🚨New First View Article🚨 "‘Normativity in practice: Ordering through enactment, learning, and contestation in global protests " by Frank Gadinger and Holger Niemann is now available #OpenAccess! 📄 ➡️ buff.ly/cZUCe3B

I live in constant war against cookie selection screens and take toggling off every single “legitimate interest” tab militantly, so that whenever I see an ad that tries to sell me the most inaccurate stuff imaginable, I “win”.

NEW Maritime Affairs Issue 11 | Great analysis from @cynthia-mehboob.bsky.social & @fitbintim.bsky.social which highlights how cable repair and maintenance rules—like licensing and permits—are used politically and can influence the region's digital future.

OUT NOW Maritime Affairs Issue 11 | Securing Our Data: Subsea Cables and Maritime Security in Southeast Asia by @cynthia-mehboob.bsky.social & @fitbintim.bsky.social. www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/asset...

a lot of people think you need a lot of money to buy clothes. now you're right. ok. my bad.

Just out - incredibly important analysis led by Dr Chiara Holgate with @raindrop-herder.bsky.social @climatenerilie.bsky.social and a very large impressive team on causes of Australian droughts. A timely read in SA and WA for sure... www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Our look at the implications of the earthquake in Myanmar, by @suelinwong.bsky.social: economist.com/asia/2025/03...

‘Incel’ accounts using self-improvement language to avoid TikTok bans – study

I've added a new visualization to my global climate change indicator page. I will update this graphic monthly at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... It shows monthly mean temperature anomalies relative to pre-industrial levels. Red dots indicate the year of the warmest months. What trend do you see? 🫠

Subsea cables laid at extreme depths are typically unarmoured. China could easily sever these lightweight cables without a specialised cutter if it wanted, so why was there a need for one, and why such a public unveiling? My thoughts here @lowyinstitute.bsky.social

"Hey Alexa, are you recording this?" Yes, the answer is yes. Amazon is killing its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature on March 28 as the company aims to bolster Alexa+, its new subscription assistant. Let's get into it...

More than 150 ‘unprecedented’ climate disasters struck world in 2024, says UN

Check out this article from #WIISA member Cynthia Mehboob, who wrote on the topic of subsea cables and climate change in @aunz.theconversation.com 👏

"Are these projects set to make existing subsea systems more resilient, or are we witnessing the silent entrenchment of a digital oligarchy in global connectivity systems?" Enriching piece by @cynthia-mehboob.bsky.social @lowyinstitute.bsky.social: www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

A very useful @reuters.com primer on that OTHER war - "Congo’s government said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January." Well displayed graphics and pocket profiles of the countries involved and key players. www.reuters.com/graphics/CON...

Should we let multi-billionaire owned companies put 50,000 km long cable under the sea? This one is going to tether 5 continents to the internet. How many smaller cable owners would pay the cost for Meta’s huge infrastructural ambitions across continents as Zuckerberg expands his influence?

A little brag note after a big few days of commentary on The Interpreter @LowyInstitute. I’m lucky to have such responsive authors – there has been news about. So go fishing through a great collection of articles, and I’ll highlight just a couple here.👇https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter

In The Conversation today, I unpack the most important undersea cables issue that warrants serious attention from policymakers. These cables aren’t the perfect climate change fix but a step in the right direction b/c sometimes the most unlikely solutions are the ones that make the most sense. Link👇

The big cherry on top of all this is: the parting position of the Biden admin is an unambiguous declaration that the President can choose not to enforce laws he dislikes. They don't see a problem there? Does no one in the White House follow politics? Read about history? Or do they just not care?

This infrared image from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed by amateur astronomers for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ.of Ariz.

Could an Australian city burn like LA has? Yes, and we're not prepared. "The crisis is here," writes David Bowman, professor of pyrogeography and fire science

Mearsheimer's theory of Offensive Realism is based on US 19th century territorial expansion. Back to the Future indeed!

Are you looking for a new listen? #ICYMI: Our editor Seb Kaempf is hosting our new podcast! He will be joined by writers and reviewers from our community for debates about the latest research in IR. 🎧 First Episode: "Toward a Different IR?": buff.ly/484KScg

this choice of photos by the Carter Center is shadier than a Georgia peach tree in summer

🚨New First View Article🚨 "Before astropolitics: Ratzel, Schmitt, and the question of cosmic colonisation" by Ian Klinke is now available #OpenAccess! 📜➡️ buff.ly/49Jtr1M

Glad to have contributed to this @australia.theguardian.com piece on Australia and subsea cables security. Certainly worth a read!

'On Friday, the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies said it is partnering with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) to create the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience.' therecord.media/un-internati...

Finally!

Sweden is asking a Chinese vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate an investigation into recent breaches of undersea fiber-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.

In my first op-ed for @bluesecprogram.bsky.social, I comment on the newly enacted archipelagic sea lanes and maritime zones legislation of the Philippines. Now up on The Interpreter @lowyinstitute.bsky.social 👇🏽

Cop29 delegates told to ‘cut the theatrics’ and tackle climate crisis

🇦🇺+🇨🇳 leaders have met on the sidelines of the G20 & 🇦🇺 looks set to remove some anti-dumping measures on 🇨🇳 sinks. What do these developments mean for 🇦🇺-🇨🇳 relations & the long-awaited end of 🇨🇳’s trade restrictions on 🇦🇺 🦞? BCB in brief: beijing2canberra.substack.com/p/bcb-in-bri...

www.politico.com/news/2024/11... The interesting bit in this otherwise predictable story is this paragraph. Ordinary people overestimate how financial contributions empower lobbyists, and underestimate the value of information. The decline of trust in expert information may weaken their influence

one of our students made a cake!

Article on future of 'bridging the gap' between academics and policymakers below 👇. A good updating of the main areas of discussion, taking into account new information flows academic.oup.com/isp/article-...

“Ah yes, tell me more about how professors are the elite,” I said as I finished making a monthly installment payment on a piece of furniture that I couldn’t afford to buy upfront.

Actually, having given it due consideration, it turns out that I do quite like echo chambers after all.

For those who don’t know me but are new here, I’m the author of 29 books. My newest, BY ANY OTHER NAME, is about how women have been judged differently from men for over 400 years. (Sound familiar??) Oh, and my novel NINETEEN MINUTES is THE most banned book in America right now. 🎉

Bluesky stuns in new App Store ranking

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Tech bro: the cup is insufficiently monetized so we’re adding subscription features like telling you how full it is so you don’t have to look

Nigel Farage says his £32,000 all expenses paid trip to visit Trump in the US, courtesy of a multi-million pound Reform UK donor, was in order "to represent Clacton on the world stage"

🐈‍⬛🦇🖤

A new study of 1,500 supernovas gives the most precise measure ever of cosmological time dilation--the way time seems to slow down for objects we observe in the distant universe fun fun fun 🧪🔭 www.scientificamerican.com/article/eins... by @astrojonny.bsky.social

The Morning Monty wants you to know that yes, he’s *exactly* as soft as he looks.

Such a delight being back in Sunak’s England 😁 #GeneralElection2024