Christopher Lash

Samuel Helfont, "The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2025)

Great interview of @samuelhelfont.bsky.social about his new book "The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction" with @oxunipress.bsky.social on the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social.

pocketcasts.com/podcast/new-...

Congrats!

I think it just makes sense not to be subject to US law when you're not based there

And all of this tech works very well btw + has way better data protection standards than US tech. I should have thought of it before tbh but why should my data be subject to US laws? Makes no sense. Of course some things are difficult to give up, but feeling good about my decision!

I've decided to massively decouple from US tech. I'm now using Le chat instead of US AI, Proton instead of Gmail, Vivaldi instead of Chrome and Qwant instead of Google. Anyone who's based in Europe the time is now to move towards European digital sovereignty!

‘Fishing for Profit?’ Socialist Bloc Inroads in Decolonised Spaces: The Case of Polish Fishing Co-Operation in Senegal, 1960–85 This article examines Socialist Poland’s fishing co-operation with Senegal between 1960 and 1985. Poland had the second largest Eastern Bloc fishing fleet with a worldwide reach. From the early 197...

My article about Polish Socialist fishing engagement in Senegal during the Cold War has now officially got a volume and issue number, so that means another 50 free copies to download, fill your boots! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/8BBEK...

I'm still mostly going to be focusing on the Iraq war, but it's 'nice' when real world events confirm historical precedents

The only 'good' thing about Trump's Venezuela operation is it gives me for fuel for my US neoimperialism lecture on the history of Empire course I'm preparing to teach

Yeah, think I'll give it a miss, thanks

My new open access article is out now! It continues my research into the Polish People's Republics' engagements with Francophone West Africa during the Cold War. Enjoy! resgestae.uken.krakow.pl/issue/view/802

Unlocking Opportunities: Polish economic interactions in Angola in the aftermath of decolonisation (1975–1981)1 This article examines the economic interactions between the Polish People’s Republic and the People’s Republic of Angola in the aftermath of decolonisation (1975-1981) and explores in detail Warsaw...

The article on Polish–Angolan relations is out in the Journal of Cold War History.

It explores an asymmetrical relationship shaped by anti-imperialist solidarity and economic pragmatism, but also marked by tensions, disappointments, and corruption.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Great to see on paper mine and Helder's chapter on the Angolan Decolonization process, specially as we draw close to the country's 50 years aniversary.

My new open access article is out now! It continues my research into the Polish People's Republics' engagements with Francophone West Africa during the Cold War. Enjoy! resgestae.uken.krakow.pl/issue/view/802

Btw this class is super-interesting, what a wonderful opportunity to re-visit some of the things I learned pre-university and seeing the great newish works on all of these topics. Very eye-opening!

Now of course the truth was that both the Spanish and the British were the baddies. But I had no idea that basically I was being taught kind of geopolitical propaganda that had made its way into the consciousness of Brits and British historiography, something that continues to this day

It's weird how insinuous national history teaching is. When I was at school in the UK I was basically taught that the Spaniards were the baddies and we were the goodies re: any imperial history. Only when preparing a class on Empires in World History did I realise I had imbibed the 'black legend'

I saw you cited me! Thanks!

Funny how academia works: nothing for ages, then boom, 2 articles in a week. The 2nd began with @rekakrizmanics.bsky.social email. Not my usual period but those intriguing AAN files kept calling… Of course, Jewish threads are in: I wouldn’t be me otherwise 😉. doi.org/10.1177/0888...

Good Change | Stanford University Press Few countries serve as a more useful case study for understanding the global tension between liberal and illiberal conceptions of democracy than Poland. Under the populist Law and Justice (PiS) –led g...

Our new book with @benstanley.eu on illiberalism in Poland has arrived with @stanfordpress.bsky.social. We look at the successes and failures of the Law and Justice (PiS) party as a leading example of the evolving global challenges to liberal democracy. www.sup.org/books/politi...

Nonaligned Imagination - Northwestern University Press Recovering the literary and intellectual history of anticolonial collaborations   Preoccupied with developing a multiethnic, postcolonial culture and seekin...

My book is available for pre-order from
@nupress.bsky.social. 25% discount with code NUP2025 at nupress.northwestern.edu/978081014884... Only a few more weeks until it comes out!

I gave it a bit of a go here bsky.app/profile/chri...

Good piece but not enough about the main tensions that have led many Poles to become far more anti-Ukrainian since the early months of the war

Tbf I was quite surprised that the anti-Ukrainian part of Polish political discourse was so successfully stifled in the aftermath of the invasion. Put it this way, Polish society is deeply sceptical towards Ukraine for historical reasons (and prejudice has always lurked beneath the surface)

I'm not sure how to find a way out of this impasse and Polish-Ukrainian relations are at their weakest point since the invasion. It's actually rather sad that when the conflict eventually ends, the 2 countries which were seemingly on such good terms will be potentially uncomfortable neighbours/ends

Just to underline, I don't just blame the Poles for this (although this is clear populist nationalist politicking from Nawrocki). Ukraine has been at times tonally deaf to Polish concerns and counted on complete support in a lackadaisical fashion. In addition, there are issues which need resolution

The fact that it hardly showed its face in the aftermath of the invasion shows how existential a threat Poland initially considered the situation to be. As the conflict has become less existential and more normalized it was always likely that tensions would emerge

Tbf I was quite surprised that the anti-Ukrainian part of Polish political discourse was so successfully stifled in the aftermath of the invasion. Put it this way, Polish society is deeply sceptical towards Ukraine for historical reasons (and prejudice has always lurked beneath the surface)

To all proof readers. Please do not be overly thorough and intrusive when looking through proofs. My current article the proof reader has gone a bit ballistic.

Finding Poland's boasting of the fact they recognized Palestine a bit of a self own as it happened before the fall of communism when Eastern European countries all supported the Arab side anyway

Russia's over there (thus the obligatory black clouds 😉). At a little village called Piaski (Nowa Karczma) at the Polish Baltic Sea coast very close to the border