|
Maria Popova@popovaprof.bsky.social |
2429 followers 445 following 391 posts
Polisci prof at McGill U
Regimes, rule of law, (anti)corruption in đșđŠ đ·đș đ§đŹ đȘđș
Books: Politicized Justice in đșđŠ đ·đș (CUP 2012); Russia and Ukraine (Polity 2023)
ECPR keynote lecture: "Ukraine is Europe": tinyurl.com/48mf47fa
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
âBridge to membership" is an empty, meaningless phrase. Ukraine knows it. NATO knows it. Ru, of course, knows it too. Since Ukraine isn't joining NATO any time soon, Ru continues to think it'll eventually break Ukr resistance and establish control. This policy prolongs the war.
0 replies 4 reposts 15 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
The Ru missile attack on Kyivâs main childrenâs hospital should be a wake up call to all Westerners who believe/assume weâre doing our best to help Ukr. We are not. We havenât provided Ukr enough air dĂ©fense, weâre not letting them strike Ru mil bases, and we allow Western technology to flow to Ru.
1 replies 41 reposts 123 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Ruâs missile attack on a Kyiv childrenâs hospital is part of Ruâs long track record of ignoring intl law. Itâs also a test of Western resolve to help Ukraine defend itself properly. The West is so far failing each testâ it restrains Ukr fr targeting Ru mil bases, while Ru bombs Ukr civilian targets.
0 replies 11 reposts 25 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Thanks for checking it out! Itâll be an article soonâŠ
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
Georgi Stankov
@georgistankov.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I enjoyed the lecture of prof. Maria Popova (@popovaprof.bsky.social) about Ukraine's path towards European Union.
Prof. Popova suggests three lessons drawn from the experience of Ukraine and the current Russian-Ukrainian war.
#Ukraine #polisky
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjl3...
1 replies 1 reposts 4 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Scratch a self-proclaimed pacifist/anti-war acct and youâre bound to find a self-hating Westerner weirdly projecting their guilt over Western wrongdoings into sympathy for the Ru aggressor while utterly uninterested in Ukrâs desire to avoid destruction/subjugation. Itâs pathetic, really.
0 replies 1 reposts 12 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
In the occupied territories, Ru not only forces Ukrainians to take Ru passports, but tells them they should Russify their last names because Ukrainian names are a sign of Nazism. Definitive proof that for Ru âdenazificationâ simply means âde-Ukrainizationâ.
0 replies 6 reposts 12 likes
|
Pwnallthethings
@pwnallthethings.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Annoys me that folks accept the framing that this is about "peace talks". It's not. It's about surrender terms.
10 replies 46 reposts 321 likes
|
|
Pwnallthethings
@pwnallthethings.bsky.social
[ View ] |
This is pretty explicit articulation of what a Trump victory means for UA. Essentially the US will condition support to UA on "peace talks" at current lines. That'll be super easy for R to game out, with the tl;dr being if UA does not surrender, it will be abandoned. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
10 replies 176 reposts 385 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
âRuâs historic security concernsâ, âthreat perceptionsâ, âsphere of influenceâ are euphemisms used by those who support/justify Ruâs continued/resurgent violent, unwanted dominance over its neighbours. After getting invaded and occupied repeatedly by Ru, only EEuropean security concerns are legit.
0 replies 6 reposts 32 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Good point
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
No, thatâs a Moskvich, in the hierarchy of crappy Soviet cars it was above the Trabant, but below the Lada
0 replies 0 reposts 0 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I wouldnât go that far. In terms of consumer goods, it was way better than USSR. All the Soviet Bloc was. In terms of oppression, quite similar to the USSR
1 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
It probably will be useful indeed. Itâs just important to get the context right and not constantly overestimate every development as signalling Ruâs impending victory
0 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
My father had one of these and from the very day he bought it, it had engine issues so we never knew whether it would start upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
1 replies 0 reposts 5 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
In fact, conventional wisdom has almost turned to regret that these systems were supposedly destroyed whereas they actually collapsed onto themselves as a result of unsolvable dysfunction
0 replies 0 reposts 8 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I actually wrote an article about my grandfather and his life marked by constant fear of the regime: jnp.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/de...
1 replies 0 reposts 9 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I visited my cousin in West Germany in the late 1980s and not only couldnât believe my eyes when I saw the 20 flavours in the ice cream parlour in her tiny Bavarian town, but also was amazed she could ask her teacher critical questions abt the material and not fear her parents would be fired
3 replies 5 reposts 89 likes
|
|
Pwnallthethings
@pwnallthethings.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I really, really winds me up with folks valorize the USSR. I really do not think most folks understand the sheer scale of horror and baseline violence society operated under, how totally pervasive the kleptocracy was, how incompetent it was, how vicious it was, or how nationalistic and expansionist.
28 replies 92 reposts 760 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Seems impossibly hard for Western media to internalize the reality that Ru is a shadow of the superpower the USSR was. I had to emphasize 2-3 times that Puâs NK visit shows Ruâs desperation and rogue status, rather than some spectacular military/econ development thatâll help Ru win against Ukr.
7 replies 40 reposts 165 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Chomsky is such an arrogant dolt. His impending demise has flooded xitter w short videos w his commentary and the one w him shitting on EEuropean dissidents and telling a Czech audience the USSR didnât oppress their country too much managed to piss me off.
0 replies 7 reposts 60 likes
|
Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social
[ View ] |
nailed it.
26 replies 309 reposts 1762 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Never use the « Imagine if Ru did XâŠÂ» construction to criticize another stateâs bad behaviour. Just stop it. The probability that Ru has actually done X and even worse approaches 1, so the construction virtually always makes one look like an idiot at best or a Ru apologist.
0 replies 1 reposts 11 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
The big story of the European elections is Le Pen winning big and Macron dissolving parliament, but imho, this bizarre snippet from Bulgariaâ a conman felon w a private militia and a party called Majestic Splendor cleared the 4% threshold in a shocker unpredicted by any pollsterâ deserves more attn.
0 replies 7 reposts 24 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Surveys could show 100% support among a tired and misinformed Western public for negotiating an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war, but no amount of wishful thinking can change the reality that Pu doesnât offer compromise. Heâs sought to control Kyiv govt since 2014. He wants Ukraine to surrender.
1 replies 0 reposts 14 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Work on your reading comprehension
1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes
|
David Schraub
@schraubd.bsky.social
[ View ] |
My friend @jeffkopstein.bsky.social , one of the most prominent researchers on contemporary antisemitism active today (and someone whose rigorous *empirical* work on the phenomenon is sorely needed), shared a photo of a "Wanted" poster targeting him on the UC-Irvine campus.
Despicable.
9 replies 76 reposts 186 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Haha, well -put
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Yup, thatâs the first clue I picked up
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Well, sure. The problem is with those who think that if somehow âtoo manyâ people (whatever that means) think X, X must actually be problematic, simplistic, a mistake, etc. The new contrarian articles on Ukr arenât getting us closer to the truth, but muddying it
1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
On point. What is this, btw? Looks so realâŠ
1 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Weâre in for a barrage of academic articles seeking to challenge the consensus that Ruâs attack on Ukr is unprovoked, imperialist aggression and the q is how, not whether to help Ukr. Sometimes consensus truly exists bc the truth is obvious and challenging it is neither necessary nor a brave act.
2 replies 16 reposts 37 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
The main purpose of the « Ru goals are unclear » rhetorical device is to float the idea that negotiations would be useful because they would reveal Ruâs supposedly true goals and they might not be unacceptable to Ukr and to all who want conquest to be a thing of the past.
1 replies 2 reposts 10 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
If Ru had limited goals (taking « Ru-speaking areas » or keeping Ukr out of NATO/EU) all it had to do was annex DNR/LNR, continue corruption Ukr through oligarchs, and keep reminding NATO Ukr shouldnât be let in. The West is deferentialâ Ukrâs NATO chances are still nil, as in 2014-2022âŠ
2 replies 1 reposts 11 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I routinely see claims that Ruâs war aims are unclear. Theyâre crystal clear: control of Ukrâs central govt, destruction of Ukrâs national identity through murder/re-education, and imposition of Ru-defined identity. Post-2014 Ru actions in occupied Ukr and run on Kyiv prove itâŠ
1 replies 15 reposts 44 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I agree. I donât think any good faith negotiations are forthcoming. Only warning that anything else than an offer of Ukraineâs immediate NATO membership is entirely unserious
1 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
As long as Pu isnât signalling, Ru would accept rump Ukraine in NATO in exchange for a territorial settlement, but hinting at Western-brokered regime change in Kyiv, itâs clear he doesnât want negotiations, but vassalization/occupation of Ukraine without further Ru military losses.
1 replies 2 reposts 12 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Many have rightly criticized the Biden admin for forbidding Ukr to strike targets in Ru w US weapons. Iâll stress this: the policy and Ukrâs persistent pushback to it lay bare the absurdity of claims that the West is pressuring/tricking Ukr into fighting instead of « allowing » it to sue for peace.
0 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
|
Jacob T. Levy
@jacobtlevy.bsky.social
[ View ] |
I don't know anything about political messaging or advertising or reaching voters in a fragmented media age or anything else like that. I just, at a gut level, want every voter in America to hear the mantra "felon, fraud, rapist, insurrectionist" four times a day for the next 30 weeks.
11 replies 104 reposts 414 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
If it wants to restore peace and security in Europe, the West needs to send Ru a strong/credible signal that it would NOT let it slowly/incrementally ré-establish control over parts of Europe. So far, Ru has mostly gotten signals that reinforce their chosen strategy.
1 replies 2 reposts 15 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Pro-Ru trolls will continue repeating the « scuttled peace deal » manipulation ad nauseam, but at this point there's no good faith discussion/ambiguity about what happened during the spring 2022 meetings between Ru and Ukraine. Ru demanded that Ukraine surrender, Ukraine refused. End of story.
2 replies 4 reposts 16 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Haha, yes, indeed, the country Georgia,đŹđȘ ,Sakartvelo. I wouldnât comment on the state of Georgia
0 replies 1 reposts 5 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Exactly
0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
would be replaced by legal and extralegal repression of the opposition, as well as electoral engineering, media manipulation, and weaponization of law which would make free and fair elections improbable.
0 replies 3 reposts 15 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
It's important for intl journalists covering the massive protests in Georgia to understand that the details of the law that was the trigger are irrelevant; the size of the protest reflects widespread fear that the govt is suspending democracy and if the protest fails, democracy fails too and...
2 replies 12 reposts 34 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
đ
0 replies 0 reposts 2 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Touché!
0 replies 0 reposts 5 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
At US passport control (late 2000s) Agent: why are you going to the US? Me: You to give a talk at a university Agent: about what? Me: Rule of law Agent (looks at my Bulgarian passport again): what does a Bulgarian know about the rule of law? Me: come again? (He laughed it off and let me through)
3 replies 0 reposts 20 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Donât trust any expert who says we donât know what Ruâs aims in Ukr are. They are clear! Plan A: full control of the central govt and directing it to enact policies to destroy the Ukr nation as Ukr define it. Plan B: physical destruction of Ukr state/nation, as much as conventional warfare allows.
0 replies 4 reposts 11 likes
|
|
Maria Popova
@popovaprof.bsky.social
[ View ] |
Journalists (w the help of a few biased experts) tend to underestimate Ru's desire to control or destroy Ukr state and overestimate Ru's capacity to win the war. The result is that too many people think compromise and independent Ukr in new borders is both wise and realisticâŠ.
1 replies 3 reposts 14 likes
