Luca Trenta
@lucatrenta.bsky.social
Associate Professor in IR at @swanseauni_ppir
Work on assassination, covert action, US foreign policy, secrecy. Host of the Out of the Shadows Project Podcast. Follow The Brush Contact Substack for more.
Work on assassination, covert action, US foreign policy, secrecy. Host of the Out of the Shadows Project Podcast. Follow The Brush Contact Substack for more.
Thank god the oats are British. I would want some immigrants oats coming here to steal other people’s…oats?
November 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Thank god the oats are British. I would want some immigrants oats coming here to steal other people’s…oats?
We have reached the parody stage. We are asking Nigel Farage to investigate his own party's links to Russia.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Below, a random picture of Nigel Farage.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Below, a random picture of Nigel Farage.
November 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
We have reached the parody stage. We are asking Nigel Farage to investigate his own party's links to Russia.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Below, a random picture of Nigel Farage.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Below, a random picture of Nigel Farage.
Quite the version of how it started/how it’s going.
November 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Quite the version of how it started/how it’s going.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that MBS ordered the killing of Jamal Kashoggi.
Today, Trump welcomed him to the White House. When asked, he was only able to say:
‘You are mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like him.’
Today, Trump welcomed him to the White House. When asked, he was only able to say:
‘You are mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like him.’
November 18, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that MBS ordered the killing of Jamal Kashoggi.
Today, Trump welcomed him to the White House. When asked, he was only able to say:
‘You are mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like him.’
Today, Trump welcomed him to the White House. When asked, he was only able to say:
‘You are mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like him.’
@drmatthewwall.bsky.social what are the odds on Trump attacking Venezuela soon in a classic wag the dog move? www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
November 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM
@drmatthewwall.bsky.social what are the odds on Trump attacking Venezuela soon in a classic wag the dog move? www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
A reminder that the @socintelhist.bsky.social roundtable with @tim-weiner.bsky.social on his latest book The Mission is happening next week. Myself, @dianabolsinger.bsky.social, and @chekistmonitor.bsky.social will discuss the book. Register here: swanseauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 11, 2025 at 7:28 AM
A reminder that the @socintelhist.bsky.social roundtable with @tim-weiner.bsky.social on his latest book The Mission is happening next week. Myself, @dianabolsinger.bsky.social, and @chekistmonitor.bsky.social will discuss the book. Register here: swanseauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
This. But as so many other things, doing something like this would require the @teamlabouruk.bsky.social government to have some backbone.
November 10, 2025 at 6:50 PM
This. But as so many other things, doing something like this would require the @teamlabouruk.bsky.social government to have some backbone.
Not that anyone asked, but this is why I think it’s a terrible take.
November 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Not that anyone asked, but this is why I think it’s a terrible take.
Started reading Orwell's collected essays. Quite timely reflections on the nature of facts, totalitarianism, and the nature/future of truth. Including a reflection on how the liberal tradition that evil always loses out in the end, lulls people into a sense of complacency.
November 1, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Started reading Orwell's collected essays. Quite timely reflections on the nature of facts, totalitarianism, and the nature/future of truth. Including a reflection on how the liberal tradition that evil always loses out in the end, lulls people into a sense of complacency.
Regime change has worked so well in the past for the US. I’m also sure this has nothing to do with the Epstein files.
October 31, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Regime change has worked so well in the past for the US. I’m also sure this has nothing to do with the Epstein files.
New, quick Brush Contact story from me on the US government’s attempt to recruit Maduro’s pilot, as reported by @apnews.com.
I compare this case to another failed pilot recruitment in 1960. Discover who the target was below.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
I compare this case to another failed pilot recruitment in 1960. Discover who the target was below.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
October 29, 2025 at 10:28 AM
New, quick Brush Contact story from me on the US government’s attempt to recruit Maduro’s pilot, as reported by @apnews.com.
I compare this case to another failed pilot recruitment in 1960. Discover who the target was below.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
I compare this case to another failed pilot recruitment in 1960. Discover who the target was below.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
A new post from The Brush Contact on Henry Kissinger and Chile. The occasion: a new PBS documentary on Chile, 50 years of the Church Committee, 50 years of Operation CONDOR.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
October 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
A new post from The Brush Contact on Henry Kissinger and Chile. The occasion: a new PBS documentary on Chile, 50 years of the Church Committee, 50 years of Operation CONDOR.
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
This sounds good but it assumes that Starmer and @teamlabouruk.bsky.social have any common sense.
October 25, 2025 at 9:39 AM
This sounds good but it assumes that Starmer and @teamlabouruk.bsky.social have any common sense.
Awesome (if unintended) representation of what the Trump Administration is doing to the United States domestically and globally.
October 21, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Awesome (if unintended) representation of what the Trump Administration is doing to the United States domestically and globally.
Culpably late to this. Any thoughts?
October 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Culpably late to this. Any thoughts?
Truly a mystery.
‘Belarus Is as Repressive as Ever. Why Is the U.S. Warming Up to It?
Analysts say they are unsure what the Trump administration hopes to get out of its gifts and concessions to Belarus’s autocratic leader, a close ally of Russia.’
‘Belarus Is as Repressive as Ever. Why Is the U.S. Warming Up to It?
Analysts say they are unsure what the Trump administration hopes to get out of its gifts and concessions to Belarus’s autocratic leader, a close ally of Russia.’
October 15, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Truly a mystery.
‘Belarus Is as Repressive as Ever. Why Is the U.S. Warming Up to It?
Analysts say they are unsure what the Trump administration hopes to get out of its gifts and concessions to Belarus’s autocratic leader, a close ally of Russia.’
‘Belarus Is as Repressive as Ever. Why Is the U.S. Warming Up to It?
Analysts say they are unsure what the Trump administration hopes to get out of its gifts and concessions to Belarus’s autocratic leader, a close ally of Russia.’
In a day in which those who perpetrated a genocide and those who were complicit gather to pat themselves on the back as peacemakers, I recommend two books.
October 13, 2025 at 6:49 AM
In a day in which those who perpetrated a genocide and those who were complicit gather to pat themselves on the back as peacemakers, I recommend two books.
@mm-corriere-bot.bsky.social ci regala questa chicca. In un articolo, sui droni sopra l’areoporto di Monaco - per cui si sospetta mano Russa - ci mostra questo drone.
October 3, 2025 at 11:24 AM
@mm-corriere-bot.bsky.social ci regala questa chicca. In un articolo, sui droni sopra l’areoporto di Monaco - per cui si sospetta mano Russa - ci mostra questo drone.
“If not always fair”?! JFC @nytimes.com get a grip.
September 28, 2025 at 9:10 AM
“If not always fair”?! JFC @nytimes.com get a grip.
In 2007, Tim Weiner published Legacy of Ashes, a history of the CIA from its founding to the early 2000s.
As a university student in Italy, I bought the book as soon as it came out. It kickstarted my interest in the CIA.
As a university student in Italy, I bought the book as soon as it came out. It kickstarted my interest in the CIA.
September 23, 2025 at 1:59 PM
In 2007, Tim Weiner published Legacy of Ashes, a history of the CIA from its founding to the early 2000s.
As a university student in Italy, I bought the book as soon as it came out. It kickstarted my interest in the CIA.
As a university student in Italy, I bought the book as soon as it came out. It kickstarted my interest in the CIA.
Just finished The Art of Intelligence by Henry Crumpton. This final page seems more relevant than ever.
September 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Just finished The Art of Intelligence by Henry Crumpton. This final page seems more relevant than ever.
Great at doing optics too.
September 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Great at doing optics too.
Great to see that in this age of turmoil, some things never change, such as the @nytimes.com’s treatment of a white male shooter.
September 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Great to see that in this age of turmoil, some things never change, such as the @nytimes.com’s treatment of a white male shooter.