Stephen Walt
stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt
@stephenwalt.bsky.social

Harvard professor, realist, FP columnist. Tennis enthusiast, amateur musician, proud dad, & grateful husband. Troubled by the state of the world & looking for solutions. For speaking engagements contact John Bute at [email protected] .. more

Stephen Martin Walt is an American political scientist serving as the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. A member of the realist school of international relations, Walt has made important contributions to the theory of neorealism and has authored the balance of threat theory. Books that he has authored or coauthored include Origins of Alliances, Revolution and War, and The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. .. more

Political science 72%
Sociology 17%

“Perfidy” is an apt word for much of what this regime is doing.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

@people.com:
Renee Good, Woman Killed by ICE, Traveled to N.Y.C. to Feed, Photograph Homeless People: 'She Wanted to Know Their Stories' (Exclusive) [Published on January 9]
Renee Good, Woman Killed by ICE, Traveled to N.Y.C. to Feed, Photograph Homeless People: 'She Wanted to Know Their Stories' (Exclusive)
Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, is remembered for taking a photography trip to New York City, where she gave out food to homeless people ...
people.com
The DOJ is more than three weeks late in delivering the Epstein Files. In those three weeks:

- Trump declared himself acting President of Venezuela
- ICE murdered a woman in Minnesota
- Trump is preparing an invasion of a NATO ally
- Trump initiated a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Powell
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."
Attempting to criminalize the actions of an independent public servant, Fed Chair Jay Powell, for the sin of acting independently is an outrage. It's bad economics, bad politics, bad for the rule of law, bad for the public sector, bad for American credibility and bad for Americans.
In extraordinary message, Fed chair announces that he’s being extorted/coerced by the US government under color of law.

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Stephen M. Walt, Kori Schake , and 88 more

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

Breaking News: U.S. prosecutors are said to have opened an inquiry into Jerome Powell, an escalation of the clash between the Fed chair and President Trump.
Federal Prosecutors Are Said to Have Opened Inquiry Into Fed Chair Powell
The investigation, which centers on renovations of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in Washington, signals an escalation in the long-running clash between President Trump and the chair.
nyti.ms

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

Hoosiers! Indiana! Tonight in Irvington!!

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

“This is how the myth of political violence works: the right elevates isolated acts—Charlie Kirk’s killing, for example—into proof of radical chaos threatening the nation while obscuring the far greater structural violence carried out daily through policy, policing, deportation, and war.”
What Is Political Violence?
Pundits and politicians conceal the truth: it’s all around us, perpetrated by our political system itself.
www.bostonreview.net

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

7/ I have made the 2013 PERF report available here as well as DHS, DOJ, and Customs and Border Patrol Policies on Use of Deadly Force and Moving Vehicles:

www.justsecurity.org/128498/dhs-d...

DHS, DOJ, and Customs and Border Patrol Policies on Use of Deadly Force and Moving Vehicles
Collection of use of force policies issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol, and the Department of Justice over time.
www.justsecurity.org

JD Vance says new federal anti-fraud efforts will be run “out of the White House.” That’s good; they won’t have to leave the building. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...
Vance Announces New Justice Dept. Fraud Post to Be ‘Run Out of the White House’
www.nytimes.com

Bad Cop; Worse Cop.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

Trying to run the Western Hemisphere at the point of a gun is not going to work any better in the future than it did in the past.
The ‘Donroe Doctrine’ Makes No Sense
Even a generous reading results in a heap of contradictions.
foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

"We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. ...

"On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns." —Becca Good

Reposted by Robert Wolfe

#Trump & Co. claim to be ‘realists” who understand how power works in world politics In this NYT piece, Linda Kinstler talks to realist scholars (including yours truly) who explain what Trump and his minions get wrong. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/m...
The Theory That Gives Trump a Blank Check for Aggression
www.nytimes.com

#Trump told NYT that the only limit on his power is “my own morality.” Would love to hear him unpack the ethical framework that justifies his chronic lying, business fraud, sexual abuse, racism, hateful rhetoric, and willingness to inflict unnecessary suffering on vast numbers of innocent people.

Remember when #Trump warned of “carnage” in America in his 2017 Inaugural? What he didn’t mention is that he was going to bring it—first on January 6, 2021, and now by unleashing ICE.

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

Editorial in the National Catholic Reporter: "The vice president's comments justifying the death of Renee Good are a moral stain on the collective witness of our Catholic faith. His repeated attempts to blame Good for her own death are fundamentally incompatible with the Gospel."
Catholic Vice President Vance takes to social media to justify killing of Renee Good
After the tragic shooting of Renee Good at the hands of ICE, the Catholic vice president of the United States took to social media to justify the killing.
www.ncronline.org
Earlier today, Elon Musk endorsed full-on Neo-Nazi blood and soil ideology.
Yes, JD. Let’s ask them if they think a stay at home mom, avowed Christian, and widow of a veteran deserved to be shot in the face and left to bleed out in her own car after dropping her 6-year-old off at school, for the crime of looking out for her neighbors. Let’s ask everyone running for office.

A law degree, and no principles, conscience, or integrity whatsoever.

Re the #ICEKILLING in Minnesota—Americans are facing an increasingly clear choice: do they want to live in a police state or not?
This has multiple angles of video from the murder scene, for anyone who doesn't wish to see it.

But the NYT has excelled at this kind of video forensics in recent years, and it very convincingly debunks the Trump regime's version of events.
Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from — not toward — a federal officer when he opened fire.
www.nytimes.com
Noem accuses Renee Nicole Good of "an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents -- an act of domestic terrorism."

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

The nation's top diplomat and Archivist of the United States
What Rs said at the time

Pence: "a dark day"
Rubio: "3rd world style anti-American anarchy"
Cruz: "violence...is ALWAYS wrong"
Graham: Trump's "actions were the problem"
Stefanik: "a truly tragic day"
McCarthy: "undemocratic, un-American and criminal"
McConnell: "a disgrace"

And now we are lied to
From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!