“Think big or go home” — @bashair.bsky.social saying what needs to be said at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership Conference in Doha.

Join us at 16:30 TODAY in Geneva if you’re around for HPNW

Join us on Monday!

Join us in Geneva on March 24 for a solutions-focused event looking at how we can meet the moment in a shifting aid landscape, and leverage what is working to support communities in crisis. A new way of responding to crisis is vital, learn how to do more from those who’re already doing it!

Important from @ejbeals.bsky.social… www.mei.edu/publications...

Reflections from Syria. Very briefly, for now. Lots more to come in the days/weeks ahead. Three things are happening at once: 1/ The joy, relief, and miracle of it all. 2/ The huge grief and horror.  3/ The uncertainty, complexity, and huge work ahead.

By @ejbeals.bsky.social on preserving evidence and securing justice for Assad's crimes. www.mei.edu/publications...

Just back from five days in Damascus. Not something I thought I’d be saying. Syria is free and the future is being written in real time. Truly a privilege to witness a small part of that. Will take a bit to process and find the words, but for now…

A lot is happening in Syria. Want to follow along with additional context, local knowledge, and those who witnessed it in real-time? Here’s a starter pack: Syria from 2011 and beyond. go.bsky.app/3ng3Ghq

Syria is free!!!

If you don't know the story of Douma and Eastern Ghouta, start here. cc @benimmo.bsky.social @ejbeals.bsky.social @eliothiggins.bsky.social @michaelsheldon.bsky.social www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...

I’m in a state of total overwhelm. As is everyone I’m talking to. Hopeful, relieved, worried, and suddenly feeling the avalanche of the last 14 years, the memories all flooding back, the friendships, the grief, the lives lost, the work done, the anger, the gaslighting.

Folks, wars go far far beyond armed groups. If your analysis of outcomes focuses only on these, I don’t really know what to tell you…

My belief in the power of the international community to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, and make a good go of trashing many of the locally-led positives we've seen so far, has indeed been bolstered over the last 48 hours.

Events in Syria are unfolding far too quickly to cover in real-time--also too much work to be done! Needless to say, Assad only really holds Homs (for how long?), Damascus, and the coast. The South has joined the fray; the East is out of regime control.

Anyone purporting to be interested in localized peacebuilding would do well to listen very carefully to Syrians right now, particularly those from in and around Aleppo. Something remarkable is happening, and how the world reacts to it will be a defining point in Syria's future.

OK, here we go. Here's a comprehensive guide to what's happened in #Syria in recent days -- lots of exclusive details, data & analysis on the capture of #Aleppo & much more. www.syriaweekly.com/p/special-sy...

Biden might finally get his “pivot to Asia”… www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

👏🏼now👏🏼do👏🏼you👏🏼get👏🏼that👏🏼unresolved👏🏼conflicts👏🏼are👏🏼still👏🏼conflicts👏🏼and👏🏼you👏🏼can’t👏🏼just👏🏼ignore👏🏼them👏🏼and👏🏼hope👏🏼they👏🏼go👏🏼away👏🏼

Anyone interested in Syria reporting and following of news updates, here is a helpful list to start with: go.bsky.app/TpjA464

A notable datapoint on Syria is the way ostensibly pro-Assad people are speaking on platforms like that other app/FB etc. Previously nominally regime-aligned folks would speak against them in private, but remain steadfast in public, or comment in a very particular way when criticizing.

Idlib, Aleppo, Hama…nothing short of a complete regime collapse. Events moving so quickly it’s impossible to grasp what’s going on, let alone pontificate about what’s next. But unrest in Daraa and *something* going on Damascus suggest this isn’t stopping any time soon.

Trump won the election and and all eyes are on Aleppo. It does rather feel like we fell down a rabbit-hole and landed back in 2016.

First time in a long time I’ve seen Syrian friends and colleagues expressing hope of seeing homes, families, and missing relatives again. Beyond the play by play of frontlines and the inevitable horrors of war still to come, a crack letting light in to the long-carried pain of so many is moving.

It was truly a joy to spend a moment sitting with the big feelings of elation and relief at the start of the ceasefire with Lebanese friends today. Plenty to get into on potential road bumps, but the immediate impact of the ceasefire can’t be understated.

The ICC has applied for arrest warrants for the head of the junta in Myanmar, Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Defence Services. This uses ICC jurisdiction in Bangladesh, where displaced from Myanmar fled. www.icc-cpi.int/news/stateme...

Analysis of 27 HDP nexus interventions rightly calls out that the peace pillar is poorly implemented. Too often aid and development actors define this, all too narrowly. Peace actors must take a more assertive role in defining the peace pillar at macro and micro levels. www.oecd.org/en/publicati...

Good thread. When war crimes are committed, all available legal pathways should be used to address it. Where the ICC is available, the ICC. Where it is not—as in Syria and Myanmar—all other legal pathways should be used, and they have been, with enormous creativity and effort.

Pleased to be in Rome for the MED Dialogues. The need to resolve conflicts across the Middle East could not be more urgent. Looking forward to productive meetings and discussions to this end over the coming days.

This video went viral last week, but without a lot of context about why it happened. Yesterday a massive protest march happened too. I’m going to do my best to explain what’s going on back home in Aotearoa New Zealand and why it matters both at home and abroad. www.theguardian.com/world/video/...

Fun fact: I’m a Kiwi. To that end, anyone interested in a deep dive thread on the recent viral video of the Haka in parliament and what the heck is causing so much (very justifiable) angst and protest? Don’t wanna bore everyone with our post-colonial challenges if we’re still just here for lolz.

Yes, but…. in the international context it’s also strategically foolish to presume laws are being upheld. If your policy or plan recommends or requires IHL to be upheld then, yes, state that, but also tell us/plan for how you’re going to ensure it happens and what you’ll do if/when it isn’t.

how to use Bluesky search 🔍

“If governments that say they believe in a rules-based order are willing to uphold international laws and norms, then there may be some hope for the future.” Read Peter Salisbury and @ejbeals.bsky.social on the uptick in violent conflict—and how world leaders should respond:

I'm starting a thing--details to come.... But I want to know: What's your biggest fear about the state of the world? Your burning question about why things are like this? What system, idea, or org are you most confused about? Where do you see hope? Replies or offline notes both welcome.

Looking for an extremely Gen Z London-based person who’s great at podcast production and social dissemination (especially TikTok videos) and is, ideally, a bit of a nerd (though that’s secondary, a quick study is fine) on an ad hoc basis. Apply within.

Violent conflict is increasing in multiple parts of the world, write Peter Salisbury and @ejbeals.bsky.social. What can explain the proliferation of conflict—and how can existing peace-building processes and practices adapt to these new challenges?

What began as a piece detailing the combined anxieties of a Syria nerd (me) and a Yemen nerd (Pete Salisbury) was overtaken by world events and ended up as a highly depressing read about the lack of peace, or even aspiration for peace, in a world aflame: www.foreignaffairs.com/africa/world...

There are fifty elections due to take place around the world next year. It's pretty darn clear from the last week that social media is not presently equipped to support those events without breaking a few societies along the way.

For Foreign Affairs, me and Natasha Hall argue against managing conflicts through humanitarian diplomacy alone. Instead, principled aid deployment should avoid manipulation by regimes who deny access for pol/mil reasons, while meaningful efforts are made to resolve conflicts. https://t.co/d1O6OpkG6R