tim frye

tim frye

@timfrye.bsky.social

Political Science at Columbia, Editor Post-Soviet Affairs, Autocracy, democracy, and the NBA. Most recently, Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia and Workplace Politics: How Politicians and Employers Subvert Elections.

8.2K followers1.6K following282 posts

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

The Harriman Institute is celebrating its 80th year in many ways including short reports from its history. This one is chilling. For me especially, since I was a housesitter for John Hazard. harriman.columbia.edu/the-russian-...

harriman.columbia.eduThe Russian Institute in the McCarthy EraDuring the early years of the Cold War, the Russian Institute found itself in a politically delicate situation. Its founding mission promoted the deep study of contemporary Soviet Russia. However, the...

tim frye reposted

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Look forward to talking with the great Sam Green and Michael Kimmage on Tuesday at 1 East Coast time. Zoom registration below. Hope to see you there. www.kennaninstitute.org/events/timot...

kennaninstitute.orgRussian Public Opinion After the Duma Elections — Kennan InstituteThis conversation with Timothy Frye, a political scientist at Columbia University and a member of the Kennan Institute Advisory Council, and Samuel Greene, a political scientist at King's College Lond...
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Look forward to talking with the great Sam Green and Michael Kimmage on Tuesday at 1 East Coast time. Zoom registration below. Hope to see you there. www.kennaninstitute.org/events/timot...

kennaninstitute.orgRussian Public Opinion After the Duma Elections — Kennan InstituteThis conversation with Timothy Frye, a political scientist at Columbia University and a member of the Kennan Institute Advisory Council, and Samuel Greene, a political scientist at King's College Lond...

tim frye reposted

Vladimir Zabolotskiy
@zabolotskiy.bsky.social

2+ years in the making, and our paper “Fear, soft propaganda, and the demand for government intervention” is finally out in the European Economic Review 🎉 Thanks to @nikitaz.bsky.social, @timfrye.bsky.social, Koen Schoors and Katya Borisova for being amazing coauthors 🔻Old thread + new link below

Vladimir Zabolotskiy@zabolotskiy.bsky.social

🚨 Ever wondered how fear and misinformation shape demand for government intervention? Our new @cesifo.org working paper provides some evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. Check out the link and a short thread below! 🧵 #workingpaper #covid #covid19 #russia www.cesifo.org/en/publicati...

cesifo.orgFear, Soft Propaganda, and the Demand for Government Intervention: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from RussiaWe explore the impact of fear on demand for government intervention. Our empirical strategy takes advantage of a unique quasi-experiment: During our survey in Russia, a very popular television program...
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Looking forward to taking part in this event at noon today at Harriman to launch the new issue of our magazine. Virtual access still available. I also include a link below to my article. harriman.columbia.edu/event/democr... harriman.columbia.edu/reflections-...

harriman.columbia.eduDemocracy in Crisis: A Harriman Magazine PanelPlease join magazine authors Timothy Frye and Thomas Kent and editor-in-chief Ann Cooper for a panel discussion of soft power and democracy promotion in the region – its history and what happens now t...
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Looking forward to taking part in this event on February 17 at noon both online and in person. It launches our articles in the newest Harriman Institute magazine. harriman.columbia.edu/event/democr...

harriman.columbia.eduDemocracy in Crisis: A Harriman Magazine PanelPlease join magazine authors Timothy Frye and Thomas Kent and editor-in-chief Ann Cooper for a panel discussion of soft power and democracy promotion in the region – its history and what happens now t...

tim frye reposted

Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social

Not how the rule of law works. Precisely the opposite, in fact.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social

You should read this. It is the type of detail that experts in authoritarian regimes see as telling. In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...

nytimes.comProsecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

tim frye reposted

Joe Adalian
@tvmojoe.bsky.social

Amount of time network evening newscasts devoted to reporting on today’s protests and general strike in MN (not including coverage ICE actions or their attempts to spin) ABC: 45 seconds NBC: 20 seconds CBS: 15 seconds PBS: 2 minutes, 20 seconds

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

This seems important

W. Carson Byrd@wcbyrdphd.bsky.social

Re the February Dear Colleagues letter that threatened funding for schools & universities over DEI-related efforts: ‘[Ed Dept]…moved to dismiss its appeal. It leaves in place a federal judge’s August decision finding that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment & federal procedural rules.’

apnews.comTrump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and collegesThe Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation’s schools and colle...

tim frye reposted

Page Fortna
@pagefortna.bsky.social

Lovely to see the outpouring of love for Kimuli, whose presence is so very missed. I’m adding here the “in memoriam” colleagues wrote for the department (a bit more personal than the one from the university!) polisci.columbia.edu/content/memo...

polisci.columbia.eduIn Memoriam: Kimuli Kasara | Political Science
Belinda Archibong@belindaarch.bsky.social

I am so very sorry to hear about the passing about my friend and colleague Professor Kimuli Kasara. She was a brilliant scholar and a bright, funny, warm person. I remember first meeting her as the only other Black woman/faculty at the Columbia political econ seminar and feeling relief/happiness

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Thanks for posting. Looks interesting and will read with interest. Glad to see academic posts like this on Bluesky.

Max Alyukov@max-alyukov.bsky.social

New preprint is out! Focusing on Russia, this paper asks what happens when disinformation awareness itself becomes a tool of authoritarian rule. We often assume that learning about disinformation increases resistance to propaganda. But what if the regime weaponises it? 1/7

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

This pretty damning. Hard to see how faculty will take his leadership seriously.

Matthew Gillikin@mtgillikin.bsky.social

A blistering critique of UVA’s presidential search process that also raises some serious concerns about Beardsley’s resume. That guy has got to go. augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...

augustafreepress.comHow UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to findInside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Five years since the January 6th insurrection and a reminder that in the moment many Republicans and Trump voters were appalled, but many also were not.

tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

If kidnapping a country’s leader doesn’t count as an act of war, then what does?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why wasn't congressional authorization necessary? RUBIO: It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.

tim frye reposted

Kye
@gxldsociety.bsky.social

BREAKING: A Russian newspaper today — “America no longer sees our country as a threat… The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World… he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold that must be destroyed…” Read that again.

tim frye reposted

Don Moynihan
@donmoyn.bsky.social

Texas Universities are now like police departments who would prefer to pay out the inevitable lawsuits rather than stop breaking the law

Texas Tribune@texastribune.org

Texas A&M University will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after a video of her teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature class went viral, despite a faculty appeals panel unanimously concluding that her dismissal was not justified.

texastribune.orgTexas A&M won’t reinstate fired lecturer despite findingsA vice chancellor upheld the firing of Melissa McCoul, seen in a viral video being confronted by a student on her gender identity teachings, saying the termination was done with “good cause.”

tim frye reposted

Keith Boykin
@keithboykin.bsky.social

The New York Times investigated 346 people who donated at least $250,000 to Trump and found that more than half of them (197) have received pardons, jobs, government contracts, special treatment, or favors.

nytimes.comHundreds of Big Post-Election Donors Have Benefited From Trump’s Return to OfficeWell into his second term, the president and his allies have continued aggressively raising money. Many donors have interests before his administration, The Times found.

tim frye reposted

Shaun Pinner
@shaunpinner.bsky.social

edition.cnn.com/2022/04/12/u... The Kremlin Kids, Russian Hypocrisy is well known and won’t change. The West is bad, but not that bad………….’ Peskov – reportedly made $173,000 in 2020

edition.cnn.comKremlin-connected children grew up in the very countries whose societies their parents claim to reject | CNNRussian leaders denounce the West while their children live affluent lifestyles abroad. Meet the kids of the Kremlin.
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Such a shortsighted decision at a moment of international turbulence. These centers are needed now more than ever.

Jason "Red5" Lyall@jaylyall.bsky.social

UNC-Chapel Hill is closing all six of its area studies centers to save $7 million dollars. UNC's football coach, Bill Belichick, makes $10 million a year. In total, the football team now has a $40 million budget. Make this make sense.

dailytarheel.comUNC cuts all six area studies research centers, effective 2026As part of the University's plan to make $70 million in budget cuts across the institution, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Nate Knuffman projected that cutting 14 centers and institutes in...
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

Hard agree with Kotkin here www.foreignaffairs.com/china/weakne... and if you want more detail on the Russia case, See my book, Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia www.amazon.com/Weak-Strongm...

foreignaffairs.comThe Weakness of the StrongmenNot long ago in the sweep of history, countries that had once been buried behind the Iron Curtain, and even some Soviet republics, were transformed into members of the solidly democratic club. Some of...

tim frye reposted

Don Moynihan
@donmoyn.bsky.social

Replying to @donmoyn.bsky.social

Longer thread on relevant research: bsky.app/profile/prof...

Elizabeth N. Saunders@profsaunders.bsky.social

🧵Here's a research-backed answer: No. 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.orgNo Substitute for Experience: Presidents, Advisers, and Information in Group Decision Making | International Organization | Cambridge CoreNo Substitute for Experience: Presidents, Advisers, and Information in Group Decision Making - Volume 71 Issue S1
tim frye
@timfrye.bsky.social

A ray of hope on an otherwise bleak weekend.

24Hours Ukraine@24hoursukraine.bsky.social

🇭🇺Massive demonstrations in Budapest, Hungary against the Viktor Orbán’s regime. Protesters carried toys and torches under the banner “Protect the children!” showing solidarity with children who became victims of abuse in the state care system