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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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It shall remain bloodless if reviewer two allows it to be.
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Eelco van der Maat@evandermaat.bsky.social |
98 followers 117 following 28 posts
Tenured scholar of genocide, authoritarian politics, and elite rivalry at Leiden University. Argues that mass killing is driven by elite rivalry in authoritarian regimes. Dad to two terrible little dictators. Husband and co-conspirator.
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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It shall remain bloodless if reviewer two allows it to be.
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Popehat
@kenwhite.bsky.social
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I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say the decision threatens the Republic. I might not have said so in 2015, before I saw how triumphantly lawless and autocratic the President could be, and how so many people would applaud it or at least shrug.
42 replies 496 reposts 1694 likes
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Very possible. I would hit migrants or other vulnerable outgroups first. I would break humanitarian norms to provide information on private loyalties within the security services. This would allow me to sideline officials that might oppose me. After that, I'd turn my loyalists on other enemies.
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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After sidelining the people, authoritarian elites build new coalitions and violently dispose of rivals. Aging leaders like Trump risk violent removal—and so do their supporters. Some will float to the top. And they'll destroy the remainders of their coalition. To live in fear.
0 replies 1 reposts 9 likes
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Republicans that hitch their ride to authoritarianism should realize that it is an existential risk to the American way of life—beyond any electoral defeat. US politicians, corporations, and churches cannot thrive in an authoritarian environment.
3 replies 1 reposts 12 likes
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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After sidelining the people, authoritarian elites build new coalitions and violently dispose of rivals. Aging leaders like Trump risk violent removal—and so do their supporters. Some will float to the top. And they'll destroy the remainders of their coalition. To live in fear. 2/2
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Would-be authoritarians; what is the end-game? Republicans that hitch their ride to authoritarianism should realize that it is an existential risk to the American way of life—beyond any electoral defeat. US politicians, corporations, and churches cannot thrive in an authoritarian environment. 1/2
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Popehat
@kenwhite.bsky.social
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There are two elements to the immunity decision that are particularly extreme in a way that many will miss: (1) motive is irrelevant and (2) immune acts are not just excluded from prosecution, they’re excluded from evidence. /1
50 replies 906 reposts 2442 likes
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Popehat
@kenwhite.bsky.social
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/8 At any rate, congratulations to the Federalist Society for an achievement beyond the reach of the British, outside the grasp of bloody civil war, impossible to Nazis and Soviets and terrorists: defeating the American idea.
40 replies 894 reposts 2791 likes
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Very happy that my new book, 'Elite Rivalry, Mass Killing and Genocide in Authoritarian Regimes: Why Autocrats Kill' has been published by Routledge! The flyer has a discount code. Many thanks to Stathis Kalyvas, Philip Roessler, and Alex Hinton for their kind endorsements. 🧵 Shares appreciated. 1/
2 replies 3 reposts 13 likes
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Many thanks to all who helped make this possible and were willing to listen to my thoughts on genocide. You’ve been a tremendous help! I’m happy to talk genocide and rivalry any time! 22/22
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Genocidal consolidation is instrumental to winning elite rivalry. It is therefore not driven by random madness or the desire to kill an outgroup. Autocrats kill because of elite rivalry that results from the structural constraints and commitment problems that they face. 21/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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In sum, genocidal consolidation may be rare, but comes at a staggering cost in life. Stalin’s collectivization, the Cambodian killing fields, the ethnic cleansing i former Yugoslavia, and the Rwandan genocide have enduring consequences for security and economic development. 20/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Research shows that ideology builds coalitions and facilitates mass killing. The salience of extremist ideology should therefore be greater at times of high elite rivalry. The case of Ivory Coast indeed suggests that elite rivalry affects the salience of extremist ideologies. 19/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Last, the book explores how elite rivalry drives extremist ideologies by exploring the process of violence in Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast was at-risk for mass killing. It had: civil conflict, a vulnerable outgroup, and extremist ideologies. And yet its civil war did not devolve in mass killing. 18/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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The book demonstrates that the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides were not just ideological but also driven by elite rivalry. Genocidal consolidation explains why violence against outgroup victims and ingroup elites co-occurs. The book therefore suggests a new understanding of these genocides. 17/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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I also qualitatively trace the process of mass killing in the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides. Mass killing built coalitions; pressured civilians and local officials into support; divided support coalitions of rival elites; and ultimately allowed for the purge of rival elites from the regime. 16/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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I examine many cases both quantitatively and qualitatively. A large-N study of mass killing and purges finds that: 1) elite rivalry corresponds to mass killing onsets; 2) mass killing corresponds to elite purges; and 3) genocidal leaders are more likely to survive. 15/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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When conflict between groups (Hutu vs. Tutsi) generates private benefits to elites against rivals that outweigh the costs of conflict, any room for agreement between groups disappears. This can explain seemingly irrational violence of authoritarian elites beyond mass killing and genocide. 14/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Last, the book examines a key dimension in the production of political violence: whether it is driven by between- or within-group competition. Genocidal consolidation demonstrates one of the processes through which violence produces private benefits for authoritarian elites. 13/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Third, the book provides novel insights into processes of authoritarian consolidation. By focusing on elite support coalitions, it contributes to research into the violent coalition-building and disempowerment tactics that authoritarian elites adopt to manage rivalry. 12/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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This book introduces a novel explanation based on rational elite incentives for strategic self-preservation. The explanation accounts for why genocidal elites target victim outgroups with mass killing when the main threat to their survival comes from rival elites within their regime. 11/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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The elite ideology explanation is likely incomplete because it doesn’t consider the strategic considerations of elites. It also cannot explain why mass killing occurs during elite rivalry: why wouldn’t elites consolidate power first, before embarking on risky ideological ventures? 10/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Mass killing implies a domination-vulnerability paradox (Straus). It requires both the physical domination of the victim as well as its construction as a threat. Mass killings have therefore been explained by attributing genocidal elites with strong ideological preferences for violence. 9/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Second, I provide a single parsimonious rational explanation for mass killings where existing strategic explanations have remained unconvincing. Scholarship has shown that indiscriminate violence is not actually effective against outgroups and is likely to increase resistance. 8/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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This book provides four main contributions. First, I identify a previously unexamined type of mass killing that is observably distinct from counterinsurgency mass killing. These mass killings lack a single rational explanation that accounts for strategic incentives of genocidal elites. 7/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Mass killing therefore allows elites to rearrange elite support coalitions from the bottom up and increase their security versus key rivals. Because this type of mass killing is part of authoritarian consolidation, I refer to this process as "genocidal consolidation." 6/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Second, mass killing indirectly targets support coalitions of rival elites. Local security officials must choose to oppose or join the violence. This offers rivals’ supporters an exit option, provides information on private loyalties, and undermines rivals’ support coalitions. 5/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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Specifically, I argue that mass killing serves two main goals. First, mass killing builds support coalitions with various constituencies that gain from violence against outgroups. It thereby builds a formidable repressive apparatus that can also be turned on ingroup rivals. 4/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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The book builds on arguments from my paper in International Organization (edu.nl/h8hyb). I argue that mass killing is actually a rational reaction to elite rivalry: the threat that authoritarian elites face from rivals with which they share control of the state. 3/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
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First, I realize that this is a very, very, expensive book. With the discount code SMA22 at the Routledge book page (below), you get 20% off. There is also an electronic version.
Or you could just place a request with your library. That’s what I would do.
www.routledge.com/9780367529604
2/
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Eelco van der Maat
@evandermaat.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Very happy that my new book, 'Elite Rivalry, Mass Killing and Genocide in Authoritarian Regimes: Why Autocrats Kill' has been published by Routledge! The flyer has a discount code. Many thanks to Stathis Kalyvas, Philip Roessler, and Alex Hinton for their kind endorsements. 🧵 Shares appreciated. 1/
2 replies 3 reposts 13 likes
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Iva Vukušić
@vukusiciva.bsky.social
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It's 10.30 pm and I've just finished my notes for the online event I am participating in tomorrow. Come join us. I'll be talking about the lessons from the former Yugoslavia for Ukraine, in terms of war crimes prosecutions. Don't make the mistakes we made. Make new ones. cas.uniri.hr/ukraine-and-...
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Benjamin Leruth
@benleruth.bsky.social
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It is indeed ridiculous, short-sighted and highly damaging to the Dutch society. Evidence clearly shows thay such a policy would bring major setbacks (look at Denmark).
Dutch universities slam ‘ridiculous’ proposal to cap foreign students
www.theguardian.com/world/2023/n...
1 replies 9 reposts 12 likes
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Iva Vukušić
@vukusiciva.bsky.social
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“The sheer number of deaths, the scale of the devastation in Darfur and the lack of attention show how the international system is failing right in front of our eyes,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/w...
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@jljacobson.bsky.social
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5 replies 119 reposts 419 likes
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Carolyn E Holmes
@carolyneholmes.bsky.social
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My new favorite thing.
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Iva Vukušić
@vukusiciva.bsky.social
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Oh yes! My first book came out one year ago! The hardest thing I have ever done. Here it is, soon in a cheaper, paperback edition. Thanks to all those who have already read it, and occasionally tell me how much they appreciated it. www.routledge.com/Serbian-Para...
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Dr. Salah Ben Hammou
@salahbhpolisci.bsky.social
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Dictatorsky
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