Nathaniel Powell

Undiplomatic Historian--France, Africa, etc., Africa Analyst @oxfordanalytica, Hon. Researcher @CWDlancaster, author of:

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

The day is finally here. My amazing wife Aviva Guttmann's new book "Operation Wrath of God," detailing European complicity with Israeli assassination campaigns in the 1970s, is out. Buy it, you won't regret it!

[Dr Aviva Guttmann @GuttmannAviva]

It is here! It is publication day of my new book about ‘Operation Wrath of God’ - My research reveals for the first time how Western intelligence agencies helped Mossad to hunt and kill Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities in Europe
@cambUP_History

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@SashoTodorov1 "Speak" appears to be something of an exaggeration for a lot of these guys.

[Oliver Eagleton @Oliver_Eagleton]

It's here: the inaugural issue of @phenomenalworld, on American Power in the age of Trump, has just been published online.

Featuring essays on Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, China and the Gulf, plus Tim Barker's sweeping history of 'declinisms'.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@AgendaMali @BridgesFromBKO @Jacob_Judah @FinancialTimes There were several high profile Western journalists from mainstream newspapers who before and after 9/11 were able to interview al-Qaeda figures. Eg Peter Bergen and bin Laden.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@OumarKBa I guess we'll find out if he calls for new legislative elections at the end of the year. He might get stomped though.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

Not really unexpected, but I do not see how Faye ends up winning this showdown.

[RTS SENEGAL @RTS1_Senegal]

Le Président Bassirou Diomaye Faye met fin aux fonctions du Premier ministre Ousmane Sonko et de son gouvernement.

🔗 Suivez le direct ici⤵️
https://t.co/ks6Cmf7TSi

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@OumarKBa Maybe you're right! It's hard for me to judge the real balance of power. But if Faye ends up being held responsible for austerity, subsidy cuts, and a brutal IMF program, Sonko could take advantage of that right?

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@GregGrandin You're being unfair to bricks.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@JoshuaMCastillo @JeremyMRich Sure but that could apply to just about anyone. There's a line between empathy with your subject and assuming the distance necessary to be able to say "wow, at the end of the day there are a lot of dead bodies there."

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

This comparison is grossly unfair to Mobutu and possibly even Suharto.
"The president may wish to be considered in the same class as Napoleon or Alexander the Great, but he is in danger of turning himself into the next Mobutu Sese Seko or Mohamed Suharto" https://t.co/UeoMtF0viC

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@JeremyMRich I can't stand the guy, but he was a giant compared to the current occupant of the White House.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@GregGrandin @PhilWMagness @mattieenigmatic A good update on Gleijeses' work concerning Lusophone Africa in the 60s and 70s is this (there is a lot on Soviet-Cuban relations): https://t.co/uYSeRA9ffa

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@GregGrandin @PhilWMagness @mattieenigmatic They disagreed profoundly on strategy in Angola, it's true, (the Cubans were right).

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@GregGrandin @PhilWMagness @mattieenigmatic Cuba and the Soviet Union were absolutely on the right side in Southern Africa and both made important and positive contributions to ending colonialism and white rule. Magness's big problem is that he's rather fond of both.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

Are there any other remaining living former heads of state from the 1960s? It's hard to believe Gowon is still around. https://t.co/LvCAJeblHD

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

Mary Beard, Richard Evans, William Dalrymple, James McPherson

[iwsfutcmd will see you at VC5 @iwsfutcmd]

i'm actually more interested in popular history works that historians universally agree "yeah, that's a solid one."

first one that comes to mind is "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" by @CharlesCMann

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@UririWanywa @kinjeketile There's definitely nacro-trafficking from South America to and through West Africa. But there's no evidence that jihadists are players in this chain.

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

More mythmaking about narco-terrorism in Africa I see. Someone should write a history of the absolutely bonkers geopolitical narratives that US policymakers have told themselves and others about Africa since, well, 1776.

[Defense News Nigeria @DefenseNigeria]

There is a symbiotic relationship between South American drug cartels and terrorist groups in West Africa. A cocaine shipment bound for West Africa, with a street value of $1 billion was recently intercepted with intel provided by AFRICOM.

AFRICOM Commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@EdgyGookie @MaxGurewitz If you adjust their chronological parameters just a bit, their argument starts to fall apart. Also, their argument doesn't account for China particularly well (it may have seemed superficially more plausible when they wrote it).

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

Jared Diamond, Robinson and Acemoglu, Yuval Noah Harari, and Niall Ferguson.

[Moonstruck❤️‍🔥 @godspeed_aflame]

sometimes I'll hear about an interesting sounding history book, and then I do some more research and learn that historians actually consider it the stupid book for morons that you should only read if you want to be wrong about everything

[Nathaniel Powell @natkpowell]

@EdgyGookie @MaxGurewitz But just to name a few issues-- they get basic facts about institutions wrong in a number of places (notably their African examples), they seem to fit their historical narratives to their argument rather than vice-versa.