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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
- The Borrowed Robe: How Antisemitism Dresses in Each Age’s Virtue
- The Fence and the Blessing: How Jews Have Thought About Gentiles
- A Place For You
- Tournier on Luke Ford
- Tournier on The Nostradamus Kid
- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
- The Self-Hating Jew
- The Alliance Theory in the Academy
- Dennis Prager v Cedars-Sinai Lawsuit
- Dennis Prager Through Randall Collins: Interaction Ritual Chains
- What is a ‘Received Idea’?
- Jordan Bardella: The Manufacture of Normality
- Everyone Became Television: Bourdieu’s Warning and the 2026 Iran War
- Marine Le Pen
- The Coalition-Proximity Rule
- Nigel Farage
- Bernard Haykel: A Life Between the Text and the Gun
- Walker Connor (1926-2017)
BEST POSTS:
- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Blob
Decoding Iran Expert Nate Swanson
He is a career Iran specialist who moved through the government–think tank–media circuit, the exact pipeline that produces most Washington foreign-policy experts. Here is how his alliance position works. 1. The “Professional Iran Hand” Alliance Swanson’s core identity is not … Continue reading
Decoding The Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute maintains a legacy of intellectual provocation that distinguishes it from the more cautious, consensus-oriented centers in Washington. While the Council on Foreign Relations often seeks to preserve the existing international order, Hudson analysts frequently argue that the … Continue reading
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Decoding The Center for Strategic & International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a hub in the blob (Washington foreign policy ecosystem). It is less a neutral research institution than a coordination node where several elite coalitions within the blob (the foreign policy establishment) meet … Continue reading
The Competence Critique
The current evacuation effort is a prime example of the prestige contest between the establishment’s “procedural care” and the administration’s “operational speed.” While elite media and rival politicians pounce on every delay, the Department of War and the State Department … Continue reading
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The Iran War Creates A Prestige War In DC
The Iran war is not just a military event. It is also a prestige contest inside the American elite system. Two coalitions are competing to prove they are competent to manage American power. The foreign policy establishment is testing the … Continue reading
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Establishment Narratives Shift On The Iran War
There are some small movements inside the blob and the Middle East expert community, but they are limited and uneven. What you mostly see right now is adjustment at the margins, not a wholesale shift in consensus. Here are the … Continue reading
Decoding The Blob’s Cliches About The Iran War
The foreign policy establishment’s rhetorical toolkit for the 2026 Iran war is designed to protect the “managerial” brand. By using standardized clichés, the Blob can signal loyalty to the professional class without necessarily having to offer a viable military alternative. … Continue reading
Decoding Richard Haass
Richard N. Haass is a useful case for Alliance Theory because he sits at the center of the American foreign policy establishment. His career is not primarily about commanding armies or winning elections. It is about coordinating elites. Council on … Continue reading
Decoding Stephen Walt
Stephen Walt occupies a particular niche inside the foreign policy discourse. Using David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory, the key question is not whether Walt is right or wrong about specific policies but which coalition he serves, how his rhetoric recruits allies, … Continue reading