Middle powers like the UK and Canada will not win the race for ever larger AI models, but through collaboration they can win the deployment race. Read the latest RUSI Commentary from @broderickmcdonald.bsky.social, Connor Attridge and Alexandra MacEachern.

“China sees utility in Myanmar’s fractured political landscape.” Read Amara Thiha on how Beijing is engaging with both the military junta and local armed groups in Myanmar to formalize “a system built on permanent fragmentation”:

In Iraq, Martin Tamm Andersen sat beside a dying Danish soldier who had stepped on an IED fighting America's war. Now Trump threatens to take Greenland and Vance calls Denmark a bad ally. "You feel betrayed. It’s extremely uncomfortable." My story from Copenhagen www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Saudi Arabia has finally had enough with the UAE building bases, ports and allied militias in the region and is, rather belatedly, stepping up efforts to rollback Abu Dhabi's presence in Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

It is even worse than it looks

Had an incredible time at the Oxford Generative AI Summit last week. Thanks to my fellow panellists Sara Wahedi, Daisy McGregor, Amy Harland, and Robert Trager for a great discussion More: www.oxgensummit.org/speakers2025... Recent work: cetas.turing.ac.uk/about/our-te...

Look forward to speaking about the Geopolitics of AI at the Oxford Generative AI Summit later this week. Come say hi if you're in Oxford on Oct 16-17! Agenda: oxgensummit.org About: oxgensummit.org/speakers2025...

We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞 @sbmitche.bsky.social www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...

MIT rejects federal compact: www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration. MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone." orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

I recently spoke to The International Risk Podcast about Syria and the opportunities & challenges ahead. Listen below: Full episode: theinternationalriskpodcast.com/episode-270-... Guest profile: Broderick McDonald — The International Risk Podcast theinternationalriskpodcast.com/broderick-mc...

The #Syrian government announced an agreement with #Jordan and the US this week that seeks to restore calm in Suweida following sectarian violence which killed over 2,000 people. The agreement comes with a UN investigation into the nature of the clashes.

Syrian officials sent 47 French nationals suspected of being Islamic State members to Iraq for prosecution two months ago, Iraqi officials reported Thursday. The individuals had been held in Kurdish-run state prisons in Northeast Syria since their arrest.

**Call for contributors to the Elgar Concise Encyclopaedia of Terrorism Law** @jessieblackbourn.bsky.social, @drkatyvaughan.bsky.social and I are compiling a new Concise Encyclopaedia of Terrorism Law, to be published by Edward Elgar. So far we have commissioned over 100 entries with a fantastic

After breaking into the US Institute of Peace (USIP) Monday, DOGE members immediately got to work taking down signs to erase the independent agency. Photos taken yesterday shared directly with me:

Tunisia has forcefully descended into a new dictatorship, staging mass trials of political prisoners that echo Ben Ali's kangaroo courts of the 1990s. Kais Saied's rule by fiat makes a mockery of Tunisia's democratic decade (2011-21). And a great many people are being crushed under its wheels.

Hello @vox-pol.bsky.social ! Great to see you here. Anyone interested in cutting edge online extremism research, do give them a follow! 💻 voxpol.eu

(WSJ) - The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless the U.S. rows back on its plans to impose steep tariffs on imports, a senior official at the International Chamber of Commerce warned. @wsj.com www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

That was their goal.

People are going to die because of this. Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/h...

Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid Lifesaving treatment and prevention programs for tuberculosis, malaria, H.I.V. and other diseases cannot access funds to continue work. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/h...

Ukraine reels from ‘worst-case scenario’ suspension of US foreign aid

Trump is dismantling USAID—its website has been disrupted, funding frozen for most foreign aid programs, and vital aid efforts are being scaled back. It’s an attempt to silence humanitarian efforts and consolidate power. Lives are at risk.

This. The president is violating the constitution, firing the civil servants who keep us safe on airplanes, defunding research into cancer and Alzheimer’s, and even cutting foreign aid that will result in child deaths. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

FEWS NET, which detects famine outbreaks, has shut down per Trump’s freeze on all foreign aid.

USAID website goes offline amid Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/p... @apnews.com

Trump just cut your family’s purchasing power by $3500.

A reminder that the last time Trump imposed tariffs it caused a slowdown in the US economy…

After surveying and interviewing hundreds of former and active rebel fighters in Syria, Nafees Hamid, Nils Mallock, @broderickmcdonald.bsky.social, and Rahaf Aldoughli discuss their findings—and explain how outside actors can help Syria’s new leaders build a fair and stable government.

Pleased to share my latest article for Just Security (@justsecurity.org) Jolani shocked the world when he toppled #Assad in just 12 days, but the groundwork for the operation was laid years before. I share the inside story of how HTS prepared for this moment ⬇️ www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria...

Spoke with BBC News about Assad's future in Russia and the direction of Jolani's new transitional government in Syria in the weeks & months ahead www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM78...

Pleased to share my latest article for Just Security (@justsecurity.org) Jolani shocked the world when he toppled #Assad in just 12 days, but the groundwork for the operation was laid years before. I share the inside story of how HTS prepared for this moment ⬇️ www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria...

One month after the fall of #Damascus #Syria, some wonder: how did the rebels win so quickly? @broderickmcdonald.bsky.social argues it was the result of the insurgents’ patient planning and the weakness of Assad and his allies. www.justsecurity.org/106215/syria...

Joined the BBC’s Conflict Podcast to discuss the history of the Golan Heights and Syria w/ Jonny Dymond, the Telegraph’s Middle East Correspondent Jotam Confino and the BBC’s State Department Correspondent Tom Bateman Stream or download: lnkd.in/gH34t89i

Spoke to Al Jazeera News about the conflict in #Syria and how HTS has become more pragmatic & locally focussed mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/on0U06...

My comments to FRANCE24 on the foreign fighters in HTS and other allied groups within Syria ⬇️ observers.france24.com/en/middle-ea...

Spoke with BBC News about the fall of the #Assad regime and the future challenges that lie ahead for Syria

This week we hear how technology led to the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham #HTS and the fall of #Assad's regime in #Syria. W. @garethmitchell.bsky.social & @peterguest.bsky.social Listen to the full episode here: somewhereonearth.co @gboddington.bsky.social @aniatech.bsky.social

Thread on X by @broderickmcdonald.bsky.social Drones played a major role in #HTS capture of #Aleppo - How HTS manufactures them on an industrial scale - How HTS trains fighters to fly them - How HTS targets high-value, strategic targets (commanders, artillery, tanks) x.com/BroderickM_/...

My comments on the conflict in #Syria to EFE Agency, with @natashahall.bsky.social and @ajatamaitri.bsky.social ⬇️

Spoke to Al Jazeera about the conflict in #Syria and the role of #Hezbollah #Iran and #Russia Full interview: mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/on0U06...

Look forward to connecting with other researchers here who are looking for a place to share research & interests without so much noise

Harvard and Google AI mapped one cubic millimeter of a human brain. It took up 1.4 petabytes of storage just in pictures of the specimen. So the entire brain would take ~ 1.6 zettabytes of storage, cost $50 billion, and require 140 acres. It would be the largest data center on the planet— one brain.

Hey BlueSky, excited to be here