### Matt Malin

Doctor Birdfeathers will see you now.

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[Matt Malin](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers)  
[Jun 8](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers/note/c-272529636 "Jun 8, 2026, 3:49 AM")

[Matt Malin](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers) restacked

[Matt Malin](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers)  
[May 9](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers/note/c-256347765 "May 9, 2026, 1:16 PM")

It occurs to me that gerrymandering may not be merely another ugly feature of our broken politics, but one of the ingredients in the next phase of the rupture itself. Perhaps that sounds too dramatic, and perhaps it is, but the escalation logic is not difficult to see once the map becomes the battlefield. In Pape

[John’s Substack](https://mearsheimer.substack.com/) [John J. Mearsheimer](https://substack.com/@mearsheimer)

My personal Substack

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[Escalation Trap](https://escalationtrap.substack.com/) [Prof Robert Pape](https://substack.com/@professorrobertpape)

The Escalation Trap equips you with the frameworks to recognize when conflicts are shifting phases, anticipate the pressures driving escalation, and make clearer decisions before volatility hardens into irreversible commitments.

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[Matt Malin](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers)  
[May 12](https://substack.com/@drbirdfeathers/note/c-258174580 "May 12, 2026, 11:37 PM")

From _The Fugue Loop Goes Global_, this is the passage I keep returning to today:

“Most states are watching. Europe is watching. China is watching. Russia is watching. Iran is watching. Ukraine is watching. Everyone is making decisions not only about what the United States says, but about whether the United States can still make its words hold value across the globe.”