Brieg Powel
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briegp.bsky.social
Brieg Powel
@briegp.bsky.social
Personal account. World politics, theory, global history, conflict, football coach (UEFA C), Exeter Uni academic, Stoke Hill AFC, Swansea Jack 🦢🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Pinned
Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...
Historicizing the Global
AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie
doi.org
Reposted by Brieg Powel
South Park: 🎶 Peter Thiel knows about the Antichrist 😂
October 16, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.

We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
Wow. Just wow.

"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Here is Nathan Gill in 2014 blaming the EU for Russia advancing on Ukraine

Nathan Gill pled guilty to accepting bribes from Russia to promote a pro Russia anti EU position

He started in UKIP, joined the Brexit Party, then Reform UK

Here's what he said at the European Parliament
September 30, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Any journalist or commentator who writes a wrap-up of this speech that suggests that any of it was normal, worthy of respect, not absolutely deranged, not an insult to the audience, not an embarrassment for the US, should be relieved of their jobs.
September 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Er...buses? Trams? Metros? Come on @economist.com , you're better than this
Will the absence of robotaxis in Europe mark the moment its citizens notice how far their continent has fallen behind?
Robotaxis will be the Sputnik Moment for a declining Europe
A slow-motion car crash on Europe’s roads
econ.st
September 5, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Nick Gibb was awarded a BA in Law in 1981 & trained as an accountant. Hence, he's enormously well qualified to comment on the quality of education research. No irony at all in his criticism of the sector as 'out-of-touch, ideological and lacking rigour'.
September 5, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Reform and X are not Britain, as John Curtice shows, though this loud minority voice thinks it is

Migration bad for economy?
32% of public - but 73% of Reform

Bad for our culture?
31% of public - 81% of Reform

Rights for ethnic minorities have gone too far?
18% of public - but 49% of Reform
September 5, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
'Just 40,900 students entered to take history, compared with 41,900 taking economics and 43,000 for physics. Maths remains the most popular A-level with 105,000 entries this year, up by more than 4% compared with 2024.'

Both 'Just' and 'career-related' doing heavy lifting here. 1/2
A-level results in England expected to return to near pre-pandemic levels
Career-focused subjects such as business studies and economics to surpass traditional academic disciplines like history in popularity
www.theguardian.com
August 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
July 21, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Just when you think the destruction in #Gaza can't get any worse. Good BBC investigation into deliberate demolition of entries Palestinian towns. Reveals that emolitions have significantly accelerated in the last 3-4 months in what are suspected "war crimes"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...
Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions - BBC News
Investigation by BBC Verify using satellite images and verified footage to show the extent of destruction in Gaza, where the Israeli military have carried out demolitions to raze entire towns and subu...
www.bbc.co.uk
July 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
The Dinah report is now published, on the widespread use of sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7th attack, consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and likely a deliberate coordinated strategy.

news.sky.com/story/widesp...
July 12, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Record air bombardment of #Ukraine by #Russia last night. Straight after #Trump agreed to restart supplies to Ukraine & questioned #Putin 's sincerity
Last night Russia bombarded Ukraine

741 areal targets including a RECORD 728❗️drones @ 13⚠️ missiles

Reports included a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile - which reaches its target in mere minutes.

A friend “it was loud but I tried to sleep” - she means in a basement on a cold floor

Others weren’t so lucky
July 9, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
1/ A remarkable essay by two eminent Israeli scholars

"We wrote this essay to give [former IDF chief of staff's] words legal backing... We felt compelled to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s ... order."
Moving the Population in Gaza is a Manifest War Crime
We wrote this essay to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s order.
www.justsecurity.org
July 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
This from the @nytimes.com on #Israel's bombing of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. They targeted the visitor centre & the wing holding transgender prisoners. Around 100 transgender prisoners remain missing, presumed killed whilst 79 others from across the prison already confirmed killed
July 7, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Really insightful piece this, highly recommended
Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...
Historicizing the Global
AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie
doi.org
July 4, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
The Dutch and German secret services say there is strong evidence that Moscow is using the choking agent chloropicrin.
Russia expanding chemical weapons use in Ukraine, say European spy agencies
The Dutch and German secret services say there is strong evidence that Moscow is using the choking agent chloropicrin.
bit.ly
July 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Somewhat reassured that the man who I thought was a spitting image of George Monbiot I saw crossing the road in front of me, stuck at a traffic light by the Exeter university campus, was in fact, George Monbiot.

BTW, interesting 🧵 from the man himself here 👇
1. At the Tipping Points conference in Exeter yesterday, I spoke about the likelihood of food system collapse: a massive existential threat few people's radar. If you want a handle on the issue, here's the submission I made to a parliamentary committee.
+ 🧵
www.monbiot.com/2023/03/09/t...
The Hunger Gap
A gulf in public understanding prevents us from seeing how and why our food supply is at risk.
www.monbiot.com
July 4, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Marwan Al Sultan, cardiologist a
& Director of the Indonesian hospital in #Gaza is *70th* health worker killed in last 50 days in the territory
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Shock and grief’ as senior doctor killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza
Marwan al-Sultan, a renowned cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital, is the 70th healthcare worker to be killed by Israeli attacks in the past 50 days, says Palestinian medical organisat...
www.theguardian.com
July 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Here's the text of the open letter protesting against the BBC's coverage of #Gaza. Robbie Gibb comes under particular scrutiny
www.scribd.com/document/883...
BBC Open Letter | PDF | Bbc | Gaza Strip
An Open Letter to BBC Management, Written by BBC Journalists and Signed by Media Industry Professionals
www.scribd.com
July 2, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...
Historicizing the Global
AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie
doi.org
July 1, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...
Historicizing the Global
AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie
doi.org
July 1, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Terrific new handbook on International Political Sociology, a what's what and who's who in the field:

"The Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology"
eds. Stacie E. Goddard, George Lawson, and Ole Jacob Sending

global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
April 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Brieg Powel
Book Launch: Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology

Interested in all things IPS? Join us for our online book launch featuring Co-Editor Ole Jacob Sending and Discussant Ingvild Bode on June 16 at 2 pm (CEST).

Details for the @dvpw.bsky.social event: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...
June 10, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Not sure this profile quiz was designed for my diet...

www.idrlabs.com/food-choice/...
June 30, 2025 at 6:08 AM