Van Jackson
@vanjackson.bsky.social
The class politics of geopolitics. Newsletter, http://Un-Diplomatic.com. Co-host, https://www.BangBangPod.com; https://www.undiplomaticpodcast.com. 🇺🇸🇵🇭🇳🇿. https://www.vanjackson.org
Reposted by Van Jackson
A new form of settler colonialism is emerging, and it carries with it the potential for world war www.un-diplomatic.com/p/greenland-...
Greenland and the New Settler Colonialism: Network-State Geopolitics
When Trump administration officials say that the US fixation on Greenland is an extension of the Monroe Doctrine—imperialism in Latin America—they’re fundamentally correct.
www.un-diplomatic.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:39 AM
A new form of settler colonialism is emerging, and it carries with it the potential for world war www.un-diplomatic.com/p/greenland-...
Reposted by Van Jackson
I've just posted my latest essay w/ @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, titled "How AI Destroys Institutions." We argue that AI systems are designed in ways that degrade & are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions like the rule of law, universities & a free press. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
How AI Destroys Institutions
Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies
papers.ssrn.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:15 PM
I've just posted my latest essay w/ @jessicasilbey.bsky.social, titled "How AI Destroys Institutions." We argue that AI systems are designed in ways that degrade & are likely to destroy our crucial civic institutions like the rule of law, universities & a free press. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
A new form of settler colonialism is emerging, and it carries with it the potential for world war www.un-diplomatic.com/p/greenland-...
Greenland and the New Settler Colonialism: Network-State Geopolitics
When Trump administration officials say that the US fixation on Greenland is an extension of the Monroe Doctrine—imperialism in Latin America—they’re fundamentally correct.
www.un-diplomatic.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:39 AM
A new form of settler colonialism is emerging, and it carries with it the potential for world war www.un-diplomatic.com/p/greenland-...
“Ironically, the process of frontierizing/dispossessing a rich NATO ally—not just developing nations in the global South—could prove to be what instigates World War III.” open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
Greenland and the New Settler Colonialism: Network-State Geopolitics
When Trump administration officials say that the US fixation on Greenland is an extension of the Monroe Doctrine—imperialism in Latin America—they’re fundamentally correct.
open.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:58 AM
“Ironically, the process of frontierizing/dispossessing a rich NATO ally—not just developing nations in the global South—could prove to be what instigates World War III.” open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
Reposted by Van Jackson
American culture was fascistic even back in the ‘90s. Nobody understood this as well as Paul Verhoeven, who made Starship Troopers to point that out to us. Unbelievably timely film to revisit on The Bang-Bang Podcast w/ @samratner.bsky.social @andrewfacini.com www.bangbangpod.com/p/starship-t...
Starship Troopers (1997) w/ Andrew Facini and Sam Ratner | Ep. 55
We’re joined by returning guests Sam Ratner (Win Without War) and Andrew Facini (Council on Strategic Risks) to revisit Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers. So committed to its own satire that many cri...
www.bangbangpod.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:56 PM
American culture was fascistic even back in the ‘90s. Nobody understood this as well as Paul Verhoeven, who made Starship Troopers to point that out to us. Unbelievably timely film to revisit on The Bang-Bang Podcast w/ @samratner.bsky.social @andrewfacini.com www.bangbangpod.com/p/starship-t...
The New Zealand government’s silence in the face of America’s Nazi spasms in every direction is deafening (and a betrayal of Aotearoa’s interests)
January 13, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The New Zealand government’s silence in the face of America’s Nazi spasms in every direction is deafening (and a betrayal of Aotearoa’s interests)
Keep treating white suburban women as your opps; brilliant strategery
Fox News' Will Cain: “There's a weird kind of smugness... in the way that some of these liberal white women interact with authority”
January 13, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Keep treating white suburban women as your opps; brilliant strategery
Reposted by Van Jackson
Our most-downloaded episode ever, and tragically timely for making sense of state repression in the US right now open.substack.com/pub/thebangb...
January 12, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Our most-downloaded episode ever, and tragically timely for making sense of state repression in the US right now open.substack.com/pub/thebangb...
Our most-downloaded episode ever, and tragically timely for making sense of state repression in the US right now open.substack.com/pub/thebangb...
January 12, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Our most-downloaded episode ever, and tragically timely for making sense of state repression in the US right now open.substack.com/pub/thebangb...
Reposted by Van Jackson
We are far past the stage of permissiveness with white-supremacist violence inside DHS. We are witnessing ICE transition into a death squad.
This cannot be reformed. The only question is who will fight to abolish it, and who will accommodate it instead.
This cannot be reformed. The only question is who will fight to abolish it, and who will accommodate it instead.
Either ICE Is Abolished or It Will Kill Many More Renee Goods
Minnesota is just the beginning of ICE's transformation into a right-wing death squad. But it can be the end
www.forever-wars.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:46 PM
We are far past the stage of permissiveness with white-supremacist violence inside DHS. We are witnessing ICE transition into a death squad.
This cannot be reformed. The only question is who will fight to abolish it, and who will accommodate it instead.
This cannot be reformed. The only question is who will fight to abolish it, and who will accommodate it instead.
Tough, candid self-reflective piece on the death of “conflict studies.” Yes, Gaza and defunding universities destroyed the discipline, but it compromised its relevance decades prior too. Would love to write a companion about the lack of peace intellectuals today dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Demise of Conflict Studies - Dissent Magazine
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
dissentmagazine.org
January 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Tough, candid self-reflective piece on the death of “conflict studies.” Yes, Gaza and defunding universities destroyed the discipline, but it compromised its relevance decades prior too. Would love to write a companion about the lack of peace intellectuals today dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
We’re in the phase where the *not-fascists* are declaring wine moms and babies their opps
January 12, 2026 at 3:26 AM
We’re in the phase where the *not-fascists* are declaring wine moms and babies their opps
American culture was fascistic even back in the ‘90s. Nobody understood this as well as Paul Verhoeven, who made Starship Troopers to point that out to us. Unbelievably timely film to revisit on The Bang-Bang Podcast w/ @samratner.bsky.social @andrewfacini.com www.bangbangpod.com/p/starship-t...
Starship Troopers (1997) w/ Andrew Facini and Sam Ratner | Ep. 55
We’re joined by returning guests Sam Ratner (Win Without War) and Andrew Facini (Council on Strategic Risks) to revisit Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers. So committed to its own satire that many cri...
www.bangbangpod.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:56 PM
American culture was fascistic even back in the ‘90s. Nobody understood this as well as Paul Verhoeven, who made Starship Troopers to point that out to us. Unbelievably timely film to revisit on The Bang-Bang Podcast w/ @samratner.bsky.social @andrewfacini.com www.bangbangpod.com/p/starship-t...
Somebody gets it
At last night’s candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good, Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire announced he had asked the clergy of the diocese to get their affairs in order and to make sure they have their wills written ...,
January 11, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Somebody gets it
If you’re like me, you’re probably struggling not to crash out—an emotional overload in response to the chaos that imperial decline invites. But know this: If they can shoot a white woman in the face like it’s no big deal, they can and will do it to you. www.un-diplomatic.com/p/the-emotio...
The Emotional Stress of Imperial Decline
No empire is permanent. No “great” power remains so forever. But I missed the history lesson that would’ve prepared me for the emotional turmoil of the end of the world.
www.un-diplomatic.com
January 10, 2026 at 8:15 PM
If you’re like me, you’re probably struggling not to crash out—an emotional overload in response to the chaos that imperial decline invites. But know this: If they can shoot a white woman in the face like it’s no big deal, they can and will do it to you. www.un-diplomatic.com/p/the-emotio...
Reposted by Van Jackson
ok idk what to do so starting a thread of protests against ICE in various cities as i become aware of them—NONE OF THESE ARE TONIGHT
if anyone knows of protests in the SF bay area please let me know
January 8, 2026 at 3:54 AM
ok idk what to do so starting a thread of protests against ICE in various cities as i become aware of them—NONE OF THESE ARE TONIGHT
No peace, no democracy or equality. The permanent war economy is at the root of why the American middle class is shrinking and economic insecurity is growing. Empire consumes its own even as it consumes those around it www.youtube.com/shorts/rh-s2...
Permanent War Makes America Poor
YouTube video by The Un-Diplomatic Podcast
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:17 AM
No peace, no democracy or equality. The permanent war economy is at the root of why the American middle class is shrinking and economic insecurity is growing. Empire consumes its own even as it consumes those around it www.youtube.com/shorts/rh-s2...
“If the Trump admin is dead-set on seeing US oil companies gain from Venezuela, then US troops will be necessary—at scale—in order to pacify Venezuela sufficiently to allow oil companies to extract freely.” open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
Tooze’s Imperialist-Cosplay VS. Stupid Imperialism
Adam Tooze put out a Chartbook today that suggested Trump’s imperialist war on Venezuela could be “imperialist cosplay”:
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:54 PM
“If the Trump admin is dead-set on seeing US oil companies gain from Venezuela, then US troops will be necessary—at scale—in order to pacify Venezuela sufficiently to allow oil companies to extract freely.” open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
Reposted by Van Jackson
On the newest episode of @bangbang1492.bsky.social, we watched The Siege (1998), the Denzel Washington/Bruce Willis thriller that presaged America’s fascist response to 9/11. So fun @michigrim.bsky.social @lylerubin.bsky.social
April 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
On the newest episode of @bangbang1492.bsky.social, we watched The Siege (1998), the Denzel Washington/Bruce Willis thriller that presaged America’s fascist response to 9/11. So fun @michigrim.bsky.social @lylerubin.bsky.social
Help us name a new show and book club for critical international relations! open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
Help Us Name a Show About IR for Troubled Times
If universities were to disappear completely, what books from international relations and foreign policy would be worth saving?
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Help us name a new show and book club for critical international relations! open.substack.com/pub/undiplom...
What Tooze calls imperialist cosplay, then, is imperialism done stupidly. Stupid Imperialism. Should we expect any other kind from the American far right? www.un-diplomatic.com/p/toozes-imp...
Tooze’s Imperialist-Cosplay VS. Stupid Imperialism
Adam Tooze put out a Chartbook today that suggested Trump’s imperialist war on Venezuela could be “imperialist cosplay”:
www.un-diplomatic.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:17 PM
What Tooze calls imperialist cosplay, then, is imperialism done stupidly. Stupid Imperialism. Should we expect any other kind from the American far right? www.un-diplomatic.com/p/toozes-imp...
Kind of wild that poor foreign policy judgment has destroyed the Democratic Party and shows no sign of changing
This is just sickening. Back when people were saying "Primary every Democrat," we should have stuck with that
January 5, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Kind of wild that poor foreign policy judgment has destroyed the Democratic Party and shows no sign of changing
The shameless state propaganda outfit formerly known as the Washington Post puts “imperialism” in quotes when it refers to criticisms of illegal war against Venezuela for resource extraction
January 5, 2026 at 9:43 PM
The shameless state propaganda outfit formerly known as the Washington Post puts “imperialism” in quotes when it refers to criticisms of illegal war against Venezuela for resource extraction