Explore our most recent projects and blog posts on the CARP website. We are welcoming new project submissions for peer review and publication on our blog and in our book series and journal publications.
CARP IDEAS BLOG
Rasputin: The Perfect Character Scapegoat
A small linguistic twist sets the tone: in Russian, “Rasputin” echoes raspútny—“dissolute.” Few figures expose the mechanics of character assassination more clearly than Grigori Rasputin. His presence at the imperial court caused scandal—but his manufactured reputation, amplified and weaponized, proved far more destructive. Through a CARP lens, Rasputin emerges as a textbook case of how sexual rumor, moral panic, and political frustration can fuse into a force capable of destroying a man—and shaking a fragile regime to its core.
C.A.R.P.e Diem
The Reputational Ghost of Socialism:
Why Socialism Still Shines in Professors’ Books More Than It Ever Did in Life. (2025).
Why do political systems, like people, acquire reputations—and why do some reputations refuse to die? This essay challenges the romantic revival of Soviet socialism by dissecting nostalgia, selective memory, and reputational myth-making. Blending personal experience with reputational analysis, it exposes how hardship is softened into harmony, censorship into “community,” and failure into virtue. A sharp critique of revisionism—and a reminder that systems, too, can be judged by memory, reality, and consequence.
The National Interest
Shiraev, Eric & Mölder, Holger (2025). Decoding Vladimir Putin’s Baltic Strategy. The National Interest. July 30.
How can Western analysts anticipate Vladimir Putin’s next move toward the Baltic states? This essay (written with Holger Mölder) introduces strategic imagination—a forecasting framework that blends history, rational analysis, and political psychology. By examining Russia’s imperial legacy, Putin’s worldview, and ongoing information warfare against Estonia and its neighbors, it reveals why destabilization—not invasion—remains Moscow’s preferred tool, and how unseen psychological and historical cues shape the most dangerous scenarios ahead.
The National Interest
Shiraev, Eric (2025). Public Perception of Energy Giants: Heroes vs. Villains in the Reputation Game. The National Interest. April 21. This essay explores how energy CEOs became reputational heroes or villains—and why the divide is more fragile than it appears. Tracing the fall of fossil fuel giants and the rise of green visionaries, it shows how emotion, narrative, and moral framing shape public judgment—and how reputations, even in energy politics, can be built and defended.
TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR GESCHIEDENIS (The Netherlands)
Fake news for the American Revolution: An attempt at character assassination of George Washington
134.2 (2021) 254-267 https://doi.org/10.5117/tVg2021.2.006.shir (In English)
This article dives into one of the earliest—and surprisingly familiar—episodes of character assassination in American history: a series of forged letters that almost ruined the reputation of a man who would later become the first president of the United States. Long before social media, viral posts, or deepfakes, political rivals already knew how powerful fake documents could be in spreading doubt, poisoning trust, and making a leader look dishonest or disloyal. The takeaway is unsettling but clear: technology evolves, but the playbook for destroying reputations—and the vulnerability of democracies—hardly changes at all.
The National Interest
How Russia Plans to Navigate Through a Post-Virus World (with Konstantin Khudoley).
Russian leaders continue to believe their country belongs to the global decisionmaking club and relentlessly backs the idea of a new “concert” of great powers.
The Washington Examiner
"Amnesty, Abortion, and Acid": Why Negative Campaigning Works.
When the Nixon campaign in 1972 made use of the “three A’s” used to describe the politics of its opponent, George McGovern — “amnesty (for draft dodgers), abortion, and acid” — this offensive labeling was not necessarily meant to scare away McGovern’s die-hard supporters. They all were committed to vote for him regardless of persistent character attacks against “their guy.”
The Washington Examiner
Destined for Character Attacks: A National History of Ugly Rhetoric.
As a characteristic of human thinking, we tend to believe in the uniqueness of our time. This mindset dominates our discussion of politics, too. We assume that we live during the nastiest, ugliest, and most uncivilized period of American politics. Are the nonstop character attacks in presidential politics and elections worse than ever? Not really, no. In fact, vicious character attacks against presidential candidates are as old as campaigns themselves.
The Cipher Brief
Global Knowledge Warfare: Using Strategic Imagination to Harness Uncertainty and Fear (with Holger Mölder)
Pandemics remind us also about the threats of biological weapons: viruses can be weaponized. Knowledge too can be weaponized and used by states to project their power. In fact, disinformation has been a tool in foreign policy for centuries.
CARP IDEAS BLOG
Salieri vs. Mozart: Wrongfully Attacked?
The composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) could not have even thought about becoming one of the most noticeable victims of character assassination after his death. He had a dynamic and fruitful musical life while serving as Kapellmeister to the emperor of Austria. Yet Salieri is known today to most people as a man who ....
CARP IDEAS BLOG
On Our Terminology
When we began our endeavor several years ago, we were focusing—distinctively and persistently—on the most recognizable, the most central, and the catchiest term of our young project: character assassination.....
CARP IDEAS BLOG
The Character Assassination of Robert Bork
Was the Bork case an example of character assassination? There is little doubt that Robert Bork, as a judge and a public figure, was socially and politically conservative. No doubt, his opponents relentlessly and even fiercely attacked his political and legal views. However, all the critical words the opponents used, the images they produced, the metaphors they coined — do these words and images qualify as typical character attacks? Or were they all legitimate, substantive criticisms of Bork’s political and social views?
CARP IDEAS BLOG
Rasputin: The Perfect Character Scapegoat
A small linguistic twist sets the tone: in Russian, “Rasputin” echoes raspútny—“dissolute.” Few figures expose the mechanics of character assassination more clearly than Grigori Rasputin. His presence at the imperial court caused scandal—but his manufactured reputation, amplified and weaponized, proved far more destructive. Through a CARP lens, Rasputin emerges as a textbook case of how sexual rumor, moral panic, and political frustration can fuse into a force capable of destroying a man—and shaking a fragile regime to its core.
C.A.R.P.e Diem
The Reputational Ghost of Socialism:
Why Socialism Still Shines in Professors’ Books More Than It Ever Did in Life. (2025).
Why do political systems, like people, acquire reputations—and why do some reputations refuse to die? This essay challenges the romantic revival of Soviet socialism by dissecting nostalgia, selective memory, and reputational myth-making. Blending personal experience with reputational analysis, it exposes how hardship is softened into harmony, censorship into “community,” and failure into virtue. A sharp critique of revisionism—and a reminder that systems, too, can be judged by memory, reality, and consequence.
The National Interest
Shiraev, Eric & Mölder, Holger (2025). Decoding Vladimir Putin’s Baltic Strategy. The National Interest. July 30.
How can Western analysts anticipate Vladimir Putin’s next move toward the Baltic states? This essay (written with Holger Mölder) introduces strategic imagination—a forecasting framework that blends history, rational analysis, and political psychology. By examining Russia’s imperial legacy, Putin’s worldview, and ongoing information warfare against Estonia and its neighbors, it reveals why destabilization—not invasion—remains Moscow’s preferred tool, and how unseen psychological and historical cues shape the most dangerous scenarios ahead.
The National Interest
Shiraev, Eric (2025). Public Perception of Energy Giants: Heroes vs. Villains in the Reputation Game. The National Interest. April 21. This essay explores how energy CEOs became reputational heroes or villains—and why the divide is more fragile than it appears. Tracing the fall of fossil fuel giants and the rise of green visionaries, it shows how emotion, narrative, and moral framing shape public judgment—and how reputations, even in energy politics, can be built and defended.
TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR GESCHIEDENIS (The Netherlands)
Fake news for the American Revolution: An attempt at character assassination of George Washington
134.2 (2021) 254-267 https://doi.org/10.5117/tVg2021.2.006.shir (In English)
This article dives into one of the earliest—and surprisingly familiar—episodes of character assassination in American history: a series of forged letters that almost ruined the reputation of a man who would later become the first president of the United States. Long before social media, viral posts, or deepfakes, political rivals already knew how powerful fake documents could be in spreading doubt, poisoning trust, and making a leader look dishonest or disloyal. The takeaway is unsettling but clear: technology evolves, but the playbook for destroying reputations—and the vulnerability of democracies—hardly changes at all.
The National Interest
How Russia Plans to Navigate Through a Post-Virus World (with Konstantin Khudoley).
Russian leaders continue to believe their country belongs to the global decisionmaking club and relentlessly backs the idea of a new “concert” of great powers.
The Washington Examiner
"Amnesty, Abortion, and Acid": Why Negative Campaigning Works.
When the Nixon campaign in 1972 made use of the “three A’s” used to describe the politics of its opponent, George McGovern — “amnesty (for draft dodgers), abortion, and acid” — this offensive labeling was not necessarily meant to scare away McGovern’s die-hard supporters. They all were committed to vote for him regardless of persistent character attacks against “their guy.”
The Washington Examiner
Destined for Character Attacks: A National History of Ugly Rhetoric.
As a characteristic of human thinking, we tend to believe in the uniqueness of our time. This mindset dominates our discussion of politics, too. We assume that we live during the nastiest, ugliest, and most uncivilized period of American politics. Are the nonstop character attacks in presidential politics and elections worse than ever? Not really, no. In fact, vicious character attacks against presidential candidates are as old as campaigns themselves.
The Cipher Brief
Global Knowledge Warfare: Using Strategic Imagination to Harness Uncertainty and Fear (with Holger Mölder)
Pandemics remind us also about the threats of biological weapons: viruses can be weaponized. Knowledge too can be weaponized and used by states to project their power. In fact, disinformation has been a tool in foreign policy for centuries.
CARP IDEAS BLOG
Salieri vs. Mozart: Wrongfully Attacked?
The composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) could not have even thought about becoming one of the most noticeable victims of character assassination after his death. He had a dynamic and fruitful musical life while serving as Kapellmeister to the emperor of Austria. Yet Salieri is known today to most people as a man who ....
CARP IDEAS BLOG
On Our Terminology
When we began our endeavor several years ago, we were focusing—distinctively and persistently—on the most recognizable, the most central, and the catchiest term of our young project: character assassination.....
CARP IDEAS BLOG
The Character Assassination of Robert Bork
Was the Bork case an example of character assassination? There is little doubt that Robert Bork, as a judge and a public figure, was socially and politically conservative. No doubt, his opponents relentlessly and even fiercely attacked his political and legal views. However, all the critical words the opponents used, the images they produced, the metaphors they coined — do these words and images qualify as typical character attacks? Or were they all legitimate, substantive criticisms of Bork’s political and social views?