Eric Rittinger
@ericrittinger.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science at Salisbury University, teaching and writing on US foreign policy, IR theory, and civil-military relations in Latin America
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
A win for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil is looking unlikely ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, but “the long-run patterns of how ordinary Brazilians participate in public life should worry small-d democrats even more,” Elizabeth McKenna writes.
A win for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil is looking unlikely ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, but “the long-run patterns of how ordinary Brazilians participate in public life should worry small-d democrats even more,” Elizabeth McKenna writes.
Opinion | Brazil’s Problem Is Bigger Than Bolsonaro
Brazil is fertile ground for authoritarian politics, no matter who wins this election.
nyti.ms
October 6, 2026 at 1:40 AM
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
A win for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil is looking unlikely ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, but “the long-run patterns of how ordinary Brazilians participate in public life should worry small-d democrats even more,” Elizabeth McKenna writes.
A win for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil is looking unlikely ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, but “the long-run patterns of how ordinary Brazilians participate in public life should worry small-d democrats even more,” Elizabeth McKenna writes.
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
We're hiring! Looking for a visiting assistant professor specializing in the politics of the Middle East, to start fall 2027. Salisbury University is part of the university system of Maryland. For more information and to apply: marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/SU_Car...
Visiting Assistant Professor - Political Science
Job Posting: JR102201 Visiting Assistant Professor - Political Science (Open) Department: Political Science Department, JM Position Type: Non-Regular Fixed Term (Fixed Term) Open Date: 09-24-2026 Clos...
marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
September 24, 2026 at 4:24 PM
We're hiring! Looking for a visiting assistant professor specializing in the politics of the Middle East, to start fall 2027. Salisbury University is part of the university system of Maryland. For more information and to apply: marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/SU_Car...
We're hiring! Looking for a visiting assistant professor specializing in the politics of the Middle East, to start fall 2027. Salisbury University is part of the university system of Maryland. For more information and to apply: marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/SU_Car...
Visiting Assistant Professor - Political Science
Job Posting: JR102201 Visiting Assistant Professor - Political Science (Open) Department: Political Science Department, JM Position Type: Non-Regular Fixed Term (Fixed Term) Open Date: 09-24-2026 Clos...
marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
September 24, 2026 at 4:24 PM
We're hiring! Looking for a visiting assistant professor specializing in the politics of the Middle East, to start fall 2027. Salisbury University is part of the university system of Maryland. For more information and to apply: marylandconnect.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/SU_Car...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Dear editors, there are too many international relations now. Please remove three. PS I am not a crank
June 19, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Dear editors, there are too many international relations now. Please remove three. PS I am not a crank
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Just wrapped up the panel on Fostering Student Engagement at the 83rd Annual MPSA Conference! 🎉 Such a rich conversation — grateful for the thoughtful colleagues and ideas shared. Lots to bring back to the classroom. #MPSA2025 #PoliticalScience #HigherEd
April 23, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Just wrapped up the panel on Fostering Student Engagement at the 83rd Annual MPSA Conference! 🎉 Such a rich conversation — grateful for the thoughtful colleagues and ideas shared. Lots to bring back to the classroom. #MPSA2025 #PoliticalScience #HigherEd
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
If you didn’t catch the significance of the exploding transformers in Bad Bunny’s halftime show, I gotcha. Here’s one of a bunch of pieces I wrote from/on Puerto Rico about the crisis—and Trump’s role in it. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Washington’s Corruption Has Created Another Humanitarian Crisis in Puerto Rico
The island’s earthquakes are its latest man-made disaster.
slate.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:59 AM
If you didn’t catch the significance of the exploding transformers in Bad Bunny’s halftime show, I gotcha. Here’s one of a bunch of pieces I wrote from/on Puerto Rico about the crisis—and Trump’s role in it. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Wednesday morning, 7 ICE agents in Salisbury, MD, smashed in windows & violently dragged a mother out of her car while she was dropping her daughter off at elementary school.
These abusive tactics are absolutely unacceptable.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/12/17/s...
These abusive tactics are absolutely unacceptable.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/12/17/s...
ICE operation near Salisbury school sparks outrage, questions
Witnesses say an apparent ICE raid near a Salisbury elementary school involved smashed car windows and terrified neighbors.
www.baltimoresun.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Wednesday morning, 7 ICE agents in Salisbury, MD, smashed in windows & violently dragged a mother out of her car while she was dropping her daughter off at elementary school.
These abusive tactics are absolutely unacceptable.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/12/17/s...
These abusive tactics are absolutely unacceptable.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/12/17/s...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
I think people really struggle w partially consolidated authoritarianism, either understating our problem or understating our power
It's like we're in a liminal fascist space. And not recognizing how far gone we are or thinking we're simply too far gone are both grave errors we can't afford to make
It's like we're in a liminal fascist space. And not recognizing how far gone we are or thinking we're simply too far gone are both grave errors we can't afford to make
August 28, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I think people really struggle w partially consolidated authoritarianism, either understating our problem or understating our power
It's like we're in a liminal fascist space. And not recognizing how far gone we are or thinking we're simply too far gone are both grave errors we can't afford to make
It's like we're in a liminal fascist space. And not recognizing how far gone we are or thinking we're simply too far gone are both grave errors we can't afford to make
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Were Aime Césaire alive to conduct a structural analysis of the advancing militarization of American law enforcement since 9/11, I suspect he would have understood DHS as a template for how Imperial Boomerangs operate in the 21st century.
Me for @zeteo.com on LA, and what led to it.
Me for @zeteo.com on LA, and what led to it.
The Imperial Boomerang Lands in Los Angeles
As police and the National Guard escalate against anti-ICE protesters, the Department of Homeland Security bridges US violence abroad and US violence at home.
zeteo.com
June 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Were Aime Césaire alive to conduct a structural analysis of the advancing militarization of American law enforcement since 9/11, I suspect he would have understood DHS as a template for how Imperial Boomerangs operate in the 21st century.
Me for @zeteo.com on LA, and what led to it.
Me for @zeteo.com on LA, and what led to it.
Campus life - something for everyone
May 7, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Campus life - something for everyone
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
I'm delighted that Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, the book I co-edited with Raúl Sánchez Urribarrí, has officially been published!
It is available at in paperback, hardcover and eBook almost everywhere. See: www.routledge.com/Authoritaria...
It is available at in paperback, hardcover and eBook almost everywhere. See: www.routledge.com/Authoritaria...
Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro
Bringing together experts from across the social sciences, this volume examines the consolidation of authoritarianism in Venezuela under the government of Nicolás Maduro. Taking a comparative perspect...
www.routledge.com
March 31, 2025 at 6:47 PM
I'm delighted that Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, the book I co-edited with Raúl Sánchez Urribarrí, has officially been published!
It is available at in paperback, hardcover and eBook almost everywhere. See: www.routledge.com/Authoritaria...
It is available at in paperback, hardcover and eBook almost everywhere. See: www.routledge.com/Authoritaria...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
I am keeping a diary of daily events, as they unfold open.substack.com/pub/adamprze... It is available to everyone. I am new to Substack, so please let me know if something is wrong with the link or the file.
Diary
Week 1
open.substack.com
February 19, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I am keeping a diary of daily events, as they unfold open.substack.com/pub/adamprze... It is available to everyone. I am new to Substack, so please let me know if something is wrong with the link or the file.
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Taking back the Canal” would indeed be a violation of treaty, actually two treaties! It would undermine US relations with one of our closest ally in the region & piss off every other country in Latin America! And would be a gift to Chinese pretensions in the region…other than that…a great idea! 🙄
January 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Taking back the Canal” would indeed be a violation of treaty, actually two treaties! It would undermine US relations with one of our closest ally in the region & piss off every other country in Latin America! And would be a gift to Chinese pretensions in the region…other than that…a great idea! 🙄
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Reminder that the US didn't lose "38,000 lives" building the Panama Canal, or even the estimated 5,600 who died on America's watch. Almost all who died were underpaid Afro-Caribbean workers living in U.S.-imposed conditions of segregation.
Also China doesn't control the canal.
Also China doesn't control the canal.
January 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reminder that the US didn't lose "38,000 lives" building the Panama Canal, or even the estimated 5,600 who died on America's watch. Almost all who died were underpaid Afro-Caribbean workers living in U.S.-imposed conditions of segregation.
Also China doesn't control the canal.
Also China doesn't control the canal.
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
In Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984, photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg documents how U.S. foreign policy fueled a violent 13-year civil war in El Salvador.
A photographer's devastating documentation of El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s
In Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984, photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg documents how U.S. foreign policy fueled a violent 13-year civil war in El Salvador.
www.npr.org
November 24, 2024 at 4:37 PM
In Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984, photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg documents how U.S. foreign policy fueled a violent 13-year civil war in El Salvador.
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Short-term: Lots about November 5 was poli-sci-normal and not a particularly sound impetus for massive intra-Dem recriminations.
Long-term: The party's central crisis remains class dealignment and there's no quick or easy way out of it.
democracyjournal.org/arguments/th...
Long-term: The party's central crisis remains class dealignment and there's no quick or easy way out of it.
democracyjournal.org/arguments/th...
November 19, 2024 at 8:11 PM
Short-term: Lots about November 5 was poli-sci-normal and not a particularly sound impetus for massive intra-Dem recriminations.
Long-term: The party's central crisis remains class dealignment and there's no quick or easy way out of it.
democracyjournal.org/arguments/th...
Long-term: The party's central crisis remains class dealignment and there's no quick or easy way out of it.
democracyjournal.org/arguments/th...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
If Trump is keen on adopting 19th Century policies, then one that I encourage is a streamlined and open immigration policy.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/immigration-...
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/immigration-...
The U.S. Should Welcome Immigrants With Open Arms—and Open Borders
The US would reap economic and geopolitical benefits from adopting an “open border” immigration policy.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com
November 19, 2024 at 12:47 AM
If Trump is keen on adopting 19th Century policies, then one that I encourage is a streamlined and open immigration policy.
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/immigration-...
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/immigration-...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
It took me eight years to write something about the Fascism Debate, so let me say this: what is most exasperating is that no one (save Paxton) seems to be willing to change their mind. Well...
Trump in the Garden - Dissent Magazine
Eight years into the fascism debate, few skeptics seem to be willing to admit that they were wrong.
www.dissentmagazine.org
October 29, 2024 at 8:51 PM
It took me eight years to write something about the Fascism Debate, so let me say this: what is most exasperating is that no one (save Paxton) seems to be willing to change their mind. Well...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
Today in Good Authority, @profsaunders.bsky.social interviews Kelly Greenhill, author of Weapons of Mass Migration, about how states and non-state actors can use mass migration as a tool of war. Greenhill offers context for the current crisis.
goodauthority.org/news/how-sho...
goodauthority.org/news/how-sho...
How should we think about a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza?
Countries, armed groups, and organizations use mass migration as a tool of war.
goodauthority.org
October 20, 2023 at 3:18 PM
Today in Good Authority, @profsaunders.bsky.social interviews Kelly Greenhill, author of Weapons of Mass Migration, about how states and non-state actors can use mass migration as a tool of war. Greenhill offers context for the current crisis.
goodauthority.org/news/how-sho...
goodauthority.org/news/how-sho...
Reposted by Eric Rittinger
For @nplusonemag.bsky.social, I wrote about how we're living through the post-9/11 period all over again, in all the worst ways
Have We Learned Nothing? | David Klion
There’s a pervasive censoriousness right now—conservatives denouncing liberals, liberals denouncing leftists, leftists denouncing other leftists—that’s immediately familiar from the days and w...
www.nplusonemag.com
October 11, 2023 at 9:57 PM
For @nplusonemag.bsky.social, I wrote about how we're living through the post-9/11 period all over again, in all the worst ways