Holding the nuclear launch codes gives you a lot of power in world politics. But the person pictured below probably has more power. Let me explain why. [THREAD]

Who is the most powerful person in the world? Paul Poast argues that a strong case can be made for the head of the US Federal Reserve system—currently Jerome Powell. worldpoliticsreview.com/federal-reserv…

Everyone recognizes that US international engagement is not without costs. But there is a divide in how Americans see the benefits of that engagement. According to recent Chicago Council on Global Affairs polling, a majority of Democrats say that Benefits>Costs. Not so with Republicans.

This is a core reason why we have ongoing debates about the "decline of war": wars, especially large ones, are just too rare to draw confident conclusions. Related, just a single war can throw off the trends. foreignaffairs.com/world/war-not-…

Overall, this debate is useful (though we could do without the posturing of who or who can't "model for shit"). That's why I'll actually have my Quantitative Security Students read Grimmer et al's working paper. osf.io/preprints/osf/…

“[The Wars in Ukraine and Gaza] both demonstrate the pain and suffering that all of international theory tries to explain while also highlighting the contradictions and hypocrisy underlying attempts to resolve those problems. Ending violence as soon as possible by stopping

IR Book of the Week! "Rethinking the End of Empire" by Lynn Tesser. Independence is due to nationalist movements, right? Not quite. The internal movements that led to decolonization were varied. Independence was seen as a one-sized-fits-all solution. amazon.com/Rethinking-End…

Invoking "Build the Wall" is not a good strategy for Trump in 2024. It only serves to highlight the shortcomings of his last presidency. I explain why in my latest for World Politics Review. worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-immigrat…