paultlevin.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

paultlevin.bsky.social

Director of the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies. Managing Director Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey. Docent (Assoc. Prof.) of and pontificator on international relations. Opinionated. Painter.

1,550 posts 2,527 followers 603 following

Posts 25 Comments 25

💯 this! I am not sure if Benedict Anderson was right in all respects, but the link between the technology of communication & politics that he identified with his analysis of “print capitalism” & nationalism has deep resonance today. Is democracy structurally compatible with social media?

submitted 3 hours ago • 0 comments

What the Trump administration is doing in LA is, quite literally, historically bad: “It is the first time since 1965 that a president has activated a state’s National Guard force without a request from that state’s governor”.

submitted 4 hours ago • 0 comments

In my first Substack post written in October of last year, I warned of almost precisely the scenario that may be playing out in Los Angeles right now. They will look for a pretext to impose emergency powers. They may use ICE raids to provoke riots. open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...

submitted 18 hours ago • 1 comment

People, there aren’t just two options: either Chuck Shumer’s friendly gym chats or violent riots. There’s fierce and smart but non-violent resistance using street protests, court challenges (where Trump has been losing big), insider resistance to & leaks of illegal orders, regular politics & more.

submitted 19 hours ago • 2 comments

FWIW this is pretty transparently what some of the admin wants—sustained conflict with protesters like in summer 2020 so they can take another run at what they wanted to do then

submitted 21 hours ago • 4 comments

Why is LAPD firing tear gas canisters directly AT demonstrators as opposed to in an arch? They are not supposed to be used as projectiles. If I’m not mistaken, this is how several protesters got killed in Turkey during the Gezi protests.+

submitted 21 hours ago • 2 comments

30 telecoms masts AND ~15 various electrical grid units have been sabotaged last months in south-east Sweden. The sabotages are concentrated along highway E22, ie one of the main routes needed to reinforce Gotland in case of conflict. Ports are along this route, with the main one in the middle.

submitted 1 day ago • 20 comments

😳

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

I suspect that there is a reason (beyond cosplaying Navy SEALs) that ICE agents wear combat gear. Could they be expecting (hoping?) to provoke riots? I warned about that in my first Substack post: it’s what autocrats do. Opposition/resistance must stay nonviolent. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

submitted 1 day ago • 7 comments

Idag är det vernissage på min utställning ”När skuggorna är långa” som pågår helgen ut. Välkomna till Galleri Elfva!

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

It seems to me the Musk-Trump fallout could have the effect of allowing some centrist Republican lawmakers to dare to defect in higher numbers. The threat of Musk bankrolling primary challengers was likely a factor in keeping everyone following the party line.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

submitted 2 days ago • 643 comments

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

🚨BREAKING: Convoy of Cybertrucks filled with Muskites heading for Washington D.C.

submitted 2 days ago • 46 comments

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 6 days ago • 5 comments

Hoppas det dras lärdomar även i 🇸🇪 av Ukrainas attack mot flygfält i 🇷🇺. Tex: istället för att förlöjliga de som varnar vid drönarspaningar nära svenska flygplatser bör fokus ligga på att skapa ett starkt försvar mot liknande attacker. Där gissar jag som lekman att allmänheten kan hjälpa.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

I have it in my calendar to remind @scottaukerman.bsky.social and @pftompkins.bsky.social to record new numbers today. This is no joke. There need to be new numbers. @cbbworld.bsky.social

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Jag har länge stört mig på att nyheter om vetenskap och hälsa så sällan skiljer på orsakssamband och statistisk korrelation så det här är bra. Det är alltså tydligt att gruppen som har bra kondition lever längre. Det är långt mindre klart om det är just konditionen som ger längre liv.+

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Today, we adopt a new Strategy for the Black Sea – a region of great importance to the EU. We’re stepping up work on security with: 🔹A new Maritime Security Hub 🔹Improved military mobility 🔹Stronger cooperation against hybrid threats My press conference ↓

submitted 11 days ago • 14 comments

Has Trump invented a whole new form of insulation against corruption? Forget norms & rules. Just open the floodgates fully & no single actor can really have any decisive influence because their bribes are always dwarfed by the sheer scale of the tsunami of money coming from all directions.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Sounds like some officials within the administration are trying to slow walk POTUS’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria. Reminiscent of how Trump’s team in his first term walked back the total withdrawal of troops from Syria. Erdogan & MBS may need to keep pressure on. apnews.com/article/syri...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Is Trump’s Big Budget Bomb the worst budget ever proposed? Probably. It will likely add $5 TRILLION to the deficit. 13 MILLION people will lose health insurance. $1.1 TRILLION in tax cuts for those making over $500,000. $1.1 TRILLION in cuts to Medicaid & food stamps.