#CivMilSky
We had been hoping that the US military would not obey illegal orders. The boat strikes have now taught us that was wishful thinking. Here's a great post explaining where we are and how we got here www.latimes.com/opinion/stor... #CivMilSky
November 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
And now, a summary of my experience at #IUS2025, #civmilsky.
October 29, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Among all the other awfulness, having armed agents of the state feel comfortable threatening violence on camera based on what is effectively party affiliation is. . .not great. #civmilsky
Ellis describes this incident:
As the agents drove away from a confrontation in Little Village on Thursday, “they pointed a pepper ball gun and then a real gun at … Chris Gentry, a combat veteran who was lawfully standing on the side of the road ‘bang, bang,’ and ‘you’re dead liberal.'”
October 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Chairing this #IUS2025 panel on Military Civilian transitions in veterans.

#civmilsky #veteransky
October 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One of the civil-military pathologies most closely associated with future military defeat is the use of the military for civil government functions. #civmilsky
Just got word from an immigration attorney: Bondi just announced the first batch of 11 permanent and 25 temporary military judges for immigration courts.

www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
www.justice.gov
October 24, 2025 at 10:21 PM
🧵 I'm excited to share that my article "Democratic Backsliding and the Limits of Civilian Control of the Military" has been accepted @thejop.bsky.social.

It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"

1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory
October 12, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I saw someone asking for the generals and admirals to launch a coup to get rid of Trump. There might be worse ideas but this one is really, really awful. I have a short list here saideman.blogspot.com/2025/10/root... #CivMilSky

Beware of "Easy solutions" that are damn near catastrophic.
October 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I don't see where you can still "avoid" a civ-mil crisis when the military is already obeying illegal orders and the National Guard is being deployed against governors' will

Apparently, it's only a crisis when military leaders publicly voice dissent
www.foreignaffairs.com/us-militarys... #CivMilSky
October 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
So glad I can catch up via Risa's excellent insights. I trust no one more than her to understand what is going on and explain it to the rest of us. A must thread!

#CivMilSky
It's easy to see this speech as just weirdly performative, but there's a lot more—and a lot worse—going on here.

The meeting & speeches are part of a larger project aimed at promoting the military leadership’s partisan alignment with the administration.

How? 1/
Hegseth: "If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, they you should do the honorable thing and resign."
September 30, 2025 at 5:31 PM
And now it’s turned into a #civmilsky story. IDF made it clear it didn’t love the order and that it considered risking soldiers to place speakers inside Gaza unnecessary. Netanyahu claimed he ordered the speakers placed on the border, which reports on the ground quickly showed to be false.
Netanyahu orders IDF to broadcast his UNGA speech over loud speakers in Gaza. I'm dead serious.
September 26, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Hey #CivMilSky any recommend pieces on soldiers being loyal to the state/regime?
September 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
When people argue that the military should be louder and demand more stuff faster, I take umbrage and blog thusly saideman.blogspot.com/2025/09/shou... #CivMilSky
September 24, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Anyways, I'm thinking of submitting a panel on post-coup transitions for APSA this year so please let me know if you're interested!

Polisky, dictatorsky, CivMilSky
Increasingly of the view re: recent studies on coups, authoritarian politics, regime transitions, etc., we need to take the disaggregation of the military as our starting point. Why use "the military" when we really mean the senior officer corps?

CivMilSky, Polisky, dictatorsky
December 21, 2023 at 6:40 PM
It's been another interesting day for Brazilian civil-military relations...

General Mourão - who repeatedly called for a military coup before he became vice-president - bitterly complains that military officers are being investigated for planning a coup

brazilian.report/liveblog/pol... #CivMilSky
February 8, 2024 at 9:36 PM
Today at CivMilSky seminar we're talking about recruitment methods as DV. Reading @deborahavant.bsky.social on mercenaries, @eliotacohen.bsky.social to map options, and @victorasal.bsky.social, Conrad, and Toronto for quant approach. We'll probably talk a bit about reserves as well.
October 31, 2023 at 2:29 PM
It's an interesting time to be teaching @colgateuniversity.bsky.social students about civil-military relations while in DC. But here we go!

First class is all about why we should care about civ-mil ft. work from @profjessblankshain.bsky.social & @risabrooks12.bsky.social.

#Civmilsky #poliscisky
a black and white photo of a man covering his face with his hands and the words `` so it begins ... '' .
ALT: a black and white photo of a man covering his face with his hands and the words `` so it begins ... '' .
media.tenor.com
January 17, 2025 at 12:53 AM
I usually don't think of Civ/Mil this way - but it's interesting that the DoD chews up people who know exactly what they are doing. Is there a Civ/Mil issue in the esoteric knowledge needed to manage and run the department?
#CivMilSky
January 15, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Hello everyone. Tell your friends and colleagues that Democratization is here. #Polisky #Dictatorsky #CivMilSky #Comparativesky #behavioursky
a black screen with green text that says hello world on it
ALT: a black screen with green text that says hello world on it
media.tenor.com
October 23, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Thanks for the shoutout!

Dictatorsky, polisky, CivMilSky, contentiousky
This week’s MENA Academy roundup comes to you from sunny Scotland! Check out new articles on Egypt, UAE-Israel normalization, and more!
Menasky

open.substack.com/pub/abuaardv...
MENA Academy Weekly Roundup #8 (9.25.23)
More great academic research on the Middle East, sent from a Scottish castle
open.substack.com
September 25, 2023 at 11:48 AM
IDF Chief of Staff Halevi stated that if hospitals in Gaza actually run out of gas Israel will allow it to enter, under strict supervision Hamas won't expropriate it. Political leaders including Netanyahu rushed to announce they didn't approve of letting any gas into Gaza. civmilsky
November 2, 2023 at 3:46 PM
March 27, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Job ad: Junior professorship "Security Policy and Peace" (W1) at Leuphana (Lüneburg, Germany)

www.leuphana.de/universitaet... #CivMilSky #Polisky #Conflictsky
Junior professorship "Security Policy and Peace" (W1)
THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT LEUPHANA UNIVERSITY LÜNEBURG AND THE GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AND AREA STUDIES INVITE APPLICATIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING JUNIOR PROFESSORSHIP:
www.leuphana.de
December 22, 2023 at 10:42 AM
Hegseth ranting about 'the left' does sound a lot like listening to classic South American military musings about internal enemies during the Cold War
#CivMilSky
"A defense secretary with a tenuous grip on reality, who can’t differentiate foreign enemies from domestic political opponents, and who seems to exist in a state of permanent hysteria is a problem that the United States has never had to survive." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
November 22, 2024 at 4:11 PM