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Elizabeth N. Saunders

@profsaunders.bsky.social

19K followers 3.2K following 2.2K 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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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.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1h

How to even begin to teach this stuff? My god.

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 1h

Wow—has a president ever explicitly confirmed a presidential finding authorizing an ongoing covert action before? Let alone a brand new one?

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, David R. Miller

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 1h

Wow—has a president ever explicitly confirmed a presidential finding authorizing an ongoing covert action before? Let alone a brand new one?

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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1h

The same Elise Stefanik who crusaded against antisemitism in higher ed? That Elise Stefanik?

Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 5h

Elise Stefanik is scrubbing photos of herself accepting awards from the vile Young Republicans caught in the Politico group chat. She supported every single one of them in New York State.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 2h

Thank you

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · 2h

"The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela & conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean.

The agency would be able to take covert action against Mr. Maduro or his government either unilaterally or in conjunction with a larger military operation."

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Elizabeth Saunders, Nancy Kanwisher , and 11 more Ben H. Ansell, Elizabeth Saunders, Nancy Kanwisher, Kelly R. Zamudio, Scott L. Greer, Michael A. Clemens, Seema Jayachandran, Maya Sen, Henry Farrell, Erol Akçay, Floriane Clément, Brian Weatherson, Dana Howard, Sheila R. Foster

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 2h

Brown rejected the compact!

www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

www.brown.edu

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Stuart Shapiro

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 2h

Useful thread on the Gaza ceasefire from Elizabeth Saunders, building on a piece from Page Fortna.

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

🧵A thread inspired by this new @goodauth.bsky.social piece from the Dean of Ceasefire Studies, @pagefortna.bsky.social. Also, I like to admit when I'm wrong. I was wrong to doubt there would be a ceasefire, and I have written that Trump destroyed US diplomacy. 1/

goodauthority.org/news/israel-...

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire leaves important questions unanswered

Many important details must still be worked out.

goodauthority.org

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 2h

I don't think it counts as "covert" after you blab about it to the New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Will Jennings, Maya Sen , and 6 more Elizabeth Saunders, Will Jennings, Maya Sen, David R. Miller, W. Andy Knight, Jason Lyall, Alfie Kohn, Ann Bartow, Claire L. Adida

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 3h

Old enough to remember when kids being anti-semitic was the basis for a federal government assault on higher education

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Joshua Goodman

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 4h

SCIENCE POLICY NEWS:

During Yom Kippur, all the members of the High Energy Physics Advisory Committee (HEPAP), myself included, received a letter thanking us for our service and telling us essentially that the almost 40 yo standing federal advisory committee was no more. ⚛️🧪🔭

Why that matters 🧵

DOE Consolidates Office of Science Advisory Committees

Six long-standing committees advising the Department of Energy’s Office of Science have been rolled into one.

www.aip.org

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 5h

Elise Stefanik is scrubbing photos of herself accepting awards from the vile Young Republicans caught in the Politico group chat. She supported every single one of them in New York State.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, David R. Miller

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 5h

Despite the Trump administration’s refusal to disclose to the U.S. public or even Congress who exactly it is targeting in the Caribbean, at least one strike was reportedly against Colombians.

www.cnn.com/2025/10/15/p...

At least one US military strike on alleged drug trafficking boat in Caribbean targeted Colombians | CNN Politics

At least one US military strike in the Caribbean over the last two months targeted Colombian nationals on a boat that had left from Colombia, according to two people briefed by the Pentagon about the ...

www.cnn.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

Here's an unrolled version: skyview.social?url=https%3A...

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

Everything depends on Trump's focus. Let's hope it's enough to make this ceasefire last. 11/11

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

So, yes, kudos. I was wrong to think the Trump plan was just another peace-in-two-weeks soundbite. It was extremely joyous to see the hostages come home. And to know the attacks and starvation in Gaza would stop, at least for now. But there's no USAID and little State Dept capacity. 10/

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

As I argued in @foreignaffairs.com, we now have the foreign policy of a personalist regime. As @columbiasipa.bsky.social Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo and @hillaryclinton.bsky.social argue, putting so much diplomacy in the hands of one person is very dangerous. 9/ www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o...

Opinion | The Perils of Getting Too Personal in Foreign Policy

www.nytimes.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

Also, the reaction to the Qatar strike suggests that it was Netanyahu's overreach that finally spurred this pressure on Israel. Would Trump ever have reached this point otherwise? How much longer would it have taken? 8/

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

In that sense, I stand by my prior arguments in @goodauth.bsky.social & @foreignaffairs.com that Trump has gutted US diplomacy in a way that is dramatically different from prior cuts or reforms. 7/ www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Imperial President at Home, Emperor Abroad

American foreign policy in an age of unrestrained executive power.

www.foreignaffairs.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

But it's notable how little role Rubio, State, or even experienced MidEast hands from other depts (DoD) played. Which will matter going forward, because when the headlines fade, those are the people who can help manage the problems likely to arise, as @pagefortna.bsky.social writes. 6/

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

The masterstroke was to force Netanyahu to apologize to the Qataris. Not just the call, but releasing news of the apology, with a photo. Kudos to whoever thought of that. It was a costly signal from Bibi and showed Trump was seriously pressuring Israel. 5/
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

Photo released by the White House showing Netanyahu on the call, apologizing to the Qataris, while Trump balances the phone on his lap.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

It took skill to exploit this opening. A ceasefire was not inevitable. Kushner & Witkoff seem to have done it (notably, not Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, whose role seems to have been to chair one meeting & later to hand Trump the note that it was done). 4/ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

How Fury Over Israel’s Qatar Attack Pushed Netanyahu on Gaza

www.nytimes.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

Notably, this ep of The Daily @nytimes.com makes clear that the turning point was Israel's (failed) Sept strike on the Hamas team in Qatar, which angered Trump into finally putting pressure on Israel (of course, we should ask why mass starvation in Gaza didn't). 3/ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/p...

How Trump Got Israel and Hamas to a Truce

www.nytimes.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

First, as many have said, this is a genuine achievement for Trump and for his administration. Lots of things aligned that had not previously, esp. Israel's diplomatic isolation & the Arab neighbors' motivation to pressure Hamas. But it still required threading a needle and they threaded it. 2/

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Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Daniel W. Drezner

Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6h

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire leaves important questions unanswered

Many important details must still be worked out.

goodauthority.org

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23h

Nearly all the staff in the Office of Special Education have been fired as part of Trump’s sweeping layoffs.

These are the people responsible for protecting the civil rights of students with disabilities and ensuring they receive an equal education.

More needless cruelty on display.

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, American Library Association , and 6 more Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, American Library Association, Rebecca Tushnet, David R. Miller, Michael Zimmer, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Dunlap

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 23h

BREAKING: Marco Rubio's State Department announces publicly that it is exercising unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in revoking people's visas based on comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

Department of State v
@StateDept
g..
The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.
The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here are just a few examples of aliens who are no longer welcome in the U.S.:
5:55 PM • Oct 14, 2025 • 34.1K Views

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, James Q. Wilson , and 5 more Kim L. Scheppele, Elizabeth Saunders, James Q. Wilson, Richard S.J. Tol, Eric Goldman, Juan Cole, Matthew Bodie, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 1d

Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 1d

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Luke Moffett, Jacob T. Levy , and 1 more Elizabeth Saunders, Luke Moffett, Jacob T. Levy, Simon Lester

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 1d

Given the now fifth U.S. strike in the Caribbean, reposting my recent essay in @justsecurity.org.

There’s a word for premeditated killing outside of armed conflict.

www.justsecurity.org/120568/carib...

Asserting a License to Kill: Why the Caribbean Strike is a Dangerous Departure from the “War on Terror”

An absence of credible legal basis for the Caribbean strike suggests the Trump admin is asserting a prerogative to kill outside the law.

www.justsecurity.org

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

Paul Guinnessy @paulguinnessy.bsky.social · 1d

It's all triage in the DC metro area for nonprofits offering help, like meals, and thanks to Trump's cuts donations are down and also so is food bank support from the feds.

D.C. nonprofits face breaking point amid job cuts and shutdown

41% of DMV households affected by federal layoffs are food-insecure.

www.axios.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Joshua S. Weitz, David H. Kaye , and 3 more Elizabeth Saunders, Joshua S. Weitz, David H. Kaye, Janet Murray, Aaron Sojourner, Nathan P. Kalmoe

NPR @npr.org · 1d

Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says. n.pr/4q87Jwb

Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass

n.pr

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