Brian J. Phillips

Navigating Field Research in Armed Conflict Settings | 38 | The Routle This chapter considers unique challenges of field research in settings where armed conflict has taken place and/or is ongoing. It opens with a vignette from a

It's publication day!

"Why did I get into that car?" is a question that has haunted me for years & that I'm grateful to late Lee Ann Fujii for encouraging me to address. I start the chapter w/ this q to explore the limits of trust & researcher safety in fieldwork on armed conflict 👇🏼
bit.ly/4kW1hob

Ben A’an in the Trossachs, southern Highlands. Lovely area

I remember!

Heather the plant/flower

Do people post travel pics on here? Not enough, it seems to me. Anyway, here’s heather in Scotland and Northern England

The swords- legal in the US, not the UK

only a ninja can kill another ninja. classic security dilemma.

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

Condenan a exdirectivos de Chiquita Brands por nexos con paramilitares: esta es la pena que pagarán A pocos meses de que prescribiera el caso, el Juzgado 6 Penal del Circuito Especializado de Antioquia condenó a 11 años y 3 meses de prisión a siete e...

I'm late getting to this, but this is very big news: A Colombian court last week sentenced seven former Chiquita executives to more than 11 years in prison for financing paramilitary groups.
www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/con...

Justice Chamberlain has refused the request to suspend the ban pending the decision in the full judicial review, which will not begin until November at the earliest

He also refused the Home Office's application to appeal part of his ruling allowing the judicial review

Palestine Action have won their bid for a full legal challenge against the British government's decision to ban it as a terrorist group

The High Court ruled that an internal Home Office process was "not suitable", partly because "many people now subject to criminal proceedings" linked to the ban

which froze assets of drug traffickers and made it a crime to do business with them. So the policy the UK is trying seems pretty similar to a US law that has been around 25 years. That's the case comparison.

But are there clear "kingpins" of Mediterranean human trafficking orgs? That's less clear.

2. Some might think this is comparable to the US putting "terrorist" (eg, FTO) sanctions on cartels or human traffickers. It is quite different from that, which confuses the whole counterterrorism world.

It's more like traditional US sanctions against criminals, such as the Kingpin Act (2000) 2/n

Gang leaders and corrupt officials could be named in smuggling sanctions Fake passport dealers and firms which sell small boats could also be hit with financial sanctions under government plans.

Interesting that the UK will sanction migrant-smuggling gangs and broader financial networks- asset freezes, travel bans, etc.

Two quick thoughts 1. It's unclear how effective this will be. Tracking illicit funding is difficult. But it could put some pressure. 1/n 🧵

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

THIS IS THE FACE OF TERROR IN THE UK.

"White, who is the secretary of the Merseyside Pensioners Association and cares for her husband who has cancer, said police said she could attend medical appointments but could be arrested if she visited a shop"
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Travelers to the U.S. must pay a new $250 'visa integrity fee' — what to know Travelers to the U.S. must pay a new "visa integrity fee" to visit, but questions remain as to how and when it will be implemented. Here's what we know so far.

Tourists visiting America:
*Hand over your social media
*At risk of being detained, imprisoned and deported for the vaguest of reasons
*Now being asked to pay $250 for the privilege

Intl tourists contribute more than $200B to the US economy. But lets fix that problem!
www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/v...

Ninety-six arrests at Palestine Action ban protests across UK The Met Police says it has made 55 arrests at one of several demonstrations across the country.

Ninety-six arrests at Palestine Action ban protests www.bbc.com/news/article...

Really badass graffiti spotted in town

Podcast: Breaking Hezbollah's Golden Rule Season 1 Listen to a podcast series shining a bright light on the global terrorist and criminal activities that Lebanese Hezbollah would rather keep hidden from view.

On July 18, 1994, Hezbollah detonated a large truck bomb at the AMIA in Buenos Aires. @mattlevitt.bsky.social spoke with Mariano Federici, Robert Clifford, and Christian Vianna de Azevedo about the group's criminal and terrorist activities in South America.

Tucked away in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' is the requirement that all visitors to the US must pay $250 just to enter the country starting 1 October! For a family of 5 that's $1250! I doubt this will help America's crashing tourism business which is down 10% already since January

At least three killed in explosion at Los Angeles sheriff's training facility Attorney General Pam Bondi says it

Breaking- At least three killed in explosion at Los Angeles sheriff's training facility www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4...

Who are the terrorism researchers? A study of scholars in an evolving field, 1970–2019
doi.org/10.1080/1057...
Paper in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism by @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social Associate Member @brianjphillips.bsky.social

The October 7, 2023 Attacks and the Maturation of Terrorism Studies The Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 served as a vivid reminder of terrorism’s continued relevance as a form of political violence that can have far-reaching, strategic implications on regional ...

Just published: "The Oct 7 Attacks and the Maturation of Terrorism Studies," published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, co-authored with Anthony Marco (US Army). www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Data sharing practices and data availability upon request differ across scientific disciplines - Scientific Data Scientific Data - Data sharing practices and data availability upon request differ across scientific disciplines

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Why do scholars sometimes not share data when requested? Interesting answers... from Tedersoo et al. 2021 in Nature. see link below

Opinion | Soft power for a tough world America needs more than tanks and aircraft carriers.

"Soft power for a tough world" by Bill McRaven wapo.st/4luTj6y

Women with names perceived as masculine are less likely to be omitted from citations than those with feminine names. Men with feminine-sounding names are more likely to be omitted than men with masculine names, suggesting citation bias based on gender perceptions.
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Frontiers | Editorial: The crises of the Israeli democracy The Crises of the Israeli Democracy:Introduction to a Research TopicJune 9, 2025Introduction: Israeli Democracy’s CrisisDuring the past ten years, Israel has...

Yael Shomer, @etzelgov.bsky.social‬, and I have a new editorial in Frontiers. We review the multiple crises in Israeli politics since 2019 and summarize 6 articles published in a “Research Topic” related to these crises. We also review the scale of democratic backsliding before and during the war.

DOJ Removes All Mentions Of Justice From Website WASHINGTON—In the latest of a series of escalations in President Donald Trump’s highly publicized war on “woke,” the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly removed all mentions of justice from its webs...

DOJ Removes All Mentions Of Justice From Website

Follow me for all the decapitation news :(

NEPS (European Peace Science) I believe will be in Berlin in June 2026, but the website is not updated with this info yet. Usually December deadline.