"I believe that as academics, we have a responsibility to shine a light into the darkness of post-truth, to reveal the illusion of postfactuality..we should not give in to despair, b/c in our despair we are immobilised..Our action.. allows us to offer the one thing the world needs right now – hope"

Putin's wars are all wars of choice, pursued for imperialist restoration, out of a position of strength and expected impunity. One of Russia's greatest propaganda achievements convincing the bulk of American pundits and IR folks that it fights out of fear, humiliation, and prevention.

As an IR professor, it's depressing that this is outperforming all others as the best theory of US foreign policy

This.

Anti-war feminists could be focusing on raising awareness about russian war crimes against Ukrainian women instead of posting performative nonsense that undermines support for Ukraine’s defence. Russia holds civilian women hostage and rarely agrees to exchange them: www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...

Sure “create supply.” And reward Russia, at a time when it not only continues its war against Ukraine but also reportedly provides Iran with intel to harm Americans. The Trump Russia First policy continues.

Congress could stop this.

This administration is committed to war crimes-- and to trying to make them look cool. Sick.

USG knew the locations struck by US TLAMs in Iran. Good questions for the White House and Pentagon as to why POTUS and SecDef answered this way. The USG killing children is not a joke or something to be excused.

It is hard to watch America abandon all pretense of serving democracy or the global good: abandoning #Ukraine for imaginary business deals with #Putin & abandoning the people of #Iran & their desire for freedom to... what exactly? Senseless violence. At least spring is coming.

If you’re looking for a good “oh no I need to know more about Iran” book, I’m really enjoying Abbas Amanat’s “Iran: A Modern History” thus far.

Greetings from Kyiv. I’m having a warcoffee and reading updates about Kharkiv. Ten people have already been killed in the night attack. The life I see through the window and the tragedy I read about in the news seem to blend into a wild dance.

Mass murder in #Kharkiv, with 10 people confirmed dead, including two children, a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. Another fifteen people were injured, including an 11-year-old boy. Horrible

Someone should really let Mr. Trump know that as much he wants to be Mr. Putin’s friend, Mr. Putin doesn’t want to be his.

An Iranian frigate is a legal target (even if unarmed) in war. Whether its sinking served a practical aim is debatable. If it was truly unarmed, it’s morally questionable. However, the U.S. sub had a clear legal (& moral) duty to assist the survivors. responsiblestatecraft.org/sinking-iran...

Why why why? #Russia remains an aggressor. It has shown no signs of backing down. So why reward it? www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

This is why you don’t cheer war like it’s a game.

A Desperate Race for Drone Defense | "Ukraine is racing to develop and scale drone interceptors, while European states rush to buy systems of their own from Kyiv."@kirichenko.bsky.social https://cepa.org/article/a-desperate-race-for-drone-defenses/

I don't know anything about India-Middle East relations beyond the most cursory stuff. The authority on this topic is @nicoblar.bsky.social . For Iranian foreign policy in general, I follow @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social . If you know an expert who is here, please post in the responses. Thanks,

Two headlines, same day. The Trump administration is an embarrassment.

I know that the people who need to read this aren’t here, but here goes: Rules of engagement aren’t for the enemy. They’re for you. They’re for your soldiers when they’re captured or wounded. They’re for your civilians when they’re in range of the enemy. They’re for your allies, to reassure.

Devastating. One reason I firmly believe IHL should be taught in schools in democracies is because voters must understand what their militaries are permitted to do so that they are held to account when they engage in legal violations

In a world where insiders place corrupt bets on still-secret US military actions before they are initiated; & the FBI fires Iran counterintelligence specialists days before the domestic terrorism threat rises to its highest levels in years, the old notion of “insider threat” is well and truly dead.

If we learned nothing at all from the Iraq War, it was that chaos is no good for anybody. Order is a seriously underrated good.

War comes with responsibility.

In its decision to attack Iran, I think the Trump administration is clearly failing on two of the four and almost certainly failing on a third. And I'm on the fence about one of the criteria (because the administration can't/won't clearly elucidate its aims).

It really is the MadLib War. Which is not meant to be funny, but rather highlights how profoundly absurd the administration’s shifting aims and justifications are. We attacked Iran because ______, and had to go now because _____.

Ukraine says its Paralympic uniform was banned for being "too political." Meanwhile, Russian athletes were allowed to wear uniforms with part of Russia’s map at the 2022 Olympics — raising questions about consistent rule enforcement.

How on earth is the representation of the internationally recognized legal borders of #Ukraine too "political"? (But former soldiers who participated in the illegal invasion of Ukraine competing under the Russian flag isn't "political"?) #Paralympics www.ostro.org/news/my-ledv...

Respect for the laws of war are what separates the "good guys" from the "bad guys." It really is that simple. clip.cafe/the-bridge-o...

This.

And just in case anyone cares about ethics -- which apparently nobody does -- if you use force with no realistic plan for making anything any better, you have acted immorally, and the innocent people you've killed as "collateral" have been killed for no reason at all.

🇺🇦President Zelenskyy: Ukrainians live under thousands of Russian strikes with various types of weapons. In the last week of winter alone, Russia used more than 1,720 attack drones, nearly 1,300 guided aerial bombs, and over 100 missiles of various types against Ukraine.

Over at Twitter, an assorted combo of paid russian stooges and probably unpaid useful idiots from academia are involved in another cycle of « imagine if Ru did X » about a bunch of international law violations Russia has been committing for a decade. It’s pathetic.

There is something morally sick about betting on airstrikes. The use of force is a somber business -- even if it is for a justified end, it is virtually guaranteed that some innocent people's lives will be upended, that some will be injured, that some will be killed. /1

Color me not surprised.

Well put: "Mr. Trump’s dangerous reliance on the military as the primary tool of foreign policy creates a perilous precedent. The American people must not become inured to their president using troops as an easy button to solve policy problems." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/o...

No. Next.

One ignores experts at their peril.

This must-read will make you re-think the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Esp those who identify as "anti-war" should read it. For most Ukrainians, what matters more is not when the war ends but how, many have adapted to the realization that the end is not in sight www.eurozine.com/the-new-abno...

Being friendly is not a legal requirement for sovereignty.

This! 👇💯

💥BREAKING: Viktor Orbán ordered the military deployed to guard “key energy facilities,” citing a possible Ukrainian “attack” to disrupt Hungary’s energy system. The move fuels fears of a staged national security emergency or false-flag incident ahead of the April 12 elections. This is really scary.

Putin is making Russia small again: ”Our model suggests that Russian casualties are now between 1.1m and 1.4m, of whom 230,000-430,000 are dead. That would mean one in 25 Russian men between the ages of 18 and 49 may have been killed or severely wounded since the start of the full-scale war.”

Gross. Note that the administration hasn’t even bothered to ask the same of Russia, although it has targeted American businesses in Ukraine. In other words, Trump isn’t even trying to look neutral.

This is shocking. The US has abstained from a UN vote supporting lasting peace in #Ukraine, joining such illustrious state-sponsors of international justice and human rights as China, Saudi Arabia, and Libya. /1 @houseforeign.bsky.social

The hard part about doing propaganda is that the past changes so quickly you have no idea what will happen yesterday.

On Feb 24, 2022, as Ru invaded, @oxanashevel.bsky.social and I wrote: "Putin’s rhetoric and actions over almost two decades reveal that his goals extend beyond imposing neutrality on Ukraine or even staving off further NATO expansion. The larger objective is... www.justsecurity.org/80343/russia...

Texting my friends this morning, I found myself writing only: 'may this day somehow pass'. Because with each year, words carry heavier weight. In my comment for The New Statesman, I chose three words that must be used with caution. 1/2

If you watch only one thing today. This is it. As some who studied @ZelenskyyUa speeches. This one is back to basics. We, the people, together united are what makes Ukraine strong. Shoring up that state centered civic duty. m.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAU...