David Sterman

David Sterman

@davidsterman.bsky.social

Deputy Director, New America Future Security program “All the Presidents’ Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror” https://www.amazon.com/All-Presidents-Wars-Twenty-Five-Americas/dp/1324124067/

1.3K followers374 following1.9K posts

David Sterman reposted

Joel S.
@joelhs.bsky.social

Notable that even in his supposed paean to Israeli democracy, Ambassador Huckabee is defining "Israeli" in such a way so as to exclude Arab citizens of Israel.

David Sterman reposted

Yair Wallach
@yairwallach.bsky.social

Israel's longest serving Prime minister is posting images of queues outside polling stations in Arab towns, describing Palestinian citizens exercising their right to vote as an existential threat: "The future of our Jewish State is hanging in the balance".

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

It’s me - guy who thinks the cheesecake factory line had a classist edge and also that thinking it is some kind of major scandal or should be a point of focus would be silly and clearly manufactured nonsense in normal times let alone now.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Q re RFK’s Arabs remarks. I recognize the other parts as longstanding stereotypes with wide circulation specific to Arabs. Is the literature line also tied to common stereotypes? That specific line seemed transposed from common racist lines about African cultures to me.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

To me feels like there’s often even in stereotyped portrayals of Arab culture a recognition of literary and cultural production even if seen as inherently alien to Western culture. (Even if, perhaps part of viewing as a real enemy cultural challenge) Unsure if I’m just missing a common line/view.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Or perhaps it’s just a generalized view of colonial subjects that also applies gas applied. But that seems a tad odd given the broader Islamophobia/fear of threat politics that has shaped much of the right’s political focus on this.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Mehdi has lots to say about the “random” ad. When will he answer though for having platformed its creator as a worthy speaker on what constitutes antisemitism. Sayed might get heat but others have even more to answer for.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

“X doesn’t speak for me” is a weak disavowal. You should be able to name why the ad is bad and why its producer is a wrecker. Especially when you made a decision to steer into and campaign with influencers who came out of and share family and other ties to this network.

David Sterman reposted

David Schraub
@schraubd.bsky.social

Cenk Uygur is up to his usual wrecker behavior in Michigan, which you know (a) because he's spending only $1,000 on his "ad" -- so you know it exists only to make people mad, not be seen by actual voters -- and (b) because he's Cenk Uygur, and wrecking is what he does.

dsadevil.blogspot.comWreckers Gonna WreckThere's an ad going around in Michigan , nominally in support of Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, that's generating quite its share of c...
David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Feel like the bigger story here is a PAC organized by a media figure who has gone full on anti-Semitic conspiracist and the woeful state of a growing portion of progressive media’s lack of ethics when it comes to election coverage. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/u...

nytimes.comEl-Sayed Campaign Distances Itself From Group’s Ad Critical of IsraelAs the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan seeks to overcome intraparty tensions, his opponent in the primary, Haley Stevens, said a PAC’s ad was “fearmongering about Israel.”
David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Also think this article punts on the larger ways the campaign is entangled with that and thus provides a framing that is sort of both unfair to Sayed on some specifics and simultaneously too credulous regarding his political approach.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Two thoughts sparked by Trump’s latest comments on Somalis. 1) There’s a tendency to overestimate impact of Trump’s racism re increased airstrikes. It’s an easy tale but I suspect wrong. 2) people still underestimate extent that racism vs Somalis specifically dates to his initial campaign.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Not only that it dated to his initial campaign in the form of the travel/Muslim ban’s initial defenses but also intersections with a larger environment of violent, racist far right threats that seemed to increase at that time.

David Sterman reposted

Dan Lamothe
@danlamothe.bsky.social

EXCLUSIVE: Pete Hegseth wanted Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it. The Pentagon denied us access to take photos, but we obtained some anyway. A story in global affairs: wapo.st/3WF2YQo

wapo.stHegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.Photos obtained by The Post show a gash in the World War II-era artifact that resulted from a botched relocation attempt inside the Pentagon.
David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Having to make this appeal to people is a sign you’re in trouble. You don’t need to cajole or threaten if folks are in line. If that wasn’t the case the reply could easily have done the poor comparisons and emphasis on the race without criticizing republicans en masse.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

WOW -- Vance *defends* Vivek's reprehensible ad 👇 Q: Ramaswamy's campaign put out a controversial ad featuring his opponent's mother. Some Republicans are backing away. Do you think it was appropriate? JD VANCE: Well, I'll be honest. Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern.

David Sterman reposted

emptywheel
@emptywheel.bsky.social

Really nutty that in all the stories anticipating a post-election purge never consider purging Stephen Miller, whose policies are among those most directly responsible for whatever election loss there'll be. edition.cnn.com/2026/10/20/p...

edition.cnn.comFears of a post-midterms Trump rampage spur ‘brutal’ internal jockeying | CNN PoliticsPresident Donald Trump still has two weeks to salvage his Republican congressional majorities and defy expectations of a midterm wipeout. But all around him, aides and allies are bracing for what happ...
David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

I get maybe this is new to this specific round, but combined attacks to overwhelm / evade defenses dates to almost the start of the Houthi’s missile/drone war.

Institute for the Study of War@thestudyofwar.bsky.social

NEW: The Houthis are adopting new tactics to bypass Saudi air defenses, including launching various munitions at Saudi targets simultaneously and targeting locations without air defense coverage. Read the full update: isw.pub/IranUpdate10...

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Haven’t had a U.S. strike in Somalia announced in a while. Not sure if just slow to announce or an actual slowing. This is atop the seeming lull/end of the targeting of ISIS Somalia.

David Sterman reposted

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Some thoughts sparked by the NYT’s report on paramotors and other manned light air platforms in Myanmar and how they interact with and should inform thinking on the logics driving states and nonstate actors to turn to drones. smallwarsjournal.com/2026/10/16/u...

smallwarsjournal.comUnder the New Logic of Drone Warfare, Is Unmanned No Longer a Key Capability?The use of manned drones in Myanmar help expose strategy and context necessary in understanding the spread of drone warfare.
David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Hey it’s the man Mehdi Hasan, who has spent the past bit discoursing on Jewish names, thought made sense to platform to “debate” whether a Nazi tat was disqualifying.

Post-Left Watch@postleftwatch.bsky.social

Cenk Uygur thinks there's "validity" to the theory that Israel was behind the Butler, PA alleged assassination attempt on Trump, and that it was meant to be a "warning" to scare Trump into doing what Israel wanted.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Really liked this piece though wonder if a focus on precarity/disposability might ground a different reason somewhere between self-interest and morality. I think there are ways that is more shared than an absolute poverty/marginalized position. sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-...

sootyempiric.blogspot.comThe Poor, The Personal, and the ProletariatJust a short kvetch about something that I feel often causes confusion among online left wing people and where I feel we could do better if ...

David Sterman reposted

Mike Goodman
@themlg.bsky.social

This is really really bad from Mehdi Hasan.

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social

Netanyahu is a genocidal war criminal who belongs in the Hague, but Jews were not considered ethnic Poles based on the Polish government, and Polish Jewish last names were forced on families against their will. This kind of conspiratorial rhetoric about Jews faking their identity is gross.

David Sterman reposted

Brian Finucane
@bcfinucane.bsky.social

The failure of leadership was POTUS usurping Congress’s war powers to illegally launch the Iran War in the first place. That’s the ultimate failure of leadership that resulted in her death. US and international law make it hard to go to war for good reasons.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

JD Vance takes a question from a man whose wife was an American who died in an Iranian air strike in March. He says "there's a failure in the leadership" and asks Vance "how is this administration gonna start holding those leaders accountable for the deaths of the soldiers that we honor and love?"

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

I mean sure I do think can be a risk of criticism of the initial decision without addressing the now. But usually making that argument requires A) a real recognition of the error B) a real policy shift w signs of improvement

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

JD Vance: "I see what Abdul El-Sayed says about the war in Iran. I see him criticizing decisions the president has made, the military has made. But fundamentally we are where we are.I'd like to know what's Abdul El-Sayed's solution for the problem we have right now? It's easy to criticize"

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

You can’t just replay the surge talking points without A) doing the surge-like act and all the other things at the time that enabled it to have some limited success. B) the turnover at the top and recognition of failure. Remember Rumsfeld was fired as other mil leaders.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

When a major political crisis is fueled by non-US air strikes, it’s past time time for two things: 1) people to stop assuming the U.S. is behind every strike or who an “international partners” reference means. 2) the U.S. gov to take seriously the costs of misdirection/bs/and covert strikes.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

Some thoughts sparked by the NYT’s report on paramotors and other manned light air platforms in Myanmar and how they interact with and should inform thinking on the logics driving states and nonstate actors to turn to drones. smallwarsjournal.com/2026/10/16/u...

smallwarsjournal.comUnder the New Logic of Drone Warfare, Is Unmanned No Longer a Key Capability?The use of manned drones in Myanmar help expose strategy and context necessary in understanding the spread of drone warfare.

David Sterman reposted

The Nexus Project
@nexusproject.bsky.social

This was out of line. Criticizing foreign investment and real estate, including Israeli investment, is fair game. But it's not fair game to frame Israeli investments as part of a broader narrative about global domination and the root of society’s problems.

David Sterman
@davidsterman.bsky.social

That said do think a lot of the broader ideas and cautions are just obviously needed. Just not sure how this provides a useful answer to the underlying challenges and in some cases probably makes it worse.