The arts contribute to the sciences. Or: the importance of being a well-rounded person

They keep talking about designation as an FTO to imply it's legally relevant, and it isn't because that law has absolutely nothing to do with authorizing the use of force.

There’s no law saying it’s ok to kill someone for being a member of a US-designated terrorist organization. It’s not even a crime to be a member! (The UK criminalizes terrorist group membership, but the US, no.) Material support of an FTO is punishable up to 20 years in prison. No death sentence.

Wivenhoe sunset

Trump says US land action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela will start ‘very soon’ www.cnn.com/2025/11/27/p...

I realize it was a previous news cycle - years ago it seems! - when the US was planning war on Venezuela. But I wrote this, which took a couple days to get published: theconversation.com/venezuelas-c... Also there's now a US aircraft carrier and a dozen other US ships off the coast of Venezuela.

I realize it was a previous news cycle - years ago it seems! - when the US was planning war on Venezuela. But I wrote this, which took a couple days to get published: theconversation.com/venezuelas-c... Also there's now a US aircraft carrier and a dozen other US ships off the coast of Venezuela.

A *huge* vaccine victory. I've been writing on this for years; Australia has seen remarkable progress in cervical cancer prevention with the HPV vaccine. I love seeing science triumph like this.

It didn’t even take 6 hours.

Our students in the Model UN and Politics Society are co-hosting a panel THURSDAY on the changing global order featuring colleagues, Dr. Alex Hennessy, Dr. Brian Phillips, and Dr. Felix Schnell (PHAIS). Join us! #EssexGov #EssexGovEvents #MUNEssex #EssexPoliticsSociety

In case you want to hear more about this topic! I spoke with Turkey's Anadolu Agency, great discussion. "US designates Venezuela-based cartel as terrorist organization: What does it mean for other countries?" www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/... @uniessexgov.bsky.social @universityofessex.bsky.social

I remember when South America was not among the top ten US defense priorities. It was so long ago.... 2024.

I've got writing deadlines, marking deadlines and teaching prep to do for later in the week, not to mention admin tasks and an overflowing email inbox, but let's put all that aside and admire Oxford college cats oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...

Watch this space

In this paper we use data from Argentina to contribute to the debate about the dangers of polarisation. We explore if partisans rely on regime stereotypes to stigmatise rivals; are more emotional in victory/defeat; and display conditional democratic commitments journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

2025 has already been a record-breaking year for US terrorist designation, and things aren't slowing down. The current president is a big fan of this instrument.

TODAY the U.S. adds the Venezuelan network "Cartel de los Soles" to its Foreign Terrorist Organization list. The Trump admin has now designated 24 (!) groups as FTOs this year. For perspective, in the 8 years of GW Bush, the 9/11 years, Bush only added 15 groups to the list.

If you get asked to review... please respond!!! And if you agree to review, please turn in the review. If it's a little late, that's ok, but let the journal know.

New article with @draege.bsky.social out in Scandinavian Political Studies: “Asymmetric Influence: Politicians Can Fuel but Not Dampen Conflict.” We test whether politicians in one of the world’s least polarized democracies, Norway, can calm conflict as effectively as they can inflame it. #polisky

4%

If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?

Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait. My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.

Online Neo-Nazi group using children’s video game for recruiting and propaganda. globalextremism.org/post/online-...

📊 Poll drop: Latin Americans' trust in the U.S. has collapsed under Trump. Why? Because the "war on drugs" is now a pretext for regime change. The #DonroeDoctrine is reshaping #LatinAmerica. 👇 Here's what you need to know: sinfiltroya.substack.com/p/the-donroe...

Another point: the Trump admin is REALLY using terrorist designation a lot this term. Unprecedented increase in FTOs. There are now 90 groups on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. In the mid-2010s, there were around 60 FTOs.

TODAY: the US added four European leftist/anarchist groups to its Foreign Terrorist Organization list. IAF is a loose network, not an organization. Also it's not clear that any of these groups have killed anyone, but apparently they have injured some people, like Antifa Ost attacking Neo-Nazis. 🧵

Another 120 people have been charged under the Terrorism Act for holding signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action", bringing the total people prosecuted in London to 254 At an initial glance the oldest person was born in 1939 and the youngest in 2004. Many are pensioners

Not sure I've seen a McDonalds flag fly at half-mast before.

"Texas governor declares Muslim civil rights group a terrorist organization" Terrorist designation/proscription by sub-national entities. abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...

"Making terrorist content findable: search engines as a key to mitigating Salafi-jihadi persistent presence on the internet." by Lakomy and Fisher And look a the photo that comes up in the Bsky preview! Ha. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been disliked by the left for years and years and had never had to fear for her life. She's been disliked by the right for 1 day and now has to hire security.

"The intervention on behalf of the Tates was not the first time those around #Trump took an interest in legal issues involving the brothers." @robert-faturechi.bsky.social

I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered. He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here : www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...

Readers of French: I had a nice chat with France24 about Cartel de los Soles, the Venezuelan network (not an organization) that the US is designating a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It will be the 14th criminal group added to the FTO list... this year! www.france24.com/fr/am%C3%A9r...

ICYMI, the US this week will designate the “Informal Anarchist Federation” a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It’s a movement, a call sign. It’s a meme! It’s not an organization. US allies keep declaring white supremacists as terrorists, while the US focuses on gangs and now anarchist movements.

NYT article on the State Dept designation of four foreign “antifa” groups as terrorists. FINALLY someone points out that three of them are simply not “antifa” at all, while the fourth is not a structured group. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...

TV conspiracies: we’ve hacked their computers but they’ve perfectly cleaned up the evidence! Real conspiracies: To: conspirator From: famous person Attachment: evidence.png

bizarrely this article does not simply directly answer the question raised in the headline (spooling it over several subsections that start many paragraphs in) but the answer is: Colombia, the UK, and the Netherlands time.com/7333231/coun...

It also warned that a ban may “inadvertently enhance” Palestine Action’s profile, and people could "oppose proscription as representing a creep of terrorism powers into the realm of free expression and protest” But the document did not predict any demonstrations other than outside future trials

The British government predicted that the public would be "largely unconcerned" about a decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group An official community impact assessment failed to predict the protests that have so far seen over 2,000 people arrested www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w...

Probably true theonion.com/study-practi...

At least eight killed after car explodes near Delhi's Red Fort www.bbc.com/news/article...

Maybe he's.... not very good at making deals?

My new book | How to Recognize the Mafia Abroad, critical notes on ‘ndrangheta mobility @brisunipress.bsky.social bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/how-to-recog...

It was a ham-fisted way to protest

We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food) www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...

Two lions

Any others?