Daniel W. Drezner

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19 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 19 Sept

From one piece The Beclowning of the State Department Continues Apace 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Trump's foreign policy and national security team is staffed with incompetent people at every level.

Their words

Remember: when it comes to Trump's foreign policy and national security team, it's incompetents all the way down.

danieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
The Trump administration's recent foreign policy failures have significantly eroded U.S. deterrent power.

America

Their words

the steady accumulation of humiliating defeats that have badly eroded U.S. deterrent power.

danieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Simultaneously holding the Secretary of State and National Security Advisor roles prevents either job from being done well.

Their words

The most obvious problem is that Marco Rubio continues to hold both the Secretary of State and national security advisor positions. This has been going on for nearly 18 months now and it's obviously not working well at all.

danieldrezner.substack.com

17 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 17 Sept

From one piece Donald Trump Is No Longer Feared 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Trump's tariffs and his war in Iran are contributing to current U.S. inflation.

inflationAmerica

Their words

The current problem with prices might be one part AI construction boom, but it is one part Trump's tariffs and one part Trump's war in Iran as well.

Donald Trump Is No Longer Feareddanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Failed U.S. attempts to secure its preferred outcomes in the Persian Gulf will keep energy prices elevated.

energyAmerica

Their words

So it does not seem as though U.S. preferences in the Persian Gulf will be achieved - which means prices in general and energy prices in particular are likely to stay high.

Donald Trump Is No Longer Feareddanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Trump is globally hated but not feared, the opposite of where Machiavelli said a prince should be.

Their words

In Machiavellian terms, Trump is no longer feared, and he's definitely no longer liked. Instead, he is hated - which is the one thing Machiavelli stressed should be avoided at all costs.

Donald Trump Is No Longer Feareddanieldrezner.substack.com

14 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 14 Sept

From one piece The Dollar Will Be the Last Pillar To Fall 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
The Trump administration is accelerating the decline and fall of American global hegemony.

America

Their words

I honestly do not know if the Trump administration will be able to completely eviscerate American power over the next two year - but damn they sure seem to be accelerating the decline and fall of American hegemony.

The Dollar Will Be the Last Pillar To Falldanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Overusing financial statecraft, allying with overseas populists, or prolonged anti-immigrant policy will push even close U.S. allies toward alternatives to dollar- and Wall Street-centered systems.

immigrationAmerica

Their words

Excessive use of financial statecraft, alliances with overseas populists, or prolonged bouts of anti-immigrant hysteria, however, will force even close allies to start thinking about alternatives.

The Dollar Will Be the Last Pillar To Falldanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
The U.S. dollar's continued global dominance is a lagging indicator, not proof that American hegemony remains intact.

America

Their words

the dollar's status is not a harbinger of U.S. hegemonic decline - it's a lagging indicator.

The Dollar Will Be the Last Pillar To Falldanieldrezner.substack.com

10 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 10 Sept

From one piece That’s Not How Academic Freedom Works, Vanderbilt Trustees!! 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Sustaining collective action against the federal government is difficult

government

Their words

a hard-earned lesson of the past few months is that mobilizing collective action against the federal government is hard.

danieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Teaching that reflects political commitments is a legitimate part of intellectual diversity, not a violation of academic norms

Their words

There is nothing wrong with promoting perspectives that have political commitments; in fact, intellectual diversity requires this, because some viewpoints include political commitments.

danieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Universities and their administrations should remain ideologically neutral toward faculty's political views

Their words

An institution must remain neutral with regard to the ideological beliefs of its faculty.

danieldrezner.substack.com

9 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 9 Sept

From one piece The Trump Administration Strategy Fail 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
A government's foreign-policy failures often stem from its policymakers' laziness rather than strategic miscalculation.

government

Their words

the Trump administration's foreign policymakers are so lazy that they keep self-sabotaging.

danieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Governments running pressure campaigns tend to wishfully overestimate how close the adversary is to collapse.

Their words

A second pathology is the administration's wishcasting that Iran is just days away from collapsing.

The Trump Administration Strategy Faildanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
A leader too impatient to sustain a waiting game will undermine strategies built on economic pressure and waiting out an adversary.

Their words

Trump is lousy at playing a waiting game, and that's what this strategy entails

The Trump Administration Strategy Faildanieldrezner.substack.com

8 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 8 Sept

From one piece The Devolution of the Policy Planning Staff 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Marco Rubio is struggling to hire talented staff and is settling for loyalists who follow his instructions instead.

America

Their words

This suggests that Rubio is having some difficulties hiring anyone with talent and is settling for a putz who will do what Rubio tells him to do on Latin America.

The Devolution of the Policy Planning Staffdanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
The Trump administration is replacing professional bureaucracy with a corrupt, personalist system that extracts rents through force.

Their words

In practice, Hochman's hire is another nauseating sign that the Trump administration is destroying the bureaucracy in favor of some corrupt, neo-royalist husk of an apparatus that mostly posts memes and occasionally deploys the 82nd Airborne to extract rents.

The Devolution of the Policy Planning Staffdanieldrezner.substack.com

7 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 7 Sept

From one piece My Frustration With Puzzlebox Television 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Fully revealing a mystery-box show's central plot often disappoints viewers, flattening everything that happened before it.

Their words

Once the entire plot is revealed in shows like this one, it can be a letdown, flattening what has happened previously.

My Frustration With Puzzlebox Televisiondanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
For a mystery-box TV show to work, its world-building must be imaginative and believable and its characters compelling.

Their words

For them to work, the world-building has to be imaginative and believable, and the characters have to be compelling.

My Frustration With Puzzlebox Televisiondanieldrezner.substack.com

2 September

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 2 Sept

korrents.com
A superpower's deferential posture toward rival great powers can alienate its allies while yielding no strategic payoff in return.

ChinaRussiaAmerica

Their words

the Trump administration's deferential posture towards Russia and China has alienated allies. But on the other hand, it has gained the United States nothing in the way of strategic stability.

So How Is The Concert of Trump Going?danieldrezner.substack.com

31 August

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 31 Aug

From one piece Pete Hegseth is Losing His Grip 2 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
The U.S. military campaign against Iran is failing and has imposed massive strategic costs on the United States.

America

Their words

the United States is not winning that war and the strategic costs have been massive.

Pete Hegseth is Losing His Gripdanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
A candidate's political success is increasingly disconnected from their actual record of accomplishment.

Their words

Clearly the link between actual records of accomplishment and political success has been weakened just a wee bit.

Pete Hegseth is Losing His Gripdanieldrezner.substack.com

29 August

Daniel W. DreznerKorrents 29 Aug

From one piece The Professor and the Plutocrat and AI 3 beliefs, in the piece's order there

korrents.com
Eliminating paper-writing as a student assignment would remove a core skill needed for most professions requiring a graduate degree.

Their words

I am extremely concerned that this trend will eliminate paper-writing as an assignment, and that is a core function of most professions requiring a graduate degree.

The Professor and the Plutocrat and AIdanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
AI output quality is mixed at best without strong underlying critical thinking skills.

Their words

Without a well-developed set of critical thinking skills, AI outputs will yield variegated results at best

The Professor and the Plutocrat and AIdanieldrezner.substack.com
korrents.com
Many professors do not write their own newspaper op-eds themselves.

Their words

The dirty secret is that many professors do not write their own op-eds.

The Professor and the Plutocrat and AIdanieldrezner.substack.com

26 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 26 Aug

A Reminder that Launching a Trade War With Canada is Galactically Stupid
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25 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 25 Aug

Testing Trump’s Sino-American Entente
AmericaRelated

24 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 24 Aug

Two Years of the Dumbest Foreign Policy Imaginable Is Starting to Yield Negative Returns
AmericaRelated

21 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 21 Aug

A Very Important Post About.... Men Wearing Shorts in the Office
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19 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 19 Aug

Categories of Contempt
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17 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 17 Aug

Donald Trump Gives Up on American Foreign Policy
AmericaRelated

14 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 14 Aug

What I am Reading in August 2026
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13 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 13 Aug

What to Make of the 2026 Boston Red Sox?
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12 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 12 Aug

Corruption All the Way Down
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10 August

Daniel W. DreznerNewsletter 10 Aug

Ross Douthat's Pivot to Video
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