Janet Abou Elias

Take Action — Arms Sales Accountability Project (ASAP) Oversight. Reform. Accountability. ASAP. Tell Congress: Vote to Suspend Arms Sales to Israel

TONIGHT: Sen. Bernie Sanders will force a vote to block weapons transfers to Israel, including:

•5,000 1,000-lb bombs
•7,000 JDAM kits
•Thousands of M4 assault rifles

📞 Learn more and urge your Senators to vote yes. It only takes a minute:

armssalesaccountabilityproject.com/take-action/

Spent the week diving into strategy simulations, foreign policy debates, and expert panels at the John Quincy Adams Society 2025 Summer Conference. I’m grateful to learn from scholars & peers on U.S. grand strategy and to test our thinking in high-stakes crisis scenarios.

Downwinders to be acknowledged at Trinity test site dedication After decades of struggle and lives lost to radioactive fallout from the July 16, 1945, Trinity test in the Tularosa Basin, the impacted residents are finally receiving recognition.

Today, just about 90 minutes ago, a sign went up across from the Stallion Gate onto White Sands Missile Range. It's a historical marker, an acknowledgement of the downwinders harmed by the world's first atomic detonation, 80 years ago today. www.dchieftain.com/community/do...

Expanding Use of Emergency Arms Authorities Requires More Congressional Oversight - CIP In the rush to meet wartime needs, the Pentagon has repeatedly neglected basic statutory safeguards intended to protect U.S. force readiness and fiscal discipline.

Emergency authorities. Minimal oversight. A growing trend of fast-tracked U.S. arms transfers—once rare, now routine.

In this piece, I examine how these mechanisms are reshaping military aid and why stronger congressional guardrails are urgently needed.

🔗 internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Billions for bombs, pennies for the public. Congress is prioritizing military aid over pressing domestic needs. I break it down in @thehill.com .

thehill.com/opinion/cong...

A new data visualization by Costs of War contributor @stephensemler.bsky.social shows that the U.S. exports more weapons than the next seven largest arms exporters combined. www.stephensemler.com/p/the-us-exp...

What happens when immigration enforcement & police militarization collide?

Our co-founder Lillian Mauldin dives into the dangerous consequences of Trump-era ICE raids via @armstradect.bsky.social.

🔗 t.co/xQD3ii1jUF

A Year of Empty Threats and a “Smokescreen” Policy: How the State Department Let Israel Get Away With Horrors in Gaza Israel has repeatedly crossed the Biden administration’s human rights red lines. But the U.S. continued to send weapons. Exclusive records and interviews reveal what happened inside the State Departme...

“Rules for thee and not for me.”

Read the full piece here: www.propublica.org/article/bide...

My brilliant @cipolicy.bsky.social colleague Ari Tolany spoke with @propublica.org on the Biden administration’s violation of arms transfer laws:

“The State Department has a whole raft of highly paid, very good lawyers to explain, ‘Actually this is not illegal,’ when in fact it is,”[…]

A huge thank you to @carnegiecorp.bsky.social for supporting @w2t2impact.bsky.social’s research!

Janet Abou-Elias and Lillian Mauldin on Arms Transfers and the "Imperial Boomerang" Security Dilemma · Episode

Honored to join John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi on Security Dilemma! We unpacked U.S. arms transfers, militarization of police, and Biden’s Gaza response.

Listen now—and don’t forget to apply for the Marcellus Policy Fellowship by Jan. 13!

open.spotify.com/episode/5YIW...

It was a pleasure joining the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy panel alongside Lillian Mauldin and Veronica Marcone to discuss the Leahy Law and its impact on U.S. security assistance policy.

Thrilled to be joining Young Professionals in Foreign Policy on Dec 9 for a panel on The Intent, Implications, and Future of the Leahy Law!

Looking forward to discussing alongside my co-founder, Lillian Mauldin, and Veronica Marcone.

Register here: members.ypfp.org/event-5962848
#LeahyLaw

Thrilled to be joining Young Professionals in Foreign Policy on Dec 9 for a panel on The Intent, Implications, and Future of the Leahy Law!

Looking forward to discussing alongside my co-founder, Lillian Mauldin, and Veronica Marcone.

Register here: members.ypfp.org/event-5962848
#LeahyLaw

Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we underscore the devastating impacts of armed conflict on women and demand their inclusion in peace processes.

US lawmakers seek to halt weapons sales to UAE, citing Sudan U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen has introduced legislation seeking to halt American weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates until the United States certifies that the UAE is not arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, according to an early version of his announcement seen by Reuters.

Sen. Van Hollen & @repsarajacobs.bsky.social have introduced joint resolutions of disapproval to block a major arms sale to the UAE and bills to prohibit arms sales to UAE until they stop arming the RSF, a Sudanese armed group. 1/ www.reuters.com/world/us-law...

Lebanon: US Arms Used in Israeli Strike on Journalists An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on October 25, 2024, that killed three journalists and injured four others was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime, Human Rights Watc...

Crucial new @hrw.org report finds US munitions were used in the Israeli attack which killed three journalists at the Hasbaya Village Club Resort in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon on October 25. @hrw.org describes the strike as an “apparent war crime”
www.hrw.org/news/2024/11...