NK Finney
banner
nathankfinney.com
NK Finney
@nathankfinney.com
Servant of the Republic | Fellow, Duke Program on American Grand Strategy, @AtlanticCouncil.bsky.social, & the Pacific Forum | Ed., @britjnlmilhist.bsky.social | Pres, @milwritersguild.bsky.social | Historian of WWI (book @cornellupress.bsky.social)
Pinned
Orchestrating Power: The American Associational State in the First World War” has an official publication date of December 15, 2025!

Please pre-order a copy (40% discount: 09FORTY) & consider asking your local or university library to order a copy!

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Orchestrating Power by Nathan K. Finney | Hardcover | Cornell University Press
Orchestrating Power explores how the expansion of the American state for the First World War reshaped the nature of governance. This wartime state expansion is examined through the creation, structure...
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
Really excited my entry in the international encyclopedia on the First World War was published today! Thanks to Mark Grotelueschen and Lon Strauss for helping get it to meet their high standards!

encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/coun...
Council of National Defense / 1.0 / encyclopedic - 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopedia
The Council of Defense System coordinated U.S. mobilization during the First World War through federal, state, and local councils. Led by the Council of National Defense in Washington, D.C., this asso...
encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net
November 26, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Excited to dig into this great book by “Camp Clausewitz” @smh-historians.bsky.social summer seminar friend, @bclelandgt.bsky.social!
November 23, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by NK Finney
Calling all contingent historians and their editors--if you haven't submitted for this year's lists, why not? Seriously, these are our most highly read pieces of the year. They are a great way to get your scholarship in front of people and SELL YOUR BOOKS.
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Was lucky to pop up to @dukesanford.bsky.social this past week to join a friend as he completed a great power immersive game as a part of a course on international relations. If I do end up teaching one day, I’ll definitely be including gaming…it was a blast & the students obviously learned a ton!
November 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM
My copies of “Orchestrating Power” finally arrived!

Get 44% off the book if you order now:
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

(CODE: 09WINTER)
November 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by NK Finney
A reminder that writing books is hard, and if you find it difficult, it’s not because you’re bad at it, it’s because it’s hard.
November 20, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Yet more evidence I married the best person in the world. I came home after a very long day to my book arriving at the house…and more importantly, a wonderful cake and note. So blessed to have such a considerate and loving partner in my life (see more in my book’s acknowledgements and dedication)!
November 17, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Reposted by NK Finney
The algorithm brought me Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” on my drive to work, and I am wondering what other songs celebrate female competence (“she’s touring the facility / and picking up slack”, “she uses a machete / to cut through red tape” etc) from a masculine POV. They must be out there, no?
November 13, 2025 at 12:42 PM
30 days to publication day! Order now (scan the QR and use the code for a discount).

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
November 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Two of my favorite quotes from my time in Key West:

- Managing a revolution is like plowing the sea (attributed to Simón Bolívar)

- Key West: closer to Cuba than a Walmart.
November 15, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Great & productive trip to Miami (US Southern Command) & Key West (Joint Interagency Task Force-South). I’ve filled the bingo card on regional mission areas (Middle East as a junior officer; Europe, Africa, & Indo-Pacific as a mid-grade officer; & now Western Hemisphere as a senior officer)…
November 14, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by NK Finney
Kate Crawford

Kate Crawford has spent years uncovering the real infrastructure of artificial intelligence. She is not interested in the glossy fantasy of machine minds. She studies the physical world behind them. Her research moves through mines, deserts, server halls, supply chains, and borders.…
Kate Crawford
Kate Crawford has spent years uncovering the real infrastructure of artificial intelligence. She is not interested in the glossy fantasy of machine minds. She studies the physical world behind them. Her research moves through mines, deserts, server halls, supply chains, and borders. She investigates the industries that dig, smelt, ship, refine, and assemble the materials that make computation possible. Born in Australia and now based in the United States, she has worked inside major research labs, universities, and museums, and her writing and art have reshaped how people understand the cost of modern technology.
explorers.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by NK Finney
“For cadets, earnest participation in these discussions does more than just prove that they did the reading.”

Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
What's the Point?
Reflections on a year spent teaching history at the United States Military Academy
contingentmagazine.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Quick trip south.
November 12, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Get 44% off the book if you order now!

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

(CODE: 09WINTER)
November 10, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Hard copies of "Orchestrating Power" are in the wild! I hear those that pre-ordered should be getting them soon. You only have a month left to pre-order and get your copies before the official release date: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
November 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
“China’s present purge is remarkable. By some measures it is the largest since the era of Mao Zedong. The party expelled nine generals this month, taking the total to at least 22 since he came to power. His 3 immediate predecessors failed to remove a single brass hat.”

economist.com/china/2025/1...
Xi Jinping’s latest purge: paranoid or purposeful?
What the biggest military crackdown in decades says about his strength
economist.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:27 AM
“The military buildup in the region is the largest unrelated to disaster relief since 1994, when the United States sent two aircraft carriers and more than 20,000 troops to Haiti to take part in ‘Operation Uphold Democracy.’”

www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
How the US is preparing a Caribbean staging ground near Venezuela
The US military is upgrading a Cold War base in the Caribbean it abandoned 20 years ago. Experts say it’s a step towards sustained operations in the region.
www.reuters.com
November 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
My running list of fellowships and other opportunities has been updated, including a veteran fellowship recently highlighted by Jason Galui - the Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program at the Bush Presidential Center.

nathankfinney.com/fellowships-...
Fellowships and Seminars
nathankfinney.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
“Finney tells an important story w/ excellent, razor-sharp focus. ‘Orchestrating Power’ reveals the key intermediary role CoDs played in the mobilization for WWI.” - Jennifer Keene, ‘Doughboys, the Great War, & the Remaking of America’

Pre-order now!

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Product Details
Cornell University Press fosters a culture of broad and sustained inquiry through the publication of scholarship that is engaged, influential, and of lasting significance.
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
November 1, 2025 at 2:31 PM
And the final set of photos…more traditional ballet. Such a talented, awesome young woman! All the hard work she’s put in (especially the last two years) is evident! Super proud ballet dad 😍🩰
October 30, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Tranche 1 of our dancer’s recent senior photo shoot. These are the more contemporary dance poses…waiting to get the traditional ballet pics. So proud of our amazing athlete!
October 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
“Orchestrating Power makes an original, deeply researched historical contribution to the field of American political development.” - Professor Elisabeth Clemens, author of ‘Civic Gifts’

(pre-order 40% discount: 09FORTY)

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
October 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
First IUS conference…and I felt very much at home. So great to see many friends and mentors…and give a quick talk on a book chapter that’ll be coming out October 2026!
October 26, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by NK Finney
We should really spend more time on teaching the English Civil Wars as they relate to the American Revolution.
October 7, 2025 at 8:36 PM