Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kai Thaler

@kaimthaler.bsky.social

4.1K followers 2.2K following 690 posts

Global Studies prof at UC Santa Barbara, views own. Proud Mainer. Conflict, violence, statebuilding, protest, democracy & authoritarianism. COYS. kaithaler.com. Author of When Rebels Win https://tinyurl.com/whenrebelswin

tinyurl.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · Apr 2

The world's a mess, but I've got your holiday gifts sorted: my book When Rebels Win is out December 15 from @cornellupress.bsky.social & is available for preorder. Fun for the whole family (if they're interested in ideology, rebellion, & statebuilding)! 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

1 1 32

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Dr. Semuhi Sinanoglu @semuhi.bsky.social · 1d

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 #𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 #𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬?

They face huge risks, especially during economic crises, when dictators choose to financially extort or #purge their business allies. And yet, despite their power to disrupt, business elites rarely switch sides.

My research shows why.

2 11 15

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 6d

My article "From Insurgent to Incumbent: Ideology, Rebel Governance, and Statebuilding after Rebel Victory in Civil Wars" is now out in an @comppol.bsky.social print issue with page numbers www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny...

1 5

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 7d

Fabricating “evidence” of crimes is one use. You know the reactions to political violence? Soon false accusations will have video that appeals real to anyone not looking closely. And maybe to them too.

But another problem is people dismissing real evidence because they think anything could be fake.

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 7d

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

18 170 710

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 9d

EU extending targeted Nicaragua sanctions for another year as we reach seven and a half years since the 2018 protests and government crackdown www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

Nicaragua: Council extends restrictive measures for another year

The Council prolonged sanctions regime by one year, in the light of the political and social situation in Nicaragua.

www.consilium.europa.eu

Reposted by Kai Thaler

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 9d

This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 9d

regrettably if you try to point this out online you'll get yelled out by 79208 journalists going OH SO YOU WANT JOURNALISTS TO STARVE??? even if you're, say, a journalist yourself, and point out that while there are clearly no easy answers, the status quo isn't exactly working for society

86 1.2K 3.4K

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Cristi Proistosescu @cristiproist.bsky.social · Jul 4

People always ask me : “Cristi, how do you manage parenting a baby while going up for tenure?”

It’s easy. The secret is *flow-based-scheduling*. Here are its three core strategies for new academic parents:

Sleep when the baby sleeps
Cry when the baby cries
Publish when the baby publishes

17 120 790

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 11d

Kaleb Horton RIP.

The last magazine writer

What left with Kaleb Horton.

mattdpearce.substack.com

14 170 820

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 11d

Enjoy! my first match at the new stadium was Wolves a couple years ago (and a 1-0 win), so hope you get a similar result but more goals!

1 1

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 15d

"higher ed is an economic engine, health-care engine, technological-innovation engine.

it should be a common public good for everyone. the vast majority of Americans of any political stripe need education for their kids, their families, in order to move forward."
www.chronicle.com/article/is-t...

Is the AAUP Too Partisan? Its President Doesn’t Think So.

Todd Wolfson has taken heat for some of the organization’s political stances during his tenure. Here’s what he makes of the criticism.

www.chronicle.com

1 24 120

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 12d

Are there people in sociology who still don't know what happened to the journal, or is it pretty widespread knowledge? I could certainly imagine political scientists (who sometimes published in T&S in the past) being unaware what's happened

1 2

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 14d

Important reporting on how young people from multiple African countries have been lured by promises of jobs and education and then forced to work in support of Russia and Belarus's war on Ukraine www.premiumtimesng.com/investigatio...

INVESTIGATION: Russia's Alabuga Scandal in the Great Lakes: Caught in the Snow

"They used us in human wave attacks, treating men as cannon fodder. So many of the people I trained with in Rostov-on-Don were lying dead on the ground in Donetsk."

www.premiumtimesng.com

1 3

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Megan O’Toole @meganotoole.bsky.social · 14d

Final goodbyes to Gaza City: ‘I look at the walls of my house, even the lamp, and it breaks my heart, the little details. It feels strange to think I won’t have a house. This thought will haunt you no matter where you go.’

Final goodbye: MEE reporters on the pain of being forced out of Gaza City

Facing death or displacement, Palestinian journalists make the agonising decision to leave or stay in the city under Israeli attack

www.middleeasteye.net

1 9 19

Reposted by Kai Thaler

James Worrall @jamesworrall.bsky.social · 17d

#CRS2025 also saw the launch of our latest @civilwarsjournal.bsky.social Special Issue on the Legacies of Rebel and Paramilitary Governance.
Check out the SI here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/fciv20/c... with @nielsterpstra.bsky.social

5 4

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Jerome Drevon @jeromed.bsky.social · 16d

The arrival of Ahmad al-Sharaa in NYC for the UNGA is a timely moment to highlight our new book, published a few weeks ago in Europe and in a month ago in the US (already on Kindle). What lessons can we draw from the past? A threat

1 4 5

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 16d

Some good news from Egypt wapo.st/46zoDuT (gift link)

Egypt’s president pardons jailed Arab Spring activist Alaa Abdel Fattah

Abdel Fattah was a symbol of the 2011 uprising but was arrested two years later. He has since spent almost all of the past 12 years behind bars.

www.washingtonpost.com

2 9

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 16d

David Petraeus greeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Concordia Summit in NYC. When Petraeus was a 3-star in Iraq in 2004-6, Sharaa was fighting the US as a member of the al-Qaida branch there; when Petraeus was a 4-star, Sharaa was teaching fellow Camp Bucca detainees classical Arabic

7 44 200

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 17d

Also featuring insights from Dora María Téllez, Karen Kampwirth, and Alberto Cortés Ramos

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 18d

Link should be a gift link, but let me know if you can’t read the full article

1 1

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 18d

In Nicaragua, longtime regime loyalists have been purged, shoring up Rosario Murillo’s power, likely to help her fully take over if her husband, longtime President Daniel Ortega, resigns or dies. I spoke with Frances Robles from the @nytimes.com about the crackdown www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/w...

They Helped Oust a Dictator. Now the New Regime Is Coming for Them.

www.nytimes.com

1 5 10

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 18d

Proposal would cut oversight of LA county jails in the name of “cost-cutting,” when the need for outside scrutiny of jail conditions is extremely clear www.latimes.com/california/s...

Jail watchdog that exposed grim conditions faces elimination under L.A. County plan

The Sybil Brand Commission, which has documented substandard L.A. County jail conditions for decades, would cease to exist if the Board of Supervisors moves forward with a cost-cutting plan.

www.latimes.com

1 1

Reposted by Kai Thaler

James Myall @jamesxmyall.bsky.social · 19d

Update on Maine-Canada border crossings - August saw 115,000 fewer people crossing at ports of entry compared to 2024, a 28% decline.

That takes the total reduction in crossings to 560,000 since February. #mepolitics

5 35 84

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 22d

www.bbc.com/news/article...

'The bombing has been insane': Palestinians scramble to flee Israeli assault on Gaza City

Palestinians tell the BBC whole residential blocks have been levelled as the Israeli army ramps up its offensive in the city.

www.bbc.com

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 27d

Folks at #APSA2025, our roundtable for Phil Martin's Strong Commanders, Weak States and my When Rebels Win is this after at 4pm in VCC West 207!

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · Sep 8

If you're heading to #APSA2025, on Thursday at 4pm Phil Martin & I are having a joint roundtable in West 207 on his excellent book Strong Commanders, Weak States & my forthcoming book When Rebels Win, w/all-star discussants Ana Arjona, Laia Balcells, Megan Stewart & Scott Straus tinyurl.com/yvaaf68g

APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2025

tinyurl.com

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · Sep 8

And about my book here www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

When Rebels Win by Kai M. Thaler | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In When Rebels Win, Kai M. Thaler explores why victorious rebel groups govern in strikingly different ways. Many assume civil wars destroy state capacity. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya...

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · Sep 8

Learn more about Phil's book here www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Strong Commanders, Weak States by Philip A. Martin | Hardcover | Cornell University Press

In Strong Commanders, Weak States, Philip A. Martin investigates a fundamental political challenge faced by post-conflict states: how to create obedient national militaries from the remnants of insurg...

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu

1 2