Terrible news from Belgium, where a Trumpian-style Flemish government want to close the Institute for Development Policy @uantwerpen.be. Please support and share!

Please sign this petition for the release of Joseph Figueira Martin, a humanitarian who's been arbitrarily detained (for close to 1,5 years..) and tortured in the Central African Republic. petitions.protecthumanitarians.org/en/petitions...

My article "Ex-Rebel Leaders and Strategies of Regime Survival in Côte d’Ivoire", co-authored with best writing mates Phil Martin (@georgemasonu.bsky.social) and Jeremy Speight (@uafairbanks.bsky.social) is finally out Open Access with #SecurityStudies! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/6

The US right claimed free speech was sacred – until the Charlie Kirk killing

“awful people don’t deserve to be killed, but they don’t deserve to be praised, either” is apparently a thought too complex for the pundit mind

There was an unprecedented meeting at the White House yesterday. Why? Because America’s allies don’t trust our president anymore. Why? Well the fact he is nuts, loyal to Russia, a liar, and an incompetent surrounded by incompetents has something to do with it. www.thedailybeast.com/is-peace-in-...

Advice needed please :). I'll probably sound old fashioned, but I have never used AI for transcribing interview recordings so far. Any suggestion of a software/tool that can do the job and does not cost too much would be very welcome 😀.

Massive demonstrations in #CôtedIvoire #IvoryCoast, where opposition supporters have gathered to protest #AlassaneOuattara's fourth mandate and the exclusion of prominent candidates (former president #LaurentGbagbo and #PDCI #TidjaneThiam) from the next elections. www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20...

I am pleased to share free pre-prints of this book review that I wrote for the journal of #developmentstudies. Abu Bah and Nikolas Emmanuel's book about #SierraLeone, #Liberia and #CôtedIvoire #IvoryCoast provides a sympathetic account of international #statebuilding in an era of disillusion. 1/5

The Israeli cabinet ordered the expulsion of Gaza City residents by the 7th October 25. The IDF will then occupy the city. If this goes ahead in the manner of IDF operations in Rafah, it would entail the physical destruction of Gaza City - one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. 1/

Not a good day for #CotedIvoire, where president #Ouattara, 83 year old, has announced that he will run for a fourth term. A sad conclusion for a man who was once a simbol of the importance of democracy and fair elections. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

More than 40 students with full scholarships to UK Universities are currently trapped in Gaza and are facing an administrative block to enable them to take up their places. If you are an academic based in the UK, please consider signing this letter. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

"There is no case since WW2 of starvation that has been so minutely designed and controlled" Famine expert Alex de Waal on Israel deliberately starving an entire civilian population

Harvard Educational Review spent a year preparing a special issue on education in and about Palestine. In June, contributors were notified that the Harvard Education Publishing Group had abruptly canceled the issue's release. This is censorship and cowardice. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

📢We are delighted to announce that we have kicked off our event with our Security Policy and Practice WG on "Digesting the UK's new National Security Strategy". 🪡Follow this thread for more insight into the event!

Recent PhD graduate/final year PhD student interested in applying for the @britishacademy.bsky.social fellowship? At @lborouniversity.bsky.social, we are selecting proposals - deadline is 11 August. If you have a proposal focusing on peace, conflict and security please email me.

"For the best examination of how well or badly Labour’s first year has really gone, look at Full Fact’s thorough analysis of 62 manifesto pledges". Grateful for the mention of our Government Tracker by Polly Toynbee in the Guardian:

My @lborouniversity.bsky.social colleague (unfortunately not for much longer, he is leaving us for greener pastures 🥺) has published on @e-international.bsky.social this interesting commentary on the proscription of #PalestineAction @leejarvis.bsky.social www.e-ir.info/2025/06/27/p...

The US Agency for International Development (#USAID) funding has had a crucial role in improving global health. A new study estimates that USAID programs have saved nearly 92 million lives over past 20 years. Explore the research ▶️ tinyurl.com/2w2nkvv3

USAID cuts may cause 14 million more deaths in next five years, study says www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

It has been a pleasure to present my research on the Cellules Civilo-Militaires in #CotedIvoire with Jeremy Speight at the #ECAS2025 conference in Prague and to discuss democracy and security with co-panelists Samiratou Dipama and Moutari Lawali. Now enjoying a third intense conferencing day!

There can be no business as usual with a country committing genocide. The EU must SUSPEND the EU-Israel Association Agreement NOW. EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs & @kajakallas.bsky.social - words are not enough 🧵 www.amnesty.eu/news/eu-must...

❗ It got a cover!! 📷 And not just any cover - my own photo! 😊 ✍ My forthcoming book with @oupacademic.bsky.social: "Securitizing the #Sahel: Analysing External #Interventions and their consequences" ...is in the making... #military #security #Mali #Burkina #Niger #France #EU

There is plenty of evidence that foreign-imposed regime change can make things worse, yet it seems that certain leaders have not learned the lesson...

🧵IR scholars, let's start a thread of what we know that's relevant for a US attack on Iran. Won't change any minds, but might help us teach this crisis and learn new angles. Please add (incl. your own work!), forgive/correct omissions. Nobody can cover everything and it's great to find new work. 1/?

It's deadline day, people, go go go!

👏 Our Future of #NATO event gathered over 30 experts, academics & postgraduates @lborouniversity.bsky.social for thought-provoking and important discussions on the challenges facing NATO. Huge thanks to our organisers & attendees for making this such an engaging day! @jamespattonrogers.bsky.social

Congratulations to our PhD candidate Harry McNamara and alumnus Dr Wooyun Jo for organizing a very successful workshop on the Future of #NATO at @lborouniversity.bsky.social ‪in collaboration with @bisawarstudies.bsky.social!🥳

...and the other fans of Nigel and Elon are now saying that he just panicked because he suffered of PTSD 🙄...

The project that @emorier.bsky.social, @vincentfoucher.bsky.social, @corinnajentzsch.com and I are coordinating on armed jihad in Africa is advertising three postdoc positions, in Belfast and Bordeaux. Find all the details below. Apply and/or circulate!

What an insane position to have gotten himself into www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Happy to have been able to review Richard Banégas and Armando Cutolo's recent book "ID Wars in Côte d'Ivoire" 😀. The book gives an important contribution to understanding the relationship between documents, citizenship, and identity in Africa and beyond. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

Mali officially (and unsurprisingly) dissolves political parties. This opens a new and risky period in Malian politics, and the existing parties will likely continue efforts at contestation even as some of their leaders have been taken by state authorities: www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/2...

"The government's argument sounds plausible. There's just one problem. It doesn't fit the facts. And the government knows it." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You can never out-Reform Nigel Farage You "come down hard on migration", he says: "leave the ECHR!". You raise the requirements to come in, he says: "zero migration for ten years!". You'll never catch-up, while helping him to push his topics to the top of the agenda.

I cannot state this strongly enough: If you are upset about the way this government is treating trans people and immigrants, and you have a Labour MP, for God sake write to them.

BISA Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding and Human Rights working group roundtable event - 30 April! 🎉 'Local-level peacebuilding: between theory and practice' inc/ panels with @sndeall.bsky.social @giuliapiccolino.bsky.social and @arunisamarakoon.bsky.social link - buff.ly/DLR4I3A @drswhite.bsky.social

The force is described as a "reassurance" and not a "peacekeeping" force. Which is... interesting, giving that "reassurance" is exactly what UN #peacekeeping was designed to do... #Ukraine www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We are now receiving applications for one fully funded PhD position in peace and conflict research, with a focus on political violence in democratic countries. Read more 👉 www.uu.se/en/about-uu/... Applications are also open for our general PhD position👉 www.uu.se/en/about-uu/... #PhD #Democracy

100% this. My friend @gkatsambekis.bsky.social might have something to add on how the label "populism" is misused in order not to recognize fascism for what it is.

Aside from how good this book is, this is censorship and ISA/APSA should speak out. Probably not the first and definitely not the last book that the federal government has outright censored and basically deleted. Yes I rewrote that last into active voice.

Some thoughts from Brussels. Europe is awoken and believes America is all but gone. As such huge efforts on defense funding from EU, Germany, and others. This is real. BUT... Europe is still not reckoning yet with its major structural security problem: No one does European defense. 1/

Asking for help on behalf of an Ivorian friend whose NGO has run several projects funded by the US Embassy. Because of the #aidfreeze, he had to stop the projects, cannot pay his staff and is struggling to support his family. Is there any ongoing class action for US aid contractors? bit.ly/4ii2DsM

I am wondering for how long UK politicians can continue with the farce of arguing that the US is still "our oldest ally"... By the way, the US has not experienced a war on its territory since the Civil War, so I am not sure it has lessons to give to the Europeans on that side...

English summary: influenced by South African apartheid nostalgics, Trump is squandering the US most important soft power tool in Africa. Yet, he also enjoys some sympathy among the nationalist juntas that have recently seized power in several African countries. www.jeuneafrique.com/1663875/poli...

Guess what? Apparently the two European leaders who have not spoken in defence of Zelensky yet are the PM of my native country and the PM of my adoptive country😣. At least the first one is consistent with her sh***y beliefs, the other is just acting as Trump's valet.

What the actual f**k! Not sure how Zelensky manages to keep calm and respond appropriately to this bunch of kindergarten bullies.