Capt (Ret'd) Cheng Xu, PhD

Thank you kindly for sharing Johnny!

Opinion: I study political violence and mass atrocities. What’s happening in the United States is a warning Once the public stops seeing a person, the state can do almost anything

My reflections in @theglobeandmail.com on Minneapolis as a Canadian living in the U.S., a veteran, and a researcher of political violence:

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

DM me for the piece if you'd like to read it.

They're reinventing LinkedIn from first principles.

Killing like a state: explaining the edge cases of rebel perpetration of wartime genocidal violence Genocide scholarship overwhelmingly identifies states as the primary perpetrators of genocidal violence. While non-state armed groups, particularly pro-government militias, have been implicated in ...

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New in Small Wars & Insurgencies: “Killing Like a State: Explaining Rebel-Perpetration of Wartime Genocidal Violence.”

Using ISIS as a case study, I show how rebels can behave like states, and when four high-threshold conditions align, genocide can follow.

Link to article in comments

Much appreciated Ariel!

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Proud to share our APMJ paper on digital nomads in #SoutheastAsia, spearheaded by my coauthor Mariana (lead author + fieldwork!). Findings: privilege & remote work, the “hybrid home,” and the paradox of feeling at home while uprooted. Link: journals.sagepub.com/eprint/TZM56... #MigrationStudies

Omg Klarna is recruiting a civil war and genocide scholar? What are they planning over there?

Autonomy, interrupted: constitutional weakening of indigenous activism from civil war to civil society This study examines why democratization efforts in the Global South often fail to deliver meaningful self-determination for indigenous peoples. Focusi…

Just published in World Development! 🎉
This piece explores how peace agreements and democratization can actually undermine Indigenous self-determination, using the Cordillera region of the Philippines as a case study.
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Manila’s hidden hand in Bangsamoro politics As BARMM prepares for historic 2025 elections, Manila's political calculations continue to trump promises of meaningful autonomy for Muslim Mindanao.

As delays and shakeups loom over the BARMM elections, we can be sure that if the elections take place in October, Malacañang may be casting the deciding vote. Read my latest analysis in @eastasiaforum.bsky.social with thanks to @duriandiaries.bsky.social

eastasiaforum.org/2025/05/09/m...

Speaking Truth to Power Podcast Episode · The JCR: A Massey Podcast · 11/10/2023 · 31m

In light of the recent arrest of Rodrigo Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity, I want to reshare this conversation I had with award winning author Patricia Evangelista after the release of her book Some People Need Killing, on who is Rodrigo Duterte.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 finally answers my burning question of what happens if Sonic was John Wick.

Normal conversation starter with colleagues in a political science department: “so I was thinking about Mobutu Seso Seko today.”

Fellow scholars of Southeast Asian politics can tell you that absolutely nothing can ever go wrong with a sovereign wealth fund.

House OKs bill resetting first BARMM polls on final reading A bill that seeks to reset the first BARMM elections to May 2026 has been approved by the House of Representatives on the third and final reading.

Bangsamoro elections moved to May 2026, extending the transition period for the peace process. President BBM to appoint a new transitional government in the autonomous region.

@cnn.com: “there’s a credibility crisis in the media! We need to do something”

Also @cnn.com:

I honest don’t know how they come up with this but it’s brilliant

Sound on for optimal enjoyment

Sound on for optimal enjoyment

ASEAN is so chill people are questioning if it's fit for purpose

Average French colonial experience

Environmentalists hate this one simple trick!

Imagine wanting to decolonize

What would Jesus do?

Deep cut into Philippine politics rn

The Secret War should not be kept so secret

Just because one family dominates every branch of government for multiple generations doesn't make it nepotism!

What's more chill than what's going on in the South China Sea rn?

Cringe Magellan vs Based Lapu Lapu

US foreign policy wya