This is an excellent opportunity to bring back the term Shanghaied

The Google Gemini marketing team trying to think of cool stuff to do with ai

A nice new years gift, my article "Precise Mass in Action: Assessing Ukraine’s One-Way Attack Drone Campaign" passed 5,000 views! thanks to everyone who gave it a look

"don't know much about Yemen, or where it is, or who runs it, but here's what the recent tension means for the internationa-"

yes I’m happy to clarify. when I do it it’s called discourse. when you do it it’s running off at the mouth all wild style and whatnot. these are just technical terms

The answer on Saudi’s willingness to use military force is, from what I’ve been hearing, a ‘yes’. The main barrier is the National Shield commander’s unwillingness. As long as the NS refuses the idea, they are the single most important obstacle to/prevention of, direct conflict with the STC.

Adam Curtis documentaries in like 15 years

just learned gamefly still exists. It hasn't failed us we failed it

The incitement against the Sana'a Center is atrocious

Airwars has done some great work over the past few years and this is no exception 👇

I was recently invited on Yemen Today TV's Third Dimension for an in-depth discussion of the impact of the Gaza ceasefire on Yemen youtu.be/PsQ8-BSqLmY?...

actually, I think you'll find that you have *fewer* reasons than ever to maintain our friendship

OWA drones are everyone's problem:

It's probably not more relevant today than when it came out

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. After a longer-than-expected hiatus due to other obligations, Nick's Yemen Roundup is back with a rundown of the most important events in and around Yemen for the past month. Check it out!

June 2022, was I right? www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-put...

slightly late to the party on this but I've been watching the sopranos and it's pretty good

I'm sure these aren't the only two examples, but in the case of "Almost Cut My Hair" by CSNY and "Going to Georgia" by the Mountain Goats the songwriters both said it was one of their more immature songs but nonetheless are pretty popular with their respective fanbases.

Don't lecture me about insurgencies if you haven't read the foundational literature

In a world obsessed with Israeli airstrikes, in this piece I argue that you're never going to contain the Houthis without a stronger IRG And that's going to require addressing deep obstacles to the flow and distribution of Yemen's hydrocarbon wealth

I like Alien Earth but I'm still confused by the headlines comparing it to Andor a few weeks ago. It's only like Andor in that it's pretty good. It's more like Blade Runner vs Akira vs Alien vs Predator

don't fall for the pizza index

OWA drones are everyone's problem:

admittedly, this is not the way I expected Yemen to show up in the news today

Wednesday doesn't work as an Addams Family show, and Addams Family characters aren't a good fit for a Riverdale-type show, but the lack of viable alternatives for either right now means both audiences will try to suffer through it

Curious how a Houthi drone could have possibly gotten through Israel's sophisticated air defense to strike Ramon airport? Our research into OWA drones explains how inexpensive systems with long range strain air defense over time: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

It's important to note that launching a "record" number of OWA drones is not just a reflection of increased production, but a deliberate strategy by Russia to grab international headlines. I wrote on this topic a while back explaining the Kremlin's thinking: theconversation.com/russia-has-b...

There's also a need to set expectations: Russia, Ukraine, and Israel have made massive investments into their air defense and still cannot guarantee an 100% intercept rate, even when the UAS in question is less capable than a missile. The strategy quickly becomes one of managing threats

My new article is now my most-read publication on Taylor & Francis!! Many thanks to those that read and shared it. Even though it took a while to come out, Ukraine's use of OWA drones to strike Russia remains a salient topic that we should try to understand better.

If you're a journalist trying to piece together what the hell just happened in Sana'a, I've been following Houthi politics on a daily basis for a very long time and have a lot to say about who got killed, just sayin'

I am seeing deep misconceptions about the Israeli strike in Yemen claiming that it was against the legitimate government (it was not) or that it decapitated the Houthis (it did not). Over a decade into this awful conflict and there's still such little understanding in english-language discourse.

the internet archive is so cool

This article highlights the fundamental lie behind Rubio’s claim that humanitarian aid is still flowing. Have grants been signed? A couple (massive cuts to humanitarian food). Has money been obligated? It’s starting to trickle. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/h...

very pleased that this has gotten nearly 800 views already! By academic standards this is doing pretty good 😀

For those that would rather run into traffic than read an academic article (understandable), I have published a shorter piece in the conversation summarizing my findings: theconversation.com/ukraines-dro...

My NEW (and first) solo-authored academic article "Precise Mass in Action: Assessing Ukraine’s One-Way Attack Drone Campaign" has just been published by the RUSI journal (@rusi.bsky.social). It is open access so anyone can read it: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Shared some thoughts with the Telegraph on drone use in the Cambodia-Thailand conflict: www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

#FletcherAlum @raphaelparens.bsky.social ky.social joins @marcelplichta.bsky.social and Christopher M. Faulkner to assess drone warfare in Africa. mwi.westpoint.edu/drones-arent...

Israel's leaders have tried to frame their air campaign against the Houthis as similar to Rising Lion but in practice they've focused on limited retaliatory strikes on obvious targets and failed to kill senior Houthi leaders. Hard to see a scenario where they deter the Houthis this way.

“Since mid-May [Russia] set the record for the largest Shahed attack about six times,” says Marcel Plichta... He adds that these cheap, mass attacks pose a financial (as well as logistical) problem for Ukraine’s air defence. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07...

Why did the Houthis sit out the Israel-Iran conflict? Can the Yemeni government solve any of its many supply crises? Is Oman about to sell the Houthis a plane? Find out that and more on this week's edition of Nick's Yemen Roundup youtu.be/Tf01WCByzLY

It's possible that Houthi drones could make it to Somalia, but the problem with articles like this is that they discuss implications before we've actually observed it happen. If there is indeed "closer cooperation" among the Houthis and Shabaab then show it to us. issafrica.org/iss-today/ho...

👏 Congratulations to @marcelplichta.bsky.social‬ and Christopher Faulkner who made the Loop Best Blog 2024 longlist for their article 'Russia’s mercenaries are bolstering autocratic regimes in the Sahel', from our ♟️#AutocraciesWithAdjectives series. ➡️ ow.ly/bgru50W3qzj

It's never really worth saying or writing "let that sink in" for emphasis.

You probably shouldn't follow users that are unironically googling pizza places near the Pentagon for insight.

Couple of misunderstandings about Wagner leaving Mali 1. Wagner PMC is not the same as the Africa Corps 2. Wagner leaving does not mean Russia is disengaging 3. This did not come out of the blue, Russia has spent two years trying to replace Wagner abroad

Its important to understand what is actually happening in Mali. Wagner is not the Africa Corps, which is more tightly controlled by the Russian state and has been slowly replacing Wagner abroad since 2023.

Russian oil companies begin laying off staff In the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, oil and gas companies announced large-scale layoffs. 1/3