Ben Rosamond
@benrosamond1.bsky.social
Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Edinburgh. Anglo-Swede, would-be leg spinner, new elite (if only). Political economy and assorted other obsessions.
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Massive crowds on the street in Copenhagen in solidarity with Greenland and against US aggression. Thousands of Greenlandic flags π¬π±πͺ
January 17, 2026 at 5:17 PM
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There are going to be limits to what you can make other countries do by threatening to tax your own citizen's purchases of their products.
I believe handing over entire territories falls well beyond those limits.
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I believe handing over entire territories falls well beyond those limits.
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January 17, 2026 at 5:15 PM
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Oh.
Incredibly, no-one on Nigel Farageβs team has got round to deleting this post. Itβs still live as Robert Jenrick gives his big defection speech.
January 15, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Oh.
Alternative explanation. The West Ham-Villa conflation is an already established cognitive phenomenon (see the alleged footballing allegiance(s) of David Cameron),
January 14, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Alternative explanation. The West Ham-Villa conflation is an already established cognitive phenomenon (see the alleged footballing allegiance(s) of David Cameron),
Hell yes. The lingering suspicion must be that Trump is so obsessed with Greenland because he thinks it's absolutely huge (it's big, but not Mercator big).
I am calling for a complete and total boycott of the Mercator projection in all news stories about Greenland until every member of the American public has seen this
January 14, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Hell yes. The lingering suspicion must be that Trump is so obsessed with Greenland because he thinks it's absolutely huge (it's big, but not Mercator big).
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Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 9, 2026 at 1:26 PM
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Between 1972 and 1985, my team - for most of that period in the top flight of English football - featured in live televised matches on five occasions. And that was a lot by the standards of the time.
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?
January 9, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Between 1972 and 1985, my team - for most of that period in the top flight of English football - featured in live televised matches on five occasions. And that was a lot by the standards of the time.
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I understand the pressures on the BBC, but Radio 4's coverage of the Minneapolis shooting is an example of "bad balance".
It's all "the Trump regime says she was a terrorist, but Democrats say it was murder".
The BBC has the footage. It doesn't have to treat truth and falsehood as equally valid.
It's all "the Trump regime says she was a terrorist, but Democrats say it was murder".
The BBC has the footage. It doesn't have to treat truth and falsehood as equally valid.
January 8, 2026 at 12:27 PM
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Reposted by Ben Rosamond
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means itβs now the US administrationβs position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means itβs now the US administrationβs position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means itβs now the US administrationβs position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means itβs now the US administrationβs position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Imagine the scenario where a bunch of ideological zealots under a capricious leader gain control of a nuclear power.
βIf they [the UK and France] allow themselves to be overwhelmed with very destructive moral ideas, then you allow nuclear weapons to fall in the hands of people who can actually cause very, very serious harm to the US.β
Full transcript: JD Vance on American identity
unherd.com
December 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Imagine the scenario where a bunch of ideological zealots under a capricious leader gain control of a nuclear power.
The Towering Inferno. Hmm.
December 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The Towering Inferno. Hmm.
A Jedi with 'legitimate concerns'.
December 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
A Jedi with 'legitimate concerns'.
Everywhere you look, itβs Christmas on steroids - & has been for at least a month. Yet that doesnβt stop the right-wing press from its seasonal mouth-foaming rage at the idea that Christmas is being cancelled by the woke something or other. Allow the brilliant @monkemma.bsky.social to be your guide.
OK, strap inβ¦.
Here is part 2 of the βTesco/(insert other brand) are cancelling Christmasβ claims!
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TL:DR? Christmas is alive and well everywhere you look.
And so too, sadly, is manufactured Christmas rage baiting.
Here is just 7 dayβs worth of Daily Mail Christmas Rage bait
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Here is part 2 of the βTesco/(insert other brand) are cancelling Christmasβ claims!
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TL:DR? Christmas is alive and well everywhere you look.
And so too, sadly, is manufactured Christmas rage baiting.
Here is just 7 dayβs worth of Daily Mail Christmas Rage bait
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1/31
December 14, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Everywhere you look, itβs Christmas on steroids - & has been for at least a month. Yet that doesnβt stop the right-wing press from its seasonal mouth-foaming rage at the idea that Christmas is being cancelled by the woke something or other. Allow the brilliant @monkemma.bsky.social to be your guide.
It's also a basic error made in the media - especially the broadcast media - where the prevailing (and utterly complacent) assumption is that reporting simply reflects the balance of public sentiment rather than actively shaping it.
This is all based on a fundamental misreading of foundational political science by political strategists. Elite cues matter! Messaging matters! Opinion leadership is a thing!
none of these people (inclusive of UK labour) seem to understand that voters want their leaders to *lead* them, not reflect their own ill thought preferences back at them
December 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It's also a basic error made in the media - especially the broadcast media - where the prevailing (and utterly complacent) assumption is that reporting simply reflects the balance of public sentiment rather than actively shaping it.
This is the formal definition, which is definitely open to interpretation: Ext proc o/ps = 'culmination of a substantial, discrete research endeavour which, due to the nature of the approach or methodology, involved intense activity, sustained over a period of time, usually of five years or longer.'
December 10, 2025 at 11:40 AM
This is the formal definition, which is definitely open to interpretation: Ext proc o/ps = 'culmination of a substantial, discrete research endeavour which, due to the nature of the approach or methodology, involved intense activity, sustained over a period of time, usually of five years or longer.'
Serious man-in-park-yells-at-clouds vibes about this.
Every part of this is bonkers. The intro is bonkers. The transition to his health is bonkers. The mention that other presidents didn't need cognitive exams is bonkers. The claim that this screening test is somehow hard is bonkers. The idea that criticism of him is treason is bonkers. All of it.
December 10, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Serious man-in-park-yells-at-clouds vibes about this.
Remind me, which stage of late capitalism is this?
December 8, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Remind me, which stage of late capitalism is this?
βLittle evidence that the author has acknowledged previous work in the field, notably Backbeat (1994)β.
December 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM
βLittle evidence that the author has acknowledged previous work in the field, notably Backbeat (1994)β.
Wait until he hears about Wales.
2 in 3 of Nigel Farageβs current and former partners do not speak English as their first language.
December 4, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Wait until he hears about Wales.
The second one should be 'supper'.
December 4, 2025 at 11:58 AM
The second one should be 'supper'.
Presumably, those book shelves contain copies of Mein Kampf and the collected works of David Irving.
December 4, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Presumably, those book shelves contain copies of Mein Kampf and the collected works of David Irving.
The consistent lack of journalistic interest in universities and their wider significance is deeply depressing. This FT piece is something of an exception to the rule, but generally speaking, we are some permutation of 'big school', the 'free speech crisis' and immigration incubators.
December 3, 2025 at 8:48 AM
The consistent lack of journalistic interest in universities and their wider significance is deeply depressing. This FT piece is something of an exception to the rule, but generally speaking, we are some permutation of 'big school', the 'free speech crisis' and immigration incubators.
Remarkably, I've yet to go out in #Whamageddon. Not sure I've ever made it into December before.
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Remarkably, I've yet to go out in #Whamageddon. Not sure I've ever made it into December before.
βOpportunitiesβ π
November 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
βOpportunitiesβ π
Kemi Badenoch - historian and theologian.
November 28, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Kemi Badenoch - historian and theologian.