Elizabeth N. Saunders
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profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders
@profsaunders.bsky.social
19K followers 3.3K following 2.5K posts

Professor of Political Science & Director of the Saltzman Institute of War & Peace Studies, Columbia. New Book: The Insiders' Game: How Elites Make War and Peace https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691215808/the-insiders-game .. more

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profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · Feb 5
Hard to think through problems when we are in a mode where the current problem gets eaten by a bigger problem within hours.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, David Darmofal

jimgoldgeier.bsky.social
Jim Goldgeier @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social · 1h
What happens when you sideline the experts, put incompetent people in charge, have no foreign policy process, and think you have a personal connection with Putin? You get this embarrassing mess. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership
As President Trump sought a peace deal and Vladimir V. Putin sought victory, factions in the White House and Pentagon bled the Ukrainian war effort.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Nathan P. Kalmoe

juliaazari.bsky.social
Julia Azari @juliaazari.bsky.social · 3h
Joined @perrybaconjr.bsky.social to talk about American democracy, my recent book, and guzzle beverages on camera as one does.

goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/what-2025-...
What 2025 Tells Us About the Parties and American Democracy
A recording from Julia Azari and The New Republic's live video
goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3h
Depressingly, this post, the second-most read @goodauth.bsky.social piece of 2025, still holds up. Stayed up late to write after the February Trump-Zelensky meeting, which gets my vote for the key foreign policy moment this year. For all the churn in US policy since, it was all there in February.
goodauth.bsky.social Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 4h
#2 Trump’s verbal attack on Zelenskyy was shocking – and predictable. @profsaunders.bsky.social unpacks Trump’s fraught Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

goodauthority.org/news/trump-a...
Trump’s verbal attack on Zelenskyy was shocking – and predictable
In bullying Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Trump showed his core beliefs.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

goodauth.bsky.social
Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 4h
#2 Trump’s verbal attack on Zelenskyy was shocking – and predictable. @profsaunders.bsky.social unpacks Trump’s fraught Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

goodauthority.org/news/trump-a...
Trump’s verbal attack on Zelenskyy was shocking – and predictable
In bullying Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Trump showed his core beliefs.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

goodauth.bsky.social
Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 4h
#3 Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky. @profsaunders.bsky.social describes how an inexperienced foreign policy team makes it hard to do the planning that Trump’s military actions in the Caribbean require.

goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...
Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky.
Take a close look at who is advising the president on U.S. policy.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Andrew Rudalevige

goodauth.bsky.social
Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 4h
"And with that, the 2025 season comes to an end..."

Here are Good Authority's top 10 articles of the year.

goodauthority.org/news/good-au...

A super thread 🧵
Good Authority’s top 10 posts of 2025
Thermostatic politics, democracy under attack, Venezuela, South Africa, and more – the analysis Good Authority readers counted on in 2025.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit, David R. Miller , and 1 more

nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 1d
The US is at war with Venezuela.

No Congressional authorization, no public debate, no clearly stated goal, no casus belli, and a gradual ramp up rather than big opening, so many haven’t noticed (or deny it). But this attack removes the ambiguity.

US is at war with Venezuela. With no end in sight.
Exclusive: CIA carried out drone strike on port facility on Venezuelan coast | CNN Politics
The CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that...
www.cnn.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Daniel W. Drezner, Nathan P. Kalmoe

swin24.bsky.social
Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 1d
“But in a modern, free, and truly democratic society, it should not be a mystery for days to its population and its voters whether or not their president has just bombed a new sovereign nation, without any declaration of war – all while the federal government that’s funded by our tax dollars…

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

goodauth.bsky.social
Good Authority @goodauth.bsky.social · 2d
❗Only a few more days to apply to be a part of the 2026-2027 Good Authority fellows program! ❗

About the fellowship

Term: March 2026 through February 2027

Stipend: $2,500

The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. Pacific time on January 9, 2026.

Learn more here 👉
goodauthority.org/news/announc...
Announcing the 2026-2027 Good Authority fellows program!
Apply by Jan. 9, 2026 to join the Good Authority team of contributors.
goodauthority.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 2d
Apparently offices like “son in law” and “chief defender of white supremacy” rank higher than “special envoy for Ukraine” (whose absence is especially notable).
sethcotlar.bsky.social Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d
Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller with seats at the table at Mar-a-Lago meeting with Zelenskyy.

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3d
💯

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3d
Yes, although these conflicts are not all quite the same in terms of territorial integrity norm violations (e.g. Taiwan !=Ukraine in a technical int'l legal sense, right?).

Reposted by David Darmofal

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3d
Been thinking about a bargain like this, or alternatively, Trump Overstretch: these conflicts plus Gaza are now linked not by bargains or transactionalism but b/c Trump spread US power thin & gutted capacity, so whichever crisis flares first may inflame others. Not dominos, just Trumpian anarchy.
robertscotthorton.bsky.social Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3d
The fundamental bargain, from the Putin-Lavrov perspective: Russia gets Ukraine, China gets Taiwan, Trump gets Greenland and Venezuela.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Bessma Momani, David Darmofal

robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3d
The fundamental bargain, from the Putin-Lavrov perspective: Russia gets Ukraine, China gets Taiwan, Trump gets Greenland and Venezuela.

Reposted by David Darmofal

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 3d
An honor to be in the company of so many of these great authors on @foreignaffairs.com's list. But wishing most of these pieces, including my own, hadn't needed to be written. www.foreignaffairs.com/lists/best-2...
The Best of 2025
We’ve compiled our favorite articles covering the United States’ slide into authoritarianism, China’s economic strategy, the future of Iran, and more. Start reading—or rereading—below.
www.foreignaffairs.com

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 7d
No worries, sent me down an interesting logic chase to figure out how this could ALSO be a distraction from that...

Reposted by Shibley Telhami

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 7d
You have got to be kidding. Like, why? Oh wait, I know this one...
mattburgess1.bsky.social Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 7d
“Imran Ahmed, chief executive of Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was responsible for digital affairs; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.”
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
The State Department is barring five Europeans it accuses of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
apnews.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Stefan Rahmstorf, Kai Arzheimer

mattburgess1.bsky.social
Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 7d
“Imran Ahmed, chief executive of Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was responsible for digital affairs; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.”
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
The State Department is barring five Europeans it accuses of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
apnews.com

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 8d
Remember when Trump had a SecDef who argued that diplomacy helped reduce the need for military hardware?

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 8d
The Party of National Security in 2 headlines
Two headlines in the New York Times, one on the recall of 30 ambassadors, the other on the new “Trump-class” warships

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, David Darmofal

petridishes.bsky.social
Alexandra Petri @petridishes.bsky.social · 8d
“okay but what does the president say I CAN give this year, besides no more than two dolls and up to three pencils?”

don’t worry, this gift guide has you covered
The Trump Administration’s Guide to Christmas Giving
A piece of East Wing Rubble? An MRI for no reason? The options are endless!
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

proftalmadge.bsky.social
Caitlin Talmadge @proftalmadge.bsky.social · 8d
Battleships are just big targets in a war with another great power. If we have money to throw around we should be building more attack submarines, which are dramatically more survivable in all the scenarios that matter. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...
Trump Announces New ‘Trump Class’ of Warships
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Daniel W. Drezner

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 8d
The Party of National Security
“We do not need ships that are not optimized to provide lethality against the Chinese threat,” Montgomery said, adding that the new frigate has “zero tactical use” because it will not be equipped with a vertical launch system or the Aegis ballistic defense system.  “That is not what these are focused on—they are focused on the president’s visual that a battleship is a cool-looking ship,” he said. 

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Anne Norton

kairyssdal.bsky.social
Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 8d
Absolutely not

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Exclusive | New Class of Warship to Be Named After President Trump
The new vessels, which the president calls battleships, will be the latest in what the White House envisions as a “Golden Fleet.”
www.wsj.com

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 10d
Another policy dismantling that will be harder to reverse in today’s climate.
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 11d
It is utterly catastrophic that RFK Jr. plans to end CDC recommendations for most childhood vaccines.

It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.

And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
Screenshot from project 2025 that says By statute or regulation, CDC guidance must be prohibited from taking on a prescriptive character. For example, never again should CDC officials be allowed to say in their official capacity that school children "should be" masked or vaccinated (through a schedule or otherwise) or prohibited from learning in a school building. Such decisions should be left to parents and medical providers. We have learned that when CDC says what people "should" do, it readily becomes a "must" backed by severe punishments, including criminal penalties. CDC should report on the risks and effectiveness of all infectious disease-mitigation measures dispassionately and leave the "should" and "must" policy calls to politically accountable parties. Conflicts of Interest. There was a time when the CDC could not take money

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Juan Cole

filipecampante.bsky.social
Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 10d
The contrast with Brazil jumps at me once again. Brazil has managed to rebuild sanity into the policy process in a way that seems sustainable — even if the right comes back to power next year, it will likely be a sane version. But the way this has been done is by punishing the coup attempt.

profsaunders.bsky.social
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 10d
This. We’ve left the sane world behind. Are we going to rebuild structures and processes to reimpose discipline on the discussion of intelligence? Or on [fill in your favorite policy area]?
tompepinsky.com Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 10d
An underappreciated dimension of our media and politics environment is that every policy principal is now terminally online, arguing basic policy matters in public

In no sane world, prior to 2016, would anyone want the DNI (or any admin official) to set or defend U.S. policy or objectives this way

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Tom Clark

tompepinsky.com
Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 10d
An underappreciated dimension of our media and politics environment is that every policy principal is now terminally online, arguing basic policy matters in public

In no sane world, prior to 2016, would anyone want the DNI (or any admin official) to set or defend U.S. policy or objectives this way

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

proftalmadge.bsky.social
Caitlin Talmadge @proftalmadge.bsky.social · 10d
Sobering analysis: "The reality of a possible U.S.-Venezuelan confrontation is that while Venezuela cannot win a conventional war, it can make a U.S. intervention a costly, uncertain, and politically explosive gamble."
warontherocks.com/2025/12/weak...
Weak in Battle, Dangerous in Resistance: Venezuela’s Military Preparedness and Possible Responses to U.S. Action
The dramatic surge in U.S. military power in the Caribbean since August 2025 — anchored by the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the deployment of F-35s
warontherocks.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, David R. Miller

kawulf.bsky.social
Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 10d
NIST having to say to the media "time is not broken." That's 2025 all over. The venn of people who know what NIST is, and are so certain of tech is just two circles.
www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
Power outage in Boulder area affects atomic clock, "Time is not broken" NIST says
Due to the power outage, time (very) briefly stood still at the NIST Internet Time Service facility in Boulder.
www.cbsnews.com