🎬 Great to see this out! It was a pleasure to join leading experts and practitioners to discuss EU defence procurement. My bottom line: EU procurement fragmentation comes at high costs, and impacts accountability, human rights & the rule of law.
Our new co-edited symposium on 'Business and Human Rights and the arms industry: challenges, prospects, and current dynamics' is published in the Business and Human Rights Journal ! Here is our Editorial: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
"The talk of ‘our values’ that has now become commonplace contributes to the devaluation of rationally justified principles."
granta.com/europes-mist...
The killing of CJNG leader “El Mencho” unleashed chaos across Mexico—but not all of it was real. This piece details how the cartel used a mix of real violence and AI-fueled disinformation to amplify terror nationwide.
By @evodzoni.bsky.social & @liliasaul.bsky.social in @occrp.org
buff.ly/PnynJIs
New publication! Delighted to share my chapter on corporate accountability for wrongful arms transfers forthcoming in The Cambridge Handbook on Litigating Business and Human Rights Violations edited by H. Ahmad, E. Aristova and R. Chambers: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
T-Rex: We divide up the oceans into different oceans, but c'mon - it's all the same ocean! T-Rex: *GASP* T-Rex: Wait, this applies to everything!
T-Rex: We divide up the planet into different countries, but it's all the same planet! And we divide us all up into these groups, but WE'RE ALL THE SAME SPECIES! Dromiceiomimus: I'm not. T-Rex: Okay, fine, we're all the same CLADE! A clade, of course, being a monophyletic group of organisms sharing the same common ancestor. Dromiceiomimus: Of course!
Utahraptor: But pterosaurs aren't dinosaurs, so they're not part of the same clade as us. T-Rex: EUGH! T-Rex: Utahraptor, I am TRYING to achieve some sort of ENLIGHTENMENT here, and instead I'm being bogged down in CLADE DEFINITIONS. How about this: we're all LIFE, so we're all in this together. Ruin that!! Utahraptor: This would be much more compelling if I didn't have to devour other forms of life to maintain my own.
T-Rex: Ah, I see the trouble here. I said "ruin that!!" when I should've said "please leave me in ignorance, it's very important for my mental health right now." T-Rex: My mistake!!
that's a big oopsie-doopsie on my part, and i apologize
qwantz.com/index.php?co...
I write today for @euractiv.com about how contradictory national rearmament policies in Europe are playing into Russia's hands:
Excellent opportunity for anyone wishing to engage with a vibrant and supportive community in the arms trade space :
Yesterday's Trump executive order establishes an "America First Arms Transfer Strategy"... which appears to replace the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. See updated resource www.forumarmstrade.org/catpolicy.html
EO - www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
factsheet - www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...
New publication: Happy to see our @asilorg.bsky.social Closing Plenary "Can Arms Trade Bring About Peace?" in the Proceedings of the American Society of International Law 2025 Annual Meeting. Thank you to the panelists for their insightful remarks. Full text: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The Progressive Post - Does peace still have a chance? feps-europe.eu/wp-content/u...
The way to accelerate science is to SLOW it down.
Fewer papers please! We’re drowning in meaningless text.
One GREAT paper per lab per decade is more than enough.
q.e.d 👇
Ammunition remains the most traded small arms category worldwide, accounting for 35% of the value of reported global imports for the period 2019–24. Read more in this Situation Update from 2025, part of a collaborative project supported by SNIS: www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/aut...
Two postdoctoral researcher roles at the University of Sussex for a project on "Technology and the (future) Human in War": jobs.sussex.ac.uk/job/36e1adc2...
"European Rearmament and U.S. Weapons Reliance" by León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Senior Researcher, Asser Institute for International and European Law in The Hague @leoncastjan.bsky.social #TrumpAtOneYear www.forumarmstrade.org/trump_yearon...
one year since David Lynch passed, happy friday and RIP big dawg
"Instead of using new resources to build pathways for deeper European cooperation, consolidate demand, and reduce strategic dependencies, Europe’s decisionmakers are spending these resources in ways that reinforce fragmentation." carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
"Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based expert on Russia’s nuclear forces, said he was skeptical deploying the Oreshnik would provide Moscow with any additional military or political advantages other than reassuring Belarus of its protection." www.reuters.com/world/europe...
📣 Call for applications!
We are currently accepting applications for the Milena Jesenská Fellowship, a three‑month residency for cultural journalists from across Europe, offering a monthly stipend, workspace, and access to the IWM community.
More info & to apply: www.iwm.at/calls/milena...
"The export ban on weapons to Israel will continue to apply, while a full permit procedure and thorough end-use inspections will remain mandatory for high-risk destinations, including countries subject to sanctions or affected by armed conflict." www.belganewsagency.eu/flemish-gove...
Happy Solstice! The shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. For places north of the Arctic Circle, that means that the sun does not rise all day, right?
Wrong!
There's an asymmetry between day and night,in favour of day, which is more pronounced the further you go from the poles. 1/5
U.S. gun policies is an international issue. Most crime guns in Canada are trafficked from the U.S. Bad actors in the gun industry enable and profit from it. We need @actiononguns. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/w... Excellebt reporting from @onishinyt @nytimes
How does defense tech undermine the traditional industrial base and legacy weapons manufacturers? Historian Susannah Glickman discusses this interesting proposition via @lawfaremedia.org: shows.acast.com/lawfare/epis...
Europe’s push to arm Ukraine has sparked debates about its defence. Our article of the week outlines two competing visions of EU security: a state-led “war economy” and Silicon Valley-inspired disruptive tech.
By @jocelynmawdsley.bsky.social in @geopoliticsjournal.bsky.social
buff.ly/AC8otpn
UK joins defence exports treaty with France, Germany and Spain where parties "shall not oppose a transfer or export to a third party" aside from in "exceptional situations". This could increase the risk of downstream damage caused by UK defence products. www.gov.uk/government/p...
For most of history, societies drew firm lines between those who belonged and those who didn't, shaping who was protected or excluded. Beginning in the Enlightenment, European societies began expanding rights.
A recent SFI working group is examining the historical forces driving this expansion.
