Alexander Clarkson
@aphclarkson.bsky.social
Lecturer for European Politics and History at King's College London. Opinions my own. RT not always endorsement.
Also to be found at @APHClarkson
https://www.ullstein.de/werke/die-macht-der-diaspora/hardcover/978354910
Also to be found at @APHClarkson
https://www.ullstein.de/werke/die-macht-der-diaspora/hardcover/978354910
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
What would the reaction be if this were Russia, or China?
FT exclusive:
“The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.”
via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues
“The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.”
via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues
February 6, 2026 at 8:29 AM
What would the reaction be if this were Russia, or China?
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Remember the controversy when Obama was accused of intervening in UK politics? This is the current US government openly seeking to undermine liberal democracy in Europe.
February 6, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Remember the controversy when Obama was accused of intervening in UK politics? This is the current US government openly seeking to undermine liberal democracy in Europe.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
This was to be expected - after cutting support to pro-democracy civil society last year, the US state is now looking to actively support far-right affiliated think tanks and charities in Europe.
Senior state department official Sarah Rogers travelled to European cities in December and has spoken to key figures in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party about deploying grants to spread ‘American values’. ft.trib.al/Kx8ta8a
February 6, 2026 at 7:19 AM
This was to be expected - after cutting support to pro-democracy civil society last year, the US state is now looking to actively support far-right affiliated think tanks and charities in Europe.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
The Al Carns stuff is nuts. He's not even been an MP for two years. He's not even a Minister of State.
Parliamentary - and ministerial - careers have become accelerated recently, but not *that* accelerated.
Parliamentary - and ministerial - careers have become accelerated recently, but not *that* accelerated.
February 5, 2026 at 10:02 AM
The Al Carns stuff is nuts. He's not even been an MP for two years. He's not even a Minister of State.
Parliamentary - and ministerial - careers have become accelerated recently, but not *that* accelerated.
Parliamentary - and ministerial - careers have become accelerated recently, but not *that* accelerated.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
This level of apologia (from Megan McArdle in a podcast with Josh Barro and Ross Douthat) is fucking appalling. Idk what else there is to say.
February 5, 2026 at 4:33 PM
This level of apologia (from Megan McArdle in a podcast with Josh Barro and Ross Douthat) is fucking appalling. Idk what else there is to say.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Hollywood producer Barry Josephson to Jeffrey Epstein:
“I've been thinking a lot about that question that you asked bill gates 'how do we get rid of poor people as a whole'"
“I've been thinking a lot about that question that you asked bill gates 'how do we get rid of poor people as a whole'"
February 5, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Hollywood producer Barry Josephson to Jeffrey Epstein:
“I've been thinking a lot about that question that you asked bill gates 'how do we get rid of poor people as a whole'"
“I've been thinking a lot about that question that you asked bill gates 'how do we get rid of poor people as a whole'"
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
A snapshot of US diplomacy in the Trump era: how @USAmbPoland (aka @TomRoseIndy) wins friends and influences people
February 5, 2026 at 9:37 PM
A snapshot of US diplomacy in the Trump era: how @USAmbPoland (aka @TomRoseIndy) wins friends and influences people
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Amazing. If a professional wrestling crowd is chanting "fuck ICE," it suggests to me that large swaths of the culture are not just upset over ICE tactics, they're coalescing against mass deportations as a broader ideological project.
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
February 5, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Amazing. If a professional wrestling crowd is chanting "fuck ICE," it suggests to me that large swaths of the culture are not just upset over ICE tactics, they're coalescing against mass deportations as a broader ideological project.
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Nigel Farage tells GB News that Keir Starmer's decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador shows his judgement is "seriously wrong" and he should stand down as Prime Minister.
Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed
Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed
February 5, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Nigel Farage tells GB News that Keir Starmer's decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador shows his judgement is "seriously wrong" and he should stand down as Prime Minister.
Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed
Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed
In retrospect outsourcing a governing party's strategic thinking to the apprentices of a Dark Lord is a terrible idea
February 5, 2026 at 9:47 PM
In retrospect outsourcing a governing party's strategic thinking to the apprentices of a Dark Lord is a terrible idea
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
And doing so at the National Prayer Breakfast gathering of religious leaders.
(And this sort of thing is what would make him such a hysterical but too over the top to be believable fictional comedic character.)
(And this sort of thing is what would make him such a hysterical but too over the top to be believable fictional comedic character.)
Celebrating the use of National Guard troops as props for authoritarian theater and (apparently fictional) lawless violence against imaginary members of Tren de Aragua.
Trump at the Natl Prayer Breakfast on National Guard troops in DC: "They took Tren de Aragua, & honestly I don't want to say this, but they beat the crap out of them. They beat the crap out of them. They found they were doing bad things and Tren de Aragua didn't want anything to do with these guys."
February 5, 2026 at 9:23 PM
And doing so at the National Prayer Breakfast gathering of religious leaders.
(And this sort of thing is what would make him such a hysterical but too over the top to be believable fictional comedic character.)
(And this sort of thing is what would make him such a hysterical but too over the top to be believable fictional comedic character.)
The new Gilded Age sucks
STRATEGY REPORTS $17 BILLION IN OPERATING LOSSES
February 5, 2026 at 9:43 PM
The new Gilded Age sucks
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Bitcoin-Abstürze gab es ja schon viele. Aber der hier sieht anders aus.
February 5, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Bitcoin-Abstürze gab es ja schon viele. Aber der hier sieht anders aus.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
This is not "how men behave."
This is Gelernter's version of Trump saying "locker room talk"— a projection of his own pathologies onto a whole gender in order to buff up his own manly-man credentials in his mind.
This is Gelernter's version of Trump saying "locker room talk"— a projection of his own pathologies onto a whole gender in order to buff up his own manly-man credentials in his mind.
February 5, 2026 at 7:18 PM
This is not "how men behave."
This is Gelernter's version of Trump saying "locker room talk"— a projection of his own pathologies onto a whole gender in order to buff up his own manly-man credentials in his mind.
This is Gelernter's version of Trump saying "locker room talk"— a projection of his own pathologies onto a whole gender in order to buff up his own manly-man credentials in his mind.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
in a democratic republic (and really in all times and places) the slavish hunger to be in the thrall of a strongman or a king is the ultimate moral degeneracy.
February 5, 2026 at 7:34 PM
in a democratic republic (and really in all times and places) the slavish hunger to be in the thrall of a strongman or a king is the ultimate moral degeneracy.
I'm old enough to remember when columnists claimed that Bessent was the adult in the room
VAN HOLLEN: You suggested Alex Pretti was culpable for his own killing because he had a gun he was licensed to carry. Would you like to retract that statement?
BESSENT: I would not. Would you like to express remorse over the death of Ashli Babbitt here in the Capitol?
BESSENT: I would not. Would you like to express remorse over the death of Ashli Babbitt here in the Capitol?
February 5, 2026 at 7:32 PM
I'm old enough to remember when columnists claimed that Bessent was the adult in the room
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
![…
25. This Cibola jail was horrible. It was cramped. I was chained up again.
The officers mocked
me and called me their enemy. They laughed at me. I was kept at the jail for what felt like around three hours. I wasn't given an explanation for why I was there.
26. Security
guards then put me on a bus. I think it was around January 27.
No one said
anything about where I was going. I was handcuffed. It felt like the middle of the night. It was freezing cold in the bus because the driver had the AC on. We had no jackets. The bus eventually took me back to El Paso in the carly morning of Tuesday, January 27th.
27. I was put in a cold cell where I had to sleep on the bare cement floor. Around 10 in the morning my cellmate asked to speak to an ICE officer. Three officers came into the cell so I had a chance to speak to them too. One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." She told me that if I fought my case, I would spend two to three more months here in El Paso. She offered me $2600 to self-deport. I refused. I wanted to talk to my attorney. They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota. If I hadn't managed to talk to my attorney who told me a while back that I was ordered released. I might have given up at this point and signed the self-deportation forms because the conditions were so unbearable.
…
30. When I was taken back to the detention center from the airport, after missing the flight, I overheard an ICE officer saying in English, "the judge in Minnesota wants this one back." I was put in a cold jail cell again until early next morning (January 28). But again no one had told me directly that a judge had ordered my release
…
32. When I arrived in Minneapolis, I was handed off to ICE
… I had to sign lots of papers saying that I wasn't going to be a part of any "groups." I didn't know what they meant by "groups." They never told me why I was detained](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreiccqxmfncofjqinoveiqscwale2ox5xpiqt46veqjdh3jmimkrxhq@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 AM
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
very weird “I am Spartacus” thing happening right now with the worst people on earth
February 5, 2026 at 12:06 PM
very weird “I am Spartacus” thing happening right now with the worst people on earth
This arcs back to points made by Jamelle Bouie about how Trump doesn't have resources to kill off mid-term elections in November 2026.
He does, however, have enough DHS goons and violent supporters to concentrate around Washington in January 2027 to disrupt swearing in of legislators in Congress.
He does, however, have enough DHS goons and violent supporters to concentrate around Washington in January 2027 to disrupt swearing in of legislators in Congress.
I also tend toward this view based on past experience and the feds’ lack of manpower.
A lot of voter suppression tactics are met with counter-mobilization and also suppress some R-leaning groups, reducing their impact. They remain illegal and immoral but thankfully they are also often ineffective.
A lot of voter suppression tactics are met with counter-mobilization and also suppress some R-leaning groups, reducing their impact. They remain illegal and immoral but thankfully they are also often ineffective.
My expectation for this is they'll make a big show of rolling out the goon squad outside a handful of locations, the states will seek and likely get emergency injunctions, and meanwhile the whole spectacle will only motivate way more people to show up and vote in defiance than are scared away.
February 5, 2026 at 7:24 PM
This arcs back to points made by Jamelle Bouie about how Trump doesn't have resources to kill off mid-term elections in November 2026.
He does, however, have enough DHS goons and violent supporters to concentrate around Washington in January 2027 to disrupt swearing in of legislators in Congress.
He does, however, have enough DHS goons and violent supporters to concentrate around Washington in January 2027 to disrupt swearing in of legislators in Congress.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
On Chagos, like so many other things, Donald Trump agrees with the last person who spoke to him. But never feels bound by any of his previous conversations, assuming he even remembers them. None of these “formal approvals” mean anything.
February 5, 2026 at 7:11 PM
On Chagos, like so many other things, Donald Trump agrees with the last person who spoke to him. But never feels bound by any of his previous conversations, assuming he even remembers them. None of these “formal approvals” mean anything.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
My expectation for this is they'll make a big show of rolling out the goon squad outside a handful of locations, the states will seek and likely get emergency injunctions, and meanwhile the whole spectacle will only motivate way more people to show up and vote in defiance than are scared away.
I understand folks are scared but I want you to think about the mechanics of this.
There are more polling places (>100k) than ICE and CBP agents combined, so they can only pick a few districts to try to intimidate.
Now what happens when cell phone footage of that goes online in the early morning?
There are more polling places (>100k) than ICE and CBP agents combined, so they can only pick a few districts to try to intimidate.
Now what happens when cell phone footage of that goes online in the early morning?
i think people should consider the extent to which bannon, a known bullshit artist, knows that you will see this and panic. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
February 5, 2026 at 5:04 AM
My expectation for this is they'll make a big show of rolling out the goon squad outside a handful of locations, the states will seek and likely get emergency injunctions, and meanwhile the whole spectacle will only motivate way more people to show up and vote in defiance than are scared away.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
It's very telling that Sinners' actual success was treated with disdain and disappointment at first, but the Melania white supremacy propaganda doc is being treated glowingly despite bad reviews and no profitability.
a movie no one wanted that cost exponentially more than it made is a weird success metric but apparently numbers are woke now
February 5, 2026 at 6:14 PM
It's very telling that Sinners' actual success was treated with disdain and disappointment at first, but the Melania white supremacy propaganda doc is being treated glowingly despite bad reviews and no profitability.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
The comms rep just had no ability to comprehend that AI takes in the information that already exists in the world and repackages it. Our reporting had yet to be published and therefore wasn't out in the world hadn't been ingested by any chatbot.
And they just... believed the chatbot.
And they just... believed the chatbot.
February 5, 2026 at 5:42 PM
The comms rep just had no ability to comprehend that AI takes in the information that already exists in the world and repackages it. Our reporting had yet to be published and therefore wasn't out in the world hadn't been ingested by any chatbot.
And they just... believed the chatbot.
And they just... believed the chatbot.
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Kind of fascinating how China hawks and the UK Right seems unable to process that if it is to his advantage Trump will sell them out over and over again without blinking
Rupert Lowe is out the traps on the latest Chagos twist. Plus his 'reply guys'.
February 5, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Kind of fascinating how China hawks and the UK Right seems unable to process that if it is to his advantage Trump will sell them out over and over again without blinking