Adam Mount

I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...

The first strike was also murder. You can’t just up and kill civilians on the high seas and then claim you were at war with them.

Here are US military lawyers stating clearly that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's "kill everybody" orders are either (1) war crimes or (2) murder.

Either way, expect prosecutions in the future.

www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...

Report Launch: Project Atom 2025 | CSIS Events Please join the Project on Nuclear Issues for a launch event for the Project Atom 2025 report on escalatory risk in the Indo-Pacific.

PONI is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its Project Atom 2025 report. Please join us on December 10, 2025 at 9:00 AM ET for a discussion with authors @kschake.bsky.social, Rebecca Shrimpton, Kyle Balzer, and @ajmount.bsky.social.

Register to attend:

White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats The Trump administration sidestepped skeptical lawyers across national security agencies as it pursued a military campaign against alleged narcotraffickers, officials say.

Democracy will not be restored in this country until all of the political leaders responsible for these unlawful actions are prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. These should be prosecuted for murder, among other things. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Literally yesterday he threatened Democratic members of Congress with sedition and death for reminding the military of their duty to refuse to follow illegal orders.

The rule is: do not collaborate with fascists. There's actually no exception if you're a democratic socialist, you got to call him a fascist to his face, or you've got a killer smile.

The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.

The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.

People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.

And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.

Tracking Anticipated Deaths from USAID Funding Cuts Brooke Nichols has launched online tracking tools that capture estimated increases in mortality and disease spread for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases as a result of the near-total...

By this time next week, the estimated deaths due to the illegal destruction of USAID and the shuttering of its aid efforts will breach 400,000.

More than 260,000 will be children.

Source: www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...

So bad.

one of the most insane thing about partisan politics is that Republicans are allowed to say "these four million American citizens shouldn't get the representation they are entitled because it would be politically inconvenient for us" and nobody bats an eye

Graph showing life expectancy trends in 23 higher income countries between 1980 and 2024. Life expectancy increased over time in all countries. In 1980, the US is in the middle of the pack, but their life expectancy gains were slower than that of other countries, and by around 2002, the US had the lowest life expectancy of all countries. Over the next 20 years, US life expectancy increasingly tracks away from the trajectories of other countries, as their life expectancy stalls while other countries life expectancy continues to climb

This graph never fails to be shocking: "The US has experienced the earliest and greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements among higher-income countries, reported Eileen Crimmins. “We have horrible life expectancy—and it’s getting worse and worse”"

www.prb.org/resources/se...

84% of political science experts said creating such a force poses a threat to democracy, including 65% who said the threat was extraordinary or serious brightlinewatch.org/violence-red... However, it is overwhelmingly popular among Republicans brightlinewatch.org/violence-red...

If the goal of the trip was to demolish the last remnants of nuclear order, I'd rate the last six hours a tremendous success.

NNSA reaping:
NNSA sowing:

6. The other articles in the issue look fascinating, so be sure to have a look.

As always, if you have trouble accessing my work, please get in touch (ajmount.com).

5. My takeaways:
• US officials consider conventional deterrence of nuclear use to be a valuable option.
• There is no consensus about how conventional (or nuclear!) deterrence could work.
• The US and allies should stop denigrating its credibility and start enhancing it.

4. The results get a bit wild and offer an unusually detailed look at how US officials understand the value of nuclear weapons and the operation of deterrence. In this specific (easy) scenario, 17 of 20 former officials recommended a conventional response and 11 favored conventional deterrence.

3. To understand the potential and risks, the article surveys recent technical developments and then presents the results of twenty “tabletop interviews” with former senior US civilian and military officials who might plausibly have been consulted on how to deter a North Korean attack.

2. For a lot of people, the title is almost an oxymoron. I remember sitting in Seoul when a former Ambassador turned to me, incredulous: "are you saying conventional can deter nuclear?" Both the academic and policy literature tend to denigrate the credibility of conventional deterrence.

1. Crises, acquisitions, and policy all suggest that conventional weapons are taking on a larger role deterring nuclear use. My new article in @intsecurity.bsky.social examines why US officials would consider conventional options when they have nuclear options available and how they might use them.

Oh you're trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing?

Donald Trump can't hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom.

If the National Guard is really in D.C. to protect federal
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago

bsky.app/profile/moll... this is what I’ve been thinking too. A bulldozer to the whole of the new deal, to a whole system of rights.

bsky.app/profile/kair... law is a gentleman’s agreement backed by state violence and this is the downstream of effect of state violence deciding it wants to do something else instead*

*don’t yell at me lawyers I’m an international relations professor my job is thinking about power

Fall 2025 issue preview @intsecurity.bsky.social!

M. Trachtenberg | rules-based international order
@aaronbateman.bsky.social | U.S. space power
@ajmount.bsky.social | conventional deterrence of nuclear use
DJ Kim | clients’ demand evasion
@mikegoldfien.bsky.social | hawks, doves, & rapprochement

😍 Boston, you are beautiful. #NoKings

Minneapolis is showing up and showing out. #NoKings