Sophie L. Vériter
political scientist • PhD Leiden, MPhil Oxford, formerly on the frontlines of EU public diplomacy
💬 Europe, security, technology, democracy
- Reposted by Sophie L. VériterGood take on the "Moltbook" story from @benjedwards.com arstechnica.com/information-... Another good take I saw on the other site: "more of a fanfic for AGI than actual AGI". This could describe a whole lot of AI misalignment red-teaming....
- Know an interesting book you want to review for @haguediplomacyjrnl.bsky.social ? 📚 For 2026, we particularly welcome submissions that explore shifts in international order. More info here: www.universiteitleiden.nl/hjd/journal/...
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- A common belief is that to counter polarisation, we should socialise more with people who think differently. This is untrue. Above a critical level of social connectivity, society naturally becomes more polarised so that social interactions are more comfortable. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Brief “prebunking” videos embedded in Instagram feeds significantly improve users’ ability to recognise common #manipulation techniques and enhance resilience to misinformation at scale, with effects persisting over time across audiences. misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/preb...
- Sean Westwood, a political scientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, demonstrated an AI chatbot that can reliably impersonate a human participant and evade most known mechanisms built into surveys to detect fake responses. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Almost two-thirds of all card transactions in the EU are now handled by U.S. giants Visa (V.N), opens new tab and Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab. Dombrovskis said such dominance made the EU vulnerable. www.reuters.com/business/fin...
- “the architecture of problem-solving are under threat” said Carney in his iconic speech in Davos. with every column that falls down, a gap takes shape and becomes ready to be filled this is the pivotal moment that Carney refers to: we must build the new infrastructure as the old is taken down.
- Thinking of applying for a #PhD? I wrote a guide based on my experience (Oxford, Leiden), covering proposals, supervisors, funding, and what strong applications truly require: 🔗 sophiepomme.com/how-to-apply...
- EU member states need to collectively grapple with this necessity, if they are serious about “defending democracy”.
- For the EU to regain legitimacy, the solution lies in: “unclogging channels of participation in Europe so politics reflects its increasingly diverse electorate, and the idea of ‘Europe’ becomes less old, white and western European.” as put by @pawelzerka.bsky.social
- Europeans want more leadership and protection from the EU according to the latest @ecfr.eu brief. But protection from what? “Defending democracy” has many different meanings across the political spectrum. It’s much more than a “culture war”. It’s a crisis of trust.
- Europeans want more leadership and protection from the EU according to the latest @ecfr.eu brief. But protection from what? “Defending democracy” has many different meanings across the political spectrum. It’s much more than a “culture war”. It’s a crisis of trust.
- Reposted by Sophie L. VériterRejection is one of the toughest parts about academia and this post provides some great guidance on how to deal with it (that I will start trying to follow myself). Here's a couple of thoughts that the post triggered, if those happen to be of interest:
- Every academic career is built on rejection, but we don’t show it. CVs list publications, grants & awards, not rejected manuscripts, unfunded proposals, or failures. But those invisible rejections shape us more than our successes ever do. 👉 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/fail-bette... 🧵
- power feedback loops on display 👇🏼 if you’re not paying attention to crypto because you think it’s a scam for finance bros… think again
- Incredibly well deserved 👏🏼 More attention is crucially needed on the ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis in Venezuela, and to support brave defenders of #democracy around the world.
- ✨📘 New publication! Thrilled to share my latest chapter: “Undesirable Information Online: Unpacking the Complexity of #Propaganda, #Misinformation, and #Disinformation” out now in The Palgrave Handbook on Cyber Diplomacy. 🔗 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
- Apparently, I’m not the only one haunted by Orwell. My post on 1984 has become one of my most-read and honestly, I understand why. Reading it today feels uncomfortably familiar. sophiepomme.com/george-orwel...
- The lessons from this interview with Norman Foster extend well beyond design and architecture, they are absolutely essential for anyone seeking to navigate a constantly changing world. One more reason why I love design! The teachings are simple yet powerful and applicable virtually everywhere.
- What happens when #disinformation becomes a matter of security? My latest piece in @iajournal.bsky.social, one of the most read articles of its September issue, explores this question👇🏼 academic.oup.com/ia/article/1...
- Congratulations Moldova! 🇲🇩 My home-away-from-home in Eastern Europe has decidedly chosen a future built on partnership and the rule of law 🙏🏼✨ A huge win for both democracy and the EU! Moldova's pro-EU party wins high-stakes parliamentary election www.euronews.com/2025/09/29/m...
- Europe is at a turning point, and the #DigitalEuro might be the next big thing we need for our sovereignty. I spoke with @ecb.europa.eu’s Eric Tak about what it means for citizens, banks, and Europe’s place in the world. Ready to step into the future of payments? 👇🏼 sophiepomme.com/reshaping-eu...
- An excellent read in @politico.eu on the situation for the EU, facing mounting pressure to stop Israel's genocide of Palestinians: "Macron wants a big diplomatic win on Palestinian statehood. But Europe is split." www.politico.eu/article/emma...
- Once again, the US 🇺🇸 says NO to a UN Security Council draft resolution that would have demanded immediate, unconditional & permanent ceasefire in Gaza 🇵🇸, and immediate, dignified & unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas & other groups In Favor: 14 Against: 1 (US) Abstain: 0
- “the relation between self-organization, life and computing was obvious (…). Those things somehow diverged, and now they are being reunified.” Great read in @quantamagazine.bsky.social to understand why complexity science matters for the future of governance 👉 www.quantamagazine.org/self-assembl...
- The SCO summit, China’s military parade, and Europe’s AI strategy: all signs of a changing world order. Here are my takes on EU–China relations and the AI race from last week’s European Guanxi Conference 👉 sophiepomme.com/5-urgent-que...
- A small step for European sovereignty in the AI industry? 👀 “cash from ASML could help Mistral make Europe less reliant on U.S. and Chinese AI models” reports @reuters.com on 🇳🇱 ASML €1.3 billion investment in 🇫🇷 Mistral AI www.reuters.com/world/europe...
- Still time to get your hands on the advance copy of one of the most read articles in @iajournal.bsky.social ‼️ my latest article explains how the EU adopted its ban on RT and Sputnik after Russia invaded Ukraine hint: I use securitization theory 👉🏼 academic.oup.com/ia/article/1...
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- What could an EU AI Foreign Policy look like? Great piece in @ecfr.eu explaining why and how the EU can become an indispensable partner in the AI industry and leverage those assets for continued relevance and competitiveness. ecfr.eu/article/why-...
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- wait until you discover @notion.com ... 🤭 many sleepless nights building fun systems and databases
- Putin defies pressure for peace with massive strike hitting @eudiplomacy.bsky.social EU Delegation in Kyiv, reports @politico.com A terrible escalation of violence and a direct breach of the Vienna Convention on international humanitarian law ‼️ www.politico.eu/article/russ...
- « if the U.S. is not willing to use any economic, military, or political tools to help Ukraine, if Trump will not put any diplomatic pressure on Putin or any new sanctions on Russian resources », then the U.S. president has no cards @anneapplebaum.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
- thrilled to see my latest piece for @iajournal.bsky.social is trending in 1st position among the latest research in International Relations! 👉🏼 read it here: academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
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- Always a great joy when work you’ve poured your heart into resonates with someone you look up to. Many thanks @lanoszka.bsky.social for sharing my latest article on the EU’s approach to disinformation!
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- 🚨 New in @iajournal.bsky.social : My latest article examines how the EU collectively framed “disinformation” as a security threat, culminating in the unprecedented 2022 ban on RT & Sputnik after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
- Over the past decade, the EU moved from fact-checking to restricting media content at the supranational level. This shift (at odds with EU treaties & free speech principles) was driven by a process known as collective securitisation.
- New Publication Alert! 🚨 My latest article in @iajournal.bsky.social examines how the EU has increasingly framed #disinformation as a security threat, culminating in the unprecedented ban on RT and Sputnik after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine: academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
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- Can AI improve deliverative democracy? These researchers @knightcolumbia.org say it helps diverse groups find common ground, increase political equality, and scale meaningful participation, often producing clearer, fairer, and more inclusive consensus.
- I know this is probably a very small accomplishment to many, but I've been told to celebrate the small wins... so here it goes! 🐣
- I’ve come to realise that the US-EU deal is purely performative. the promises are not real. just a performance to keep Trump at bay. “say yes, and then do whatever the f*ck you were going to do anyways” Is von der Leyen is beating him at his own game? www.politico.eu/article/eus-...
- A language model built for the public good: ETH Zurich and EPFL will release a LLM developed on public infrastructure, marking a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence. ethz.ch/en/news-and-...
- Sometimes the best way to stay informed about current events is to step back and rethink how we process information in the first place… sophiepomme.com/how-to-stay-...
- #Disinformation #Misinformation For those of us working in or studying this field, it’s clear that the problem is not only one of harmful content and foreign interference, it is one of trust, literacy, and civic engagement. 👇🏼 Find out what I suggest we do to improve our policies:
- Whether this is true or not, it goes to show how much of a crisis of credibility the EU has put itself into with its inaction towards Israel… the damage of this narrative is already done.
