Prof Rob Dover
robdover.bsky.social
Prof Rob Dover
@robdover.bsky.social
Academic researcher in intelligence and security, currently Dean of Faculty, but posting in a personal capacity. Poor standard runner. Excitable cricketer. Prone to crunchy deductions....
Wow! 🀯
Happy birthday to Kim Jong-Un. A reminder of our trusted alliance...
January 14, 2026 at 7:26 AM
🀣
Iranians: "This is a revolution"

The western far left:
January 14, 2026 at 7:22 AM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
Da. Saint Jeremy always equally & immediately condemns the violence of autocrats. That's why he cared so much about the American woman he did it instantly, but took a month to condemn the Ayatollahs

His condemnation of our genocide of Ukraine compares well to an illegal kidnapping of a tyrant.
January 14, 2026 at 7:07 AM
The likelihood of this ending well, in any particular direction, is low. I would assess that a US attack would - in the immediacy - inadvertently solidify the Islamic republic.

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Iran protests live updates: death toll passes 2,500 as Trump warns Tehran against executions
US president says β€˜help is on its way’, as reported death toll rises into the thousands and concerns Tehran may carry out first protest-related execution, that of Erfan Soltani
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Wow. That's a question with pointy bits.
If you missed this question to Nigel Farage from The Critic's Rob Hutton – and it was over an hour into the press conference – then it was a particularly good one. The answer was... vague.
January 7, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Not sure there's much value to these games.
January 7, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
Greenland doesn't want to be bought by anyone β€” especially not the U.S.

But a Cold War agreement already allows President Trump to increase military presence on the territory, analysts say. Here's what to know.
Buy Greenland? Take It? Why? An Old Pact Already Gives Trump a Free Hand.
Analysts say the Cold War agreement allows the president to increase the American military presence almost at will.
nyti.ms
January 7, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
Great pod about Putin’s shadow fleet here. Interesting to compare Singapore not being allowed to impede those ships as they pass its port, vs today’s action grabbing them in the high seas.
New Podcast Episode

🚒 Ghost ships. Fake identities. Oil on the move.
Remy Osman joins Chris to expose Putin’s shadow fleetβ€”how β€œzombie” tankers dodge sanctions, why Singapore matters, and why everyone can see it… but no one stops it.

Audio: pod.fo/e/36dfd8
YouTube: youtu.be/8gIaVW7FzWs
January 7, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Wow
Trump on Venezuela oil:
January 7, 2026 at 7:09 AM
It would rewrite the euro-atlantic area.
It's really impossible to overstate how much *everyone* is watching the US threats towards Greenland, not just Europe. If you want to break not just NATO but Five Eyes and maybe our Asian defense alliances too, taking Greenland is how you do it.
Forcibly annexing Greenland would be a strategic catastropheβ€”for Europe, for Canada, and perhaps most especially for the United States itself.

My latest in @foreignpolicy.com on how we're all sleep-walking into a disaster: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...
January 7, 2026 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
The White House said that it is β€œdiscussing a range of options” to acquire Greenland, noting that using the US military is not off the table. https://cnn.it/4q9FdtH
January 6, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
The detention of Noriega in 1969 is clearly the closest precedent for the Maduro operation. But events in Caracas remind me of a now-forgotten episode in which the US invaded a Commonwealth Caribbean state, giving the UK Gov’t a few hours’ notice and ignoring their objections 1/9
January 4, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
When historians discover that the Alaska summit was to negotiate a secret clause dividing the world into 3 spheres, this will all make sense.
January 3, 2026 at 6:11 PM
It feels like there ought to be a war powers act critique here somewhere?
Donald Trump authorized a military attack on a foreign country, kidnapped the head of state, and claimed that he and his cronies now have the right to run that country as they see fit.

All in less than 24 hours.

All without congressional authorization.

All illegally and unconstitutionally.
Reporter: Who would run Venezuela?

Trump: It is largely going to be the people standing right behind me. We are going to be running it
January 3, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Urgh
A side story is there’s a ton of insider trading on these prediction markets. New accounts making hundreds of thousands on their first and only trade, that maduro would be ousted. Seems like insider trading is legal if not encouraged on these platforms
January 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Umm... Easy to feel conflicted in today's strange politics
Wild times
January 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Beginning of a new era?
Rubio: "If I lived in Havana in the government, I'd be concerned"
January 3, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Very unideal
This is quite an important point; if you are a UK citizen with Twitter on your phone, opening it up is like playing Russian roulette that the algorithm might commit a strict liability offence on your behalf.
Has everyone whose scroll the illegal image appeared on also committed an offence by downloading it? This is one of those AI worst case scenarios that ought to make everyone aware of the current direction of travel.
January 2, 2026 at 8:21 PM
@dorianlynskey.bsky.social This is absolutely wild... Anyone with a public and published profile, or media interview presence would die in the conventional sense but not in the algorithmic sense .. we could create a Lenin and Stalin for you two to interrogate youtu.be/kbUcXphslwo?...
A Conversation with John Maynard AI Keynes, about AI, generated by AI | Markus Academy | Ep. 155
YouTube video by Markus' Academy
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Oops
BREAKING NEWS: Actual facts appear for the first time on "Truth" Social.
December 31, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Prof Rob Dover
πŸ“˜ The @elgarpublishing.bsky.social 'Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher', edited by @lordnortonlouth.bsky.social and Matt Beech, can be ordered on the link below.

😊 It's a brilliant collection of essays, with mine on her post-1990 life, work, and legacy.

🧡 2/
www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/elg...
Elgar Companion to Margaret Thatcher
β€˜In my judgement this collection of expert and scholarly essays is a lastingly valuable source for those who wish to have an understanding of Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism.’ – Robin Butler, Head o...
www.e-elgar.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:45 AM