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Neil Abrams Profile picture
Neil Abrams
@neil_abrams
Corruption, democracy, rule of law, Eastern Europe, Ukraine. Words in WaPo, Slate, Foreign Policy. PhD, polisci. He/him 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 https://t.co/pcrqiBljCC
11 subscribers
Oct 9 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Lost amidst the interminable calls for “peace” is that an agreement to end the war is likely impossible. Neither the fervent wishcasting of Western pundits nor even, if they were so inclined, the very parties involved, can make it happen. In my latest, I explain why. 🧵 As always, you can find the link at the end of the thread or in my bio.
Jul 27 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Want to see a progressive sound off about “spheres of influence” like they’re Otto von Bismarck? Beseech the great powers to divide up smaller nations over cigars and brandy? Parrot the inane rationales of a genocidal empire? It’s easy! Just bring up Ukraine.

My latest 🧵 Image Russia’s war on Ukraine has all the ingredients to turn a certain gullible progressive bad. It prompted global condemnation. The perpetrator’s a longtime enemy of the U.S. and a victim an ally. So it’s practically tailor-made to arouse the skepticism of contrarian leftists.
Jul 16 • 18 tweets • 7 min read
A lot of scholars are seemingly hellbent on damaging their reputations with ruinous advice on Ukraine and Russia. The past week alone has seen three open letters from this sorry genre, all of which, if carried out, would put real people’s lives in danger. Let’s take a look.🧵 Image As always, you can find the link at the end of this thread or in my bio.
Jul 10 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
“The sooner peace is negotiated the more lives will be saved…”

Anyone who says this—and it is stunning how many do—immediately discredits themselves. What on earth do these people think will happen to the millions of Ukrainians trapped under permanent Russian occupation??? 🧵 The vast majority of Ukrainians reject a territorial partition with Russia, and there is a very, very good reason for that. Far from having their lives saved, they will experience mass killing, filtration camps, deportations, arbitrary arrest, torture, and sexual violence.
May 17 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
Humanity nowadays seems to be divided into two groups: Those accusing others of antisemitism, and those denying the people so accused are antisemitic. Only it’s a complete train wreck, as no one’s defining what they mean by the term. Fret not, for I am here to help.

My latest:🧵 Image As always, you can find the link to the piece at the end of this thread or in my bio.
Apr 29 • 25 tweets • 9 min read
Russia has waged many wars since 1991. Only this one is genocidal. Thus arises the obvious question: Why? What makes Ukraine different?

In my latest for The Detox, I offer an answer. 🧵 Image Before I start, here is where you can find the piece: Image
Apr 12 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Russia’s war on Ukraine is notable in that there’s really no moral ambiguity involved. At all. So if your goal is to introduce any moral complexity into it, the only way to do it is by making up a bunch of shit that never happened.🧵 For starters, the Euromaidan was not a coup.
Apr 7 • 34 tweets • 7 min read
Here's the problem with b.s. like this. Even if you buy the claims of Assad apologists that a few of the alleged attacks were false flags, you're still left with literally hundreds of documented chemical attacks which none of these people have ever so much as questioned. 🧵 An NGO called GPPi has compiled the most comprehensive dataset I've managed to find on chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war. The methodology is extremely rigorous. Image
Mar 31 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
In today's edition of "libertarians are ridiculous people," we examine noted crank Ammon Bundy. After going on the run from police, Bellingcat geolocated him to (are you sitting down?) Utah.

I wouldn't normally comment, only the self-awareness issues on display are astounding🧵
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Image For those unfamiliar with him, Bundy espouses an apocalyptic ideology which sees divine providence in, of all things, the rather famously-secular U.S. Constitution. Image
Mar 3 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The commonality between Palestine and Ukraine isn’t war; it is occupation. The difference is that Palestinians mostly lack the ability to resist—hence the call for a ceasefire. Ukrainians still have it—hence the rejection of a ceasefire. The goal is to get the occupier out.🧵 “You can’t compare the two cases,” many say, “they’re different.” Yes, they obviously are. Still, in this one fundamental respect—a state trying to violently subjugate an unwilling population—they are the same.
Feb 25 • 33 tweets • 10 min read
Now that our old friend is back with a fresh "Maidan coup" take, it is worth reviewing just how dumb this argument is. It's not only that the general argument is dumb; in fact, every single permutation of its various strands is just mind-numbingly stupid. Let's take a look.🧵 Let's start with the new NYT article. "Why," Maté asks, "was Ukraine's new spy chief already on such good terms with the CIA and MI6, literally on the night of" this supposed coup?
Jan 7 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
So after proudly leading the charge to oust Claudine Gay over alleged plagiarism, @BillAckman finds himself defending his academic wife against the same charges. Below, I’ve compiled a short thread of examples of Ackman invoking his natural right to hypocrisy. Enjoy! 🧵 First, some context. As you’ll see, Ackman’s wife is basically accused of the same type of sloppy citation as Gay; only his wife’s case, the conduct appears to be more extensive and considerably more egregious:
Dec 29, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
The glaring objection none of these peace-trollers—literally none—ever deal with is that any armistice will lead not to peace but to endless atrocities against Ukrainians trapped under Russian rule. That’s because to even acknowledge it would obliterate their entire argument.🧵
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Image We know this because (a) it’s what Russia has always done after the end of armed hostilities and (b) it’s what Russia *says it is going to do.*

That’s leaving aside the impossibility of a deal even lasting due to Russia’s demonstrable bad faith.
Dec 14, 2023 • 20 tweets • 7 min read
Today, we conclude our Russiagate series. In it, we scrutinized the shameless gaslighting of two prominent collusion-deniers, @mtaibbi and @aaronjmate. We also covered a grave but little-noticed example of Trump-Russia collusion.

First, let’s summarize the main findings: 🧵 Image @mtaibbi @aaronjmate Link to the piece appears at the end of the thread.
Oct 9, 2023 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
I'd like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Aaron Maté.

A man of unimpeachable honesty and moral consistency.

A principled opponent of occupation wherever it exists, he'd never tacitly support it in some places but not others. No sir he would not.

Let us review 🧵 "I've never argued that Ukraine should accept Russian occupation."

Okay bud. What exactly do you think your constant demands for "peace" would entail? Something *besides* occupation?


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Sep 23, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
The problem, @stephenWalt, is not that people condemn you; it’s that you *do not listen* to them and just continue repeating the same lines.

You’ve already made your “moral case for pursuing peace.” What you haven’t made is your moral case for occupation.

Time to do it. 🧵
Image You see, @stephenWalt, if you frame your argument in terms of what it would actually entail—occupation—it would force you to consider some realities to which I have yet to see you so much as allude.
Sep 21, 2023 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
Yesterday I made some comments about Croatia’s Operation Storm, in which it recaptured Krajina from pro-Serbian rebels in 1995. On reflection, many of my longstanding assumptions about it were wrong. What’s more, I was quite a prick about it, so some apologies are in order. 🧵 First, some background: Operation Storm was one part of a much broader set of brutally violent wars surrounding the collapse of Yugoslavia, a process which roughly spanned 1991-2001. Arguably, it all began in 1981 in Kosovo, a majority-Albanian province.
Sep 14, 2023 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
If you’re awful and widely disliked, it’s tempting to think you’re the victim of tyranny. It can be quite thrilling, in fact!

Truth is, you’re not “censored;” you’re just a terrible person, and society’s telling you so.

To wit: Max Blumenthal and The Grayzone

My latest: 🧵 Image Link to the piece is at the bottom of the thread.
Jul 9, 2023 • 27 tweets • 9 min read
My point, Aaron, is that you *don’t actually care* about the people affected by these conflicts.

You do care about exploiting their suffering to make a name for yourself. But you don’t care about them.

I can prove it, too.

A thread: For starters, you’ve spent the entire war ignoring or denying one Russian atrocity after another—the massacres, deportations, indiscriminate aerial bombings, etc., etc. But now you suddenly pretend to care about…cluster munitions?

Gimme a break.
Jun 26, 2023 • 19 tweets • 8 min read
Last time, we examined Russiagate’s central figure, billionaire Kremlin-proxy Oleg Deripaska, and his bid to shape the Trump presidency.

Today we look at his origins in one of the most violent and generally insane chapters of Russia’s post-Soviet history: The aluminum wars. 🧵 Link, as always, is at the bottom of the thread.
May 8, 2023 • 14 tweets • 10 min read
Russiagate, pt. 2:

When revelations emerged of a 2016 meeting between Trump’s campaign manager and a reputed Russian spy, prominent collusion-deniers @mtaibbi and @aaronjmate sprang into action. The result was two desperate and dishonest interviews.

My latest for The Detox:🧵 Image @mtaibbi @aaronjmate As always, the link to the piece is in the final tweet of the thread.