Robin Brown

Researching the historical sociology of statecraft; mainly about public diplomacies, cultural relations/diplomacy.

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

New framework for US research grants probably isn't that different from the Soviet Union in the 1930s https://t.co/scgq5kF0nu

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

https://t.co/XtdA4ioEmC

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Entirely consistent with the history of UK public diplomacy in the US ...https://t.co/tLuK0a1sbc

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Narendra Modi was in Oslo yesterday...

[The Wire @thewire_in]

Norwegian Press | By: Rude Awakening Productions

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

China's investment in media control shapes the data that Chinese AI is trained on influencing outputs

[Sol Messing @SolomonMg]

New in Nature: LLMs give "the party line" in the languages of authoritarian regimes. This works when they control the media, which feeds pretraining data. We show more state control over media means less critical LLMs. 6 studies w 38 languages & 13 models. Details ↓

[Chris Greenway @ChrisGreenwayUK]

My look at a Cold War radio story barely known outside Italy: "Oggi in Italia", the 1950s&60s station with an audience of millions. It's been written about in Italian, but there's almost nothing in English. https://t.co/wrXrIThC0L @claudioc @aborgnino @italradio @MediaHistoryNow

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Lots of other stuff going on but the UN is selecting a new Secretary General https://t.co/X5Uw5rqo2c

[Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 @borzou]

Unprecedented rains have filled up aquifers, river beds, and lakes across the Middle East over the last few weeks, alleviating a years-long drought that was largely attributed to climate change.

A theory is catching fire that Iran managed to destroy radars and other US infrastructure that was manipulating the weather and blocking rains as part of and Israeli plot to weaken the Arab world and Iran and Turkey.

I’m not a climate scientist, but I looked into this a little bit and it doesn’t seem scientifically sound at all.

However, the theory is doing incredible damage to the US reputation across the region.

If the US had a functioning, State Dept or international communications operation, it could push back.

Unfortunately, the country is run by a demented game show host and his criminal and pedophile hangers-on, so the idea that the US and Israel collaborated to destroy the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the region will solidify.

[John Schindler @20committee]

"Everybody spies, but part of this secret dance is an understanding that a country won’t spy on an ally too aggressively ... Only Israel considers itself exempt."

https://t.co/QVLyCYhYkj

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

https://t.co/oIQeGh40Dt

[Vali Nasr @vali_nasr]

A revealing account of the last round of nuclear talks between US and Iran in Geneva before the war. How close the two sides were to a deal, and the until now unknown role GB played https://t.co/BwzBW3NO3n

[Angelica 🌐⚛️🇹🇼🇨🇳🇺🇸 @AngelicaOung]

Did YOU want to watch CCTV's AI Martial Arts cartoon about the Straits of Hormuz crisis? Complete with fighting Persian Cats? Well I subtitled it for you so you can enjoy it in all its trope-laden glory! Remember kids, the mountains will stay standing while the green water flows, and the true art of war is not figuring out how to fight, but how to stop!🥷😼🦅

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

https://t.co/NllfWuEH6w

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Parliamentary report here https://t.co/S3DYJrULoE

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

https://t.co/0k7yLjkNEy

[Nitin Pai @acorn]

What I’m baffled by is Iran.

The ayatollah regime suffered decades of pain and sanctions merely to uphold their right to a bomb?

They didn’t build one in the two decades they had, and instead thought that on proxy militant groups will suffice?

Romanticists, not realists!

[Kim Andrew Elliott @kaedotcom]

"Much of that privileged access is believed to operate through so-called 'white SIM cards' – mobile lines exempt from Iran’s filtering system that allow direct access to blocked platforms such as X, Telegram and Instagram."

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Back in the 1990s the US policy was 'dual containment' - Iraq and Iran. I suspect that the Gulf view is that this policy needs to come back - only now directed at Iran and Israel

[Ulrich Speck @ulrichspeck]

The alternative to regime change in Iran is containment.

But that can't be done by Israel alone, when Iran gets powered up by Russia and China.

The US, in this scenario, must help, Gulf Arabs must take sides, and Europe needs to build up Israeli military power as well.

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Although it means your house will fall in the sea sooner than you expect.

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

"The report authors analyzed 385 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 15 years on sea level rise and the hazards it poses to coastlines. They found 90% relied only on assumptions from models rather than real, measured observations." https://t.co/t7vKBbUVu7

[Robin Brown @rcmb]

Inability to tell the difference between the model and reality is the modern reality