025 at 3:57 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Something priceless was lost when we stopped using abstract codenames.
(nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...)

Washington, D.C., April 20, 2023 - Sixty years ago, during April 1963, the U.S. Air Force took steps to implement the final stage of the secret U.S.-Soviet deal that helped resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis with the dismantling of the Jupiter missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey. While Air Force leaders had no knowledge of the secret agreement, they had instructions from the Defense Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to remove the Jupiters and to render them “unidentifiable,” according to the Air Force’s declassified “Plan for the Withdrawal and Disposition” of the Jupiter system published here today for the first time by the National Security Archive. The Air Force dubbed the dismantling operations Pot Pie I (Italy) and Pot Pie II (Turkey).

November 23, 2025 at 1:32 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Legal limits on chapter length now

November 22, 2025 at 1:54 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Evergreen:

November 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Leave MacGyver out of this.

From: Kathy Ruemmler
Sent: 1/12/2017 2:02:04 AM
To: jeffrey E. [jeeyacation@gmail.com]
Importance: High
Not to disturb you, but I am struck by the similar mannerisms between Trump and McGyver
Sent from my iPad

November 14, 2025 at 9:34 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Thinking of this, for no real reason:

November 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Oh come on, the game hasn't gone that long

October 28, 2025 at 5:04 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

"It is one of the few 80s properties to really pass me by."

October 26, 2025 at 11:44 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Mood:

October 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Big delivery in the mail @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social

October 6, 2025 at 7:53 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

October 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Augusto here would like a word

Augusto Sandino scowls at anyone claiming that the United States defeated him.

October 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Here's a paragraph from a September 1956 U.S. embassy despatch, linking the Bagram project to Nikita Khrushchev's visit the previous December (there's always a Khrushchev connection).

"On September 2, 1956, the News Bulletin, published by the Soviet Embassy in Kabul, quoting Radio Moscow announced the ratification of the 100 million dollar loan agreement with Afghanistan. According to this release, surveys are nearing completion on the reconstruction of the Kabul airport and the building of an air terminal in Bagram. The release also boasts of the speed and skill with which the Soviets are implementing their assistance program in Afghanistan. The release also points out that Afghan Government leaders as well as the Afghan people are very satisfied with Russian programs in Afghanistan. A copy of the Soviet Embassy bulletin release is attached"

September 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

Can't we all just get along?

Just kidding, apparently this Fremont-area "Cracker Barrel" closed years ago.

August 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM

Rob Rakove

@robrakove.bsky.social

I wanted to visit a Cracker Barrel to see what all the fuss is about. This was the only Bay Area location, according to Google Maps (it has since closed).