Lars Berger

Check out this new paper by @ucdpolitics.bsky.social PhD candidate @linettelim.bsky.social on how and why Chinese authorities portray foreign media as a threat, and why it matters.

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

Public Opinion on Intelligence and Counterterrorism Cooperation between Democracies and Autocracies: The Case of German-Egyptian Relations The literature on international intelligence and counterterrorism cooperation increasingly covers the strategic challenges and moral hazards that democracies face in their interactions with authori...

How do democracies weigh intelligence and counterterrorism cooperation with autocracies? My study with Stephan Lau of German views on ties with Egypt shows that reports of rights abuses and meddling reduce public support. First fifty copies free! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #PublicOpinion

Friends, can I ask you to spread the word that we have a THREE-YEAR postdoc in American history at Cambridge up for grabs - ANY field, but applications are due March 1 so don't delay - apply, apply, apply! networks.h-net.org/jobs/69790/u...

Really excellent point. A lot of political/influencer grift stems from blocked ambition. They couldn’t make it via the normie route, but feel they deserve more.

So they grift.

Religious Elites, (Non)Politicization, and Intergroup Attitudes among Muslim Immigrants in Germany | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja

🎉 I am excited and grateful to share that the second chapter of my dissertation is now forthcoming in the @thejop.bsky.social.

it has been a long journey. Hours, thoughts, and re-assessments at each stage of the study, but it is finally here🥲
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
1/9

Plagiarism detection on 500k publicized Chinese dissertations uncovers widespread hidden misconduct that predicts adverse political selection and poorer civil service performance, from Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Shaoda Wang www.nber.org/papers/w34747

AI Swarms and the New Front of Cognitive Warfare Multi-agent systems are reshaping the information ecosystem to undermine liberal democracies

Ever scrolled through a social media debate and felt like someone was pulling the strings? Dozens of different profiles, different tones, different identities — all converging on the same narrative, as if it were self-evident.
Some of this noise can now be generated by AI swarms.

1/7

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Authoritarian regimes have increased their share of global CO2 emissions and now account for >60%, with implications for climate governance
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Im Sommer werden wieder zwei Gedenkstättenfahrten angeboten. Alle Infos und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung findet ihr hier: www.bvb.de/de/de/aktuel...

📢 We’re hiring: Research Fellow – Financial Crime Policy

RUSI is seeking an experienced Research Fellow to lead our work on financial crime policy, tackling issues from money laundering and fraud to terrorist and proliferation financing.

Apply by 9 February: https://bit.ly/4odf9fA

Good news - I'm hiring at Durham University!

1-year full time postdoc in Space Security - looking for someone to join me at the Space Research Centre and a Northeast England based space tracking/analytics company to work on geopolitical analysis in Space Domain Awareness.

Details 👇👇👇

Iran report says 16,500 dead in ‘genocide under digital darkness’ Witnesses tell of the brutality inflicted on those taking part in anti-regime protests

“Figures compiled by staff in 8 major eye hospitals and 16 emergency departments across [Iran] reveal that at least 16,500-18,000 people have been killed and 330,000 to 360,000 injured…At least 700 to 1,000 people have lost an eye.”

www.thetimes.com/world/middle...

Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina Adam Scharpf Christian Gläßel Abstract: Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.

Perennial reminder of this excellent paper about how secret police forces are swamped with underachievers

“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”

(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)

🧵In my expert opinion as a researcher of vehicle ramming attacks, what has been publicly described in the video evidence does not support the claim that Renee Nicole Good was attempting a deliberate ramming attack when she was shot in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. 1/7

🚨 We’re hiring an Assistant Professor in Political Science

⏰ Deadline 4th January 2026

🙋‍♀️ Any questions, please reach out

👇

Join us! Wir bieten eine volle Promotionsstelle für drei Jahre @powimz.bsky.social - Verlängerung um weitere drei Jahre möglich. Alle Details hier 👇

Inside Russia's Air Route for Transporting Uranium from Niger via Libya and Syria Aboard an Antonov, from Niamey to Moscow: the long journey of yellowcake extracted in Arlit and purchased by Rosatom. Stopovers in Libya and Syria, and the decoy of a cargo ship waiting in Lomé

There's been much speculation about the 1,000 tons of #yellowcake removed by convoys from Arlit #Niger since late November. This article suggests they have been airlifted by a Russian military Antonov in several flights, via the al-Khadim airbase in eastern #Libya and Turkish airspace, to Russia.

🫵WE WANT YOU 🎓
Are you interested in political communication, negative campaigning, and social norms? Are you experienced in quantitative methods? Do you have good rain clothes?

Then our postdoc position might be just for you: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas

PhD opportunity at the University of Oxford. The Morelli scholarship funds a doctoral student to work with me on on democratic backsliding, strategies of democratic defense and regeneration, or the rise of illiberalism. Deadline Jan 9. More information at users.ox.ac.uk/~ssfc0073/

Postdoctoral Research Position Deadline: 15.12.2025

📣 We're hiring a postdoc in political science for our ReJust project @uni-konstanz.de!

Project with Dirk Leuffen @leuffen.bsky.social and Urs Fischbacher

3-year position | Deadline: Dec. 15, 2025 | Start: April 2026

Please share widely 🙏

🎉 New publication 🎉 Why do #youngpeople vote for the #AfD? This question has kept our research project busy for quite some time, so I'm beyond excited that our first article - co-authored with @timonscheuer.bsky.social - is now out in #GermanPolitics! 🤩 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📣 Application deadline extended: The new application deadline for the Academy in Exile Fellowships is 30 November! Are you a researcher who is under threat because of your academic work or civic engagement? Then apply now!
📍KWI Essen / @tu-dortmund.de
INFO: www.academy-in-exile.eu
@mellon.org

The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions is now acceptable applications for the 2026-27 year. Please share and encourage people to apply!

Post Doctoral application apply.interfolio.com/177609

Visiting Scholar application apply.interfolio.com/177613

⭐Only 3 days left to apply!

I am hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen's University in Kingston for #AMALTHEA, a 3 year Horizon Europe project on how gender shapes radicalisation & extremism.

Apply if you work on gender, qualitative methods, or terrorism studies.

www.queensu.ca/cidp/call-ap...

Debunking “When Prophecy Fails” In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....

Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

We are looking for reviews of the following:

John Schwarzmantel & Helen Beetham: Deformations of Democracy: David Beetham in Contemporary Politics

Leigh Jenco, Paulina Ochoa Espejo, Murad Idris: Political Theory: A Global and Comparative Introduction

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.

This is a remarkable case of Chinese authorities threatening a UK university into halting research on human rights violations, and the university acquiescing.

Hier eine kurze Übersicht über die Angebote des Datenportals für die Rassismus- und Rechtsextremismusforschung in der neuen Ausgabe der ZREX.