Alexander Clarkson
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aphclarkson.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
MSNBC broadcasts body cam footage of the FBI raid at the Fulton County elections office
February 3, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Russia just keeps terrorizing civilians in Ukraine. A Russian Shahed drone struck a residential building in Kharkiv, according to reports. Witnesses say the drone deliberately targeted the building. Three people have been reported injured so far following the strike. #Ukraine
February 3, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
February 3, 2026 at 1:46 AM
The current leadership might fall but particularly now Labour MPs are not going to trigger elections. Come on people.
February 3, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you...
as someone who pushes hard against conspiratorial thinking in my professional and political life, it is deeply irritating when, on top of the untold human harms Epstein caused, it turns out he was at the center of at least half a dozen actual conspiracies
February 3, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Once a protest movement gets larger than a few hundred people self-policing the dipshits within it is an almost insoluble problem.
February 3, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Has there been a closer look at Mandelson's longstanding relationships with other influential states and financial market actors?
February 3, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Looks increasingly like Mandelson's salary was nominally paid by the taxpayer, yet he was actually working for Epstein
EXCLUSIVE:

Lord Peter Mandelson lobbied the US government on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein and Jes Staley in 2010 when he was business secretary, using their talking points in conversations with an American official about financial-crisis reforms

www.ft.com/content/e50f...
Peter Mandelson lobbied against US bank reforms on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein and Jes Staley
Former UK business secretary used talking points in conversations with US official about financial crisis measures
www.ft.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok.

The chatbot still produces sexualized images —

even when told the subjects don’t consent.

even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation.

even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse.

www.reuters.com/business/des...
Exclusive: Despite new curbs, Elon Musk’s Grok at times produces sexualized images - even when told subjects didn’t consent
Elon Musk’s flagship artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, continues to generate sexualized images of people even when users explicitly warn that the subjects do not consent, Reuters has found.
www.reuters.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Things are still bad here in MN. But until Bovino left, the admin would meet each challenge with more escalation. Withdrawing him cracked their resolve. Now they seem increasingly scared to escalate. So they’re stuck. They should simply leave.
HOLY SHIT!!! Lost in the news today is THIS BANGER, wherein THE REGIME TOLD TROOPS IN AK and MN to STAND DOWN!!!

h/t to @maddow.bsky.social !!!!!

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
Northern Command Tells N.C., Alaska Troops to Stand Down on Possible Minnesota Deployment
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:04 AM
February 3, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Hadn't previously thought this, but if this Labour government wants to show any understanding of the situation then McSweeney's position is untenable. Now. Not after May.

The change needed is in attitudes more than delivery.
February 3, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
alle preise, die sich nicht auf luxusgüter beziehen, haben einen starken einfluss auf die wahrnehmung der meisten menschen. das war mal eine grundlage jeden ökonomischen denkens.

in unsereren überflussgesellschaften fehlt dafür aber mittlerweile das denken.
Excellent piece here. www.ft.com/content/320c...
Plus people experience inflation in different ways and food prices seem to have a particularly important influence on perceptions. www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-pape...
February 3, 2026 at 8:39 AM
I don't think this kind of political ennui really helps much in any struggle to defend democracy. And elite fatalism certainly doesn't help the many people in civil society doing their best to help their communities in everyday life through anti-racism work, food banks, sports coaching and so on
The thing is, of course, if we put an actual concentrated effort into making people's lives better, it would make people's lives better, regardless of which "indicators" wobbled up or down.

But it's very evident that most voters don't actually care enough about each other to want that.
My review of @profkepickett.bsky.social's new book, "The Good Society"

"If you’d asked Pickett in 2010 whether she’d have accepted this trade she’d presumably have jumped at it...But now, like most of the rest of us, she’s less than happy with the results."

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
February 3, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
The fundamental problem with increasing defence spending isn't funding but real resources. And most defence spending isn't "investment" and does nothing to increase the underlying growth rate. Of course, the country has to be defended but there are opportunity costs.
February 3, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
This is what we need to see in the UK
🚨🚨Striking but welcome development in Portugese politics: To stop the explosive growth of the ultranationalist #Chega party, Portugal’s leading conservatives are doing the previously unthinkable: endorsing the center-left candidate for president. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/port...
Portugal’s conservatives back left-wing candidate to avoid a far-right president
Center-right leaders are taking pains to publicly reject the ultranationalist contender ahead of the country’s Feb. 8 vote.
www.politico.eu
February 3, 2026 at 5:59 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...
Mandelson’s Fifth Column
The British government’s business department exists to undermine democracy.
www.monbiot.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Excellent piece here. www.ft.com/content/320c...
Plus people experience inflation in different ways and food prices seem to have a particularly important influence on perceptions. www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-pape...
February 3, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Another one of my pet bugbears is exasperation over a self-flagellating political discourse in the UK that in its obsession with the impact of deindustrialisation ignores how substantial manufacturing in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Northwest of England still is as a player in European supply chains
British manufacturers enjoyed one of their best months since Labour came to power in January, according to a closely watched survey, adding to signs that the Bank of England will decide to keep interest rates on hold this week.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK manufacturing growth accelerates as export orders rise
Greater optimism in PMI survey, adding to signs Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold this week
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Epstein-Files: Teile der globalen Eliten haben sich komplett vom gemeinsamen Gesellschaftsvertrag gelöst. Sie fühlen sich dank Geld, Status und Macht unangreifbar.
February 3, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
this is also a fun cross-cultural corruption example: Chinese leaders' kids very commonly have their overseas study funded by 'scholarships' set up by businessmen close to their parents
the problem with this newfound “bursary” argument aired in the Times is this:

twhen we first heard about these payments in September a person close to Mandelson said it couldn’t possibly be the case and, er, threatened to sue us
February 3, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
Allow me to rush to say that economics columnist Adam Tooze knows nothing about Chinese military modernization. Being smart about one thing does not make you smart about everything.
Economics columnist Adam Tooze explores Xi Jinping’s military modernization campaign and Beijing’s yearslong purge of the top ranks of the People’s Liberation Army. foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/30/c...
China Is Building a Better, More Modern Military
Xi’s purges are part of a generational reshuffling of generals.
foreignpolicy.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson
HUGE. A victory for more than a quarter million Haitians with Temporary Protected Status. A significant majority of them entered the United States legally and have never been out of status since.

Even the Trump admin isn't saying Haiti is a safe country for them to go back to.
BREAKING: Judge Ana Reyes, in DC, issues a stay of DHS Sec. Noem’s decision to end Haiti’s temporary protected status (TPS) designation, a decision that was to go into effect on Tuesday and could have ended legal status for up to 350,000 people overnight. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 3, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Alexander Clarkson