J. R. McAllister

YouTube video by Indivisible: Central Ohio No Kings 2 Across Central Ohio

Go Central Ohio! youtu.be/XfG81cNHT_k?...

I’m glad this is being covered. Federal judges have been warning us as best they know how. When I looked into this back in June, I found dozens of cases where judges suggested that the Trump administration’s conduct was untrustworthy or acting in bad faith.

All roads lead to Russia

The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice

This morning’s read: The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/w...

7 million people took to the streets across the nation to protest in defense of our democracy.

This country belongs to the people. We will fight for it with everything we've got.

Solidarity!! Last week, Indiana University fired the director of student media & halted print on the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Yesterday, Purdue’s student paper printed the banned edition & drove two hours to deliver it. Incredible www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/l...

The resistance reaches into Trump country As organizers for No Kings 2 seek historic turnout on Oct. 18, the broader pro-democracy movement has already broken new ground.

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Hammam, & Chris Shay) has a new piece, whose title speaks for itself. A 🧵 with some key descriptive takeaways:

#NoKings at the Columbus, Ohio Statehouse

#NoKings in Bexley, Ohio (a small city within Columbus)

A large crowd of protesters, some with mouths open as if shouting. A sign reads, "NOT KINGS." A headline reads: "What We Know About the Latest ‘No Kings’ Protests." Photo by Jordan Gale for The New York Times.

More than 2,600 protests against the Trump administration are scheduled to take place across the U.S. on Saturday in a demonstration known as No Kings Day. Here’s what we know about the protests. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

The Anti-Corruption Tracker: Mapping the Erosion of Oversight and Accountability This Anti-Corruption Tracker focuses on the erosion or dismantling of oversight and accountability systems within the United States Executive Branch

(1/2) The dismantling of FBI’s public corruption squad, restructuring of DOJ’s enforcement divisions, and exodus of senior career officials mark major shifts in the federal guardrails of accountability.

www.justsecurity.org/117267/anti-...

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

ICC convicts Sudan ex-militia leader Ali Kushayb of Darfur war crimes The 27 guilty verdicts are the first handed down by The Hague-based court over war crimes in Sudanese region in 2000s.

#ICC judges convict Abd-Al-Rahman, Janjaweed militia leader, of 27 counts of crimes against humanity & #warcrimes in Darfur, #Sudan, in 2003-04.

Judge Korner made a point of naming #victims from each incident. There was a significant 🇸🇩 presence in the gallery.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

Ali Kushayb: Sudan militia leader convicted of war crimes in Darfur Ali Kushayb led the Janjaweed, a group whose campaign of terror led to hundreds and thousands of deaths.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman declared guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan. See overview here: www.bbc.com/news/article...; see the judgment here: www.icc-cpi.int/court-record...

How is social media being used to shift public perception around the ICC?

Benjie Aquino from Redress explains how disinformation campaigns have - and continue to be - used in the Philippines around the alleged crimes against humanity of former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte.

Opinion | The Lives and Money We Are Wasting

President Trump said he demolished USAID to reduce waste. In fact, my reporting finds that the demolition of USAID has wasted billions of dollars--and the lives of children like 8-year-old Gy Gael.
Sec. Rubio, you still claim aid cuts haven't killed anyone?
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

These countries have definitely grown a lot closer to Russia, which also just pledged a ton of support for a joint military force between them.

International Criminal Court details crimes against humanity charges against former Philippine President Duterte Among other things, they allege Duterte instructed and authorized "violent acts including murder to be committed against alleged criminals, including alleged drug dealers and users."

Busy week for the ICC: charging suspected war criminals and weathering additional, albeit not wholly unexpected withdrawals by junta governments in the Sahel. www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

3 West African Nations to Leave International Criminal Court

3 West African Nations to Leave International Criminal Court www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/w...

More experts say Israel's offensive in Gaza constitutes genocide The accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, while others have rejected it or said only a court can make that determination.

A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, deepening Israel’s isolation and risking untold damage to the country’s standing even among allies.
https://to.pbs.org/4nKtTCz

Donald Trump begins with a laugh line: he says he's very happy to be up there without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter isn't working. He's doing crowd work, saying he'll speak from the heart, and that whoever operates the teleprompter is in trouble. The crowd is laughing with him so far.

Censorship Is the Authoritarian’s Dream The right to free expression must include the right to say horrible and evil things.

"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Take action to protect national forests

Protect 60 million acres of our national forests! The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is at risk. Speak up with me ＆ stop the US Forest Service from repealing it. #SaveOurForests #RoadlessRule share.sierraclub.org/s/AIq9VMfc

@cfr.org is seeking applicants for its 2026-27 International Affairs Fellowships. Find out more about unique opportunities to research and work in the US, Europe, Indonesia, and Japan at www.cfr.org/fellowship. CFR IAF fellowships are incredible! Happy to discuss if interested.

Reconnecting with some friends and mentors at APSA 2025 in Vancouver! Go Northwestern Wildcats!

Are you looking for a tenure-track assistant professor job in international studies? If so, please apply to Kenyon College (see details below)! I am on the search committee and happy to answer any questions.

US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes investigation Groups based in Gaza and Ramallah had asked international criminal court to investigate Israel over genocide claims

“The United States has imposed sanctions against three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the international criminal court to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

BREAKING 🧵: Divided appeals court rules against Trump's tariffs.

4 judges appointed by Bush I, Obama, & Biden (2) say IEEPA doesn't allow tariffs.

4 judges app. by Bush II (2) & Obama (2) - including chief - say it does.

3 judges app. by Clinton & Obama (2) say it doesn't allow *these* tariffs.

In poli sci, "the top 20% of departments produced 75% of all faculty and the bottom 50% accounted for less than 5% of all tenure track faculty members at a research university. 49 programs did not have a single graduate placed in a TT position at a PhD-granting department in the past 10 years."