Rory Truex

YouTube video by Rory Truex Can American Democracy Survive Trump? | Marcel Dirsus, The Next Best

Got invited by @rorytruex.bsky.social to discuss American democracy and US-EU relations. I told him both are in crisis because of Trump. But, as always, there's hope. Watch below:

youtu.be/fOy1uuKo-vs?...

The end of exchange? The state of US-China academic relations w/Rory Truex Two academic-types talk about academic things and mourn times of better academia past

Had the honor of joining Edi on @sinobabble.bsky.social to talk about the dismal state of US-China academic exchange.

open.substack.com/pub/sinobabb...

YouTube video by Rory Truex National Security Leaders Sound the Alarm on Trump's Authoritarianism | Steven Cash, Steady State

youtu.be/aSOgiQbohk4?...

Also on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or anywhere you get your pods: open.spotify.com/episode/3h12...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

The Civic Forum 🚨NEW EPISODE🚨

This week I spoke with Stephen Cash of the @thesteadystate.org on the authoritarian threats posed by Trump, the rise of ICE, how the intelligence community has changed under Trump 2.0, and the consequences for national security and democracy.

Link in the replies 👇

Why the United States Needs China Expertise Rory Truex shares barriers to studying China and the consequences a lack of China expertise could have for the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Why does the United States need to better understand China?

Rory Truex (@princeton.edu) joined us to discuss the high barriers to studying China and the consequences a lack of China expertise could have for the future of U.S. foreign policy.

▶️ Watch: https://www.ncuscr.org/video/china-expertise/

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

You should read this. It is the type of detail that experts in authoritarian regimes see as telling.
In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

The top fraud experts in the office left. So did...a veteran in prosecuting sex crimes & child pornography cases. Calhoun-Lopez, who oversaw the major violent crimes unit, also departed. “It will take years to build the contacts in state and local law enforcement that has been lost,” Mr. Luger said.

Name them
shame them

The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."

Just staggered by the complete moral void of not even *pretending* to wait for more information before pivoting to “the opponent of the state deserved it.” It is so insanely depraved. Soulless.

Trump and the New International (Dis)order | E21: Paul Poast, University of Chicago Spotify video

From Civic Forum interview with Paul Poast:

"Go back to 1895, New York. Find a businessman, bring him to the present, make him president of the United States, and then ask yourself what would make sense to him and what would make no sense to him."

open.spotify.com/episode/6836...

This has been the plan all along.
- Foment violence and chaos in the streets of MN
- Implement the Insurrection Act
- Declare Martial Law
- Suspend elections

@chrislhayes.bsky.social: “A 37-year-old American citizen, the mother of a young child is dead tonight. She was shot in the face by an agent of the federal government, and that government has spent the day telling despicable lies about her.”

I am impeaching Secretary Kristi Noem, who is an incompetent leader and a disgrace to our democracy.

She wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area and has brought her reign of terror to Minneapolis. One of her rogue ICE agents shot and killed an innocent woman today. It must come to an end.

Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting "They killed my wife," the distraught woman says, adding, "They shot her in the head." An ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving an SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday. / Screenshot/@Breaking911

"They killed my wife. I don't know what to do," the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. "We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head," the woman cries. "We have a six-year-old at school," she says, almost unable to breathe, as a chaotic scene in which federal officers prevented at least one doctor who was on the scene from assisting the shot victim unfolds. "We're new here," the distraught woman says in despair.

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.

This could be you.

Our Authoritarian Year: 2025 in Review I will forever remember 2025 as the year when Americans got a taste of what it is like to live under an authoritarian government.

I wrote up a Year in Review for 2025, “Our Authoritarian Year.” So much has happened, I tried to synthesize the story into chapters— The Authoritarian Onslaught, Overreach, Popular Backlash, and Defection. I am optimistic about the chapters to come in 2026.

open.substack.com/pub/rorytrue...

The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.

Come for the insightful analysis from Michael, stay for my lite conspiracy theories about oil at the end. Thanks Michael for joining, I learned a lot from our conversation.

My conversation with Princeton Professor Rory Truex on the American confrontation with Venezuela: where it's coming from and where it could be headed

YouTube video by The Civic Forum Trump, Maduro, and the Crisis in Venezuela | Michael Albertus, UChicago

Will Maduro hold onto power? Why is Trump so interested in Venezeula? What are the best paths forward for the Venezuelan people? @mikealbertus.bsky.social came on The Civic Forum this week to break down all things Venezuela. Available wherever you get your pods: youtu.be/iHTnb2wO2SA

Just when I thought I couldn't admire the man more...

🎯 🎯 🎯 💯 💯 💯 👍 👍 👍

MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?

NOEM: We haven't deported veterans

MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea

YouTube video by The Civic Forum Is American Democracy Failing at the State Level? | Jake Grumbach, UC Berkeley

Last week I had @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social on The Civic Forum to talk about the state of American democracy, and the role that state politics is playing in our authoritarian turn. Particularly relevant for the unfolding situation in Texas. youtu.be/tbxCMSwJ-o4

🚨 Excited that "Making Bribery Profitable Again? The Market Effects of Suspending Accountability for Overseas Bribery" by Eddy Malesky, Lucio Picci, and me has been published in FirstView at @iojournal.bsky.social!

Open Access: doi.org/10.1017/S002... 1/n

YouTube video by The Civic Forum Is American Democracy Failing at the State Level? | Jake Grumbach, UC Berkeley

Was on Civic Forum with @rorytruex.bsky.social talking about US democracy. We talked about political inequality & minority rule in the US, with a focus on my research on the states. But then talk about what's new in the more acute democracy crisis of 2025

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbxC...

Here's a new session of The Civic Forum with the great @debpearlstein.bsky.social on how the U.S. is "losing the law." We talk about how the courts and legal norms have changed, the implications for our democracy, and possible paths to reform. open.spotify.com/episode/4pyY...

A coalition that ranges from democratic socialists to neoconservatives, including a lot of energized liberals in between, is large and formidable.

A big pro-democracy tent. A united front. Any internal disagreements can be hashed out once the authoritarian emergency is over.

This really can work.

Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop with Lee Drutman | The Civic Forum E12 Spotify video

Had a great conversation with @leedrutman.bsky.social on the need for political reform in the US. Lee has been a long time proponent of proportional representation, along with other reforms like fusion voting and expanding Congress that can improve representation. open.spotify.com/episode/3DLo...

I think it's pretty clear that Xi a.) doesn't feel the need to fawn over Trump like every other leader and b.) China was ready for the trade war this time around. They've figured out they can cripple the American economy with rare earths, and Trump politically with soybeans.