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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter
@patporter76.bsky.social
200 followers 75 following 23 posts
Prof, Int Security, @unibirmingham. Contributing ed, @TheCriticMag. @RUSI_org. @CatoFP. @RANDEurope. The Case for Realism, Stanford UP. 🇦🇺🇬🇧
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 31
My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" w/ @stanfordpress is out in October. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation.
sup.org/books/politics…
Now available for pre-order:
https://amzn.eu/d/bJNCT46
https://sup.org/books/politics…
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
stanfordpress.bsky.social
Stanford University Press @stanfordpress.bsky.social · 1d
How to Survive a Hostile World is a defense of an ancient way of thinking about international politics: realism. Patrick Porter defends the realist approach to understanding the world by addressing the most robust critiques of the tradition https://ow.ly/Gz2T50X7kmC

Book cover of How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics, and the Case for Realism by Patrick Porter
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 5d
"The monks of Lindisfarne rejected violence in their dedication to the life to come. But the Vikings who laid their world to waste prayed to different gods." My piece in @TheCriticMag, making the case for Realism in international politics. Book now out!
thecritic.co.uk/the-case-for...
The case for realism | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Look at the wreckage, from Ukraine to Gaza. Where there is less wreckage, note the air of growing menace.
thecritic.co.uk
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
chris-daly.bsky.social
chris daly @chris-daly.bsky.social · 13d
Dave, a shout out to this piece by @patporter76.bsky.social:
thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...
Imperial Trump | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Not so isolationist, then? Seven months into the second presidency of Donald Trump, the word “isolationist” is a demonstrably inaccurate description of this ruler’s statecraft. If bombing Iran and…
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 18d
Out now, folks! Be like Judah.
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 18d
Halfway through this, and really enjoying it so far. It's accessible, compelling, well-argued and filled with literary asides like this one:

"In the quiet of night, adversaries wait for their moment."

So manipulative, @patporter76.bsky.social!
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 26d
Looking forward to going through this, @patporter76.bsky.social! Just arrived today.

(I'll note that I always get a chuckle out of how much work goes into defending an approach whose name suggests it needs none.)
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 20d
My book is being launched on 14 October in Oxford, All Soul's College, at 1:30pm. How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and the Case for Realism. A world class panel of Jeanne Morefield, Susan Martin, @blagden_david @SeanMolloyIR All Welcome!
www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/...
How to Survive a Hostile World by Patrick Porter — The Changing Character of War Centre
Tuesday 14 October, 13.30 Old Library, All Souls
www.ccw.ox.ac.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 21d
My piece in The Critic, "Alliances are overrated." Some anti-Trumpists revere them as an overcorrection. While they can be valuable, they are not a reliable substitute for self-help. And they are best managed without sentimentality as a means to an end.
thecritic.co.uk/alliances-ar...
Alliances are overrated | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Appalled by President Donald Trump and his overt contempt towards U.S. alliances, offended national security officials, commentators and scholars have fallen prey to an overcorrection.
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 23d
Lad
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 23d
Just started it yesterday, Patrick, and your writing is such a pleasure to read. You might turn me into a real(ish)ist yet!
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · 23d
Out now, folks!
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 26d
Looking forward to going through this, @patporter76.bsky.social! Just arrived today.

(I'll note that I always get a chuckle out of how much work goes into defending an approach whose name suggests it needs none.)
How to Survive a Hostile World | Stanford University Press
The oldest ideas are the best. This book is a defense of an ancient way of thinking about international politics: realism. Patrick Porter, a scholar of international relations, defends the realist app...
www.sup.org
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Sep 2
My piece in @TheCriticMag, Imperial Trump. This president is no isolationist, given the record of what he does in office. But the label will persist regardless, thanks to political convenience and the mediocrity of many commentators.
thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...
Imperial Trump | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Not so isolationist, then? Seven months into the second presidency of Donald Trump, the word “isolationist” is a demonstrably inaccurate description of this ruler’s statecraft. If bombing Iran and…
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Aug 25
We have liftoff! With thanks to @stanfordpress. To be launched in Oxford with @OxfordCCW, details to follow. Coming in October.
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Aug 12
My article in @TheCriticMag: looking back eighty years on, there were no good choices for Truman when he launched atomic strikes on Japan, morally or strategically.

thecritic.co.uk/trumans-choi...
Truman’s choice | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Somehow, the idea persists that American President Harry Truman’s decision to attack Imperial Japan with atomic bombs in August 1945 was obviously wrong — strategically and morally.
thecritic.co.uk
patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Aug 5
My piece on AUKUS in @TheCriticMag. We need a little more Machiavelli downunder.
thecritic.co.uk/the-trouble-...
The trouble with AUKUS | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
How should Australia secure itself against serious military powers? For decades, the question was peripheral in public life. Sure, the security problem haunted debates about borders or terrorism.
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Aug 2
Article on AUKUS coming out shortly.
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70sbachchan.bsky.social
Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · Jul 27
1/ "There is indeed a general problem with the whole suggestion of a “Global South”. It implies, increasingly inaccurately, that our world is still a tale of Western‐​driven globalisation that makes others passive consumers of events"
Bracing by @patporter76.bsky.social
www.cato.org/commentary/w...
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
robertsaunders.bsky.social
Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · Jun 23
"This is a war of temptation. In the words of Lawrence Freedman, it represents the “lure of the decisive.”"

Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social on the difference between "deterrence" and "destruction" - & why these approaches "drive in different directions".
thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...
Deterrence requires discipline | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
To deter, or to destroy? To try to dissuade adversaries from attacking one’s people or interests, or to take the gloves off and try to eliminate them? It’s a question central to Israel’s history…
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Jun 23
Me in @TheCriticMag: David Ben-Gurion believed Israel in its hostile region could never have finality on its terms. It would always have to deter, requiring discipline. Netanyahu's war of temptation on Iran rejects that vision. Decisiveness may elude him.
thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...
Deterrence requires discipline | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
To deter, or to destroy? To try to dissuade adversaries from attacking one’s people or interests, or to take the gloves off and try to eliminate them? It’s a question central to Israel’s history…
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Jun 13
My piece in @TheCriticMag, Starmer's Chagos Slur. Starmer frames dissent over his deal with Mauritius as sinister useful idiocy. But the PM is unwise to recast prudential questions as loyalty tests.
thecritic.co.uk/starmers-cha...
Starmer’s Chagos slur | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
If you think Prime Minister Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius is a bad deal, you are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiot and Nigel Farage-adjacent. That’s Starmer’s message, at any rate…
thecritic.co.uk
patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · Jun 7
My piece in @TheCriticMag, on the need for British realism abroad.
thecritic.co.uk/message-to-b...
Message to Britain: get real | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Things are bad in Britain in many ways. Europe’s long-standing senior ally, the United States, is distancing itself from European commitments.
thecritic.co.uk
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 31
My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" w/ @stanfordpress is out in October. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation.
sup.org/books/politics…
Now available for pre-order:
https://amzn.eu/d/bJNCT46
https://sup.org/books/politics…
5
Reposted by Patrick Porter
ncrenic.bsky.social
Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · May 28
"A well-delivered lecture isn’t primarily a delivery system for information. It is an ignition point for curiosity, all the better for being experienced in an audience."

Marvellous defence of the increasingly maligned university experience by @patporter76.bsky.social
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from their own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short...
thecritic.co.uk
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
newadrian.bsky.social
newadrian.bsky.social @newadrian.bsky.social · May 27
Patrick Porter could use a follower boost on here. A lot of people on here are going to disagree with a lot that he publishes- but even when you disagree he will present the best version of what you disagree with and is worth hearing.
patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 27
My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from his own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short…
thecritic.co.uk
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
jfb1066.bsky.social
Jonathan Boff @jfb1066.bsky.social · May 27
I can confirm that any resemblance between @patporter76.bsky.social and #TaylorSwift is entirely coincidental
patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 27
My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from his own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short…
thecritic.co.uk
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Reposted by Patrick Porter
chrissmithmuso.bsky.social
Resister @chrissmithmuso.bsky.social · May 27
Words of fire.
patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 27
My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from his own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short…
thecritic.co.uk
1 1
Reposted by Patrick Porter
robertsaunders.bsky.social
Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · May 27
"University: A Good Idea".

Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social, reasserting the humanist idea of the university as a place to think, grow and argue; not as a consumer experience providing employable skills.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
Extract from article by Patrick Porter: "Sure, careers and money matter. But so do citizenship, war, justice, faith and the common good. You can think about such things without paying academics, of course. Yet thinking about them beside scholars who study them is a good place to start, and is another kind of value for money. In-person study is valuable because it is done dialectically, that is, in conversation and argument, and collectively. To be a student alone is a contradiction in terms. It is one reason the recent global plague, forcing study online, damaged so many young souls. How much better it would be not only to imbibe the offerings of the web, but to argue about them with other people in the same room. Learning collectively, in an organic human setting, is the essence of the university".
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patporter76.bsky.social
Patrick Porter @patporter76.bsky.social · May 27
My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from his own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short…
thecritic.co.uk
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