I hinted at this in the attached piece and @bretdevereaux.bsky.social has done a great job drawing out even more historical conclusions, but the OP’s point bears repeating: Liberalism is absolutely a military advantage angrystaffofficer.com/2025/02/12/d...

Diversity: The U.S. Military’s Not-So-Secret Weapon

In the woods of northeast France, a group of American artillery officers watched their olive drab-clad batterymen set up their tents in a peaceful glade. It would be the last such quiet the battery…

angrystaffofficer.com

sillyhatsonly.bsky.social@sillyhatsonly.bsky.social · last mo.

I recently read Battle Cry of Freedom for the first time. A striking thing was that, by the end of the war, the south was in apocalyptic condition even with Sherman burning it. The North was stronger and more prosperous than when the war began. Liberalism is a military technology.

LLMs have been horrific for social trust. I suspect that educators have been on the bleeding edge of the corrosion. The moment LLM papers started appearing it turned every student into a suspect. Is this their writing? Did that comment in class come from chatGPT? Every f—ing minute of the day.

Adrian Tchaikovsky@aptshadow.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Welp, scammer finally got a response out of me. Instead of the "I just came across book and was immediately stuck by" it was a straight up reader question - in this case "how much of the series did you have in mind when writing the first book." On replying, I got the response:

New blog post about a forthcoming special issue (edited by David Schaefer and I) of the journal Intelligence and National Security on intelligence reform in Australia: andrewzammit.org/2026/08/26/f...

Forthcoming journal special issue on intelligence reform in Australia

A project that David Schaefer (from ANU) and I have been working on for some time has started to come to fruition. In 2025 we began guest editing a special issue of the journal Intelligence and Nat…

andrewzammit.org

My last article covers latest developments related to Badakhshan and how signs out of Afghanistan are nothing to scoff at,amid Iran war and Pakistan multiple mini-wars, with headaches multiplying for the Taliban. Open access, so feel free to read (yay!). fronts.co/article/the-...

New blog post about a forthcoming special issue (edited by David Schaefer and I) of the journal Intelligence and National Security on intelligence reform in Australia: andrewzammit.org/2026/08/26/f...

Forthcoming journal special issue on intelligence reform in Australia

A project that David Schaefer (from ANU) and I have been working on for some time has started to come to fruition. In 2025 we began guest editing a special issue of the journal Intelligence and Nat…

andrewzammit.org

Nordic Journal of Criminology - ‘How could our society have let this happen?’ The idea of the preventability of terrorist attacks and its consequences: www.scup.com/doi/10.18261...

‘How could our society have let this happen?’ The idea of the preventability of terrorist attacks and its consequences

Evaluation reports after terrorist attacks provide a rich source for analysing current and evolving understandings of the preventability of crime in general, and of terrorist attacks in particular. Th...

scup.com

@dhnexon.net I cannot possibly convey how happy and excited I am that the Whiskey & IR podcast has returned. Many thanks.

We're baaaack!!! With the episode this podcast could not avoid forever... or at least for more than *checks calendar* 3 years. Yep. @profptj.bsky.social and I discuss 🥁🥁🥁 Samuel Huntington's _Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order_. And may god have mercy on our souls.

Gates of the West

We're baaack!In the inaugural episode of the second season of Whiskey and International Relations Theory, PTJ and Dan discuss Samuel Huntington's (in)famous 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations and t...

podomatic.com

What's a three-year hiatus among middle-aged academics, anyway? Announcing the first episode of the second season of Whiskey and IR Theory! In "Gates of the West," @profptj.bsky.social and @dhnexon.net discuss the Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. 👇 or wherever you stream.

Episode 1: Gates of the West

Whiskey & International Relations Theory · Episode

open.spotify.com

A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0268...

How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference

This article examines the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s evolving mandate to counter foreign interference, comparing Cold War era reforms with 21st century reforms. It finds that r...

doi.org

🧵 2/2 Join us at the Coogee Bay Hotel (Sydney, Australia) between December 09-11, 2026! Submit your abstract by August 31, 2026:

18th Annual International Conference of the Society for Terrorism Research (STR): Continuity and Change in the Character of Terrorism

indico.global

📣 Call for Abstracts Submissions are open for the 18th Annual International Conference of the Society for Terrorism Research (STR)! We are thrilled to be hosted by Dr. Emily Corner and Dr. Levi West from the Australian National University (ANU). 🧵 1/2

Are you in Melbourne on 30 July? @petercgrace.bsky.social will be speaking about his new book, The Intelligence Intellectuals, strategic warning and the ongoing relevance of intelligence analysis at the University of Melbourne at 4pm. Looks fantastic! 👉 www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intell...

The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA

Two talks by Dr Peter C. Grace relating to his recent book. Imposter Syndrome and Intel Analysis and Lessons Learned.

eventbrite.com

New article about how the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)’s mandate to counter foreign interference has changed over the decades, and what that tells us about the factors that shape intelligence reform: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference

This article examines the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s evolving mandate to counter foreign interference, comparing Cold War era reforms with 21st century reforms. It finds that r...

tandfonline.com

New article about how the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)’s mandate to counter foreign interference has changed over the decades, and what that tells us about the factors that shape intelligence reform: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference

This article examines the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s evolving mandate to counter foreign interference, comparing Cold War era reforms with 21st century reforms. It finds that r...

tandfonline.com

New blog post on the CTC Sentinel article Levi West and I co-authored in late March on the Bondi attack. The post keeps track of information that has come out about the alleged attackers in the two months since the article was published: andrewzammit.org/2026/05/25/c...

CTC Sentinel article on the Bondi attack

In late March, Levi West and I published an article in West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center Sentinel on the Bondi terrorist attack of 14 December 2025: an act of antise…

andrewzammit.org

Academics, is there an article or paper that you've published that you feel has slipped under the radar? Reply or quote this post with your overlooked piece! Here's mine... www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Creating the National/Border Security Nexus: Counter-Terrorist Operations and Monitoring Middle Eastern and North African Visitors to the UK in the 1970s–1980s

This article looks at an earlier episode in the history of the UK border security apparatus by examining how the immigration control system was used in the 1970s and 1980s to detect potential terro...

tandfonline.com

Many thanks to CTC Sentinel for publishing this article by Levi J. West and I on the Bondi massacre, placing the attack in the context of past Australian jihadist activity and shifts in Islamic State's approaches to transnational mobilisation: ctc.westpoint.edu/the-bondi-at...

The Bondi Attack: The Islamic State’s Strategic Shifts and Jihadi Tactics in Australia - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point

Abstract: On December 14, 2025, two Islamic State supporters carried out the first mass casualty terrorist attack on Australian soil, targeting the Jewish community in the Sydney suburb of Bondi. This...

ctc.westpoint.edu

Many thanks to CTC Sentinel for publishing this article by Levi J. West and I on the Bondi massacre, placing the attack in the context of past Australian jihadist activity and shifts in Islamic State's approaches to transnational mobilisation: ctc.westpoint.edu/the-bondi-at...

The Bondi Attack: The Islamic State’s Strategic Shifts and Jihadi Tactics in Australia - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point

Abstract: On December 14, 2025, two Islamic State supporters carried out the first mass casualty terrorist attack on Australian soil, targeting the Jewish community in the Sydney suburb of Bondi. This...

ctc.westpoint.edu

📖 We were also very pleased to publish a double review by Valentin Stoain on the pressing issue of intelligence ethics. Follow the link below for a fascinating review of Jan Goldman's 'Ethical Espionage' and Cecile Fabre's 'Spying through a Glass Darkly' ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

🔊 📖 We've also published some brilliant new book reviews over the past few months! 📖 First we have Kyle Bester with a review of Durán and Loza's "Justice Required," 'a thorough and morally urgent analysis of police shootings'. Read the review here ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

Justice required: Police shootings as legalized violence

Published in Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (Ahead of Print, 2026)

doi.org

We also have review copies of some excellent new terrorism/CVE titles available to share with interested reviewers. Just reach out to @melaniebrand.bsky.social or email melanie dot brand at mq dot edu dot au for more information.

the iran crackdown is so terrible to contemplate. they really did murder everyone

ABC - Timor-Leste remembers Indonesian invasion 50 years after military assault: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

As warplanes flew, they dropped something many in Timor-Leste had never seen

Survivors still have clear memories of the invasion by Indonesia, as Timor-Leste this week commemorates the beginning of a brutal 24-year occupation.

abc.net.au

💡Moving on to some of our most popular intel articles, first up we have James Ramsey and Andrew Macpherson, who asked "Is the academy equipping tomorrow’s intelligence professionals to analyze data-centric threats?" Read it here & in our upcoming 20th bday collection! 🎉 ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

Next up in our most popular and noteworthy policing articles, we have Sophia Yakhlef with "Humour, trust and tacit knowledge of police and border officers in international police collaboration". This one is open access & free to read! ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

🎉As part of our 20th birthday celebrations, JPICT are publishing an edited volume of our most popular and noteworthy articles. We're going to give all our followers a sneak peak over the coming days of what's included 📖 First up we have Colin Atkinson with "Mind the Grass!" ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...