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Sam Ratner

Sam Ratner writes The World's Critical State newsletter.

Sam Ratner writes Inkstick Media's Critical State newsletter. He is also a contributing editor Zitamar News and graduate a of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.Sam writes about civil wars, statebuilding, southern Africa and progressive security policy.

A man holds a portrait of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba who has taken the reins of Burkina Faso, in Ouagadougou, Jan. 25, 2022. 

Undemocratic shifts for state control: Part I

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the sudden proliferation of undemocratic shifts in state control that has reignited a series of debates about coups.

A Pittsburgh police officer stands in a downtown Pittsburgh intersection Sunday, May 31, 2020.

If not police, what? Part II

A Kenyan police officer talks on his phone inside the compound of the command center in Malindi, Kenya, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. 

If not police, what? Part I

Critical State
Afghan police arrive at the site of an attack at Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.

​​​​​​​What does ‘legitimacy’ mean: Part II

Critical State
Government soldiers wait on a helicopter at the airport in San Pedro, southwestern Ivory Coast, Friday Jan. 10, 2003, before heading to an area near Grabo, also in the southwest, where government forces are fightng rebels.

What does ‘legitimacy’ mean: Part I

Critical State
Activists shout slogans to mark anniversary of death of Chinese Nobel prize winner Liu Xiaobo outside a district court in Hong Kong, Monday, July 13, 2020. 

Protest projection: Part II

Critical State

In this week’s Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, Sam Ratner takes a deep dive into new research on what happens when Chinese political prisoners make an appeal to an international audience.

In this Friday Jan. 20, 2012, file photo, anti-Syrian regime protesters gather at a square as they hold an Arabic banner, center, reading, "Hey, the miserable, the tyrant, what else," during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria.

Protest projection: Part 1

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive into why protests led to military interventions in Bahrain, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, and how those interventions played out.

Philanthropist Bill Gates attends the World Leaders' Summit "Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment," at the COP26 Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. 

Foundations of international relations: Part II

Critical State

How do philanthropic foundations get involved in international climate policy — and what kinds of reforms do they favor? Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive into this question this week.  

In this June 21, 2019, file photo, George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, looks before the Joseph A. Schumpeter award ceremony in Vienna, Austria. 

Foundations of international relations: Part I

Critical State

What happens when major philanthropy tries to influence the international system? This week’s Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, tackles this question.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, speaks with European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn during a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. 

Monetary policy by other means: Part II

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the security effects of keeping orderly budgets. Fighting a war requires raising money, and raising money requires convincing potential donors and lenders that you’re a good investment risk.