Luke
@laccount.bsky.social
My credentials are that I previously did international security, AI, cyber, and those sort of things at think tanks. Exciting stuff.
Reposted by Luke
This report by @philtinline.bsky.social is brilliant on how power in Britain is both too centralised and too dispersed and what a progressive response looks like: reasserting the democratic state. www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/resource/pow...
Power Failure: A new theory of power - Future Governance Forum
British politics feels stuck. In recent years, both Conservative and Labour governments have found themselves increasingly hamstrung by a web of problematic concentrations and dispersals of power, thw...
www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 3:51 PM
This report by @philtinline.bsky.social is brilliant on how power in Britain is both too centralised and too dispersed and what a progressive response looks like: reasserting the democratic state. www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/resource/pow...
Reposted by Luke
I go back to this all the time but politicians are like everyone else basing their reality on the books they've read and movies or shows they've seen, "stories they've experienced" as least as much as anything else academic.oup.com/isq/article-...
Synthetic Experiences: How Popular Culture Matters for Images of International Relations
Abstract. Many researchers assert that popular culture warrants greater attention from international relations scholars. Yet work regarding the effects of
academic.oup.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:45 PM
I go back to this all the time but politicians are like everyone else basing their reality on the books they've read and movies or shows they've seen, "stories they've experienced" as least as much as anything else academic.oup.com/isq/article-...
This makes even less sense to me after reading the article. It’s the worst sort of realist brain thinking!
»...any illusions about an eternal American willingness to sacrifice itself for Europe are gone forever ... Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden ought to consider how to provide for their own nuclear protection.«
Is it Time for a Nordic Nuke?
Moscow’s “Oreshnik” strike on January 9, 2026 is best understood as strategic signaling designed to shape what NATO will and will not do. Russia’s use of
warontherocks.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:18 AM
This makes even less sense to me after reading the article. It’s the worst sort of realist brain thinking!
Reposted by Luke
Recommended Horns of a Dilemma episode on US allies possibly realising that the US military isn’t as strong as they thought.
I particularly like it because it goes against most discussions atm.
podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/h...
I particularly like it because it goes against most discussions atm.
podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/h...
Horns of a Dilemma
Politics Podcast · Brought to you by the Texas National Security Review, this podcast features lectures, interviews, and panel discussions at The University of Texas at Austin.
podcasts.apple.com
January 24, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Recommended Horns of a Dilemma episode on US allies possibly realising that the US military isn’t as strong as they thought.
I particularly like it because it goes against most discussions atm.
podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/h...
I particularly like it because it goes against most discussions atm.
podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/h...
Reposted by Luke
This is a terrific article - inclusive science and innovation
Public trust in science and technology is a serious, growing problem, especially now. Instead of trying to solve it with better communication, we should adopt a more inclusive approach to innovation that takes low-tech, incremental, and system-wide solutions seriously. My new piece @science.org 👇🏽🧵
Repairing trust in science requires a more inclusive understanding of innovation
These are extraordinarily challenging times for university researchers across the United States. After decades of government largess based on the idea that a large and well-financed research ecosystem...
www.science.org
January 22, 2026 at 10:30 PM
This is a terrific article - inclusive science and innovation
Reposted by Luke
A breathtaking look at a dying star. This new image of the Helix Nebula is just in from JWST.
We've never seen this level of detail, as the star's remains stream back out to interstellar space. Our Sun will look something like this 7 billion years from now. 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
We've never seen this level of detail, as the star's remains stream back out to interstellar space. Our Sun will look something like this 7 billion years from now. 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
January 21, 2026 at 7:51 PM
A breathtaking look at a dying star. This new image of the Helix Nebula is just in from JWST.
We've never seen this level of detail, as the star's remains stream back out to interstellar space. Our Sun will look something like this 7 billion years from now. 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
We've never seen this level of detail, as the star's remains stream back out to interstellar space. Our Sun will look something like this 7 billion years from now. 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
This one is surely more obvious?
Academics unsuccessfully predicted the end of the Berlin Wall.
No doubt we will be equally good at explaining the end of the International Rules Based Order.
No doubt we will be equally good at explaining the end of the International Rules Based Order.
a man in a purple shirt is making a funny face while sitting at a table .
ALT: a man in a purple shirt is making a funny face while sitting at a table .
media.tenor.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:44 PM
This one is surely more obvious?
Reposted by Luke
“The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy.”
As a piece of prose and geopolitical analysis Carney’s Davos speech feels history-making. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
As a piece of prose and geopolitical analysis Carney’s Davos speech feels history-making. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:56 PM
“The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy.”
As a piece of prose and geopolitical analysis Carney’s Davos speech feels history-making. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
As a piece of prose and geopolitical analysis Carney’s Davos speech feels history-making. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
Reposted by Luke
Should things escalate further and today goes down in history as the end of American hegemony future UK historians may be surprised to find the papers focusing on the Beckhams falling out.
January 20, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Should things escalate further and today goes down in history as the end of American hegemony future UK historians may be surprised to find the papers focusing on the Beckhams falling out.
It’s fascinating how postmodern some of the US right-wing is because of the hot take memeification of the body politic; the natural result of the commodified stratification of narrative through late capitalism. Death by 1 million podcast bros and shitposters saying anything for cash.
January 19, 2026 at 4:32 PM
It’s fascinating how postmodern some of the US right-wing is because of the hot take memeification of the body politic; the natural result of the commodified stratification of narrative through late capitalism. Death by 1 million podcast bros and shitposters saying anything for cash.
Reposted by Luke
We are increasingly exposed to surveillance and algorithmic classification but with little appreciation for the risk false positives and the costs of those errors.
New from 404 Media: ICE's facial recognition app, which the agency is using to decide who to detain and deport, misidentified a woman. Twice.
ICE says results of the app are definitive and override a birth certificate; obviously this case shows the app is inaccurate
www.404media.co/ices-facial-...
ICE says results of the app are definitive and override a birth certificate; obviously this case shows the app is inaccurate
www.404media.co/ices-facial-...
ICE’s Facial Recognition App Misidentified a Woman. Twice
In testimony from a CBP official obtained by 404 Media, the official described how Mobile Fortify returned two different names after scanning a woman's face during an immigration raid. ICE has said th...
www.404media.co
January 19, 2026 at 2:58 PM
We are increasingly exposed to surveillance and algorithmic classification but with little appreciation for the risk false positives and the costs of those errors.
War Keynesianism for all.
Think it would be easier than people think to get the public to accept real lower consumption if politicians were more forthright about the case for it. People did so for COVID. "Russia is invading eastern Europe and America is run by a mad king, we need an army" doesn't seem that hard a sell.
January 19, 2026 at 3:23 PM
War Keynesianism for all.
The whole Greenland thing is so dumb that I struggle to engage with it. Mind warping bizarre timeline.
January 17, 2026 at 10:41 PM
The whole Greenland thing is so dumb that I struggle to engage with it. Mind warping bizarre timeline.
Reposted by Luke
Looks like the EU-US trade deal is now dead, with all three major groups in the EU Parliament calling at least for suspension. The downward spiral has already begun.
January 17, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Looks like the EU-US trade deal is now dead, with all three major groups in the EU Parliament calling at least for suspension. The downward spiral has already begun.
Bubbles are also pro tech adoption- like or loathe AI, but thinking about it in terms of bubbles doesn’t sufficiently explain its future
talking about AI as a bubble doesn't make sense. AI/tech has become integrated into critical social/financial infrastructure means fall of AI = fall of these institutions. just like govnt's bailed banks during the financial crisis, they will do same with AI so long as AI remains social infrastrctr
January 17, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Bubbles are also pro tech adoption- like or loathe AI, but thinking about it in terms of bubbles doesn’t sufficiently explain its future
Reposted by Luke
Piece on research I reposted before, that frankly surprised me given how I [clearly erroneously] understood LLMs to work. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
www.theatlantic.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Piece on research I reposted before, that frankly surprised me given how I [clearly erroneously] understood LLMs to work. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
More of the West needs to realise China really does take ‘stages of development’ seriously.
China is now the leading clean energy powerhouse with the West falling behind.
The transition is inevitable; the key question is where and how fast it happens.
I look forward to discussing this in Davos next week at the World Economic Forum, facilitating a live-streamed session on electrostates.
The transition is inevitable; the key question is where and how fast it happens.
I look forward to discussing this in Davos next week at the World Economic Forum, facilitating a live-streamed session on electrostates.
January 13, 2026 at 11:44 AM
More of the West needs to realise China really does take ‘stages of development’ seriously.
Reposted by Luke
IR Realists saying farewell to the Rational Actor Assumption
January 12, 2026 at 12:05 PM
IR Realists saying farewell to the Rational Actor Assumption
Have been in auto mode making coffee for two when it’s just me and drinking two cups of two people coffee. Apparently 2026 has turned me into a 4 cup of coffee a day person now 💁♂️
January 13, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Have been in auto mode making coffee for two when it’s just me and drinking two cups of two people coffee. Apparently 2026 has turned me into a 4 cup of coffee a day person now 💁♂️
Reposted by Luke
Looking forward to more extensive coverage of the civil war about to break out in our hellhole cities.
January 12, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Looking forward to more extensive coverage of the civil war about to break out in our hellhole cities.
The thing with Trump is that he’s actually pretty honest sometimes. This has been in the cards since before the election.
Waking up to the latest from the US … there’s some line about things happening slowly until they happen very fast.
January 12, 2026 at 7:46 AM
The thing with Trump is that he’s actually pretty honest sometimes. This has been in the cards since before the election.
It won’t happen. He who controls the algorithms controls the future. Not a shot will be fired.
French General Nicolas Richoux: “If the United States attacks Greenland, we should fight the Americans and turn them into the villains of history.”
January 11, 2026 at 4:15 PM
It won’t happen. He who controls the algorithms controls the future. Not a shot will be fired.
If you plug yourself in firmly enough, every day feel like one where weeks happen. Politics and policy at speed of social media attention spans while brain rot has removed the ability to thinking term or strategically.
maybe heading towards some of those weeks where decades happen
BREAKING: The UK Government is working with Canada and Australia to launch a coordinated ban on X, per the Telegraph
January 11, 2026 at 9:51 AM
If you plug yourself in firmly enough, every day feel like one where weeks happen. Politics and policy at speed of social media attention spans while brain rot has removed the ability to thinking term or strategically.