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Akil N Awan

@akilnawan.bsky.social

2.5K followers 1.2K following 230 posts

Academic at Royal Holloway, University of London. Director of the Conflict, Violence and Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) @cvtrc.bsky.social. Words in New Statesman, BBC History, National Interest, History Today, Jacobin, BylineTimes, Independent

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Akil N Awan @akilnawan.bsky.social · Dec 6

My latest for Jacobin mag
40 years after The Terminator warned us, killer robots & autonomous weaponised drones are being deployed in real-world conflicts.
From Gaza's AI-enabled Genocide to Ukraine, the dystopian future of machine warfare isn’t science fiction anymore
jacobin.com/2024/12/term...

The Terminator’s Vision of AI Warfare Is Now Reality

Forty years after The Terminator warned us about killer robots, AI-powered drones and autonomous weapons are being deployed in real-world conflicts. From Gaza to Ukraine, the dystopian future of machi...

jacobin.com

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Akil N Awan @akilnawan.bsky.social · 15d

Time to delete your academia,edu account 👇

Ordinary Notes @hystericalblkns.bsky.social · 21d

If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.

The new TOC from academia dot edu.

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services.

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John Horgan @johnhorgan.bsky.social · Jul 15

Oh yeah :-) Thanks @akilnawan.bsky.social for this amazing volume of work. Looking forward to diving in!

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The Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) @cvtrc.bsky.social · Jul 14

📣 The CVTRC is pleased to announce a 1-day Symposium on 'Popular Culture and World Politics: Portraying War, Conflict & Political Violence'.
Full Programme below

📆 24/07/25 at Stewart House, London.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch: [email protected]

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Jul 13

Decades of mechanistic talk about university degrees as if they were bundles of 'skills' and 'prep' are about to be proved completely wrong (obviously). Want to get a real boost? Do History or English.

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Akil N Awan @akilnawan.bsky.social · Jun 24

Congrats, John! Looking forward to catching up properly at STR - it's been a while!

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John Horgan @johnhorgan.bsky.social · Jun 23

The new book from @rikpeels.bsky.social and I comes out 19 August. The eager beavers among you can access it online now. More information, along with table of contents from our amazing contributors, available here:

academic.oup.com/book/60542?s...

Conceptualizing Extreme Beliefs and Behaviors: Definitions and Relations

Abstract. This book explores challenging conceptual issues in defining, analyzing, conceptualizing, and operationalizing notions such as extremism, radical

academic.oup.com

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Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · Jun 23

In the world Labour is creating you can be as enthusiastic as you like about genocide but it will be a criminal offence to express support for Palestine Action's attempts to stop it.

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · Jun 23

Short thread on Yvette Cooper's decision to ban Palestine Action. 🧵

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The Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) @cvtrc.bsky.social · Jun 23

📣 Deadline extended📣

Due to popular request, the submission deadline for the Symposium on: 'Popular Culture and World Politics: Portraying War, Conflict, & Political Violence' has been extended to Wed 25 June.

📅 The symposium will be held on 24/07/25 at Stewart House, London

The Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) @cvtrc.bsky.social · Apr 17

📣 Call for Papers 📣
The Conflict, Violence & Terrorism Research Centre is pleased to announce a one day Symposium on:
'Popular Culture and World Politics: Portraying War, Conflict, & Political Violence'

📅 24/07/25 at Stewart House, London

⏳ Submission deadline: 23/06/25. Full Call for Proposals 👇

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John Horgan @johnhorgan.bsky.social · Jun 10

All the ways the Trump administration is going after colleges and universities

www.npr.org/2025/06/10/n...

All the ways the Trump administration is going after colleges and universities

In seeking to reshape elite universities, the Trump administration is using several tactics, including freezing federal grants and contracts, and threatening colleges' tax-exempt status.

www.npr.org

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Elizabeth Pearson @lizzypearson.bsky.social · May 30

Registration for the @socterres.bsky.social 17th Intl Conference closes a week today! Join us at @royalholloway.bsky.social's beautiful Egham Campus, near LHR ✈️ for two days of cutting edge research on terrorism and political violence. 7-8 July. 🔜 👇

@akilnawan.bsky.social @dasilvajr.bsky.social

Society for Terrorism Research (STR) @socterres.bsky.social · May 27

Read more at: www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and...

Registration closes on June 06, 2025!

📧 Queries should be sent to the Local Organisers - Dr @LizzyPearson.bsky.social, Dr Ieva Cechaviciute, and Dr @AkilNaWan.bsky.social - at [email protected].

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Professor Charlotte Heath Kelly to Deliver Closing Keynote at 17th Annual International Society for Terrorism Research (STR) Conference at Royal Holloway

www.royalholloway.ac.uk

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dermot daly @dermotdaly.bsky.social · May 29

“Language as culture is the collective memory bank of a people’s experience in history”

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
1938 - 2025

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87

Kenyan writer’s death announced by his daughter, who wrote: ‘He lived a full life, fought a good fight’

www.theguardian.com

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Akil N Awan @akilnawan.bsky.social · May 29

Better late than never.

1100+ Israeli academics urge Heads of Israeli universities to "mobilize the full weight of Israeli academia to stop the war in Gaza", acknowledging "a horrifying litany of war crimes and even crimes against humanity, all of our own doing."

drive.google.com/file/d/1BeAn...

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Society for Terrorism Research (STR) @socterres.bsky.social · May 27

We are happy to announce that Professor Charlotte Heath-Kelly has been confirmed as a closing Keynote Speaker for the 17th Annual International Conference of the Society for Terrorism Research at the School of Law & Social Sciences and the @CVTRC.bsky.social at @RoyalHolloway.bsky.social.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 21

RAMAPHOSA: I am sorry I don't have a plane to give you

TRUMP: I wish you did. I'd take it. If your country offered the US Air Force a plane, I would take it

RAMAPHOSA: Okay

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 20

HASSAN: What is habeas corpus?

NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country

HASSAN: That's incorrect

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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · May 17

Pedro Pascal at Cannes on the Trump regime’s war on migrants: “I want people to be safe and protected. I want to live on the right side of history. I am an immigrant. My parents are refugees from Chile.”

Pedro Pascal at #Cannes: "I want people to be safe and protected. I want to live on the right side of history. I am an immigrant. My parents are refugees from Chile. We fled a dictatorship and I was privileged enough to grow up in the United States after asylum in Denmark. I stand by those protections, always."

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Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · May 19

Israel's Finance Minister Smotrich: "We are destroying everything that remains in Gaza, the world isn't stopping us." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

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Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · May 15

🚨NEW🚨

@surajlakhani.bsky.social and my new edited collection is out! Hard copy available in a few months. academic.oup.com/book/60071

The Sociology of Violent Extremism: Theoretical and Sociological Approaches

This book is an essential collection addressing key challenges in studying violent extremism. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, terrorism

academic.oup.com

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · May 15

Grok has more self-awareness than its owner. 🤡

@cnbc.com
www.cnbc.com/2025/05/15/g...

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · May 15

Here is the grad speech that NYU is now withholding the student's diploma for:

"As I search my heart today in addressing you all…the only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine."

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · May 14

An X USER, to Grok: “Why are you launching into conversations about white genocide, unprompted?” 🤡

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Molly Quell @mollyquell.bsky.social · May 15

The ICC’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

American staffers at the court have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest.

NGOs have stopped working with the ICC, the leader of one won’t even reply to ICC emails.

Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor have halted tribunal's work

Nearly three months ago, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.

apnews.com

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Randi Mayem Singer @rmayemsinger.bsky.social · May 15

Justice Jackson nails where we are right now:

“Your argument turns our justice system into a catch me if you can kind of regime from the standpoint of the Executive where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights.”

🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯

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