Aleksandar Matovski

Levada Center Russia survey: "Would you be more likely to approve or disapprove if a member of your family or loved one signed a contract to participate in the special military operation?"

May 23: 52% approve, 41% disapprove
Apr 24: 47% app, 44% dis
Oct 24: 40% app, 42% dis
Oct 25: 30% app, 55% dis

🇺🇸🇺🇦🚀 The Pentagon has cleared the way for Ukraine to receive long-range Tomahawk missiles, judging it won’t hurt U.S. stockpiles. The final call rests with President Trump, - CNN

Goodbye, $165,000 Tech Jobs. Student Coders Seek Work at Chipotle.

"Among college graduates ages 22 to 27, computer science and computer engineering majors are facing some of the highest unemployment rates, 6.1% and 7.5% respectively ...

That is more than double the unemployment rate among recent biology and art history graduates, which is just 3%"

The downside is that in its desperation, Moscow is willing to do (almost) anything to sustain the Chinese lifeline, ranging from helping Beijing’s nuclear buildup to providing access to key resources and critical military technologies. End🧵

These asymmetric motives impose a “floor” and “ceiling” effect on the relationship, creating strong incentives for Beijing to maintain an economic lifeline while also limiting its commitment to a fully fledged alliance with Moscow. (3/4)

I show that Moscow deepened its partnership to offset the costs of sustaining its growing confrontation with its neighbors and the West since 2014, while Beijing primarily engages to prop up the Putin regime. (2/4)

My article on the Sino-Russian alignment is out in The Pacific Review.

I argue that Moscow and Beijing converged not because of external threats or regime insecurity, but when these two dangers combined.

A short 🧵(1/4)

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Changing identity to remain oneself: ontological security and the Swedish decision on joining NATO - Journal of International Relations and Development Why, despite its longstanding identity as a non-aligned country, did Sweden apply for NATO membership in May 2022? Did this decision not fundamentally challenge Swedish ontological security? Conversel...

Why did Sweden join NATO? This new article in JIRD argues that non-alignment clashed with deeper identity constructs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Finland's NATO bid. Joining NATO helped resolve the clash, thus restoring ontological security for many Swedes. tinyurl.com/yjnxdj3x