New essay in Foreign Policy on US approaches to the growing strategic entanglements between Africa and the Middle East. Thanks to my co-author Zuri Linetsky for his collaboration.

New paper of mine on complexities of researcher engagement in online and IRL armed conflict, focusing on Somali/LasAnod war case study. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

I just want to add, since this is breaking containment, that this can't be made right. these people, each one a whole universe, are gone. there can only be justice for the perpetrators; public remorse & restitution; & reform to ensure future aid systems are more just and less prone to imperial whims

Episode 2 of the Beyond Series explores digital connection and mobility across conflict-affected borderlands. @petechonka.bsky.social reflects on how social media shapes migration dreams and risks for youth in Hargeisa. Listen: tinyurl.com/BeyondXCEPT2 More about this project: xcept.riftvalley.net

A new book tells the inside story of the second Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID. Its author, Nicholas Enrich, worked at USAID for over a decade before he was pushed out of the agency in early 2025, when the Elon Musk-led DOGE summarily cut its staff and funding.

PEACE INFRASTRUCTURES is coming out in little more than a week! More at mitpress.mit.edu/978026255361... @mitpress.bsky.social

While George Mason University’s president was fending off attacks by the Trump administration, the head of his own board was orchestrating a pressure campaign against him. Here's what we learned from reviewing hundreds of text messages. https://chroni.cl/4tuH3qs

PEACE AND INSTABILITY: TIGRAY SINCE THE PRETORIA AGREEMENT This analysis examines post-2022 Tigray, where unresolved territorial disputes, political exclusion and stalled processes point to a fragile peace and risk of renewed conflict. Read: tinyurl.com/4f625c7n

A nice article on how our asst. director, Mary Okin, is working to protect the Wilbur Cohen Bldg (the old Social Security Bldg) & its artwork from demolition or sale. The Cohen Bldg & its art is a symbol of gov't that is of, by, and for the people. #history #art www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

In our new piece for @egmontinstitute.bsky.social Jonathan Fisher & I explore 3 #security trends in #Africa: 🌍 Decline of #multilateralism 🔗 Ad hoc #coalitions 🛡️ Security outsourcing → Fragmentation, privatization & weaker accountability benefit 'authoritarians' egmontinstitute.be/a-crowded-an...

Faculty & graduate workers were excluded from a collective bargaining bill in Virginia—unless @abigailspanberger.com steps in. "Collective bargaining certainly would have been meaningful in the fight to protect ourselves & our academic freedom." — @bletiecq.bsky.social , @aaupmason.bsky.social

Apparently VA lawmakers think most higher ed faculty are tenured. Not true. Here’s GMUs stats: 1238 adjuncts 718 tenured 571 term (limited contracts) 192 tenure-track The vast majority have few protections. We need Collective Bargaining NOW! @donscott757.bsky.social @ssurovell.bsky.social

First blog since Jan 2025. Inspired by a somewhat depressing interaction with my students. www.deborahavant.com/post/dogs-an...

SEMINAR REPORT | RETHINKING ETHIOPIA II: YOUTH & POLITICS Young essayists, scholars & practitioners debated their place in politics at the 2025 IPSS & RVI Peace Research Facility seminar, where five finalists presented their essays & engaged the audience. Read more: tinyurl.com/Rethinking-E...

Collective Bargaining is essential… @local6741.bsky.social @aaup.org @aft.org @aaupmason.bsky.social Don’t cut higher ed workers out!

The Ethiopian government is picking favorites amid a split in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which could unravel the country’s fragile peace, warns @hilarymatfess.bsky.social.

Governments in the Horn must be careful not to play host to conflicts arising from rivalries on the other side of the Red Sea. open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...

A death toll as high as 600,000, millions displaced, widespread sexual violence – the last war in #Ethiopia’s #Tigray region looms large as tensions escalate again. From Sarah Miller and Abdullahi Boru Halakhe: www.justsecurity.org/132370/tigra...

🔥Risk of descending into a new conflict in an already volatile Horn of Africa. While all sides appear wary of igniting a new war, simmering grievances, overblown rhetoric and military preparations indicate core actors are readying themselves for that eventuality. www.crisisgroup.org/brf/africa/e...

Does 'peace' mean the same everywhere, or is it fragmenting into adjectives? This piece by @spbmartel.bsky.social, Jarstad, Olivius & @jsoderstrom.bsky.social debates if qualifiers like 'liberal' or 'sustainable' signal innovation or conceptual chaos in peacebuilding. doi.org/10.1093/isr/...

🎙️ In our new podcast, produced in collaboration with the @jodemocracy.bsky.social, Galo Mayorga and @kaimthaler.bsky.social discuss how state weakness, militarized security policies, and public fear are reshaping Ecuador’s democracy. 🇪🇨🇪🇨 🎧 Listen to it now: 👉 tinyurl.com/y5zyn6jp

POLICY BRIEFING | RETHINKING AID IN SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN This brief is drawn from a 2025 Kampala convening with Sudanese and South Sudanese civil society. As international aid shrinks, frontline actors warn of worsening food insecurity, mass displacement and collapsing services. 🧵1/2

SAVE THE DATE | Join EWNET for an online webinar exploring how #Ethiopia has been written into global knowledge and how Ethiopian thinkers have written the world from Ethiopia. Fri 30 Jan 2026| 13:30 Cambridge | 15:30 EAT Register: tinyurl.com/3kbm7xuj

Book Review: The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide, by @hofrench.bsky.social >> www.africanistperspective.com/p/book-revie...

On Saturday 6 December, RVI and the Sudan Norway Academic Collaboration hosted Sudanese researchers for a discussion on why five decades of peace initiatives have struggled to deliver stability in #Sudan and what causes agreements to falter in practice. 🧵1/2

The ‘Wolqayt question’ from c. 2015 to the Tigray war: agrarian claims in Amhara nationalism Latest articles in JEAS: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Great to see this roundtable and reviews out! Looking forward to more continued conversations around peace research’s way forward! With M Åkebo and A Jarstad Thanks to @h-diplo.bsky.social @tlyons.bsky.social @lkriesberg.bsky.social @emmamurphy.bsky.social Paul Diehl issforum.org/roundtables/...

New essay in Foreign Policy with Abel Abate D. on Eritrea-Ethiopia tensions. It covers the sources of mutual restraint thus far; some of the factors that are eroding this delicate balance; and what can be done to avert another war the Horn of Africa cannot afford. foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/21/e...

WaPo exclusive: The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has internally assessed that its mission is perceived as “leveraging fear,” driving a “wedge between citizens and the military.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The Resistance Is Inevitable. We’re sick & tired of ICE & FBI agents profiling, harassing, & violently arresting our neighbors. #wearealldc Incredible turnout in DC yesterday, including a strong AAUP contingent. @aaupmason.bsky.social @gwaaup.bsky.social @afthighered.bsky.social

Thousands march to the White House united in our demand. We want federal forces out of DC Now!! Free DC! Free DC! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC

Devex Newswire: Is the global aid decline a blip or a deeper transformation? www.devex.com/news/devex-n...

Here's what the third day of elementary school looked like in Mount Pleasant, Washington DC.

Gregory Washington made faculty diversity a hallmark of his presidency at George Mason. Now, federal findings against the university spotlight a national dilemma: When is diversity hiring illegal?

Our member Josef Woldense is leading a two-day virtual workshop on August 26 and 27: The Research Presentation as Storytelling. Learn how to present your work through a compelling narrative. More details available on our website: www.afpol.org/blog/the-res...

I made an event timeline to try to make sense of all the federal overreach at @georgemasonu.bsky.social and whoo boy. When you lay it out like this, the executive over reach comes into focus. open.substack.com/pub/misofact...

I wrote about the Big Ten’s superb power plays. The Big Ten Rises UpAgainst Trump newrepublic.com/article/1983... via @newrepublic.com

Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

www.chronicle.com/article/the-...? @aaup @aaupmason.bsky.social

DOJ opens 3rd probe of GMU in 3 weeks - VA Business virginiabusiness.com/doj-gmu-inve... This is ideological lawfare. “Eric Sell…who joined the DOJ as counsel in April…previously was associate litigation counsel for the Center for American Liberty, a conservative nonprofit Dhillon helped found.”

We stand united against these attacks on our university. We will fight for the independence of George Mason University and every other public college and university in the Commonwealth. #DefendHigherEd #DefendGeorgeMason

Students, faculty, and lawmakers rally behind GMU amid Trump administration civil rights probe virginiamercury.com/2025/07/16/s...

NEW: When university president Gregory Washington received notice that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into complaints of antisemitism, he was “perplexed.” But there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him.

📢 Call for Papers WORKSHOP: Gender, Peace, and Security: Resistance and Resilience Nairobi, 1-3 December, hosted by British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) with @rvinews.bsky.social ➡️ Application deadline 13 August! @statsvitenskap.bsky.social #resilience #gender #climate #peacebuilding

Let’s call it what it is — UVA President Jim Ryan’s forced resignation is an attack on all of our public higher education institutions.

I asked ICE where the “413% increase in assaults” justification for its officers using masks came from. They didn’t answer. So I dug into it, and what I found … did not boost their argument. Gift link: wapo.st/4l7a1ch

Thrilled (and slightly terrified) that the page proofs are here. My book is coming out next year @mitpress.bsky.social #PeaceInfrastructuresBook

👋 Hello, we're the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)! We are very happy to join @bsky.app, and thrilled to announce that our website, www.usip.org, is back online! We look forward connecting here and bringing you useful content, resources and opportunities for peacebuilders around the world.

NEW: The board of the Fulbright Program has just resigned after accusing Trump aides of political interference. They say a State Dept. office under Rubio and Darren Beattie has cancelled scholarships to nearly 200 US professors and researchers. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...