Tricia Bacon

One of the biggest dangers of this political moment is that too many people see the most extreme of the “other”side as the normal representative of it.

I am impressed by this mindset (about learning, not fear of my grading). It is a privilege to be a professor for such students. Though many things seem so bleak right now, my students are a source of hope.

I was surprised by this result. When I asked them why, the most common answer was that they wanted to ensure they learned the writing & analysis skills I was teaching them without relying on AI. (Admittedly, some also said they were worried about tougher grading, as I am already pretty tough)

This semester I let the students in both of my intelligence classes vote on our AI policy. They could either 1) have unrestricted use of AI for the class (with tougher grading expectations) or 2) no AI use at all (with normal grading expectations). Both classes overwhelmingly voted for #2 (99%)

Job Description: The Department of Justice, Law & Criminology in the School of Public Affairs at American University invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position beginning in Academic Year 2026-2027. The position will be at the rank of Assistant Professor. For this position, the department is seeking a scholar with substantive expertise in political violence and terrorism. The search is open regarding specialty, but the Department is especially interested in a scholar whose research and teaching interests include terrorism, political violence, radicalization, extremism, or cybersecurity.

We're hiring!

The @au-spa.bsky.social is hiring an assistant professor specializing in political violence and terrorism.

Deadline: September 22nd.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions!

See below for the job ad and application.

american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...

Join @au-spa.bsky.social for this hybrid event today!

@au-spa.bsky.social is hosting an important hybrid event this week on immigration & Latin America with @zeitzoff.bsky.social & @garciaponce.bsky.social. Couldn't be more timely!!

And when the term terrorism is used in this way, it becomes merely political weapon and it makes it harder to effectively counter actual terrorism. 7/

What I disagree with is mislabeling them as terrorists & then using that label as a pretense to deport immigrants without any evidence that they are members of that transnational criminal organization, let alone actual terrorists. 6/

Let me be clear: foreign members of transnational criminal organizations should be deported. And we should bolster our transnational criminal organization authorities. 5/

Hmmmm. This all looks a lot like terrorism is being used as pretext for other policy objectives. 4/

5. the administration then uses the Alien Enemies Act to ramp up deportations without proving deportees’ membership to a designated cartel, even though the terrorism designation provides the authorities to deport members of designated cartels 3/

4. this narrative is then used to justify invoking a wartime power (Congress declares war in this country)—the Alien Enemies Act 2/

In Deportations, Trump Tied Gang to Venezuela’s Government. Intelligence Contradicts Him. To invoke wartime deportation powers, President Trump asserted that Venezuela’s government controls a gang. U.S. intelligence analysts think that is not true.

To recap what the administration has argued: 1 cartels = equal terrorists. (They don’t) 2 the Venezuelan government is backing one of those cartels (It isn’t according to the intelligence community) 3 the US has been “invaded” by terrorists supported by Venezuela (No such “invasion” has occurred) 1/

In Deportations, Trump Tied Gang to Venezuela’s Government. Intelligence Contradicts Him. To invoke wartime deportation powers, President Trump asserted that Venezuela’s government controls a gang. U.S. intelligence analysts think that is not true.

Trump’s assertion that a gang is committing crimes in the US at the direction of Venezuela’s government was his basis for invoking the Aliens Enemies Act. But the US Intelligence Community assessed last month that the gang is *not* controlled by the Venezuelan government

On top of that, the African Union force is weaker than anytime since its inception. A few airstrikes won’t change this trajectory. If al-Shabaab takes over, this won’t be a *former* al-Qaida affiliate, like HTS. Or a jihadist group without external ambitions, like the Taliban.

The situation in Somalia is flashing red. Al-Shabaab is encircling Mogadishu while the federal government & federal member states focus on their political difference. The freeze of US assistance undermines the most effective anti-Shabaab force as the humanitarian situation worsens without USAID.

The DRC Conflict Enters a Dangerous New Phase – Africa Center The regionalization of the DRC crisis raises prospects for another multinational Congo War—and the need for a robust African response.

How did M23 rise from defeated and mostly dormant in 2012 to reemerge in 2022 with the resources, organization, and discipline of an experienced military?

Our Spotlight looks at the prospects for another multinational Congo War and the need for a robust African response.

africacenter.org/spo...

Trump invokes 18th century law to speed deportations, judge stalls it hours later A federal judge has barred the administration of President Donald Trump from deportations under an 18th century law that Trump invoked just hours earlier asserting the United States was being invaded ...

The Foreign Terrorist Organization designations of the cartels was clearly intended to pave the way for invoking the Aliens Enemies Act. But the designations *should* undermine the justification for this move bc being a member of an FTO is a deportable offense on its own

apnews.com/article/trum...

AP Exclusive: US and Israel look to Africa for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

The Trump Administration’s reported proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza to Somaliland probably dangles the carrot of recognition in front of Hargeisa. But Somaliland is a democracy—would its voters accept recognition at that cost?

apnews.com/article/isra...

DOGE Visit to USIP On the afternoon of Friday, March 14, 2025, several members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrived at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) unannounced accompanied by two FBI...

It is profoundly troubling that the FBI is being utilized by DOGE to try to enter USIP in this way. Handled exceptionally well by USIP. www.usip.org/press/2025/0...

AP Exclusive: US and Israel look to Africa for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

The Trump Administration proposes relocating Palestinians to Somalia as al-Shabaab’s gains pose an existential threat to the federal government and the country reels from losing U.S aid & still frozen assistance.

apnews.com/article/isra...

Trump to Invoke a Seldom-Used Wartime Law From 1798 to Speed Up Deportations Authorities plan to mainly target members of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang.

The FTO designations of cartels were a step for the Administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping authority that has only been used three times before & only in times of war. If you think it will only been used against cartels, you aren’t paying attention.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

The Problem With Designating Cartels as Terrorist Groups Trump wants broader powers, but U.S. businesses could suffer.

Here is our Foreign Policy piece. Unfortunately, our concerns appear to have been well placed. foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/18/p...

Trump Wants to Speed Up Deportations With Alien Enemies Act: What to Know The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives the president wartime powers to deport undocumented immigrants with little to no due process.

When Dan Byman and I wrote a piece voicing concerns about designating cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, we raised red flags about the text in that Executive Order on the Aliens Enemies Act. We were told we were being alarmist…

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

Pitch-perfect response to Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin from @georgetownlaw.bsky.social Dean Bill Treanor.

It’s always a privilege and honor to be part of the GULC community (and to be Bill’s colleague), but *especially* today.

C.I.A. Begins Firing Recently Hired Officers Some newer employees have been summoned to an off-site location and asked to surrender their credentials.

“Trump administration is firing people who had been *assigned* to diversity & recruiting efforts in the Biden administration… Those recruiters were some of the agency’s most successful.. In 2024, the C.I.A. had its best recruiting effort since the months after 9/11.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

C.I.A. Begins Firing Recently Hired Officers Some newer employees have been summoned to an off-site location and asked to surrender their credentials.

“The first two years of CIA officers’ careers are a time of intense training; the government spends large amounts of money to teach them spy tradecraft, languages and other skills.

“Literally millions of dollars has been put into some of these employees,’ he said…”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

Important thread. NATO is finished as an institution. It depends on a sense of shared purpose and shared values and a belief in collective defense. No ally can believe in the US having that foreign policy orientation any longer. US now has a Russia first policy. What does Europe do? See below.

CIA director says agency has halted intelligence sharing. A very dark day for American foreign policy.