StephengfHall
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stephengfhall.bsky.social
StephengfHall
@stephengfhall.bsky.social
Assistant professor at the University of Bath.
* authoritarian learning.
*Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Central Asian politics.
Really excited to share that my new article, co written with @DebreMaria.bsky.social, “Developing best practices “against terrorists who protest:” Regionam organisations as learning clubs for autocracies” is out with @CSP_journal.
August 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Was great to speak today to @BBCNews & hey the promotion came as a surprise!!
August 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Great to be at #ICCEES2025!
July 21, 2025 at 2:54 PM
So looking forward to networking & presenting. One presentation on the end of the Russian authoritarian gravity centre. The second on cognitive biases as a cause of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Already met my good friend Rasa Karmauskaite. So excited!
July 21, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by StephengfHall
Holy shit

Ukraine's SBU security service now says it has attacked the Kerch bridge in occupied Crimea in a months-long operation. It says SBU agents "mined the supports" of the bridge with 1,100kg of TNT under the water line and detonated it this morning.
June 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Great to see my article in @engelsbergideas.bsky.social. For too long 🇪🇺 has feared 🇷🇺 instability. Rather, it should fear the stability of the Kremlin. 🇷🇺 under Putin has shown itself to be a revisionist power that requires the West as an enemy & 🇺🇦 as a conquest.
May 14, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Having seen Starmer, Macron Tusk meet with Zelensky agree on a 30 day ceasefire and then call Trump to confirm it. Putin holds an early morning presser & completely ignores the 30 day ceasefire & proclaims new talks on solving “fundamentals of the conflict.”
May 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Looking forward to present ‘Russia Reality Check: How to Destabilise the Kremlin.’

To discuss the report’s call for a bold, proactive strategy to counter 🇷🇺 influence and challenge the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare, I’ll be joined by @khodorkovsky_en, Ksenia Maximova, from @rusdemsoc & @WillForster.
https://henryjacksonsociety.org/event/parliame…
April 17, 2025 at 9:54 AM
My new piece in the @thehill @TheHillOpinion on how it would be a terrible idea to reward 🇷🇺 with changing Western security architecture & giving 🇷🇺 a seat @ the table. This would be Putin’s dream & would show that the West is weak & that taking territory & engaging in war crimes
February 28, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Honoured to have contributed to this piece by @OrosovaEliska @iROZHLAScz. NATO would still be the best option for 🇺🇦, but now Trump has taken it off the table (for now) 🇪🇺 needs to do more. Rearmament & continued support for 🇺🇦 is crucial.
February 20, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Pleased to say that my new piece for @ConversationUK is out analysing how Lukashenka held onto power after exiling & jailing his opponents. Like many other things 🇺🇦 coming out of the war well will have an affect on 🇧🇾, hopefully for the better:

theconversation.com/belarus-elec...
Belarus election: how ‘Europe’s last dictator’ held onto power as his opponents were jailed or exiled
The Belarus president has been elected to serve a seventh term of office with 87% of the vote.
theconversation.com
February 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Honoured to have written a piece in the first issue of the Belarusian Analytical Digest! @CSS_ETHZurich. I look at how the regime has developed since the 2020 protests and how the regime ensured the 2025 elections were a foregone conclusion. Link 👇

css.ethz.ch/content/dam/...
css.ethz.ch
February 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Really happy to have again been asked by @TechF24 @FRANCE24 to speak. Even better to be included in the same article with the brilliant & eloquent @jeff_hawn. Article is in 🇫🇷

www.france24.com/fr/europe/20...
République populaire de Belgorod : quand le FSB transforme un mème en entité terroriste
Le FSB, le service russe de renseignement, a fait inscrire la République populaire de Belgorod sur la liste des organisations terroristes en Russie. Problème : cette nation n’existe pas. Il s’agit d’u...
www.france24.com
January 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Spoke with @RachelSJohnson @LBC about @Jeremy_Hunt’s statement about sending 🇪🇺troops to🇺🇦 on a demilitarised zone. Great idea but unlikely to be accepted by 🇷🇺. We discussed whether Trump can solve the war in 24 hours. Spoiler: he won’t unless he gives 🇺🇦 to 🇷🇺.
January 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Two days after 🇷🇺 fires @ an 🇦🇿 plane causing it to crash & killing many onboard the 🇷🇺 air defence forces post a video shooting down 🎅 for New Year saying “we don’t need anything foreign in our skies.” @RT_com is the state media company behind this sick joke!
December 27, 2024 at 1:25 PM
Spoke to @gordonsmart @bbc5live about 🇷🇺 & 🇸🇾. Assad has disappeared & he may appear in 🇷🇺 but it is unlikely 🇷🇺 will try to form a rump Assad 🇸🇾 on the Mediterranean. Having spent an estimated $2.5 million daily over 9 years 🇷🇺 to support Assad & had to save him twice
December 8, 2024 at 9:25 AM
My new piece with my excellent colleague David Galbreath @PoLIS_Bath for @ConversationUK on Sergei Karaganov’s statements about how pushing NATO back to its 1997 borders is domestic signalling that 🇷🇺 is tough & to the west a trial ballon on talks theconversation.com/tough-talk-o...
Tough talk on Nato from Putin and his proxies may hide a willingness to compromise
Recent messages coming out of Moscow have been tough, but the Russian president may be hoping to use rhetoric to encourage disunity within Nato.
theconversation.com
December 6, 2024 at 4:44 AM
Following on: 🇷🇺 may arm the Houthis. Likely 🇮🇷 has money trouble & needs support, but so is 🇷🇺. Then onto Kaliningrad. 🇱🇹 is right to be worried but I don’t think 🇷🇺 will attack 🇱🇹 & all of NATO soon. Rather for now @ least Kaliningrad distracts 🇱🇹 &🇵🇱 from supporting 🇺🇦. These are all my musings.
October 10, 2024 at 9:04 PM
Today was a media day on the 🇷🇺 opposition uniting. Short answer is no & I’m far more pessimistic then previously. I spoke about Putin meeting Pezeshkian & what it means. Maybe 🇷🇺 will support H & H, call for a 🇵🇸 state, but probably won’t fearing 🇮🇱 will support 🇺🇦.
October 10, 2024 at 9:03 PM