Reminder— applications due by January 4. Please circulate broadly amongst South Caucasus colleagues!

Please encourage bloggers and other digital media content creators from the South Caucasus to apply by January 4 for this free study visit program at George Mason University: carterschool.gmu.edu/digital-medi...

Please spread the word about this residency opportunity for conflict resolution practitioners. Applications due Nov 15 carterschool.gmu.edu/research-imp...

Please spread the word about this residency opportunity for conflict resolution practitioners. Applications due Nov 15 carterschool.gmu.edu/research-imp...

Breaking news: A tsunami watch is in place for the entire U.S. West Coast, with warnings in Hawaii and Japan, where waves as high as 10 feet have been forecast, after magnitude-8.7 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka region.

@bridgetbrink.com has long experience representing the U.S. as a highly skilled diplomat. Lucky Michiganers to have the chance for her to represent you in Congress!

Inspiring educational science talks live-streaming for 100 hours— really good talks here! Just another 10 hours or so to go! I tuned in and am learning about why we do science education and research, and the weather and climate insights we lose with de-funding science www.youtube.com/live/bnMDBRn...

Super sweet story here! Amongst loss, we can find laughter.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled the USIP president and board members were unlawfully fired by President Trump and should be reinstated.

Strong support for NOAA this morning in front of the HQ in Silver Spring. We ❤️ NOAA and our weather reports! Knowing accurate weather forecasts makes us all safer!

This prayer brought me to tears… prayer for humanity 😢 youtu.be/KXl6pkBhPAI?...

The DC Council is investigating the DOGE invasion of the U.S. Institute of Peace on March 17th. The DC Chief of Police has begrudgingly admitted DC MPD were called by USIP personnel at 2:59 PM, an hour before Ed Martin rang them up to help the DOGE attack.

I'm really @&# tired of stupid careless vengeful people firing my friends.

U.S. revokes the visa of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias Sanchez?! Really?! Every day, a new low. Outrageous! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/u...

Argh! DOGE already transferred USIP building to GSA Saturday! See “MINUTE ORDER … the arguments made at a motion hearing held on April 1… DENYING plaintiffs' 14 Motion in part as MOOT and in part on the merits. Read the order here: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69754... expect more by Friday!

Thank you to @booker.senate.gov for giving voice to our stories! USAID community members met with Senator Booker’s staff last week and shared personal impact stories, which he read in full during his marathon speech! He stressed USAID’s critical role in national security.

Status conference on the DOGE attempt to steal USIP’s building is TODAY at 10 am! Members of the public or media who wish to listen to live audio of the hearing scheduled for April 1, 2025 at 10:00AM ET, may do so by dialing in: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69754...

Stop the steal of USIP’s building! That building was built with private donations for an independent nonprofit institution focused on peace. Even has custom dove wing style roof shape… not for sale!

Congress created USIP in 1984 to prevent, mitigate & resolve violent conflict. For years, it has convened some of the smartest minds & offered some of the most impactful policies. Appointing someone who wouldn't even qualify to be an intern makes a mockery of civilian protection.

We need a strong U.S. Institute of Peace, led by people with deep experience in peace and conflict, overseen by a Senate-confirmed bipartisan Board of Directors. Not DOGE.

Newly installed 20-something Nate Cavanaugh the so-called Acting President of the DOGE controlled-USIP is trying to transfer the USIP building to the GSA! But USIP building was built with private donations for USIP. Not ok. See details in the court filing today: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69754...

I signed this statement in support of academic freedom, independent scientific research, and democracy in higher education. Join the groundswell of support for universities here: www.google.com/url?q=https:...

Hello, spring!

BREAKING: Opposition leader Elene Khoshtaria was subjected to physical abuse, degrading treatment and torture after her detention, which is prohibited under the ECHR, Article 3 (prohibition of torture), and which reflects the systemic violence against the unlawfully imprisoned protesters in 🇬🇪. 1/

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential... With this EO, Trump/Musk are doing what the same EO says not to do: “divide Americans based on race.” With increasing unemployment, dizzying flip flops in regulations and alliances, disappearing people without due process… Next, they declare martial law?

Real question: if guys in plain hoodies and jeans come grab me on the street and claim to be the police… what to do? Scream for bystanders to call the police? Ask for their ID? Those who have thought through this scenario, share your guidance, please!

Amended complaint filed in the lawsuit to restore USIP, with additional plaintiffs including six board members and the Acting President Amb Moose, with amended request for relief. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Calling on engaged civil society to meet this moment defending our democracy… each in our own way, reach out to neighbors, find one thing you can do this week— who can make a poster and put it in your window, facing the street, sharing your support for democracy? What will your poster say?

Unbelievable carelessness with classified national security information!

10 minutes left to ask any question of former USAID staff!

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential... If the authoritarian regime can’t control the courts, they try to control the lawyers!

Higher education. The federal bureaucracy. Nonprofits. The military. And now the law firms. Facing a hostile and lawless administration, we are all having the same individual conversations: about leadership, about principles, and about our common fate. These must now be collective conversations.

What a blessing there is The European Court of Human Rights! The ECHR has registered GYLA's application, which concerns the mass violation of the secrecy of the ballot during 2024 🇬🇪Parliamentary Elections. GYLA argues, Article 3 of Protocol 1 was violated of the European Convention on Human Rights

The impact of the US foreign assistance funding freeze is devastating communities and vulnerable people around the world 😢

DC folks, there are rallies today at the Brentwood PO (11am) and the Friendship one (10am)—repost pls & come show up for everyone’s favorite government agency! apwu.org/day-of-action

Journalist & human rights defender Regina Jegorova-Askerova says she was denied entry to Georgia despite living there for 15 years. She has husband and underage kids in Georgia. #TerrorinGeorgia

Regina Jegorova-Askerova, the South Caucasus regional director of Kvinna till Kvinna, who has been living in Georgia for 15 years, is married to a Georgian citizen, and holds a residence permit, was denied entry to Georgia last night. This has become the new standard for the Georgian border police.

Listening to the USIP Board members seeking temporary relief restoring them to the Board…. Judge Beryl Howell suggests a TRO could restore these board members and then President Trump could work with the Republican board members and the ex oficio board members to influence USIP’s direction.

The United States Institute of Peace is suing over DOGE’s “lawless assault” on the independent non-profit organization established by Congress. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Signs illegally removed at the United States Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit corporation that is NOT part of the United States executive branch!

Letter: Thousands can be detained but millions can’t be suppressed

mpdc.dc.gov/release/mpd-... Washington DC police are claiming they know who is the legitimate Board of Directors of USIP, but clearly they have not studied USIP structure and status as an independent non-federal institution: www.usip.org/about/leader...

U.S. Institute of Peace staff got this email — from an external source — this morning amid the DOGE takeover: #USIP

DOGE is inside USIP… one of them leaving tells me “the building is secure”

Inspiring to happen upon All Souls singing in support of Federal workers outside NOAA HQ in Silver Soring this morning!

🇬🇪With global attention fixed on Ukraine, the EU, and the new US admin, Georgia is quietly sliding into dictatorship. Georgian Dream (GD), under oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, is dismantling democracy at alarming speed—largely unnoticed by the West 🧵A new dictatorship thread 1/25

USIP building standing strong

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential... Read yesterday’s Executive Order. So many useful government functions targeted! For one, here’s an efficiency I know well: mediation (where appropriate) is so much more efficient than judicial settlements. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service saves us $.