David Wearing
@davidwearing.bsky.social
Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Sussex (own views, obviously).
Interested in British (and Western) foreign relations in the Middle East and elsewhere, and how they're shaped by legacies of colonialism.
Interested in British (and Western) foreign relations in the Middle East and elsewhere, and how they're shaped by legacies of colonialism.
Reposted by David Wearing
It would be better if we avoided the (a) delegitimising, and (b) obviously false suggestion that Gaza solidarity is an out of touch middle class lefty preoccupation. If the suggestion was inadvertent, its likely because the topic is being shoehorned into some intra-left beef where it doesn't belong.
Is the suggestion here that Palestine is an example of a middle-class lefty issue that working class people of colour don't want to hear about? Or am I misunderstanding?
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
The Left's Political Class Needs to 'Shut Up and Listen'
YouTube video by Novara Media
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:58 AM
It would be better if we avoided the (a) delegitimising, and (b) obviously false suggestion that Gaza solidarity is an out of touch middle class lefty preoccupation. If the suggestion was inadvertent, its likely because the topic is being shoehorned into some intra-left beef where it doesn't belong.
It would be better if we avoided the (a) delegitimising, and (b) obviously false suggestion that Gaza solidarity is an out of touch middle class lefty preoccupation. If the suggestion was inadvertent, its likely because the topic is being shoehorned into some intra-left beef where it doesn't belong.
Is the suggestion here that Palestine is an example of a middle-class lefty issue that working class people of colour don't want to hear about? Or am I misunderstanding?
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
The Left's Political Class Needs to 'Shut Up and Listen'
YouTube video by Novara Media
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:58 AM
It would be better if we avoided the (a) delegitimising, and (b) obviously false suggestion that Gaza solidarity is an out of touch middle class lefty preoccupation. If the suggestion was inadvertent, its likely because the topic is being shoehorned into some intra-left beef where it doesn't belong.
Reposted by David Wearing
US "major non-NATO allies": states:
Argentina
Australia
Bahrain
Brazil
Colombia
Egypt
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Morocco
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
What civilization is that?
Argentina
Australia
Bahrain
Brazil
Colombia
Egypt
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Morocco
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
What civilization is that?
Frankly, this is political pseudoscience. Postulations of intra-group unity and intergroup incommensurability are as facile and cartoonish when framed in terms of "civilisations" as they are when framed in terms of "races". Thankfully, IR as a discipline is moving on from this sort of nonsense.
Amid the liberal internationalist optimism of the late 1990s, Samuel Huntington foresaw a world marked by continued conflict.
December 1, 2025 at 6:04 PM
US "major non-NATO allies": states:
Argentina
Australia
Bahrain
Brazil
Colombia
Egypt
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Morocco
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
What civilization is that?
Argentina
Australia
Bahrain
Brazil
Colombia
Egypt
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Morocco
New Zealand
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
What civilization is that?
Is the suggestion here that Palestine is an example of a middle-class lefty issue that working class people of colour don't want to hear about? Or am I misunderstanding?
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
The Left's Political Class Needs to 'Shut Up and Listen'
YouTube video by Novara Media
www.youtube.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Is the suggestion here that Palestine is an example of a middle-class lefty issue that working class people of colour don't want to hear about? Or am I misunderstanding?
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
www.youtube.com/shorts/Czpp3...
Frankly, this is political pseudoscience. Postulations of intra-group unity and intergroup incommensurability are as facile and cartoonish when framed in terms of "civilisations" as they are when framed in terms of "races". Thankfully, IR as a discipline is moving on from this sort of nonsense.
Amid the liberal internationalist optimism of the late 1990s, Samuel Huntington foresaw a world marked by continued conflict.
Samuel Huntington Is Getting His Revenge
The idea of a global “clash of civilizations” wasn’t wrong—it was just premature.
foreignpolicy.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Frankly, this is political pseudoscience. Postulations of intra-group unity and intergroup incommensurability are as facile and cartoonish when framed in terms of "civilisations" as they are when framed in terms of "races". Thankfully, IR as a discipline is moving on from this sort of nonsense.
Reposted by David Wearing
British military equipment exported to the UAE is being used by the Rapid Support Forces to commit atrocities in Sudan.
✍️ Take action now to email your MP calling for an arms embargo on the UAE!
✍️ Take action now to email your MP calling for an arms embargo on the UAE!
November 29, 2025 at 9:37 AM
British military equipment exported to the UAE is being used by the Rapid Support Forces to commit atrocities in Sudan.
✍️ Take action now to email your MP calling for an arms embargo on the UAE!
✍️ Take action now to email your MP calling for an arms embargo on the UAE!
Do these VCs imagine that rivals won't mention this to prospective students in our recruitment efforts? It's an absolute gift.
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
November 30, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Do these VCs imagine that rivals won't mention this to prospective students in our recruitment efforts? It's an absolute gift.
Reposted by David Wearing
Turns out that in practice, "left on economics, right on culture" just means right. "Social conservatism" just means the authoritarian crushing of out groups. And social liberalism is not a dispensible frippery but the sine qua non of actual socialism.
Not sure - 14 years into project - Blue Labour ever previously set out actual proposals before, so this is new
1. Abolish Treasury
2. Leave ECHR
3. Closr/refound half of unis
4. Double army size for anti-EU alliance with Ukraine
5. PM to lead grooming inquiry with arrest powers + televised trials
1. Abolish Treasury
2. Leave ECHR
3. Closr/refound half of unis
4. Double army size for anti-EU alliance with Ukraine
5. PM to lead grooming inquiry with arrest powers + televised trials
November 30, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Turns out that in practice, "left on economics, right on culture" just means right. "Social conservatism" just means the authoritarian crushing of out groups. And social liberalism is not a dispensible frippery but the sine qua non of actual socialism.
Turns out that in practice, "left on economics, right on culture" just means right. "Social conservatism" just means the authoritarian crushing of out groups. And social liberalism is not a dispensible frippery but the sine qua non of actual socialism.
Not sure - 14 years into project - Blue Labour ever previously set out actual proposals before, so this is new
1. Abolish Treasury
2. Leave ECHR
3. Closr/refound half of unis
4. Double army size for anti-EU alliance with Ukraine
5. PM to lead grooming inquiry with arrest powers + televised trials
1. Abolish Treasury
2. Leave ECHR
3. Closr/refound half of unis
4. Double army size for anti-EU alliance with Ukraine
5. PM to lead grooming inquiry with arrest powers + televised trials
November 30, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Turns out that in practice, "left on economics, right on culture" just means right. "Social conservatism" just means the authoritarian crushing of out groups. And social liberalism is not a dispensible frippery but the sine qua non of actual socialism.
The one positive is that the whole exercise is siphoning the left's worst vibes straight into oblivion, while the rest of us get on with more constructive pursuits.
Your Party vibes have been extremely bad from the very start
November 29, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The one positive is that the whole exercise is siphoning the left's worst vibes straight into oblivion, while the rest of us get on with more constructive pursuits.
Reposted by David Wearing
Also a category that includes his mother, paternal grandparents, and two of his three wives. But of course that's different, because neither he nor de facto President Miller actually care about immigration as such. They care about racism, and it's a farce to concede the pretense it's anything else.
Trump makes the outrageous claim that “most” immigrants, which include over 25 million U.S. citizens, “are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels.”
As insulting as the “deplorables” comment, and on Thanksgiving day no less.
As insulting as the “deplorables” comment, and on Thanksgiving day no less.
Trump calls Tim Walz “seriously retarded”
November 28, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Also a category that includes his mother, paternal grandparents, and two of his three wives. But of course that's different, because neither he nor de facto President Miller actually care about immigration as such. They care about racism, and it's a farce to concede the pretense it's anything else.
The diplomatic "achievement" of the ceasefire was to recalibrate the tempo of the genocide sufficiently to get it off the front pages and the news bulletins, thus alleviating the political pressure on Israel's western accomplices.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israel still committing genocide in Gaza, Amnesty International says
The NGO’s chief says last month’s ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal’
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:46 PM
The diplomatic "achievement" of the ceasefire was to recalibrate the tempo of the genocide sufficiently to get it off the front pages and the news bulletins, thus alleviating the political pressure on Israel's western accomplices.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Central to the 2010s Legitimate Concerns discourse that paved the way for our current pre-fascist moment was the refusal to acknowledge that these "concerns" were based on demonstrable fictions, filtered through socially constructed prejudices. I.e. they were not, in fact, "legitimate".
"A new poll suggests nearly half of Britons think there are more migrants in the UK illegally than legally, but in reality just 7% arrive through irregular channels"
Charlie Angela on how sensationalist reporting in the right wing press is fuelling falsehoods and misconceptions
Charlie Angela on how sensationalist reporting in the right wing press is fuelling falsehoods and misconceptions
November 27, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Central to the 2010s Legitimate Concerns discourse that paved the way for our current pre-fascist moment was the refusal to acknowledge that these "concerns" were based on demonstrable fictions, filtered through socially constructed prejudices. I.e. they were not, in fact, "legitimate".
Goodwin's palpable disgust for black and brown people is, of course, a colonial inheritance. But the "national" prosperity that made Britain's welfare state possible is in no small part a colonial inheritance too, plundered from places like Africa and south Asia. He might show a little gratitude.
Reflections on the budget from the head of Students4Reform
November 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Goodwin's palpable disgust for black and brown people is, of course, a colonial inheritance. But the "national" prosperity that made Britain's welfare state possible is in no small part a colonial inheritance too, plundered from places like Africa and south Asia. He might show a little gratitude.
Reposted by David Wearing
Lots of people sharing this clip because it's funny and cathartic but I also genuinely believe it's important.
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Lots of people sharing this clip because it's funny and cathartic but I also genuinely believe it's important.
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
Reposted by David Wearing
Many claim this is post-2019 opportunism. But I felt there was something a bit out there with Goodwin when he started commenting on European affairs in the mid-2010s, and in some of his earlier work there is a tendency to be a bit of a racism-versteher.
I don't think this stuff came out of nowhere
I don't think this stuff came out of nowhere
Reflections on the budget from the head of Students4Reform
November 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Many claim this is post-2019 opportunism. But I felt there was something a bit out there with Goodwin when he started commenting on European affairs in the mid-2010s, and in some of his earlier work there is a tendency to be a bit of a racism-versteher.
I don't think this stuff came out of nowhere
I don't think this stuff came out of nowhere
Reposted by David Wearing
MYTH: The arms trade is good for the economy, it creates jobs.
In our new series #ArmsTradeDebunked, we are explaining why commonly espoused myths about the arms industry aren't really true...
In our new series #ArmsTradeDebunked, we are explaining why commonly espoused myths about the arms industry aren't really true...
November 26, 2025 at 10:24 AM
MYTH: The arms trade is good for the economy, it creates jobs.
In our new series #ArmsTradeDebunked, we are explaining why commonly espoused myths about the arms industry aren't really true...
In our new series #ArmsTradeDebunked, we are explaining why commonly espoused myths about the arms industry aren't really true...
It will have taken enormous personal courage on Ettedgui's part to revisit this childhood trauma, lay bare his vulnerabilities to the whole country, and in the expectation of a vicious backlash from Farage's many allies. I hope people appreciate this. And contrast it with Labour's appeasement policy
No contrition for this despicable behaviour. And crucially, no honesty, even now. It's an old and familiar truth, but it bears repeating: bullies are cowards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Don’t believe Nigel Farage’s denials. He targeted me for being Jewish – and it hurt | Peter Ettedgui
Now that my former classmate has finally spoken about the allegations of his behaviour at school, I feel compelled to address his points directly, says Peter Ettedgui, a film director and producer
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:25 AM
It will have taken enormous personal courage on Ettedgui's part to revisit this childhood trauma, lay bare his vulnerabilities to the whole country, and in the expectation of a vicious backlash from Farage's many allies. I hope people appreciate this. And contrast it with Labour's appeasement policy
No contrition for this despicable behaviour. And crucially, no honesty, even now. It's an old and familiar truth, but it bears repeating: bullies are cowards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Don’t believe Nigel Farage’s denials. He targeted me for being Jewish – and it hurt | Peter Ettedgui
Now that my former classmate has finally spoken about the allegations of his behaviour at school, I feel compelled to address his points directly, says Peter Ettedgui, a film director and producer
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:55 AM
No contrition for this despicable behaviour. And crucially, no honesty, even now. It's an old and familiar truth, but it bears repeating: bullies are cowards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
People were gaining a language, sense of history and set of conceptual tools that delegitimised both white supremacy *and the wider systems of capitalism and colonialism-imperialism* that it's bound up with.
The 2020 racial reckoning threatened the legitimacy of *the entire social order*.
The 2020 racial reckoning threatened the legitimacy of *the entire social order*.
"My mentor always tells me, 'Kim, dogs don’t bark at parked cars." They’re coming after critical race theory, 1619, intersectionality because these ideas mobilized people. They gave them the language to actually articulate what they were seeing with their own eyes," says Kimberlé Crenshaw.
November 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
People were gaining a language, sense of history and set of conceptual tools that delegitimised both white supremacy *and the wider systems of capitalism and colonialism-imperialism* that it's bound up with.
The 2020 racial reckoning threatened the legitimacy of *the entire social order*.
The 2020 racial reckoning threatened the legitimacy of *the entire social order*.
Honestly, I think some centre-left criticisms of Green policy are fair. But if Labour keeps alienating its natural supporters the Greens will become more viable, more progressive policy experts could start gravitating towards them, and their policy offer could gradually become more compelling.
tbh Polanski seems to have avoided most of the big MMT heffalump traps (allowing that "inflation doesn't go higher" was a misspeak), I'm relatively impressed at whoever's advising him.
November 25, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Honestly, I think some centre-left criticisms of Green policy are fair. But if Labour keeps alienating its natural supporters the Greens will become more viable, more progressive policy experts could start gravitating towards them, and their policy offer could gradually become more compelling.
Reposted by David Wearing
Yeah the pre-emptive nihilism people display is *very obviously* a self-fulfilling prophesy and extremely in fact part of shifting our cultural norms in exactly the direction Farage et al would prefer. Care, care simply because it matters, and it matters to you. Say as much publicly.
All the supposedly progressive people saying 'Nigel Farage's racism doesn't matter. His fans love it'.
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
November 25, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Yeah the pre-emptive nihilism people display is *very obviously* a self-fulfilling prophesy and extremely in fact part of shifting our cultural norms in exactly the direction Farage et al would prefer. Care, care simply because it matters, and it matters to you. Say as much publicly.
Reposted by David Wearing
This is excellent. And if I might just add to the testimony, I went to a suburban grammar school not far from Dulwich College and the stories we're now hearing about Farage don't surprise me for a moment. This virulent racism is entirely familiar. It sits deep in the bones of conservative Britain.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... - my new article, if of interest please share.
I endured an English public school. But that’s not the only reason I’m unsurprised about the Farage allegations |
Let’s put aside the schooldays accusations and look, instead, at the Reform leader’s path since then. I think a pretty clear picture of the man emerges, says author and podcaster Musa Okwonga
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:33 AM
This is excellent. And if I might just add to the testimony, I went to a suburban grammar school not far from Dulwich College and the stories we're now hearing about Farage don't surprise me for a moment. This virulent racism is entirely familiar. It sits deep in the bones of conservative Britain.
Reposted by David Wearing
I’m usually giving counsel of despair so let me offer a hopeful note now: all this is the desperate thrashing of a dying generation, horrified to see up close the consequences of raising their children to believe violence and racism are wrong, and that people should treat each other decently.
This one really is useful because you won’t see a more clear demonstration of one of the most damaging political phenomena of the era: the reactionary professional mind rejecting unacceptable reality, only able to process and comprehend it via something close to conspiracy theory.
Former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz says Jewish students shouldn’t have smartphones until they finish high school — so they don’t see the “carnage” Israel and the U.S. have carried out in Gaza.
Video: Mel via X (@Villgecrazylady)
Video: Mel via X (@Villgecrazylady)
November 24, 2025 at 10:06 AM
I’m usually giving counsel of despair so let me offer a hopeful note now: all this is the desperate thrashing of a dying generation, horrified to see up close the consequences of raising their children to believe violence and racism are wrong, and that people should treat each other decently.