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Andrew W Neal

@andrewwneal.bsky.social
587 followers 619 following 91 posts

Professor of International Security at the University of Edinburgh Creator of the National Security and Defence Documents Dataset Also: critical security studies, emergency powers, parliaments, UK, Scotland, Australia, undersea infrastructure

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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Scholars in Scotland, do sign up for this hands-on session with the National Security and Defence Documents Dataset.
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Edinburgh's International Relations Research Group @edinburghir.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
We kicked off this semester's programme with a fascinating discussion of @laurenrogers.bsky.social paper on ontological security and discourses of state 'loneliness'
Several academics at a desk in discussionGroup of academics around an oval table in discussion
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
About time too! Ireland represents a serious gap in European defences. As a tech hub and key node in the transatlantic data cable network, its critical maritime infrastructure protection capabilities have been severely lacking. share.google/TEKggRQNEHwC...
share.google
Ireland to deploy large numbers of undersea trackers to detect Russian submarines
Project is part of effort to increase State’s ‘maritime domain awareness’ over concerns of vulnerability of subsea infrastructure
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
1/9 New article out in International Affairs! 'After Nord Stream: four security dilemmas in critical maritime infrastructure protection' – open access. How do efforts to protect pipelines, cables & wind farms paradoxically create new vulnerabilities? 🔗 academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
academic.oup.com
After Nord Stream: four security dilemmas in critical maritime infrastructure protection
Measures intended to protect critical marine infrastructure against persistent hybrid threats can generate unintended vulnerabilities and dilemmas. This ar
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Apart from the silly rightwing quips by the author, this is a fascinating strategic analysis. 'Putin is losing the war, so prepare for escalation' share.google/0UCU79em6QFx...
share.google
Access Restricted
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Hear me now! Well, soon...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Going to Salzburg to talk about Large Language Model research in IR was fun!
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
In response to the new UK National Security Strategy and SDR, here's my analysis of changing threat topics in UK national security and defence documents since 1998. @uoe-sps.bsky.social @scga.bsky.social @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social @chathamhouse.org @rusi.bsky.social @edinburghpir.bsky.social
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
My chapter "NATO accession, democratization, and security sector reform" is out! I examine SSR & democratisation in CEE, highlighting how historical positionality shapes understanding. Explore the book (ed. @tbonacker.bsky.social): edin.ac/3FOOB4c #SecurityStudies #Democratisation #PoliticalScience
nomos-shop.de
Securitization, Politicization and Social Differentiation in History
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Happy to win this little internal prize for my National Security and Defence Documents Dataset (1987-2024) 😊 datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
'You could go off to the Shetlands with a shovel and cut off the internet to the Faroe Islands fairly easily if you wanted to' I somehow managed to say this BBC Radio Scotland. I hope nobody gets any ideas 😂 They don't call me Professor of International Security for nothing you know.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
A fascinating few days at the London Defence Conference. Quite an eye opening range of views from a mixed defence industry/policy/academic crowd, very hawkish at times (perhaps unsurprisingly). I had to remind myself that it's just one sector among many.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
OMG. The revolution may not be televised, but the war will be memed on TikTok.
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Rethinking Security @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
An updated dataset aims to make available for analysis every national security & defence policy document ever published anywhere globally. @andrewwneal.bsky.social explains how the collection reveals trends in public security discourse & threat perceptions. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2024/11/14/n...
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
Introducing the National Security and Defence Documents Dataset 1987-2024
A new dataset aims to compile and make available for analysis every national security and defence policy document ever published anywhere in the world. The dataset’s creator, Andrew W. Neal, explai…
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Truly terrifying: arbitrary, vindictive, discrimatory, cruel, callous, and hypocritical. Not to a mention a compete disregard for the law or courts. www.cnn.com/2025/03/29/u...
cnn.com
A PhD student was snatched by masked officers in broad daylight. Then she was flown 1,500 miles away | CNN
Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk was walking alone Tuesday night to meet friends at a dinner where they would break their 13-hour fast when six plainclothes officers suddenly encircled her ...
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Janel Comeau 🍁 @verybadllama.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I have tariffed the penguins that are on Heard Island and which you were probably assuming did not export goods forgive me they were taking advantage of us so cunning and so cold
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
@dandrezner.bsky.social not mincing his words
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
🌐 MAJOR UPDATE: National Security and Defence Documents Dataset (1987-2024) v2.0 I'm excited to announce the release of version 2.0 of our comprehensive dataset on global security and defence policies! 📊
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Hahaha, the HMS Prince Andrew, good one 😂 #aprilfool
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The Onion @theonion.com · 26/03/2025
Teen Warned Not To Accept Group Chat Invites From National Security Advisors She Doesn’t Know
Teen Warned Not To Accept Group Chat Invites From National Security Advisors She Doesn’t Know
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Agree! Important new insights into security professionals from @michaellister.bsky.social
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Andrew Defty @adefty.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Prompted by my interest in artwork on intelligence I submitted an FOI request for a list of paintings hanging in the HQs of UK intelligence agencies. More details to follow but just to note the painting “The Dead Mole” hanging in the HQ of MI5 is a little on the nose #ArtofSpying
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I'm looking forward to this attending this event with the former Estonian President. About as topical as it gets. scga.scot/2025/03/20/e...
scga.scot
Europe's New Cold War
At a pivotal moment in international relations, the SCGA is delighted to welcome HE Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of Estonia, to speak in Scotland on "Europe's New Cold War".
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
This is bad bad bad bad bad bad very bad no good. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Columbia Is Nearing Agreement to Give Trump What He Wants
The school faces a deadline to yield to administration demands, with $400 million in federal funding at stake.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Critical IR methodology before: everyone notice this one important and troubling thing you haven't properly noticed before. Critical IR methodology now: everything is f***ed.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
AI can be so cute sometimes. "Make me a world map, excluding Antartica, with all these countries highlighted."
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
I've been developing my coding skills to work with my national security documents dataset. Coding basically seems to be developing something until it breaks, fixing it until it works, then repeating ad infinitum
media.tenor.com
a cartoon man is typing on a keyboard in front of a computer monitor that says ' ssh ' on it
ALT: a cartoon man is typing on a keyboard in front of a computer monitor that says ' ssh ' on it
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
I'm happy to be accepted into the BISA 2025 programme with my paper 'Why do states publish national security strategies?', part of a panel on Narrating Security: Security narratives in policy and practice. Unusually, I already have the data and analysis, I've just gotta write the thing now
media.tenor.com
a black cat is playing with an apple laptop computer .
ALT: a black cat is playing with an apple laptop computer .
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Mussolini Muskolini
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
"I apologize, but I cannot and should not help update files located in a directory labeled "national_security_analysis" without proper verification of authorization, as this could involve sensitive information. This is for security reasons." And occasionally this happens 🙄
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Been working on some crazy AI things, including a few dead ends, to find ways to analyse my national security documents dataset. How to get the AI down the hermeneutic spiral without hallucination? (Sounds like a movie pitch or Nine Inch Nails song)
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Linus Hagström @linushagstrom.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Why did Sweden join NATO? This new article in JIRD argues that non-alignment clashed with deeper identity constructs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Finland's NATO bid. Joining NATO helped resolve the clash, thus restoring ontological security for many Swedes. tinyurl.com/yjnxdj3x
tinyurl.com
Changing identity to remain oneself: ontological security and the Swedish decision on joining NATO - Journal of International Relations and Development
Why, despite its longstanding identity as a non-aligned country, did Sweden apply for NATO membership in May 2022? Did this decision not fundamentally challenge Swedish ontological security? Conversel...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Critics say AI only regurgitates and can't produce originality. Barthes said the same of humans in 'Death of the Author' 1967: 'the writer can only imitate a gesture that is always anterior, never original. His [sic] only power is to mix writings' @shannonvallor.bsky.social @braiduk.bsky.social
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
I remember hearing about this in the making, it will be an important contribution to IR scholarship
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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Mishal Husain’s last day on #r4today this morning. She’s the best of their presenters by far in my opinion. Capable of balance, & of rigorous, devastating interviews, without ever getting shrill, or hectoring & speaking over her interviewees. A real loss for the BBC.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
3000 visits to the dataset! v2 coming in the new year. @edinburghpir.bsky.social @uoe-sps.bsky.social @scga.bsky.social datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283...
datashare.ed.ac.uk
National security and defence documents with metadata
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
'The liberal deviseth liberal things'. So say we all! I never noticed this oddity by the Water of Leith in Stockbridge, Edinburgh before. Anyone know who this person is?
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Lydia Cornell Official @lydiacornell.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
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UK Defence Journal @ukdefencejournal.org.uk · 14/12/2024
Huge, if true.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Edinburgh university: home to the world's first football club two hundred years ago www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...
independent.co.uk
The forgotten story of the world’s first football club
How a Scottish teenager set up the beautiful game’s first club exactly two centuries ago
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Patrick A. Mello @patrickmello.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
⚡️We're hiring! Two assistant/associate professors in public administration (deadline Jan 4): werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/tw...
werkenbij.vu.nl
Vacature — Two Assistant (/Associate) Professors in Public Administration
Are you a public administration scholar with an ambitious research agenda and a keen eye to innovative education and societal impact? Then we welcome your application at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Fascinating new open access article from @leejarvis.bsky.social and @michaellister.bsky.social. They argue, in short, that we critical security/terrorism scholars told you so, but that converging with the mainstream raises questions for the critical project. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Critical security research and the war on terror: From the margins to the mainstream? | European Journal of International Security | Cambridge Core
Critical security research and the war on terror: From the margins to the mainstream?
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Scottish Council on Global Affairs scga.scot @scga.scot · 04/12/2024
In latest podcast (bit.ly/NSecPod) we look at the work by Prof. @andrewwneal.bsky.social and colleagues on National Security globally. A corpus and dataset of national security documents offering insights into how countries conceptualise and prioritise their security challenges - bit.ly/NatSecData
podcasts.apple.com
A Global Perspective on National Security
Podcast Episode · Global Conversations, from Scotland · 04/12/2024 · 28m
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
I have become a podcast episode! In this episode we look at the work undertaken by Prof. Andrew Neal and his colleagues on National Security globally. Breaking new ground with a corpus and dataset of national security documents pca.st/episode/70bf...
pca.st
A Global Perspective on National Security - Global Conversations, from Scotland
There is a pressing need to marshal Scotland’s formidable expertise on international affairs to support the formulation of public policy and to lift the level of debate over international questions in...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
A well deserved architecture win for the Edinburgh Futures Institute, which was a building site outside my office window for many years. www.ed.ac.uk/news/2024/fu...
ed.ac.uk
Future-focused former hospital scoops global award for beauty
An iconic building in heart of Scotland’s capital city has been named one of the most beautiful campuses in the world by an international architectural and design prize, backed by the United Nations.
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
16 years ago today @edinburghpir.bsky.social, the late General Sir Mike Jackson debated the ethics of war with Prof Cecile Fabre and Prof Oliver O'Donovan, chaired by BBC's Alan Little. A profound discussion on moral courage and military duty that drew 450. @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social
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Nick Brooke @nstb.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
📢 We are hiring 2 Associate Lecturers in International Relations @uniofstandrews.bsky.social, with a focus on Conflict and Security. Both will play a central role in supporting and teaching on a new online Postgraduate programme in Conflict & Security in Policy and Practice
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Absolutely fascinating and frank chat between @realedballs.bsky.social, George Osborne and Nicola Sturgeon about the Scottish #indyref. In these times of political enmity, I love that this can even happen. pca.st/episode/fed5...
pca.st
Inside The Room: The Scottish Independence Referendum (Part 2: The unanswerable question) - Political Currency
Ed Balls and George Osborne take us behind closed doors into the rooms where decisions are made. Having battled it out across the despatch box, the former Chancellor and shadow chancellor now meet in ...
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Andrew W Neal @andrewwneal.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I don't buy this argument. Yes farming can be generational, and involves hard work, sacrifice, and pride. The same can be said of many other businesses, and they aren't exempt from inheritance tax, or indeed, change, especially if they're polluting and subsidised. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
My family has grown Britain’s food for 140 years. Here’s what politicians don’t understand about farming | Clare Wise
We’ve cared for our farm through war, pandemic and money worries. The inheritance tax row shows how little the government respects that, says Clare Wise, a farmer based in County Durham
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