Elizabeth N. Saunders

Hard to think through problems when we are in a mode where the current problem gets eaten by a bigger problem within hours.

No, he’s not giving Putin Alaska, but he is giving Putin a huge gift: the legitimacy of touching down on US soil at the invitation of a US president. A reward for the full-scale invasion of a sovereign, democratic country that the United States and its European allies support.

To elaborate a bit on why inviting Putin to Alaska for talks on ending the war without Zelensky (or European allies) represents, among many other things, the death of US diplomacy 🧵1/

Why is university messaging on AI so undifferentiated? Probably b/c easiest. But to avoid coming backlash, why not try a classic academic move: unpack "AI"? It's not the same in medical/research settings vs. intro classes. We make kids learn to add/multiply by hand before we give them calculators.

Anyone else eating their Monday breakfast with a sense of impending doom?

Death, taxes, and first-day-of-school anxiety dreams.

This second act brought to you by the nation’s top diplomat

Truly awesome news about a truly awesome scholar! Congratulations @juliaazari.bsky.social!!!!!

Shout-out to @elizabethbitmeehan.com who is running the #APSA2026 swag giveaway with aplomb!

Don’t know much about bonds except that Liz Truss was in office 44 days and the UK economy still hasn’t recovered. Perils of presidentialism indeed.

Obviously we knew Hegseth was bad. Not sure my January 2025 self would've believed: "Pushed a strategically disastrous war of choice vs. Iran that decimated hardware stockpiles, morale, and readiness, while purging competent, dedicated soldiers/leaders out of the Pentagon to sooth his insecurity."

Can't get numb to this: it's frightening how Trump et al have normalized lawless behavior by govt officials. US govt cruelty to immigrants is not remotely new, but people like Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, moved the Overton window on accepting scandalous outrages. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/w...

Somehow we are in a shooting war with Iran and a trade war with Canada and we are losing both and international security and international political economy scholars are all at a loss because this is NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN