Stephen Walt
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Stephen Walt
@stephenwalt.bsky.social
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Harvard professor, realist, FP columnist. Tennis enthusiast, amateur musician, proud dad, & grateful husband. Troubled by the state of the world & looking for solutions. For speaking engagements contact John Bute at [email protected] .. more

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Stephen Martin Walt is an American political scientist serving as the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. A member of the realist school of international relations, Walt has made important contributions to the theory of neorealism and has authored the balance of threat theory. Books that he has authored or coauthored include Origins of Alliances, Revolution and War, and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. .. more

Political science 72%
Sociology 17%
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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Jacob Montgomery

mayasen.bsky.social
Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · 1d
A big trend in higher ed and I absolutely hate it
larryglickman.bsky.social Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 1d
Handing the keys of governance to unqualified billionaires and allowing them to far exceed the proper role of the Executive Branch in dictating to other agencies (i.e. Musk/DOGE) or institutions of civil society (as with Rowan/ Compact) sure does not seem "populist."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
Wealthy People Have Always Shaped Universities. This Time Is Different.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Stephen M. Walt, Noelle E. Selin , and 2 more

5harad.com
Sharad Goel @5harad.com · 2d
📣 Job alert! 📣 Harvard Kennedy School is running 2 open-rank faculty searches in technology & public policy. One position is specifically for scholars using data science to address public problems. Please help us spread the word! academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15561
Technology and Public Policy Search (open rank)
Harvard Kennedy School invites applications for two open rank appointments in technology and public policy. We seek applications from scholars whose research and/or practice focuses on the intersectio...
academicpositions.harvard.edu

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Matthew Bunn, John Palfrey , and 2 more

drodrik.bsky.social
Dani Rodrik @drodrik.bsky.social · 2d
Faculty searches at Harvard Kennedy School in applied microeconomics and in technology and public policy www.hks.harvard.edu/more/about/l...
Faculty Appointments
The Academic Deans' Office recruits new faculty members who have strong teaching and research records and are intellectual leaders in their field.
www.hks.harvard.edu

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Brian Keegan

motherjones.com
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d
RFK Jr. wants you to know that he’s personally responsible for the anti-vax misinformation on the CDC's website
RFK Jr. wants you to know he’s personally responsible for anti-vax misinformation on CDC website
He told the New York Times there’s no proof that vaccines don’t cause autism, which is a lie.
www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Joe R. Feagin, Brendan Nyhan , and 4 more

johnjharwood.bsky.social
John Harwood @johnjharwood.bsky.social · 3d
detailed WashPost account of how Trump and Stephen Miller sidelined serious lawyers so they could fabricate a justification for committing murder

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats
The Trump administration sidestepped skeptical lawyers across national security agencies as it pursued a military campaign against alleged narcotraffickers, officials say.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, David R. Miller, Jacob T. Levy , and 1 more

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 4d
It is good to see the pushback on Trump lead to real losses for him. But it's hard to be optimistic when he still wields the enormous power of the presidency. ICE is still rampaging, HHS is harming people, the U.S. may be about to sell out Ukraine, the boat strikes...he's still doing so much damage.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, David R. Miller, David Darmofal

alicemiranda.bsky.social
Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 4d
Secretary Kennedy, speaking to a bipartisan group of governors, has mixed up Medicare and Medicaid, and implied the people who will lose the latter are either unauthorized immigrants, dual eligible, or people who “don’t want to get a job.”

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Rebecca Solnit, Robert C. Richards , and 1 more

markhertling.bsky.social
Mark Hertling @markhertling.bsky.social · 4d
For what it’s worth, as a commander and officer it was my duty, moral obligation, and legal requirement to first question and then to not obey any illegal order I was given.

The same is true for everyone who swear their oath.

Hope that clears things up.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

georgetakei.bsky.social
George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 4d
He’s never set food in a grocery store as a customer, has he.
A tweet from “chris evans @notcapnamerica” includes an edited image of Trump pointing toward stacked food items with text reading: “So when I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one. —President Trump, August 2024.” Below it is a tweet from “Newswire_US” reading: “U.S. grocery prices hit record high as monthly cost for a family of four reaches $1,030.”

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Carl Henrik Knutsen, David R. Miller

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 4d
This is what competitive authoritarianism looks like - regime ally trying to purchase media and remove critical voices

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

thedsrnetwork.bsky.social
The DSR Network @thedsrnetwork.bsky.social · 4d
Trump shrugged off the murder of Jamal Khashoggi this week by saying "things happen," an attitude towards violence that has huge implications for our country. @rosabrooks.bsky.social and @djrothkopf.bsky.social discuss and look for answers in our history:

ow.ly/urX550Xut82

youtu.be/FJFgW2c5m8o

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Jonathan A. Eisen, Steve Peers , and 6 more

erinmayequade.bsky.social
Erin Maye Quade @erinmayequade.bsky.social · 4d
A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic law makers FIVE MONTHS AGO. He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Insanity
SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

maxboot.bsky.social
Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 5d
The revisions show that the “CDC cannot currently be trusted as a scientific voice,” said Demetre Daskalakis, who formerly led the agency’s center responsible for respiratory viruses and immunizations. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Under RFK Jr., CDC promotes false vaccines-autism link it once discredited
The CDC’s website now says health authorities ignored evidence of a potential connection between vaccines and autism, despite dozens of studies showing no link.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, David R. Miller

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 5d
Strangling the world-beating export industry which cross-subsidizes higher education for Americans. The White House says that's good news!
mattpeterson.bsky.social Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 5d
The White House just blasted this out under the headline "Good News You May Have Missed"
🧑‍🎓 New foreign student enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities is down by 17% over last year: “American universities have suffered one of the sharpest ever declines in foreign enrollments in the face of tough policies from President Donald Trump, with the number of new international students falling 17 percent this year.”

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

nilsgilman.bsky.social
Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 5d
In related news, the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk killings shows that rightwingers don't actually mind cancel culture—so long as it's done against their ideological adversaries. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

ryanenos.bsky.social
Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6d
There is something darkly poetic, in an Orwellian sense, about the aspiring dictator saying to the press, "Quiet, quiet, piggy".

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 6d
Oh, I get it now. MAGA = Make ARABIA Great Again.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Michael E. Mann, Elizabeth Saunders , and 3 more

brandyzadrozny.bsky.social
Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 6d
I’ve been thinking and it’s kind of exceptional that not a single person said “Hey now” after the piggy comment.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Will Jennings, Alfie Kohn , and 1 more

malwarejake.bsky.social
Jake Williams @malwarejake.bsky.social · 6d
Man, CBS must feel really stupid right now!

Just kidding, CBS wasn't settling a lawsuit. They were paying a bribe and they knew it.
jameeljaffer.bsky.social Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 6d
Eleventh Circuit throws out Trump's suit against CNN in a per curiam unpublished ruling. Meaning Trump's arguments were totally meritless, not even worthy of a published opinion. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

taskandpurpose.com
Task & Purpose @taskandpurpose.com · 6d
The US designated more terrorist groups in 2025 than in the last 10 years combined trib.al/xw98j7m
The US designated more terrorist groups in 2025 than in the last 10 years combined
The move may indicate that the U.S. government increasingly views narcotics traffickers as a problem that requires a military solution.
trib.al

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

bcfinucane.bsky.social
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 7d
And then they came for Buddy Holly…

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
Lubbock Will Remove Buddy Holly-Themed Crosswalk After Federal Crackdown
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

foreignpolicy.com
Foreign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 7d
The core risk of a U.S.-Saudi defense pact is structural: Saudi Arabia would gain protection; the United States would gain obligation.
The Perils and Pitfalls of a U.S.-Saudi Defense Pact
U.S. troops would be obliged to defend Riyadh.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Anna O. Law, Brendan Nyhan , and 6 more

clintsmithiii.bsky.social
Clint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · 7d
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Juan Cole

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 8d
Those boats we are sinking in the Caribbean and Pacific are small and at best very lightly armed and we have the most powerful Navy in the world. Yet somehow we can’t stop them, detain the crews, seize the drugs (if any), and we prefer to just kill people instead. Not a good look…

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 8d
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Fill...

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Stephen M. Walt, Nathan P. Kalmoe

jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 8d
Dani Rodrik in the NYT the other day with a pretty compelling argument about making service sector jobs into good jobs

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/o...
Progressives have echoed the right in calling for a revival of manufacturing. This is a mistake. Automation and global competition have killed manufacturing jobs in virtually all middle-income and advanced economies. Manufacturing's share of employment has broadly continued to fall in the United States despite strident efforts by Presidents Biden and Trump to arrest it. Today roughly one in 12 American workers is employed in manufacturing. Putting up trade barriers against China will not work. China itself has lost millions of manufacturing jobs over the past decade and a half.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Brendan Nyhan, Jesse H. Kroll , and 11 more

anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 9d
To negotiate a trade deal with the President of the United States, the Swiss government arrived with a "special Rolex desktop clock" and "a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar"

www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 10d
This is a thoughtful article but what's omitted and now threatened, free speech, is the foundation of greatness. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/o...
Opinion | America’s Formula for Greatness Is Under Threat
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Edward Witten, Lisa W. Fazio , and 4 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 10d
Mafia governance in action

"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Mark D. White, Jacob Montgomery , and 5 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11d
I was told there was a crisis of free speech on campus that must be reversed
jameeljaffer.bsky.social Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 11d
MAGA’s ongoing war on academic freedom, reflected in headlines from the last 24 hours.