Stephen Walt (@stephenWalt) / X

Stephen Walt

10.7K posts

Stephen Walt

@stephenWalt

Harvard professor, realist, FOREIGN POLICY columnist. For speaking engagements, contact John Bute at [email protected].

Brookline, MA

Joined June 2011

Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Sep 30, 2024
If someone bombed the United States and killed 1000 people, I doubt US officials would call it “limited.”
818K
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Sep 28, 2024
This is pretty simple. If you don't want someone to do something, you don't give them the means to do it. One must therefore conclude the US government does not object to what Israel has been doing for the past year.
481K
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Dec 9, 2023
As a realist, I recognize that sometimes there are tradeoffs between legitimate security interests and moral considerations. That said, I am finding it hard to understand how any senior U.S. foreign policy officials can look at themselves in the mirror today.
1M
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Oct 11, 2018
We should all be angry about what appears to be a blatant act of murder by Saudi Arabia, but notice that the senseless killing of one well-connected dissident journalist has triggered way more elite outrage than the prolonged and brutal bombing of thousands of anonymous Yemenis.
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Feb 27, 2022
I am reminded of Sun Tzu's dictum that one should "build a golden bridge for your enemy to retreat across." Unity, resolution, and continued pressure on Russia are necessary, but saving #Ukraine also requires making it easier for Moscow to reverse course.
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Jul 6, 2023
If you're alarmed about a possible Chinese "base" on Cuba, you might begin to grasp why Russians from across the political spectrum saw Ukraine joining NATO one day as a threat. Doesn't make the invasion any less illegal or tragic, but it does help you understand why it happened.
1.4M
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Jan 3, 2021
The scariest thing about the GOP Senators’ absurd election protest is that they genuinely believe it’s in their political interest to make accusations that they all know are baseless.
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Oct 25, 2017
I don't know about you, but when someone describes themselves as a "very intelligent person," I tend to assume the opposite. #trump
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Aug 19, 2021
A lot of smart people seem to have lost their bearings this week. If the era of US primacy is ending—a highly debatable proposition—it’s not because we are finally leaving #Afghanistan. It’s because we stayed too long, squandered lives & $$, and didn’t invest wisely at home.
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Oct 26, 2021
I have some unsolicited advice for all Americans: don’t watch cable news. Not @FoxNews. Not @CNN. Not @MSNBC. Or anybody else. Read a book or a magazine or a decent newspaper or go for a walk instead. You’ll be happier and just as well informed.
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Jan 7, 2024
Why #Gaza is such a problem for #Biden: in 2020 a big advantage for Biden was the perception that he was a fundamentally decent person whereas #Trump was clearly incompetent and cruel. But now Biden looks heartless or clueless (or both) and many see him as no better than Trump.
282K
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
May 26, 2024
Serious question: has anyone in the Biden administration explained how its policy on #Gaza is making the United States more secure, more prosperous, or more admired around the world?
190K
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Jan 2, 2024
I can’t decide which possibility bothers me more: 1) that US foreign policy officials genuinely believe what they keep saying, or 2) that they know what they are saying is hypocritical nonsense but don’t care and think we’ll buy it.
279K
Stephen Walt
@stephenWalt
Oct 16, 2017
Here's an intriguing counterfactual: imagine that every pundit who advocated for the Iraq War in 2003 had been let go and replaced by someone who had opposed it. WSJ, WaPo, and NYT would be far more diverse, accurate, and interesting today.