Ian Hall
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drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall
@drianhall.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 1.3K posts

Professor of International Relations at Griffith University, India’s foreign policy, Indo-Pacific stuff, snakes when I find one. Usual caveats.

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Political science 68%
Economics 10%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Ian Hall, Katrina Navickas

onslies.bsky.social
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 23h
Three short paragraphs, and you've got the whole mind-bending mess that is #UKHE finance & governance neatly laid out.

This is why it's all so exhausting: our managers declare there's only one static frame, while we know their framing is part of the issue.

💡 www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/01/10/w...
How the financial problem is described is not neutral. It reflects and reinforces a particular way of understanding what a university is and how it should function. If the financial situation is framed as a classic demand-and-cost problem (i.e., demand is insufficient, prices are constrained, and unit costs are too high), then the university is, implicitly, being treated as a ‘service provider’ operating in a competitive international education market where students are customers. In that frame, the obvious actions are to emphasise tight cost controls and to strengthen output-focused performance metrics, targets and incentives such as promotions based on publications in highly rated journals, income generation or teaching satisfaction scores. If the same financial situation is framed instead as a system-level shock that threatens the conditions under which teaching, research and public service can flourish, then a different picture of the university comes into view: a ‘living knowledge ecosystem’ serving a public mission and facing financial constraints partly beyond its control. Within that frame, the responses appears quite different. Attention turns to protecting core capacities, reducing harm to the most vulnerable parts of the system and working with others to share risks and resources. In both cases, the numbers in the spreadsheets are the same. What differs is the story told about the problem, and the underlying image of the university that story presupposes. At present, the former factory-like framing is the most common. With it, the danger is that, under a narrative of financial constraints, universities take actions that emphasise governance practices that reshape behaviour so deeply that, over time, what remains may still be called a ‘university’, but no longer acts like one.

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 1d
Compost bin visitor.

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 1d
Bravo, Jakarta.

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Ian Hall, Michael D. McDonald , and 1 more

reuters.com
Reuters @reuters.com · 1d
Indonesia temporarily blocks access to Grok over sexualised images reut.rs/4jvw0JI
Indonesia temporarily blocks access to Grok over sexualised images
Indonesia temporarily blocked Elon Musk's Grok chatbot on Saturday due to the risk of AI-generated pornographic content, becoming the first country to deny access to the AI tool.
reut.rs

Reposted by Ian Hall

claesdevreese.bsky.social
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 1d
The *only ones* currently threatening Greenland are the United States.

A country that carries part of the responsibility for security in the Arctic region and itself chose to scale down its presence in the region.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump ramps up Greenland threats and says US will intervene ‘whether they like it or not’
US president doubles down on threats to acquire territory at White House meeting with oil and gas executives
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ian Hall

wajali.bsky.social
Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 1d
Whoopsie!

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Exxon CEO calls Venezuela ‘uninvestable’ without ‘significant changes’
Trump holds a meeting of oil CEOs at the White House to project support for his Venezuela plans. But the companies are skeptical.
www.washingtonpost.com

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 2d
"Peacemaking, he said, requires “humility and courage”: “the humility to live truthfully and the courage to forgive.”"

Hmm.

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 2d
The "Pope warned “Language is becoming more and more a weapon with which to deceive, or to strike and offend opponents” [and]...this weakening of language is often defended “in the name of freedom of expression,” yet, “on closer inspection, the opposite is true”." www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...
Pope raises alarm over human rights and a spreading “zeal for war” - Vatican News
Meeting members of the Diplomatic Corps, Pope Leo XIV warns that human rights and freedoms are under strain as diplomacy gives way to the logic of ...
www.vaticannews.va

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 2d
Cannot fail. Commissioning editors are always convinced when I tell them “I have the greatest potential book in history.”
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Trump's economic talking points have subtly shifted: "We have the greatest potential economy in history"

Reposted by Steve Peers, Ian Hall

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Trump's economic talking points have subtly shifted: "We have the greatest potential economy in history"

Reposted by Ian Hall

reuters.com
Reuters @reuters.com · 3d
Exclusive: India plans to scrap curbs on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, sources say reut.rs/4srxxVr
Exclusive: India plans to scrap curbs on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, sources say
India's finance ministry plans to scrap five-year-old restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, two sources said, as New Delhi seeks to revive commercial ties in an environment of eased diplomatic and border tensions.
reut.rs

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 6d
TV show idea: a remake of Occupied but set in Denmark and with the US as the villain.
sifill.bsky.social Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 6d
We cannot become numb to the outrage of this. The wife of the President’s Senior Advisor threatens a sovereign nation.

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Kim L. Scheppele, Paul R. Bierman , and 8 more

sifill.bsky.social
Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 6d
We cannot become numb to the outrage of this. The wife of the President’s Senior Advisor threatens a sovereign nation.

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 6d
Folks, I know no one wants to listen to professors anymore, but here’s Google’s AI on Thucydides, the strong and the weak, and all that…

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 7d
Exactly.
theatlantic.com The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7d
"The United States has now given Russia, China, and anyone else who wants to give it a try a road map for invading countries that displease them," argues Tom Nichols:
Maybe Russia and China Should Sit This One Out
Putin and Xi are just shocked, shocked by the American attack on Venezuela.
bit.ly

Reposted by Ian Hall, Tim Stephens

theatlantic.com
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7d
"The United States has now given Russia, China, and anyone else who wants to give it a try a road map for invading countries that displease them," argues Tom Nichols:
Maybe Russia and China Should Sit This One Out
Putin and Xi are just shocked, shocked by the American attack on Venezuela.
bit.ly

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 8d
Meanwhile.
a man in a suit and tie holds up a cup in front of a sign that says china
ALT: a man in a suit and tie holds up a cup in front of a sign that says china
media.tenor.com

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 8d
Yes it is difficult enough watching this from the sidelines. Incredibly hard for those who have to make decisions with major public and private consequences.

Reposted by Ian Hall, Steven H. Seggie

generalboles.bsky.social
General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 8d
“and in other news, President Trump has ordered the bombing of Venezuela”

“Caracas?”

“not according to his doctors”

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 8d
We live in the worst timeline. The arc of the moral universe bends towards ever more grift and stupidity.

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 8d
Co-equal branch of government, in theory!

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 8d
Congress?
Congress?
Anyone?
a man wearing glasses is standing in front of a blackboard and saying `` anyone ? '' .
ALT: a man wearing glasses is standing in front of a blackboard and saying `` anyone ? '' .
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Kori Schake, Ian Hall, Cullen S. Hendrix , and 3 more

seva.bsky.social
Seva @seva.bsky.social · 8d
an annoying thing about realists insisting they're the no-nonsense reality-based group is that few of their predictions have been based in reality

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 10d
But Walter Crocker’s gem, though?

Reposted by Ian Hall, David R. Miller

maxboot.bsky.social
Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 11d
Don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/w...

Reposted by Ian Hall

sensehofstede.nl
Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 11d
Survey shows favourable global opinion on China – Xinhua: ‘Nearly 70 percent of foreign respondents expressed a positive view of the Communist Party of China’s steadfast implementation of the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct’
Survey shows favorable global opinion on China
english.news.cn

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 12d
Something to think about given the established wisdom in Australia about large and supposedly efficient universities vs. small institutions like, um, most of the good places elsewhere…Caltech and Cambridge, etc.
rentouljohn.bsky.social John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 12d
“Never do a write-round” “Legislation is a last resort” “Find a forcing function” Advice for advisers from Henry de Zoete samf.substack.com/p/advice-for...

Reposted by Ian Hall

rentouljohn.bsky.social
John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 12d
“Never do a write-round” “Legislation is a last resort” “Find a forcing function” Advice for advisers from Henry de Zoete samf.substack.com/p/advice-for...

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 12d
Bibi’s face afterwards…
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12d
Trump ranting to Netanyahu on a hot mic: "Do I get credit for it? No. They gave the Nob-- I did 8 of them. How about India and Pakistan? So I did 8 of them. And then I'll tell you the rest of it."

drianhall.bsky.social
Ian Hall @drianhall.bsky.social · 12d
That framing, though. Sheesch.