This list tells you: (1) very little diplomatic spadework went into this (no surprise with Trump); (2) very little diplomatic implementation effort will come out of anything; (3) it's about money and theater; (4) U.S. diplomacy as we knew it is dead.
The US delegation for the Trump-Putin Summit in Anchorage later.
Don’t know how far down the alphabet we need to go to name this team.
Don’t know how far down the alphabet we need to go to name this team.
August 15, 2025 at 12:15 PM
This list tells you: (1) very little diplomatic spadework went into this (no surprise with Trump); (2) very little diplomatic implementation effort will come out of anything; (3) it's about money and theater; (4) U.S. diplomacy as we knew it is dead.
Currently reading
December 30, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Currently reading
Much of what we know and what gets reported about Ukrainian corruption in the international press is the spadework of... Ukrainian civil society groups and law enforcement bodies.
February 22, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Much of what we know and what gets reported about Ukrainian corruption in the international press is the spadework of... Ukrainian civil society groups and law enforcement bodies.
not afaik and i've done some spadework on it
September 17, 2026 at 4:30 PM
not afaik and i've done some spadework on it
2/ ... birthright citizenship splits the coalition, and I think David has a good explanation for why that is: the Trumpists have simply not done the ideological spadework to bring the party to where they want it.
June 24, 2026 at 6:00 PM
2/ ... birthright citizenship splits the coalition, and I think David has a good explanation for why that is: the Trumpists have simply not done the ideological spadework to bring the party to where they want it.
We all want Rejoin now but there are hurdles we must navigate first. Getting of Reform is the first. Labour already laying the foundations of our eventual application of accession. We saw much of the diplomatic spadework carried out by Starmer. The next GE manifesto will where Rejoin is announced.
September 28, 2026 at 11:43 AM
We all want Rejoin now but there are hurdles we must navigate first. Getting of Reform is the first. Labour already laying the foundations of our eventual application of accession. We saw much of the diplomatic spadework carried out by Starmer. The next GE manifesto will where Rejoin is announced.
11. And I think the really big question I have, apart from what the Iranians will do: what is the diplomatic plan from here? The point is supposed to be "peace," a "deal," who is going to do the diplomatic spadework Trump *never* *ever* bothers to do? Rubio, the nation' top diplomat, is nowhere.
June 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
11. And I think the really big question I have, apart from what the Iranians will do: what is the diplomatic plan from here? The point is supposed to be "peace," a "deal," who is going to do the diplomatic spadework Trump *never* *ever* bothers to do? Rubio, the nation' top diplomat, is nowhere.
One of my Krasznahorkai books arrived:
February 10, 2026 at 11:15 PM
One of my Krasznahorkai books arrived:
Dad doing the spadework in Snowdoinia....
@birdsinwales.bsky.social
@btocymru.bsky.social
#birdingwales
@birdsinwales.bsky.social
@btocymru.bsky.social
#birdingwales
May 5, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Dad doing the spadework in Snowdoinia....
@birdsinwales.bsky.social
@btocymru.bsky.social
#birdingwales
@birdsinwales.bsky.social
@btocymru.bsky.social
#birdingwales
it's like they don't realize that AI bots only have the answers because actual people did all the spadework that went into the training data
kind of like all the time it took for organic matter to become fossil fuels
kind of like all the time it took for organic matter to become fossil fuels
September 15, 2025 at 1:49 PM
it's like they don't realize that AI bots only have the answers because actual people did all the spadework that went into the training data
kind of like all the time it took for organic matter to become fossil fuels
kind of like all the time it took for organic matter to become fossil fuels
"Trump’s character is made for division and chaos, not the spadework of diplomacy. The ceasefire and hostage release should be celebrated, but it would be folly to expect much more." www.thebulwark.com/p/long-road-...
The Long Road to Peace and Trump’s Short Attention Span
The Israel–Hamas ceasefire is a welcome achievement—but the next steps are vague and the president lacks the temperament to get more.
www.thebulwark.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"Trump’s character is made for division and chaos, not the spadework of diplomacy. The ceasefire and hostage release should be celebrated, but it would be folly to expect much more." www.thebulwark.com/p/long-road-...
Cannot stress enough how bizarro it is to casually announce direct, high-level talks with a country the US has not had diplomatic relations with since 1979, with no groundwork or readout or any diplomatic spadework. As with North Korea in Trump 1.0, unlikely to achieve anything substantive.
April 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Cannot stress enough how bizarro it is to casually announce direct, high-level talks with a country the US has not had diplomatic relations with since 1979, with no groundwork or readout or any diplomatic spadework. As with North Korea in Trump 1.0, unlikely to achieve anything substantive.
I haven't published with Wizards Tower but they do stunning covers and put in the marketing spadework.
June 4, 2025 at 6:51 AM
I haven't published with Wizards Tower but they do stunning covers and put in the marketing spadework.
Lammy had a knack for keeping an eye on crises such as conflict in Sudan or US policy towards the Western Hemisphere just below the threshold of issues like Gaza or Ukraine that absorb Starmer's FP bandwidth.
Whether Cooper has the situational awareness for that pre-emptive spadework is unclear.
Whether Cooper has the situational awareness for that pre-emptive spadework is unclear.
September 5, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Lammy had a knack for keeping an eye on crises such as conflict in Sudan or US policy towards the Western Hemisphere just below the threshold of issues like Gaza or Ukraine that absorb Starmer's FP bandwidth.
Whether Cooper has the situational awareness for that pre-emptive spadework is unclear.
Whether Cooper has the situational awareness for that pre-emptive spadework is unclear.
Some classic spadework by the line of Höglander, Suter, and Garland. Höglander wins the puck on the forecheck, Garland curls out with a shot, Suter gets to the net to tuck in the rebound. 1-0 #Canucks.
April 17, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Some classic spadework by the line of Höglander, Suter, and Garland. Höglander wins the puck on the forecheck, Garland curls out with a shot, Suter gets to the net to tuck in the rebound. 1-0 #Canucks.
As per the dogged spadework done by the staff of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
September 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
As per the dogged spadework done by the staff of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The UK side seems to talk more about having conversations than doing the member state by member state spadework of working out what the EU side wants to talk about
January 22, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The UK side seems to talk more about having conversations than doing the member state by member state spadework of working out what the EU side wants to talk about
i'm not gonna do the spadework on this because there's no money and minimal ego satisfaction in it for me.
but i would check the cost claims very, very carefully if I were putting money on the line.
but i would check the cost claims very, very carefully if I were putting money on the line.
April 10, 2024 at 8:50 PM
i'm not gonna do the spadework on this because there's no money and minimal ego satisfaction in it for me.
but i would check the cost claims very, very carefully if I were putting money on the line.
but i would check the cost claims very, very carefully if I were putting money on the line.
my most correct and goofiest Krasznahorkai opinion is that Spadework for a Palace is the best Storybook ND portersquarebooks.com/book/9780811...
October 9, 2025 at 11:32 AM
my most correct and goofiest Krasznahorkai opinion is that Spadework for a Palace is the best Storybook ND portersquarebooks.com/book/9780811...
A chapter we cut, then turned into an essay on the "Frontier Metaphor" for space was a favorite thing of mine we worked on: foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/21/s...
And the key was simply listening to what people were saying and realizing almost nobody was doing any spadework.
And the key was simply listening to what people were saying and realizing almost nobody was doing any spadework.
Space Isn’t the Final Frontier
Mars fantasists still cling to dreams of the Old West.
foreignpolicy.com
August 11, 2026 at 7:13 PM
A chapter we cut, then turned into an essay on the "Frontier Metaphor" for space was a favorite thing of mine we worked on: foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/21/s...
And the key was simply listening to what people were saying and realizing almost nobody was doing any spadework.
And the key was simply listening to what people were saying and realizing almost nobody was doing any spadework.
To be fair the spadework of talking to Member States is happening, but not sure it feeds back to actually laying out a position
January 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
To be fair the spadework of talking to Member States is happening, but not sure it feeds back to actually laying out a position
So much of this comes down to chasing the more vibes based YIMBY accounts rather than engaging more seriously with the mix of Rightish YIMBY or Left post-YIMBY scholars and analysts that were doing the actual serious spadework on research and policy proposals
November 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
So much of this comes down to chasing the more vibes based YIMBY accounts rather than engaging more seriously with the mix of Rightish YIMBY or Left post-YIMBY scholars and analysts that were doing the actual serious spadework on research and policy proposals
A cousin to Baker's "spadework"
May 23, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A cousin to Baker's "spadework"