Feeling overwhelmed as an #EarlyCareer #Researcher? Listen to Episode 5 of @isa-canada.bsky.social's podcast, #ALADoctor, featuring @pmfrowd.bsky.social as he and @rbkpulln.bsky.social discuss the advice that #GradStudents receive on how to plan out their #Academic #Career: buff.ly/tqK5eig

Saint Mary’s University in Halifax is hiring for a TT position in Political Theory

FYI www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

"Sur le modèle burkinabé des Volontaires pour la défense de la patrie, Niamey a lancé le programme « Garkuwar Kassa », qui vise à recruter et former des jeunes pour prêter main-forte aux forces armées." #Niger #VDP www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

Since the coup, Niger's security strategy hasn't been clear. Niger hasn't invited large numbers of foreign mercenaries (Mali) and hasn't opted for militarizing the whole society (Burkina). It now seems to be drifting toward the (disastrous) Burkinabè solution relying on militias

Non-state armed actors engage with states in ambiguous and highly differentiated ways. In a recent article, Mariam Bjarnesen and I reflect on the seemingly contrasting approaches taken by three West African states; Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Liberia: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

Just in: freedom is being told how to eat

"In the fog of the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada, the focus is on American tariffs and their economic impact. But little attention is being paid to Canada’s longstanding co-ordination and co-operation with the U.S. in terms of border management."

"cooperation with European migration control prerogatives is basically etched into the political settlement that has become consolidated in Mauritania since 2008"

Notre art « La polycrise au Sahel : observations, perspectives et actions » en accès libre jusqu'à la fin du mois d'août, dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec ECAS!! N'hésitez pas à partager cet art co-écrit avec @charbonneaub.bsky.social, C. Jourde, N. Compaoré, @pmfrowd.bsky.social et G. Goyet!

Kendrick Lamar used every second of available airtime to diss a corny rapper from Toronto. When the US government sends in the army to crush protest and assist mass deportations in his home town, crickets!

JNIM today claimed an IED attack against Malian and Russian vehicles inside Bamako, apparently at a training field on the city's western edge. As far as I'm aware this is the first claim of an IED in the city, even as attacks have taken place several times over the years. The insurgency has arrived.

I hope this piece will receive the acclaim it deserves. It's a unique and essential systematic comparison between JNIM and IS-Sahel, from a doctrinal and governance perspective, based on primary data. Read!

Asylum rights are under pressure everywhere – Canada's new rules make it no exception.

With some exceptions, jihadist insurgency in the Sahel has ruralized and grown in strength away from major cities & capitals. This is changing, with JNIM claiming an attack in the periphery of Bamako this afternoon. Follows major, high-casualty attacks across Mali and Burkina Faso this week.

We ask that your nominations for this year’s Distinguished Scholar award mention whether the nominee: i) is willing to attend the conference in-person, or ii) prefers an alternative format (such as, but not limited to, an eventual ISA virtual platform). We look forward to your nominations!

DEADLINE EXTENDED to June 11th, 2025! We understand that many people may not wish to travel to Columbus next March, for a range of valid reasons. Thus, the IPS Section is accepting alternative formats for the 2026 Distinguished Scholar Award Panel.

Beyond 'elbows up' talk, the United States has actually been successful at coercing Canada into giving more money and more powers to the RCMP, CBSA, and other agencies. www.canada.ca/en/public-sa...

The IOM has accepted the US government's request to provide Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR). IOM says this happens "only after an individual gives informed consent to receive assistance" but the definition of 'consent' to be sent away is going to get stretched to its limits.

This past three to seven days, and continuing today, Sahelian military forces have suffered staggering defeats (Ekinewane; Falmey; Dioura; Boulikessi; Koumbri; and today an attack on the base in Timbuktu). JNIM perpetrated all these attacks except for Ekinewane. Really difficult times in the #Sahel.

The most relevant message today from @isanet.bsky.social was not the president's but the sentence above it, hinting at virtual options for #ISA2026.

The IPS Section is now welcoming nominations for the 2026 IPS Book Award! To nominate or self-nominate a book, please email the award panel chair Philippe M. Frowd ([email protected]). Books must be received by September 1st, 2025. For further information, access: www.isanet.org/Programs/Awa...

Are you a graduate student who presented at the 2025 ISA in Chicago? If you were part of a panel sponsored or co-sponsored by the IPS section, consider applying to the 2026 IPS Graduate Student Paper Award! Self-nominations are encouraged!

Our call for nominations for the 2026 IPS Distinguished Scholar Award is still open! Deadline for nominations is June 2nd, 2025

Palestinians face a double dehumanization: either get no aid, or receive it in exchange for coercive surveillance through facial recognition

I spent the last three days in eastern Chad at the Sudan border, my first visit since April 2024 - the humanitarian situation has gone from very bad to much worse with a new spike in refugee arrivals. Thanks much for @helpfromgermany for having me again. A few thoughts: #chad #sahel

JNIM claims to have killed at least 200 soldiers in Djibo, which is just one of several devastating attacks on Burkina Faso’s security forces recently. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

One major continuity in the Sahel, regardless of which foreign powers are present, is recurring ethnic massacres committed by state (and state-adjacent) forces www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

Burkina Faso is in an existential security crisis. At the same time, the information environment is saturated by propaganda from all sides.

This is a really important piece by @adamsandor.bsky.social and Laura Berlingozzi on the deeply ambiguous role of civil society under military rule in Burkina Faso and Niger.

I'm glad I lived to see David Frum's quite apt gender critique

The why and the how of Sankara and Traoré's respective dealings with the Mossi traditional power base is very illustrative about each man's political project. They increasingly resemble each other only in image.

In our new article, Can Mutlu, @biometricstate.bsky.social and I argue for more attention to how smartphone apps are used at borders. Available in #openaccess!

Weaponization of a trusted traveler program! It's like #lawfare but for the border. www.cnn.com/2025/04/30/p...

Canada is a multicultural democracy with strong civic foundations and high quality of life. It is also built on enormous past and present pain. But I just don’t buy the right’s vision of Canadian darkness. Now let’s see what all our fellow citizens think!

From the Hungarian special envoy for the #Sahel

Un commentaire collectif sur la polycrise au Sahel. @pmfrowd.bsky.social @charbonneaub.bsky.social N. Compaoré, G Goyet, C Jourde et moi-même - discutons du potentiel heuristique de la notion de polycrise. #Sahel #polycrise @flshudes.bsky.social @cerium-udem.bsky.social

A chilling new report shows how the [EU-funded] Tunisian security services effectively kidnap and sell migrants to Libya where they are held for ransom. Full report here: statetrafficking.net/StateTraffic...

I know Mali is a boring topic, but again, what Russians are doing is worth repeating over and over. Throughout the last month, they have engaged in what is simply scorched earth war, pillaging, hunting for resources in patrol areas, confiscating oil and gas, massacring hundreds.

The IPS Section is now welcoming nominations for the 2026 IPS Distinguished Scholar Award! Nominations must be emailed to the Section Chair, Philippe Frowd at [email protected] by June 2nd, 2025 #ISA2026

This story is terrifying and highlights how the Canadian border is implicitly part of how people end up in ICE custody.

Very unfortunate that it has come to this, but validating. Like many other Cdn colleagues, I had already decided to pass on @isanet.bsky.social #ISA2026, and will be sticking to ISA-Canada and EISA regional conferences while current policies and admin is in place. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I've decided not to submit a proposal for the International Studies Association's big annual conference in the US next year (@isanet.bsky.social) and hope the organization will consider relocating the meeting to Canada, Europe, or elsewhere.

ISA's hosting model is reliant on huge contracts negotiated years in advance with US hotel chains. The cancellation penalties in those are existential threat to the organization's financial survival, leaving no slack to change the location or attendance model.