Vital read from my friend @yguichaoua.bsky.social and @wlacher.bsky.social on the state of conflict studies

My latest - on the Venezuela Blockade. With my friend, Commodore (RAN ret'd) and Professor Rob McLaughlin. With thanks to the ever-professional team at @justsecurity.org

🎧 | Senior research scholar @andrewmbell.bsky.social joins Morning Edition to discuss why Donald Trump has ordered multiple boat strikes in the Caribbean, which have killed at least 80 people. Listen at the link below omny.fm/shows/please...

Psyched + humbled to see our SPEAKING SCIENCE TO POWER recognized as #1 Top Book in IR per @iajournal.bsky.social @chathamhouse.org (reviewed by @mgmessmer.bsky.social) global.oup.com/academic/pro... @epsteinprof.bsky.social @jaylyall.bsky.social @siecenter.bsky.social @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social

New piece on the duty to investigate the boat strikes under IHRL and LOAC with my @unirdg-law.bsky.social University of Reading Law School colleague Marko Milanovic.

Greatly expanded Q & A regarding Operation Southern Spear, potential operations against Venezuela, tanker seizures, and more. With @justsecurity.org colleagues @tessbridgeman.bsky.social & @rgoodlaw.bsky.social. Feel free to send more questions via the link at the end of the piece.

I had the opportunity to speak this week with Samantha Selinger-Morris and the @sydmorningherald.bsky.social Morning Edition on military impunity and Trump's targeting of Venezuelan drug boats--an unlawful, and extremely troubling, campaign podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

Huge congrats to ISA President-elect @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social !! This is such great news! Looking forward to the great work he will be sure to do! 🎉🎊

This #GeorgeAI is a terrible idea! A dismissing #GeorgeWashington would cross the Delaware-level terrible idea. It risks distorting the #Founders and robbing them of their own historical context. I say this as someone who thinks GW, the Founders, & their ideas are the foundation of our nation!

A new analysis argues the US killing of survivors from a Venezuelan drug-boat incident reflects a broader pattern of military actions carried out with impunity. CISAC scholar @andrewmbell.bsky.social explains implications for regional stability & international law theconversation.com/us-accused-o...

My latest this AM with @warontherocks.bsky.social. Of note: "[Military officers] will be active participants with choices to make about the degree to which they continue to serve civilians intent on undermining the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution." 1/ warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...

Really good discussion here between Todd Huntley and @ichotiner.bsky.social. Highly recommended. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Re #Hegseth Venezuela drug boat attacks: This is terrific insight into JSOC strike process but critically doesn’t include the role of JAG legal officers in targeting cycle. Normally JAGs advise on LOAC/law issues for US strikes…unless something has gone horribly wrong (which it has)

New in @theconversation.com: Thomas Gift & I discuss Trump admin's strikes on Venezuelan drug boat survivors and its overall agenda of military impunity- drawing on analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social @becingber.bsky.social @danmaurerlawprof.bsky.social and others theconversation.com/us-accused-o...

Important piece by my @justsecurity.org colleague and former Navy JAG @marknevitt.bsky.social. www.justsecurity.org/125998/boat-...

Excellent explainer by the inimitable @tessbridgeman.bsky.social, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social, and @mikeschmitt.bsky.social

Useful explainer for media covering the boat strikes. Here’s the gist: It’s not an armed conflict, so the boat strikes are murder. If it were an armed conflict, targeted killing of civilians is a war crime. EVEN IF these are combatants in an armed conflict, killing the shipwrecked is a war crime.

By happenstance I'm visiting the Netherlands Defense Academy today....Was particularly moved by this essential Veteran's Day read nytimes.com/2025/11/11/o...

Personal update: I've started a new position as Senior Research Scholar at the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Thrilled for the opportunity to continue my research on law, ethics, and civilian protection and join the amazing @stanfordcisac.bsky.social community

This is the power the President is claiming when he uses war to justify summary execution of suspected criminals at sea — If he is claiming power to do it on the high seas, he’s saying he can do it in Chicago. And if he’s claiming this is war, he saying he can accept civilian casualties.

Personal update: Thrilled to announce I've joined the #DoD's Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (#CPCOE) as lead of professional military education initiatives. Proud to contribute efforts to improve U.S. mil capabilities & operations while helping protect innocents in war.

Headed to APSA 2025? I’m putting together a panel on new approaches to military effectiveness. All methods + time periods welcome! (We have an experiment on discrimination and unit cohesion, for example). If you’re interested, send me an email.

Reminder! The deadline is tomorrow!!

Even historians of Vietnam don't really talk about this: From January - July 1968, the KIA rate for U.S. troops in Vietnam was higher than the Korean War or the Mediterranean and Pacific Theatres of World War II. During 1968-69 U.S. troops were wounded at a higher rate than World War II or Korea.

i think INTERSTELLAR is a bona fide masterpiece — maybe nolan's greatest film — and i'm not at all ashamed to say that i weep every time i watch it.

Probably one of the best things I’ve ever seen tbh

Welcome @articlesofwar.bsky.social. A superb resource on the jus ad bellum, IHL/LOAC, and other issues at the intersection of international law and military operations by West Point’s Lieber Institute. Subscribe and consider contributing.

I had about 10 minutes to create this, so tons of people are unintentionally missing. So please include yourself and share widely! go.bsky.app/VH75HUu

Another successful Editorial Committee meeting this week in Geneva, discussing draft commentaries on the Fourth Geneva Convention for the updated ICRC commentary. We expect online publication in 2025. Existing commentaries available here: ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treat... #IHL #IntLaw #ICRC

🚨Thrilled to see my latest article (open access) with Benoît Pelopidas now out with Ethics and International Affairs. We consider the limits of “tragedy” in the context of military violence and argue for a renewed focus on political responsibility. 1/6 doi.org/10.1017/S089...

⭐Job Alert ⭐ GW's Elliott School & Political Science Dept are hiring a full-time, tenured Assoc/Full Prof. in security studies beginning Fall 2025. Seeking a strong track record of research, teaching & policy engagement in the field of security studies, broadly defined. www.gwu.jobs/postings/116...

Launching a new resource mapping state reactions to the #ICC arrest warrants for #Netanyahu and Gallant, thanks to @becingber.bsky.social and the @justsecurity.org team. Check back for updates: www.justsecurity.org/105064/mappi...

Ok @mikeschmitt.bsky.social made me realise there was no proper international humanitarian law starter pack so I’ve created my first one. It is far from being complete so please feel free to mention yourself and/or others who should be included! go.bsky.app/N6Bw1E7

@ralphjanik.com Hello Ralph, please consider adding us to your excellent pack. Many thanks! @epolicinski.bsky.social @ximenalondono.bsky.social @thodsm.bsky.social @jonathanhorowitz.bsky.social @mpollard.bsky.social

Will Trump’s return spell the end of American exceptionalism? Columnist @profpaulpoast.bsky.social argues that it will simply reveal what the US has always been:

No better expert to explain the #ICC arrest warrants than @tomdannenbaum.bsky.social. Read his analysis via @justsecurity.org: - What alleged crimes made it into the warrants? What got left out? - Obligations of ICC member states? Of the US & others? - What happens next and prospects for appeal?

Today is the official publication day of the new paperback of my book #preparingforwar on the making of the Geneva Conventions. You can order it 👇 global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Challenged my students to 1) improve my taste in music & 2) help make IR more relevant to them. Excited to share their IR playlist @alpsblog.bsky.social! Shout out to Mike Tierney for original inspiration & @drjostojski.bsky.social for excellent editing. activelearningps.com/2024/01/26/a...

Great piece on intl law in war from @janinadill.bsky.social

Coming soon...

Grateful 4 the opportunity to comment on this careful report by CNN The Lead on the destruction of cemeteries in #Gaza. Many more #IHL issues involved here: destruction of property, dignity of the dead etc. Watch this space 4 a deeper dive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfFE...

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