Susie Colbourn
@susancolbourn.net
Historian at Duke. Archive enthusiast. Still writing about NATO and the politics of postwar European security.
Texas seems to be missing a key thing: penalties are bad.
November 16, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Texas seems to be missing a key thing: penalties are bad.
Not a great week for Texas A&M all around, it seems.
November 15, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Not a great week for Texas A&M all around, it seems.
The Access to Information Act is a complete shambles and suffocating Canadian history, exhibit 3007.
It is wild – and tragic – that a briefing on the general contours of Canada's foreign policy regarding Europe from 1951 are still closed.
It is wild – and tragic – that a briefing on the general contours of Canada's foreign policy regarding Europe from 1951 are still closed.
November 14, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The Access to Information Act is a complete shambles and suffocating Canadian history, exhibit 3007.
It is wild – and tragic – that a briefing on the general contours of Canada's foreign policy regarding Europe from 1951 are still closed.
It is wild – and tragic – that a briefing on the general contours of Canada's foreign policy regarding Europe from 1951 are still closed.
Wonderful to see this news that the Kennan Institute will continue its vital work, now as an independent center.
Dismantled by DOGE, a Foreign Policy Center Finds New Life
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Wonderful to see this news that the Kennan Institute will continue its vital work, now as an independent center.
Kew remains a treasure trove for historians interested in tackling contemporary subjects.
I pulled folders today for an upcoming research trip -- including prime ministerial records from 2004!
I pulled folders today for an upcoming research trip -- including prime ministerial records from 2004!
October 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Kew remains a treasure trove for historians interested in tackling contemporary subjects.
I pulled folders today for an upcoming research trip -- including prime ministerial records from 2004!
I pulled folders today for an upcoming research trip -- including prime ministerial records from 2004!
Revisiting Lawrence Kaplan's NATO and the United States from 1994 which remarks, almost in passing, that the term isolationism is largely irrelevant. "It not only lacks resonance today," Kaplan writes, "it is an anachronism."
My, how times have changed.
My, how times have changed.
October 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Revisiting Lawrence Kaplan's NATO and the United States from 1994 which remarks, almost in passing, that the term isolationism is largely irrelevant. "It not only lacks resonance today," Kaplan writes, "it is an anachronism."
My, how times have changed.
My, how times have changed.
A Thanksgiving tradition. (Happy Thanksgiving, Canadians!)
October 13, 2025 at 9:02 PM
A Thanksgiving tradition. (Happy Thanksgiving, Canadians!)
Textbook Leafs fan experience tonight—oof.
October 12, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Textbook Leafs fan experience tonight—oof.
📍University of Toronto (aka, some old stomping grounds)
October 12, 2025 at 12:59 AM
📍University of Toronto (aka, some old stomping grounds)
Reposted by Susie Colbourn
Hey Military Historians, esp Grad students! The SMH is announcing its 2026 Summer Seminar in Military history, hosted by the Adams Center at VMI. This is a fabulous opportunity to learn the field outside your specialty, to network, and enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains. www.smh-hq.org/summersemina...
Summer Seminar | The Society for Military History
www.smh-hq.org
October 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Hey Military Historians, esp Grad students! The SMH is announcing its 2026 Summer Seminar in Military history, hosted by the Adams Center at VMI. This is a fabulous opportunity to learn the field outside your specialty, to network, and enjoy the Blue Ridge Mountains. www.smh-hq.org/summersemina...
Spent a great day with students from Duke, UNC, NC State, and NC Central for our @bridgingthegap.bsky.social FIRST workshop, including a morning talking about scenario planning and some alternative futures for the world ten years from now.
October 4, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Spent a great day with students from Duke, UNC, NC State, and NC Central for our @bridgingthegap.bsky.social FIRST workshop, including a morning talking about scenario planning and some alternative futures for the world ten years from now.
Applications are now open for the 2026-27 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships with the America in the World Consortium!
Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.
Deadline: December 1
Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.
Deadline: December 1
AWC Pre- and Post- Doctoral Fellowships 2025-2026
The America in the World Consortium at Duke University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Florida seeks applications from current Ph.D. students for its Pred...
www.awconsortium.org
October 2, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Applications are now open for the 2026-27 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships with the America in the World Consortium!
Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.
Deadline: December 1
Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.
Deadline: December 1
Motion to bar use of the phrase “as history teaches us.”
September 30, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Motion to bar use of the phrase “as history teaches us.”
Can we get a cost estimate on how much the American taxpayer coughed up for that “meeting”?
September 30, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Can we get a cost estimate on how much the American taxpayer coughed up for that “meeting”?
Historical Documents - Office of the Historian
history.state.gov 3.0 shell
history.state.gov
September 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Name-checking LeMay almost never makes me feel good.
September 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Name-checking LeMay almost never makes me feel good.
Great opportunity for early-career scholars working on topics related to World War II at the National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/jenny-cr...
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/jenny-cr...
Call for Papers Emerging Scholars Workshop
The National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy is pleased to issue this call for papers for its Spring Emerging Scholars Workshop, “New Directions in WWII History....
www.nationalww2museum.org
September 23, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Great opportunity for early-career scholars working on topics related to World War II at the National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/jenny-cr...
www.nationalww2museum.org/war/jenny-cr...
“Their presence suggests that Russia was testing NATO resolve by forcing Poland and its allies to scramble air defenses thereby allowing Moscow to assess the speed and efficiency of an alliance response.”
Inside NATO’s Scramble to Shoot Down Russia’s All-Night Drone Raid Over Poland
Allies acted in concert to engage Russian drones over alliance territory for the first time.
www.wsj.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:54 AM
“Their presence suggests that Russia was testing NATO resolve by forcing Poland and its allies to scramble air defenses thereby allowing Moscow to assess the speed and efficiency of an alliance response.”
Reposted by Susie Colbourn
Today, millions of people suddenly discovered, to their astonishment, that the North Atlantic Treaty also has articles 1 to 4. Thanks to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for their educational efforts
September 10, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Today, millions of people suddenly discovered, to their astonishment, that the North Atlantic Treaty also has articles 1 to 4. Thanks to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for their educational efforts
Me: writing the historiography section is the hardest, most painful part of any project.
Also me: agrees to write an entire essay on a fraught historiography.
🙃
Also me: agrees to write an entire essay on a fraught historiography.
🙃
September 9, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Me: writing the historiography section is the hardest, most painful part of any project.
Also me: agrees to write an entire essay on a fraught historiography.
🙃
Also me: agrees to write an entire essay on a fraught historiography.
🙃
A fixture of the NATO literature: the Canadian caveat.
September 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
A fixture of the NATO literature: the Canadian caveat.
"Crafting history in real time makes it harder to drain the emotion and to look at events objectively, removed from our own passions and personal commitments."
This @tnsr.org introduction from Frank Gavin has a great, short discussion on the differences between contemporary and "regular" history.
This @tnsr.org introduction from Frank Gavin has a great, short discussion on the differences between contemporary and "regular" history.
What Do We Really Know? - Texas National Security Review
We are more confident about our world than we should be.
tnsr.org
September 2, 2025 at 5:56 PM
"Crafting history in real time makes it harder to drain the emotion and to look at events objectively, removed from our own passions and personal commitments."
This @tnsr.org introduction from Frank Gavin has a great, short discussion on the differences between contemporary and "regular" history.
This @tnsr.org introduction from Frank Gavin has a great, short discussion on the differences between contemporary and "regular" history.
“Integration was the fundamental premise of building security across Europe, including a democratic Russia as a full partner.”
A short interview with Stephan Kieninger on his new book about Strobe Talbott and US-Russian relations, SECURING PEACE IN EUROPE.
A short interview with Stephan Kieninger on his new book about Strobe Talbott and US-Russian relations, SECURING PEACE IN EUROPE.
Strobe Talbott's diplomatic legacy | Brookings
An out-of-the-box thinker, Strobe Talbott was not constrained by conventional wisdom and generally accepted theories.
www.brookings.edu
August 31, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“Integration was the fundamental premise of building security across Europe, including a democratic Russia as a full partner.”
A short interview with Stephan Kieninger on his new book about Strobe Talbott and US-Russian relations, SECURING PEACE IN EUROPE.
A short interview with Stephan Kieninger on his new book about Strobe Talbott and US-Russian relations, SECURING PEACE IN EUROPE.
Alabama looks like they have no clue what is going on.
August 30, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Alabama looks like they have no clue what is going on.
Too much positive pre-season chatter is a form of Texas curse, it seems.
August 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Too much positive pre-season chatter is a form of Texas curse, it seems.