Political Science Prof @Baylor; author “Seize the City, Undo the State” @OxUniPress; research pol violence and institutions; Ukr & Ru politics.
Dallas, TX
Joined March 2012
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After almost seven years in the making, the book is finally out with @OUPSocSci and available in print and electronic editions! It offers the first ground-level analysis of Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in spring 2014. For book review fill out this form: global.oup.com/academic/pres…
Trump‘s push is more than just forcing Ukraine to capitulate to Rus demands or normalizing Rus US relations. As this article shows it’s about recognizing Rus role as a world power that should participate in shaping the new world order alongside China&US.
nytimes.com/2026/10/19/us/po…
Great recap of how Trump’s realignment with Russia has unfolded amidst ongoing Rus aggression against Ukraine.
By calling the question about US alignment in Rus-Ukr war a “false binary” Bessent confirms that Trump Admin no longer feels obliged to side exclusively with Ukraine and no longer views its survival as crucial for U.S. security. It’s profit making and deal making above all else.
Welker: Zelensky says Ukraine will not prevail if the United States sides with Russia. Is the president siding with Russia here?
Bessent: No. Again, that's a false binary. What does the U.S. provide?
The U.S. provides intelligence, Starlink. We allow NATO to buy U.S. armaments and resell them to Ukraine.
This will not stop Trump from realigning with Putin, but it at least communicates the stakes of such realignment for US voters.
Zelensky’s new public realism regarding Trump’s realignment with Russia is a much stronger position strategically than Europe’s continued sugarcoating of Trump as someone who can be cajoled to stand up to Putin. More wishful thinking on US hurts Ukraines and Europes own security.
Sanctions relief will continue. I think the diesel deal and the move regarding the Lindsey Graham Act are not the end of it. Unfortunately.
It’s unfortunate because we all had great respect for Lindsey. He devoted his life to America. We had an excellent relationship with him. And shortly before the tragedy, Lindsey was in Ukraine. He always supported us very strongly and pushed for as much assistance to Ukraine as possible.
It’s difficult without him, I’ll be honest. I want to thank both Democrats and Republicans who supported his bill. That was a major victory: this truly bipartisan support. And now, the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me. And it definitely helps only the Russians. It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people. This certainly does not stop the war.
From answers to journalists’ questions. (1/3)
The day has come when the US President officially states that attempts to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not in the U.S. national interests. America’s private realignment with Russia is becoming public.
Just two months ago there was serious discussion of possible Starlink use by Ukr drones over Russian territory to strike ballistic missile launch sites and enhance deep strike precision. Even reports Musk might agree to it. It had no connection to reality as we now see.
Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.
Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.
After months of reporting about Trump’s “warming to Zelensky” without tangible evidence, The Economist journos now suggest Trumps deals with Rus and Starlink/intel cuts are insufficient evidence to conclude that Trump is not interested in supporting Ukraine. Spin over integrity.
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It’s bewildering only to those journos who preferred wishful spin of Trump‘s views on Ukr and inexplicably saw warming of Trump to Zelensky just weeks earlier. It’s fully predictable if you cared to understand logic behind Trump‘s fondness for Putin and his disdain for Zelensky.
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US has now sided with Russia in its war against Ukraine. Putin turns into America‘s ally, a force for good & peace seeker. Zelensky becomes a trouble maker who harms US interests. This is a start of major realignment that will pit Ukraine & EU against Rus, China & US.
Of course diesel price for Americans will trump Ukrainian lives. It’s not even close.
Gas prices skyrocketed in the US because of Trump's ill-conceived and unnecessary war against Iran.
He is now trying to correct for his mistake by paying a brutal, imperialist Russian dictator billions of dollars.
As a result, more Ukrainians will die.
Trump's bet is that Americans care more about their gas prices than they do about people in Ukraine or America's reputation in the world. That Americans are just as transactional and immoral as Trump is.
Let's see.
Serhiy Kudelia retweeted
Російські удари по книжковій інфраструктурі є спробою Кремля стерти українську культурну відмінність, щоб представити Україну як частину Росії.
Про це політолог і письменник, професор політичних наук в Бейлорському Університеті США @skudelia сказав в інтервʼю журналістці @holosameryky Ірині Матвійчук (@Yarynna). holosameryky.com/a/8209276.h…
Payback for lobbying his dad to abandon Ukraine, lift sanctions on Moscow and pressure Kyiv to surrender.
Putin ally paid for Trump Jr's wedding celebrations as 'extraordinarily generous gift' trib.al/2o9DvV2
Incredibly important insights on how Russia’s quick technological innovation in drone use, automated targeting and autonomous connectivity increase Ukraines vulnerability and calls for greater tech support from the west: youtu.be/ZNtevnJe_8k?is=Lvj7…
Trump never told Putin that he should stop pummeling Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. But he believes he can easily command Ukrainian President on what targets in Russia to avoid.
Your president has halted all financial aid to Ukraine after coming to power and consistently acted as Putin’s best friend. Trump will never have Ukraines back. Glad you are embarrassed when you speak to Ukrainians. You should be.
Now is the time for Congress to pass the Russia sanctions bill. @SpeakerJohnson has the votes and President Trump backs it.
Vote buying is strongly correlated with poverty - not with “tremendous economic success.” But this makes for a perfect natural experiment to measure the effect of clientelist appeals on voter behavior in one of the wealthiest and most unequal western democracies.
.@POTUS announces the TRUMP DIVIDEND: If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The President of the United States has no constitutional or statutory authority to issue a dividend check on behalf of the US Government. Only the Congress can authorize and appropriate these funds.
constitutioncenter.org/the-constituti…
Another top official and Zelensky appointee resigns amidst corruption investigation. Secret NABU recordings suggest he patronized extortion of scam call centers and built an “empire” of $ extractions through his control over both prosecutors office and tax administration.
⚡️️Breaking: Ukraine's prosecutor general resigns amid major corruption scandal.
Earlier on Sept. 7, he said he was not planning to resign.kyivindependent.com/breaking…
