Nicholas Bequelin

The Age of Defensive Democracy What is at stake today is not whether democracy can spread but whether it can survive at all.

Is the world condemned to autocracy? In @foreignpolicy.com I argue that claims about the end of the international order are overstated and that autocracies are unable to construct alternatives.
Read the essay on FP.com or on my Substack @ rightsstuff.substack.com

foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/13/d...

An AI-generated image depicting EU Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen walking a tightrope between the American and Chinese presidents.

🇪🇺🤝🇨🇳Is US policy pushing Europe into China’s arms? Au contraire.
In my latest piece on the state of Europe-China relations, I argue that Europeans see the threat from authoritarianism more clearly than ever—but still lack a coherent response.
👇
www.9dashline.com/article/impa...

The Key to Understanding Trump’s Chaotic Foreign Policy Around the world, the White House seems to be aiding autocracies at the expense of democracy.

🚨 In my new essay for @foreignpolicy.com I argue that there is a consistent logic to Trump's foreign policy moves but that traditional views of geopolitics are failing to capture it.

foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/18/t...

🎙️ NEW PODCAST ALERT! @badiucao.bsky.social and I are on the New Books Network speaking to host @bequelin.bsky.social about our upcoming graphic novel YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION, and about human rights + resistance! 🔗 Full episode here: newbooksnetwork.com/you-must-tak...

You Must Take Part in Revolution: A Graphic Novel Amazon.com: You Must Take Part in Revolution: A Graphic Novel: 9781951491291: Badiucao, Chan, Melissa: Books

This is a conversation about art as resistance, storytelling as defiance, and the power of creative expression in authoritarian times.

🔉Available wherever you get your podcasts and on the New Books Network Human Rights Channel

📕Pre-order the book! www.amazon.com/You-Must-Tak...

🎙️ We dive into:
🔥 The inspiration behind their powerful collaboration
🖼️ How personal experiences with repression shaped their project
🌍 Why graphic novels and entertainment can reach audiences that traditional activism often overlooks

🆕🔇For the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social , I interviewed @melissakchan.bsky.social and @badiucao.bsky.social about their soon to be published dystopian graphic novel, You Must Take Part in Revolution.

🔊 Listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/you-must-tak...
Also on Spotify & Apple Podcast!

Trump Hits Colombia With Tariffs in Feud Over Military Deportation Flights Gustavo Petro said on X that the United States should not treat Colombian migrants as criminals and that he had already turned away U.S. military flights carrying deportees.

Finally! Colombia has been the least successful country to court for Beijing due to its close ties to the U.S. This will make it a lot easier for China to build its influence there.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/w...

Human Rights on the Edge - The Ideas Letter The human rights movement faces a critical juncture as the postwar international order that created it gives way to a fragmented, multipolar world dominated by rising autocracies and diminishing Weste...

⚠️ The human rights movement is fighting a losing battle and it's not going to get better. In this essay for the Open Society Foundations' Ideas Letter I lay out why it's the case and why it’s time to stop burying our heads in the sand.
www.theideasletter.org/essay/human-...
#HumanRights

Done! Looking forward to it!