New week is almost here #MilkTeaAlliance & here is the events🧵 To start, It's been a bit over 2 years since the Junta decided to start conscription, forcing 2 years service on many people. For the 1st batch demobilising it appears only 12% made it home. The rest killed or forced to stay on. 1/

Only 12 percent of conscripts return home after mandatory two-year military service ends - DVB

An estimated 631 male conscripts from the first batch of 5,155 new recruits, who began training on April 8, 2024, have reportedly been allowed to return home after completing their mandated two years ...

english.dvb.no

7 hours of silence from the Prime Minister. The US is using UK bases. The President is openly talking about destroying a civilisation. And Downing Street says... nothing. If you won’t speak up now, when will you?

Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It's now been 3 hours since our supposed "ally" Donald Trump threatened genocide on a country of 93 million people. We've had absolutely nothing from the UK government. This doesn't come in a vacuum either - every day the US & Israel have been murdering innocent people.

This feels like it should be bigger news

Duroyan Fertl ᚇᚓᚑᚏᚐᚇᚐᚅ@dfertl.bsky.social · 4mo ago

#Germany reintroduced #conscription this year. A less well known part of this is that all military-aged men (18-45) leaving the country for more than 3 months must now seek #Bundeswehr approval (a requirement previously only applied in times of crisis/war). #wehrpflicht www.fr.de/politik/dras...

I hadn't even realised Germany had reintroduced conscription until @davidbrenner.bsky.social sent me his recent paper on it a last week... The tittle...."When the state grabs you by the balls" turns out to be both literal & metaphorical. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

When the state grabs you by the balls: reintroducing military service and corporeal power in Germany

This essay reflects on an intimate encounter with the German state: the compulsory medical examination that all male teenagers underwent as part of military conscription until its suspension in 201...

tandfonline.com

elia ayoub@ayoub.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This feels like it should be bigger news

You'd be nuts not to read this

David Brenner@davidbrenner.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Germany reintroduced a soft form of military service in 2026. While service remains voluntary, all male 18‑year‑olds must undergo military medical tests, including a testicle check. But what is this sovereign touch about? Spoiler: it offers little medical value but plenty of sociological insight.

Germany reintroduced a soft form of military service in 2026. While service remains voluntary, all male 18‑year‑olds must undergo military medical tests, including a testicle check. But what is this sovereign touch about? Spoiler: it offers little medical value but plenty of sociological insight.

When the state grabs you by the balls: reintroducing military service and corporeal power in Germany

This essay reflects on an intimate encounter with the German state: the compulsory medical examination that all male teenagers underwent as part of military conscription until its suspension in 201...

doi.org

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... new paper on military service in Germany by my colleague @davidbrenner.bsky.social

When the state grabs you by the balls: reintroducing military service and corporeal power in Germany

This essay reflects on an intimate encounter with the German state: the compulsory medical examination that all male teenagers underwent as part of military conscription until its suspension in 201...

tandfonline.com

An intriguing analysis of the state of the field, raising long-overdue questions about whether, and how, the study of conflict and violence can be salvaged by disentangling it from its legacy as 1990s policy science.

Wolfram Lacher@wlacher.bsky.social · 7mo ago

In the new @dissentmag.bsky.social issue, out today, @yguichaoua.bsky.social and I diagnose the crisis of conflict studies in a piece that is part intellectual history, part personal experience. What was conflict studies for? And what can its travails tell us about how wars have changed?

Learning to write an essay was more than an academic rite of passage. It was about learning to make an argument, support it with evidence, and articulate it clearly and maybe even with style. Many students still want to learn how to do that for themselves, despite AI. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

Opinion | Why Even Basic A.I. Use Is So Bad for Students

nytimes.com

We need a critique of AI in academic publishing. Following my decision not to sign an AI addendum to my contract with Cambridge University Press, I wrote this short essay which is now out in the Dublin Review of Books. 👇 drb.ie/move-over-fo...

Move over for AI - DRB

Katja Bruisch writes: I recently completed a scholarly monograph – an environmental, economic and energy history of peat in imperial and Soviet Russia. After years of thinking and writing, I approache...

drb.ie

This weekend is the LAST WEEKEND for #BISA2026 conference submissions! 🚨 Is International Studies ready for what comes next? New thinking, new directions 🎉 Make sure to submit your papers now 👉 https://conference.bisa.ac.uk/call-papers-0 VisitBrighton Simon Rushton @julietdryden.bsky.social

For over a decade, warlord Zahkung Ting Ying and his allies exploited the rare earth mining boom in Kachin State, Myanmar. @emilyfishbein11.bsky.social & Jauman Naw report, for @frontiermyanmar.bsky.social, on how they have continued doing business even after losing their territory. bit.ly/47JC0JB

Back in Business: Zahkung Ting Ying Tries To Rebuild His Empire

Over the past decade, the military-aligned warlord and his associates amassed wealth from Kachin State’s rare earth mining boom until the Kachin Independence Army took their territory last year, but.....

pulitzercenter.org

The ability to #Teach, #Research, & speak on important topics is what #Academics do, but what do we do when academic freedom is threatened? Join ISA & @aaup.org to discuss the global threats to #AcademicFreedom & what resources exist to support #Faculty in the fight to preserve it: buff.ly/95exrLj

Is it possible to rethink Peace and Conflict studies? Join us for a discussion on the possibilities and constraints of decolonizing the field, challenges to mainstream assumptions, and how to promote a broader critical analysis of #Peace and #Conflict in these unprecedented times: buff.ly/l2NW9kB

My former PhD student, Zizhu Wang, published her first journal article. Check it out here: Licensing: Why is there no conceptual history of ‘international’: a semantic and translingual reinterpretation www.tandfonline.com/action/showC...

It's a miracle nobody was hurt. Sending solidarity to the Muslim community in Sussex and across the UK, as well as the Jewish community who are still grieving from the appalling attack in Manchester. No one should EVER feel unsafe in their place of worship www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Police urged to seek clarity on whether hate crime fire at mosque was terrorism

The Green Party has called on police to seek clarity over the motives of the hate crime fire at Peacehaven’s mosque.

independent.co.uk

BISA + Brighton = perfect combo! Come and join us next year.

BISA - British International Studies Association@mybisa.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🎉 We are OPEN now for abstract, roundtable and panel submissions for #BISA2026 🎉 'Is International Studies ready for what comes next? New thinking, new directions' 🌎 Submit here! 👉 buff.ly/kK9oIlM @visitbrighton.bsky.social @simonrushton.bsky.social @julietdryden.bsky.social

"We cannot do a project-based revolution." odi.org/en/publicati...

Making Myanmar: humanitarianism amid revolutionary state-building

This in-depth study calls for a profound rethinking of humanitarianism amid contested governance, with relevance for many contexts beyond Myanmar that face such realities.

odi.org

Looking forward to this one by @jamesstout.bsky.social Should be a really interesting read.

AK Press@akpress.org · 11mo ago

We've been excited to work with @jamesstout.bsky.social on 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦: 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘔𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘫𝘢𝘷𝘢, a book about those that cannot wait any longer for the world to change. www.akpress.org/against-the-...

Why is our trade union emulating the worst behaviour of our employers towards UCU staff? How many of our letters, motions, attempts to bring motions from lay members pressing for resolution have been ignored now? Solidarity with all @uniteucu.bsky.social #UnionStrong #ReclaimUCU

Unite UCU@uniteucu.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🚨 Third consecutive vote for industrial action 🚨 ✅ strike action: 76% ✅ action short of a strike (ASOS): 80% ✅ turnout: 77% ASOS begins today with @ucu.org.uk threatening staff: "We'll deduct your wages." Double standards and vindictive attacks undermine us all. #ReclaimUCU

Congratulations to Dr Claudio Montesi on successfully defending their PhD. Many thanks to @davidbrenner.bsky.social and Professor Alice Hills who examined the PhD. Also many congratulations and sincere thanks to my co-supervisor at Sussex IR dept, Professor Fabio Petito.

I’ve never been one for commas but this here pretty much sums up the brave new world of marking.

Scott Stein@sstein.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Old me, grading papers: This sentence is incomplete, this one has a comma splice, this one could be more clear. New me, grading papers: You wrote your own paper! You have thoughts! You are an excellent student! #academicsky

As England drowns in Union Jacks and St George’s flags, local politicians’ statements of solidarity with ethnic minorities are welcome. But their mantra-like claims that far-right nationalism is supported by only a small fraction are irresponsible, especially with Reform UK 8 points ahead in polls.

KontraS have posted this on twitter. Things are bad in Indonesia. Live ammo has been authorised by the chief of police against protesters.

Very nice explainer from twitter user normelpeople on what's happening in Indonesia this week and how people are feeling

Classic UK govt move: there is a useful fiction of the separation between arms companies and governments. So the UK gets to look like it did something good while materially enabling the bad stuff to happen and letting the Israeli govt cry wolf about how badly it’s treated.

Lordy@lordey.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Starmer's government bans Israeli officials but not Israeli arms companies. Says it all about Starmer.

Time to use your university library again. Academia will survive without citation counts and h-indexes. Could be worse 🤷‍♂️

Hannah Shelley, MLIS (Metadata, Lattes & Impostor Syndrome)@hannahshelley.site · 12mo ago

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

This is good (though doesn't go far enough). Thai Government will grant long term refugees in the displacement camps along the Thai-Myanmar border the right to work in Thailand. It doesn't seem to cover the many Myanmar refugees since coup. Nor will it likely stop deportations back to Myanmar.

UNHCR welcomes Royal Thai Government resolution providing long-term refugees the right to work

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today commended the Royal Thai Government’s adoption of a resolution that will grant long-staying refugees from Myanmar the right to work in Thailand.

unhcr.ca

Important new Shan Human Rights Foundation report reveals 19 rare earth mining sites in territory controlled by the National Democratic Alliance Army, aka Mong La army, in Shan State's Mong Yawng township near the Mekong River & China border (short thread). shanhumanrights.org/satellite-im...

Satellite images and videos reveal 19 rare earth mines in NDAA-controlled area of eastern Shan State near Mekong River - Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)

Satellite images from May 2025 and recent video footage reveal nineteen rare earth mining sites under the control of the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA or “Mong La” army) in Mong Yawng townsh...

shanhumanrights.org