Patrick Porter

Join @patporter76.bsky.social from 13:30 tomorrow for the book launch for his latest work. This book is for readers who are looking for sensible guidance on how to work within that reality and survive in an increasingly hostile world

Details here:
buff.ly/ksMO2pS
@stanfordpress.bsky.social

A cogent and convincing article. (Back in 1968 Denis Healey announced the running down of UK commitments east of Suez, but the hankering for global clout hasn't eased off even now.)

Against global Britain | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Fifteen years ago at a London foreign policy breakfast in a bunker, a pathology that blights British statecraft reared its head. “We’ve got to have a global role”, insisted a senior member of…

My piece in @TheCriticMag: in the eternal argument between continentalism and blue water worldwide posture, Britain should prioritise its region more, and fret about worldwide importance less. Instead of obsessing with being "global", be serious.
thecritic.co.uk/against-glob...

How to Survive a Hostile World by Patrick Porter — The Changing Character of War Centre Tuesday 14 October, 13.30 Old Library, All Souls

If Oxford is within your range this Tuesday, 14th October, @OxfordCCW is launching my book on realism at All Souls Library, 130pm. An all star panel: Jeanne Morefield, @SeanMolloyIR, Susan Martin and @blagden_david. All welcome! Pets not encouraged.

www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/...

Book cover of How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics, and the Case for Realism by Patrick Porter

How to Survive a Hostile World is a defense of an ancient way of thinking about international politics: realism. Patrick Porter defends the realist approach to understanding the world by addressing the most robust critiques of the tradition https://ow.ly/Gz2T50X7kmC

The case for realism | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Look at the wreckage, from Ukraine to Gaza. Where there is less wreckage, note the air of growing menace.

"The monks of Lindisfarne rejected violence in their dedication to the life to come. But the Vikings who laid their world to waste prayed to different gods." My piece in @TheCriticMag, making the case for Realism in international politics. Book now out!
thecritic.co.uk/the-case-for...

Imperial Trump | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Not so isolationist, then? Seven months into the second presidency of Donald Trump, the word “isolationist” is a demonstrably inaccurate description of this ruler’s statecraft. If bombing Iran and…

Dave, a shout out to this piece by @patporter76.bsky.social:
thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...

Out now, folks! Be like Judah.

How to Survive a Hostile World by Patrick Porter — The Changing Character of War Centre Tuesday 14 October, 13.30 Old Library, All Souls

My book is being launched on 14 October in Oxford, All Soul's College, at 1:30pm. How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and the Case for Realism. A world class panel of Jeanne Morefield, Susan Martin, @blagden_david @SeanMolloyIR All Welcome!
www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/events/2025/...

Alliances are overrated | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Appalled by President Donald Trump and his overt contempt towards U.S. alliances, offended national security officials, commentators and scholars have fallen prey to an overcorrection.

My piece in The Critic, "Alliances are overrated." Some anti-Trumpists revere them as an overcorrection. While they can be valuable, they are not a reliable substitute for self-help. And they are best managed without sentimentality as a means to an end.
thecritic.co.uk/alliances-ar...

Lad

Out now, folks!

Imperial Trump | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Not so isolationist, then? Seven months into the second presidency of Donald Trump, the word “isolationist” is a demonstrably inaccurate description of this ruler’s statecraft. If bombing Iran and…

My piece in @TheCriticMag, Imperial Trump. This president is no isolationist, given the record of what he does in office. But the label will persist regardless, thanks to political convenience and the mediocrity of many commentators.
thecritic.co.uk/imperial-tru...

We have liftoff! With thanks to @stanfordpress. To be launched in Oxford with @OxfordCCW, details to follow. Coming in October.

Truman’s choice | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Somehow, the idea persists that American President Harry Truman’s decision to attack Imperial Japan with atomic bombs in August 1945 was obviously wrong — strategically and morally.

My article in @TheCriticMag: looking back eighty years on, there were no good choices for Truman when he launched atomic strikes on Japan, morally or strategically.

thecritic.co.uk/trumans-choi...

The trouble with AUKUS | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine How should Australia secure itself against serious military powers? For decades, the question was peripheral in public life. Sure, the security problem haunted debates about borders or terrorism.

My piece on AUKUS in @TheCriticMag. We need a little more Machiavelli downunder.
thecritic.co.uk/the-trouble-...

Article on AUKUS coming out shortly.

1/ "There is indeed a general problem with the whole suggestion of a “Global South”. It implies, increasingly inaccurately, that our world is still a tale of Western‐​driven globalisation that makes others passive consumers of events"
Bracing by @patporter76.bsky.social
www.cato.org/commentary/w...

Deterrence requires discipline | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine To deter, or to destroy? To try to dissuade adversaries from attacking one’s people or interests, or to take the gloves off and try to eliminate them? It’s a question central to Israel’s history…

"This is a war of temptation. In the words of Lawrence Freedman, it represents the “lure of the decisive.”"

Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social on the difference between "deterrence" and "destruction" - & why these approaches "drive in different directions".
thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...

Deterrence requires discipline | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine To deter, or to destroy? To try to dissuade adversaries from attacking one’s people or interests, or to take the gloves off and try to eliminate them? It’s a question central to Israel’s history…

Me in @TheCriticMag: David Ben-Gurion believed Israel in its hostile region could never have finality on its terms. It would always have to deter, requiring discipline. Netanyahu's war of temptation on Iran rejects that vision. Decisiveness may elude him.
thecritic.co.uk/deterrence-r...

Starmer’s Chagos slur | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine If you think Prime Minister Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius is a bad deal, you are Vladimir Putin’s useful idiot and Nigel Farage-adjacent. That’s Starmer’s message, at any rate…

My piece in @TheCriticMag, Starmer's Chagos Slur. Starmer frames dissent over his deal with Mauritius as sinister useful idiocy. But the PM is unwise to recast prudential questions as loyalty tests.
thecritic.co.uk/starmers-cha...

Message to Britain: get real | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine Things are bad in Britain in many ways. Europe’s long-standing senior ally, the United States, is distancing itself from European commitments.

My piece in @TheCriticMag, on the need for British realism abroad.
thecritic.co.uk/message-to-b...

My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" w/ @stanfordpress is out in October. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation.
sup.org/books/politics…
Now available for pre-order:
https://amzn.eu/d/bJNCT46

University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from their own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short...

"A well-delivered lecture isn’t primarily a delivery system for information. It is an ignition point for curiosity, all the better for being experienced in an audience."

Marvellous defence of the increasingly maligned university experience by @patporter76.bsky.social
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

Patrick Porter could use a follower boost on here. A lot of people on here are going to disagree with a lot that he publishes- but even when you disagree he will present the best version of what you disagree with and is worth hearing.

I can confirm that any resemblance between @patporter76.bsky.social and #TaylorSwift is entirely coincidental

Words of fire.

Extract from article by Patrick Porter: "Sure, careers and money matter. But so do citizenship, war, justice, faith and the common good. You can think about such things without paying academics, of course. Yet thinking about them beside scholars who study them is a good place to start, and is another kind of value for money. In-person study is valuable because it is done dialectically, that is, in conversation and argument, and collectively. To be a student alone is a contradiction in terms. It is one reason the recent global plague, forcing study online, damaged so many young souls. How much better it would be not only to imbibe the offerings of the web, but to argue about them with other people in the same room. Learning collectively, in an organic human setting, is the essence of the university".

"University: A Good Idea".

Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social, reasserting the humanist idea of the university as a place to think, grow and argue; not as a consumer experience providing employable skills.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

University: a good idea | Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine A former student of mine has penned an attack on universities, derived from his own disappointing experience studying Politics and International Relations at the place where I ply my trade. In short…

My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly.
thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

How to Survive a Hostile World | Stanford University Press The oldest ideas are the best. This book is a defense of an ancient way of thinking about international politics: realism. Patrick Porter, a scholar of international relations, defends the realist app...

My book, "How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and The Case for Realism" will be published in October by @stanfordpress. Defending the tradition in a time of war, climate crisis & economic dislocation. The link is now up:
www.sup.org/books/politi...