MariaRepnikova

The New Soft-Power Imbalance China’s cautious response to America’s retreat.

My new piece @foreignaffairs.com on whether #China is stepping into the #SoftPower gap left by the US withdrawal. I argue that it is doing so reluctantly, both in terms of material and ideological diplomacy. Take a look here: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Protest and repression in Belarus COVID taught Belarusians to self-organize. Then they started demonstrating. Author Natalya Chernyshova discusses the protests, crackdown, and dodgy democracy under Trumpian Lukashenko.

The Trump leader of Belarus and his malcontents: a new Rhyming Chaos podcast with Natalya Chernyshova and @mariarepnikova.bsky.social

Trump is the symptom, not the disease What we can actually learn from history to make sense of the world and its leaders in 2025, with historian and author Moshik Temkin.

New Rhyming Chaos podcast with @mtemkin.bsky.social talking to @mariarepnikova.bsky.social and me, on many things including forgotten heroes like senators Morse and Gruening, lone dissenters against the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Yesss!

If we had learned the lessons of Italy's Berlusconi, we would not have Trump Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an author and leading scholar of authoritarians. We discussed what Berlusconi and Mussolini can tell us about Trump and Musk's America.

Our new episode w @goldkorn.bsky.social #RhymingChaos features Professor @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social. We talked about #Berlusconi's lessons for #Trump era, about the insecure strongmen, the origins of #authoritarianism and of course, about #MuskTrump www.rhymingchaos.com/p/if-we-had-...

"Don’t open the door to nobody!” Life in Pinochet's Chile and Trump's America. Stacy Torres' Chilean father advised her to be extremely suspicious about anyone who wanted information from her. She now knows why he seemed so paranoid.

A chat with Stacy Torres about her Chilean father's fear of tyranny and working as an academic in a world under attack from Trump, with me and @mariarepnikova.bsky.social

"Don’t open the door to nobody!” Life in Pinochet's Chile and Trump's America. Stacy Torres' Chilean father advised her to be extremely suspicious about anyone who wanted information from her. She now knows why he seemed so paranoid.

Our new Rhyming Chaos episode with
@goldkorn
is out now contrasting #Chilean dictatorship with contemporary #America. We interview Stacy Torres, a sociologist and a daughter of a Chilean immigrant who taught her how to be careful: www.rhymingchaos.com/p/dont-open-...

Join us in a minute!

Invitation to live 'Getting By' call with Rhyming Chaos Join us for a chat about how we're getting by in Trump and Musk's world on Friday May 16 at 4pm ET.

Tomorrow at 4pm ET, join me and @mariarepnikova.bsky.social for a Zoom group chat about how we're getting by in Trump and Musk's America.

Don’t shoot your neighbors, invite them to dinner Filip Noubel has been training journalists and lawyers in authoritarian countries for decades. We asked him how we should handle Trump and Musk's America.

Another excellent Rhyming Chaos episode, 1st co-hosted by @goldkorn.bsky.social & @mariarepnikova.bsky.social, truly global, fittingly as the guest is @nasredinhoja.bsky.social, editor at large of @globalvoices.org www.rhymingchaos.com/p/dont-shoot... , good stuff on China & many other places

In addition to liking and learning from multiple episodes of Rhyming Chaos, enjoyed this updated "about" page for it now that @mariarepnikova.bsky.social has joined to co-host it with originator @goldkorn.bsky.social www.rhymingchaos.com/about

Don’t shoot your neighbors, invite them to dinner Filip Noubel has been training journalists and lawyers in authoritarian countries for decades. We asked him how we should handle Trump and Musk's America.

New Rhyming Chaos: @mariarepnikova.bsky.social and I interview @nasredinhoja.bsky.social

Excited to be part of the team with @goldkorn.bsky.social!

Oh thank you @marcus1984.bsky.social! Very kind of you!

Thank you!

Global Public Opinion: How Does the World See China? Join us for an online discussion on how China is viewed by citizens around the world, particularly in the Global South, and the implications for policymakers, including in China.

@asiapolicy.asiasociety.org Center for China Analysis’s new website measures how China is viewed by the rest of the world, especially the Global South. Learn more about the site today with @zhubochubo.bsky.social, @mariarepnikova.bsky.social, Cindy Yu, and @neilthomas123.bsky.social.

Self-censorship and media control in China, Russia, and the U.S.A. How authoritarian regimes control public discourse—an interview with Maria Repnikova, a scholar of censorship and propaganda in China and Russia.

The Trump-Musk junta and their goons, supported by cowards like Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong, are threatening freedom of expression at universities and in the media. Here are some lessons from China and Russia, from @mariarepnikova.bsky.social.

Enjoyed recording this with @goldkorn.bsky.social -- long-time expert in everything #China who happens to also have Jewish-Latvian roots ha. His podcast is awesome, and what a great name: Rhyming Chaos.

To the world:
We are fighting back. Our movement has been silenced by the media here—but we are not backing down. This is what our streets looked like across multiple cities. Tomorrow, there will be more of us! Raise a glass to freedom.

—With love,
Your American allies.

Nope

Scary image!

Take me with you!

“They need us” and we don’t really need them is basically #trump era foreign policy 2.0

So #China is now a motivator for withdrawing from international orgs like WHO. Every policy to come is a pure transactional logic. No vision. #trumpreturn

Today feels like a month already. What’s everyone’s coping strategies?

Brother knows me like no other. Look at this #Navalny art piece he gave me.

She is a fierce girl

Sassy and I wish you a vigorous week!

Oh I haven't see that yet! I will check it out, and the books.

I don't quite get the book lists for the year. Tell me instead about the writing you read over and over and how it moved you, or a poem that you can't forget.