Lars Christian Smith
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larssmith.bsky.social
Lars Christian Smith
@larssmith.bsky.social
90 followers 240 following 25 posts
Evolutionary and historical anthropology
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Reposted by Lars Christian Smith
rikefranke.bsky.social
Logical consequence: 75% of Germans think the country should thus seek a nuclear umbrella from France and the United Kingdom.
December 8, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Lars Christian Smith
rikefranke.bsky.social
But first:
This is really a strategy which prioritises. They also say so openly, and definitely have a point on this 👇
A strategy must evaluate, sort, and prioritize. Not every country, region, issue, or cause however worthy— can be the focus of American strategy. The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests; that is the sole focus of this strategy. American strategies since the end of the Cold War have fallen short-they have been laundry lists of wishes or desired end states; have not clearly defined what we want but instead stated vague platitudes; and have often misjudged what we should want. Focused Definition of the National Interest - Since at least the end of the Cold War, administrations have often published National Security Strategies that seek to expand the definition of America's "national interest" such that that almost no issue or endeavor is considered outside its scope. But to focus on everything is to focus on nothing. It has become customary for documents such as this to mention every part of the world and issue, on the assumption that any oversight signifies a blind spot or a snub. As a result, such documents become bloated and unfocused-the opposite of what a strategy should be.
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Lars Christian Smith
rikefranke.bsky.social
What struck me most on Europe wasn’t the focus on value, freedom of speech etc - again, very similar to Vance’s Munich speech - but how activist it is. This is about directly trying to influence what is going on in Europe:
American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations' individual character and history. America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism. Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe. America is, understandably, sentimentally attached to the European continent— and, of course, to Britain and Ireland. The character of these countries is also strategically important because we count upon creative, capable, confident, democratic allies to establish conditions of stability and security. We want to work with aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness.
December 5, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Reposted by Lars Christian Smith
cdsamii.bsky.social
Caselli and Morelli is a classic paper along these lines: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Bad politicians
We present a simple theory of the quality (competence and honesty) of elected officials. Our theory offers three main insights. Low-quality citizens h…
www.sciencedirect.com
April 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Lars Christian Smith
shashj.bsky.social
The lesson from 2021-22 is that when a leader with contempt for rules & law tells you plainly and repeatedly that they do not believe that another country is sovereign & that they intend to seize it, it is a good idea to take the threat seriously.
bsky.app/profile/shas...
shashj.bsky.social Shashank Joshi @shashj.bsky.social · Mar 28
More deranged, dangerous threats. "We need Greenland for national security & international security...we'll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark. Denmark has to have us have Greenland" abcnews.go.com/Internationa...
Trump says US will 'go as far as we have to' to get control of Greenland
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will "go as far as we have to go" to get control of Greenland, ahead of a planned visit to the Arctic island by the vice president.
abcnews.go.com
March 28, 2025 at 2:52 PM