Jethro Norman

Drawing on my shifting fieldwork experiences in conflict zones, the full article (link below) delineates what it means to do ethnographic research when your interlocutors can reach you anywhere, at any time, through a smartphone - online.ucpress.edu/cpcs/article...

Researchers with long-term grounding in a place are better placed to verify information, resist polarising narratives, and maintain independence. Under our current conditions of participatory warfare, it's no longer a methodological preference, it's a necessity 3/4

Digital connectivity has transformed both the conduct of war (see @warmatters.bsky.social for this one) but also the conduct of research, and in ways that reverberate in both directions. But the conclusion I draw from this is probably not the obvious one. 2/4

New article: On-the-ground fieldwork in conflict zones is becoming harder, rarer, and more institutionally discouraged. I'd argue that's a problem, and that hyperconnectivity is precisely why it matters more than ever. 1/4

Quite possible that January ends with more strikes in Somalia in a single month than conducted by any non-Trump president in any single year.

www.newamerica.org/future-secur...

Humanitarian efforts are under pressure in an increasingly dangerous Ukraine. Report by @jethronorman.bsky.social shows how organisations grapple with drones, surveillance, and digital threats 👉 www.diis.dk/en/node/28019/

Foreign Fighters 2.0: The Interplay of Technology and Lived Experience in the Russia-Ukraine War Two young men seeking to join Ukraine’s foreign legion illustrate the changing dynamics of warfare in the digital age.

5⃣ The digitalization of conflict is changing who fights in wars.

@jethronorman.bsky.social argues that "foreign fighters 2.0" are merging civilian technical expertise and military operations, blurring the definition of a combatant.

Somaliland recognition for forced transfer of Palestinians? ‘Not worth it’ Locals and analysts say reported plan to forcibly move Palestinians from Gaza to Somaliland risks inflaming the region.

Strong reporting by @mohamedgabobe.bsky.social in @ajenglish.bsky.social on the dangers of linking Somaliland’s recognition to the forced relocation of Palestinians.

I gave my perspective on how such proposals would hand extremist groups a propaganda victory and threaten stability in the region.

Foreign Fighters 2.0: The Interplay of Technology and Lived Experience in the Russia-Ukraine War Two young men seeking to join Ukraine’s foreign legion illustrate the changing dynamics of warfare in the digital age.

🆕| How are digital technologies reshaping foreign fighter participation in contemporary warfare? What implications does this transformation present?

@jethronorman.bsky.social examines for @carnegieendowment.org & @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social⤵️

Foreign Fighters 2.0: The Interplay of Technology and Lived Experience in the Russia-Ukraine War Two young men seeking to join Ukraine’s foreign legion illustrate the changing dynamics of warfare in the digital age.

New piece from @jethronorman.bsky.social describing how digital tech is fundamentally reshaping foreign fighter participation in war.

Part of @carnegieendowment.org series edited by @warmatters.bsky.social and myself!

👇 👇👇

carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Foreign Fighters 2.0: The Interplay of Technology and Lived Experience in the Russia-Ukraine War Two young men seeking to join Ukraine’s foreign legion illustrate the changing dynamics of warfare in the digital age.

Foreigners in Ukraine may have ideological drive & combat experience traditionally characteristic of foreign fighters. But their value here comes from their tech knowledge.

@jethronorman.bsky.social (@carnegiedcg.bsky.social, @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social‬): carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Under Trump, US strikes on Somalia have doubled since last year. Why? As Trump hits the Horn of Africa, experts caution against drone strikes, saying the US needs to invest in peacebuilding.

I spoke to Al Jazeera about the Trump administration’s surge in drone strikes, and why the logic behind them is less strategic than theatrical.

Incisive work by @mohamedgabobe.bsky.social

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/...

Somali pirates use Red Sea crisis to stage return Rise in Houthi attacks distracts naval patrols from the threat of hijackers off the Horn of Africa

Glad to contribute to this piece on the resurgence of piracy off the Somali coast, and how it intersects with Red Sea conflict dynamics, fishing economies, and regional security.
Via @telegraphnews.bsky.social ; @diis.dk

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

African Union peacekeepers in Somalia accused of widespread abuse TNH interviewed nearly a dozen people who all alleged that they, or their deceased relatives, were victims of beatings or killings by AU peacekeepers.

Important reporting from Mohamed Gabobe on allegations of abuse by AU peacekeepers in Somalia. I offered some thoughts on the implications for humanitarian accountability and intervention dynamics.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/202...

Why Mogadishu has better mobile phone reception than Manchester Somalia largely skipped the landline era entirely, leaping straight to mobile networks. Today, 4G coverage extends across major urban centres

With some of the cheapest mobile data rates in Africa, extensive mobile money adoption, and the creative use of platforms like WhatsApp for governance and aid, Somalia challenges our assumptions about so-called "failed states."

www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-...

Our artcle in @iajournal.bsky.social open access here: shorturl.at/k9aGi @diis.dk @naujakleist.bsky.social @jethronorman.bsky.social

Thanks Lisa, much appreciated!

Glad @theeconomistevents.bsky.social found my colleague and friend’s fantastic research on Northern Somalia/Somaliland and how development +governance are done on WhatsApp.

Government by social media in Somalia Cheap data, social media and creativity are filling in for an absent state

Happy to be referred to as a Mancunian in
@economist.com this weekend.

And also to contribute to this interesting piece on how WhatsApp and other SoMe platforms have begun to function as governance tools in the Somali territories.

www.economist.com/middle-east-...

@diis.dk

Nine co-authors! @peteralalbrecht.bsky.social, @edle100.bsky.social, Mark Bradbury, @mahassan.bsky.social, Karuti Kanyinga, Fatima Dahir Mohamed, Ahmed Musa, @jethronorman.bsky.social and yours truly.
#diaspora, #COVID-19, #crises, #polycrises, #humanitarianism.