Brian J. Phillips
@brianjphillips
Terrorism, conflict, crime. @uniessexgov.bsky.social. Via Ohio, Camp Lejeune, PGH, CDMX. Co-authored book: "Insurgent Terrorism."
Regarding this former US Navy SEAL convicted of explosives charges, some news stories make it seem like he was "just" anti-law enforcement. But he had quite a mix of motivations, which he seemed proud to share. At the base of it all, intense antisemitism.
The grades/marks on in-class tests (grey) have a lot more variation than the at-home tests (orange). No surprise in the age of AI, but interesting to see... from IHE
Is the US government being... surprisingly careful or selective... with the enforcement of foreign terrorist organization charges for cartel affiliates? Contrary to some predictions (and my own concern), for criminal groups it seems only high level members have been hit with material support...
We wrote case studies on 80 FTOs. Sanctions don't seem to affect the groups that we consider "high financial adaptability" but they have affected some others like the LTTE, MeK, and the Islamic Jihad Union. We summarize aggregate findings in this figure...
New article! "When Do Sanctions On Terrorist Groups Work?" with Hyeran Jo and Joshua Alley. A few key points: -Sanctions like the FTO list do not seem to reduce the violence of most FTOs -We look at group "financial adaptability." Only low- or medium-adaptability groups seem affected by sanctions
Every hometown's got the ominous megastructure. What's yours?
Berlin. NEPS. I think I’m the only person posting about NEPS here. (I post like it’s 2015 on Twitter, I don’t care.)
In the Hague next week? Stop by! Looking forward to presenting some co-authored work
This framing is a little nicer than the terrorism/war index. Same data, nicer title? ✌️🕊️🌼🙏 #framing
Greenwich Royal Observatory. A less-visited but really worthwhile London spot! Scenic vistas in a lovely park and great history of astronomy, longitude, time, etc. 1/2
Raul was a kind and dedicated teacher-scholar and mentor to so many. He brightened a lot of lives and will be missed.
If you ask Google AI, Gemni, "Is it worth it to..." it will ALMOST ALWAYS say yes. I first noticed this pattern with tourism questions. (Now I'm an AI influencer.)
Book delivery! A bit of a mix of work and non-work. Cc: @annelikuski.bsky.social @brennawalks.bsky.social
Interesting read re: rebel governance. (Gift access) A Congolese militia wants to sell critical minerals to Donald Trump economist.com/middle-east-...
Essex local election results. Wivenhoe (University of Essex) is a small yellow (Lib Dems) part in the sea of teal (Nigel Farage’s Reform).