Paul Poast
International Relations and Foreign Policy. UChicago Prof. Chicago Council Fellow. WPReview Columnist. Still on Twitter/X, but now here too.
paulpoast.com
- IR Book of the Week! "Russia's World Order" by Paul Robinson. The competition between Russia & "The West" is over understandings of history, both where we've been (see debates about WWII) and where we're heading. Shows influence of "civilizational" ideas.
- When the Trump Administration chose to end the military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, it decided to do what the majority of Americans (though, interestingly, not Republicans) wanted. Data from a recent @global-affairs.bsky.social poll.
- International Political Economy: The systematic study of "political will" in the global economy
- ICYMI: The biggest "Trump-Putin" debate right now is not over a Ukraine peace deal or over relations with China. It's over...who did the most to win WWII in Europe? I settle the debate in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-putin-...
- Who contributed the most to defeating Nazi Germany? - 🇬🇧 bought the most time - USSR shed the most blood - 🇺🇸 provided the most arms Why does it still matter? Because claims to global leadership are grounded in historical narrative. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-putin-...
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- Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. Despite what Trump or Putin claim, the credit for victory is equally shared. Winning the war required the sacrifice of all the allies, especially the British, Americans, and Soviets.
- IR Book of the Week! "How States Die" by Douglas Lemke. State Death and State Failure are rare, but are consequential for those who live in those states...and for the international system as a whole. Book offers a essential update and extension Fazal's 2006 book. www.amazon.com/How-States-D...
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- Reposted by Paul PoastI was just discussing this in a guest lecture in a history class. I brought up the idea of the long cycle theory and that we are very close to the window. I also discussed the threats to territorial integrity norms and why interstate war will increase if they fall, and other threats to LIO.
- - Putin not interested in peace - Gaza will now be “Conquered” - India and Pakistan on the brink This week is quite the week for the world to be forgetting the lessons of 1945 www.worldpoliticsreview.com/world-war-2-...
- Reposted by Paul PoastAnd it's only Tuesday.
- - Putin not interested in peace - Gaza will now be “Conquered” - India and Pakistan on the brink This week is quite the week for the world to be forgetting the lessons of 1945 www.worldpoliticsreview.com/world-war-2-...
- - Putin not interested in peace - Gaza will now be “Conquered” - India and Pakistan on the brink This week is quite the week for the world to be forgetting the lessons of 1945 www.worldpoliticsreview.com/world-war-2-...
- A key question from my class lecture on "dollar dominance": Is it better to have a global economy with one weaponized reserve currency than a global economy with no single reserve currency?
- "The pope may not have the material power that other leaders do. But he has a moral authority that most global leaders lack." ICYMI: Why the Pope still matters
- There is meaning behind Sovereignty beating Journalism, but I hope it stops with Horse racing.
- Since Trump apparently fancies the idea of becoming Pope, my latest for @wpr.bsky.social discusses what doing the job of Pope actually entails for world politics. TL,DR: probably not posting AI images of yourself as Pope
- Pope Francis demonstrated the enduring power of moral authority generally, and the role of Pope specifically, in international politics. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social
- IR Book of the Week! "The New Nuclear Age" by @nktpnd.bsky.social The risk of large scale nuclear proliferation is at perhaps an all time high. This book offers reasons this should be concerning.
- FRUS is VITAL to International Relations scholarship.
- Unhappy to confirm that the entire Historical Advisory Committee at the State Department received termination notices this afternoon (myself included). The HAC, set up by Congress, oversees the office that produces the FRUS series. history.state.gov/about/hac/in... 1/
- When it comes to tariffs, it seems that Americans (regardless of party affiliation) understand that they DO NOT make goods cheaper (at least in the short term).
- In Intro to International Relations, we saw Morgenthau's "ideal" for collective security versus its "reality". Seem as relevant today as when he first drew them (see Gaza, Ukraine...)
- “The hard reality is that the application of rules… comes down to exercises of power” ICYMI: My latest for @wpr.bsky.social breaks down the broader implications of the Abrego Garcia case.
- International Relations concepts & topics Illustrated by my latest @wpr.bsky.social (for those looking for teaching examples): - The relationship b/w domestic and international law. - How domestic & international law both rely on willingness to enforce
- One thing that domestic and international law have in common: they don't enforce themselves. The Abrego Garcia case makes that strikingly clear www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-abrego...
- Reposted by Paul PoastFundamentally, the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia boils down to a key question among legal scholars and political scientists: What makes a rule enforceable? Columnist @profpaulpoast.bsky.social writes:
- The Abrego Garcia case underscores how Trump's immigration policy is creating Constitutional disputes and International standoffs. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social
- IR Book of the Week! "Hubris" by Jonathan Haslem. Were US-Russian relations destined to eventually sour after the Cold War? Haslem argues that the West miscalculated Russia's willingness to simply "go along" with US ideas for the global order. www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
- It was an honor to give the opening remarks at the 2025 Hagel Lecture last week at UChicago. The video is below, featuring a fascinating conversation between former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel & former CIA Director Bill Burns (moderated by Bob Pape) www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4y...
- In International Politics, "[W]hat others think about us is as important as what we actually are.” Those words, from Hans Morgenthau (Politics Among Nations, Ch 4), are as relevant (maybe more so)today as when he first wrote them in the late 1940s.
- "it’s also possible that now is the best time to witness a proliferation of nuclear weapons states. Proliferation may not change much at all and could even prove stabilizing" ICYMI: My latest for @wpr.bsky.social explores the "Waltz thesis"
- Almost ready to send the proofs back to OUP! "Wheat at War" will be coming out in August! For me, this book (as the subtitle suggests) builds directly on the research in my first three books: war economics + international organizations + alliance formation & coordination.
- International Relations Concepts Illustrated by my latest @wpr.bsky.social: - Extreme Defensive Realism (i.e. Waltz's argument that nuclear proliferation is stabilizing) - Commitment Credibility (i.e. trust another state's nuclear umbrella?)
- "For non-nuclear states, self-help [in the form of acquiring the bomb] seems like the safest bet." I explain why, and offer a case for why this may not be a problem, in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social www.worldpoliticsreview.com/nuclear-prol...
- Reposted by Paul PoastSeveral states that had long been under the US nuclear umbrella are considering developing their own nuclear weapons. That may not be a bad thing, @profpaulpoast.bsky.social argues.
- A host of states may soon have "the bomb". But is that actually a bad thing? I explore the question in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social
- IR Book of the Week! "War Without Oversight" by Paddy Walker. Will the wars of the future leave humans "out of the loop"? Not if states wish to win those wars. www.amazon.com/War-Without-...
- Given a *possible* "biosignature" on planet K2-18b, seems appropriate to re-up this @wpr.bsky.social piece. I wrote: While important & jarring in many ways, "the impact [of discovering ET life] on international politics could end up being the most profound."
- A recent @global-affairs.bsky.social poll shows that support for Ukraine is bottoming out among Republicans.
- Today in Intro to International Relations, I'm teaching "IR Theory", specifically the "`isms". A key idea from the class is captured by Schmitt's famous observation that "All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts"
- ICYMI: Article 2(4) of the UN Charter is a pillar of modern international law...and that's why modern international law is in trouble.
- International Relations concepts & topics Illustrated by my latest @wpr.bsky.social column (for those looking for teaching examples) - Norms - Meaning of International Law - International Order (or lack thereof) www.worldpoliticsreview.com/rules-based-...
- Updating profile pick with "inadvertent Blue Steel" from a recent @global-affairs.bsky.social event.
- Reposted by Paul Poast👉 "The history of #IR since 1945 is rife w/ attempts at territorial revision. Indeed, the desire to acquire territory was and remains a key driver of #conflict. But even the façade of restraint generated by that norm seems to be waning. And it’s a safe bet we’ll miss it when it’s gone."
- The legal prohibition against territorial conquest is a pillar of the current global legal order. Too bad it's dying. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social.
- The legal prohibition against territorial conquest is a pillar of the current global legal order. Too bad it's dying. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social.
- IR Book of the Week! "Chokepoints" by Edward Fishman. Building on the work exploring "weaponized interdependence" and the use of sanctions in the global economy, this book offers an inside-DC perspective on the instruments of US economic warfare. www.amazon.com/Chokepoints-...
- As @dkthomp.bsky.social so well put it, a lot "unhappens" during Trump Administrations.
- In Intro to International Relations this quarter, the students explored the idea of "sovereignty" with the "Who's Sovereign?" game. The candidates were: - Germany - Taiwan - Palestine - Illinois So, guess who's sovereign?
- Trump's tariffs are excessive, but the idea of using transactional leverage on allies, including by the United States, is nothing new ICYMI: My latest for @wpr.bsky.social
- My overall take of the Trump Tariffs: only if you don't understand trade & tariffs can you think this good policy - If you think tariffs are bad, the policy is bad. - If you think tariffs can be good, must admit actual calculation and implementation of these tariffs was bad.
- Professor James Morrow taught us long ago that alliances are akin to protection rackets, not values-based friendships. Trump is offering an extreme application of that lesson, as I explain in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social.
