Dr EJ Brearley

My vision for diplomacy and USAID.

Elle est smart. Elle est connectée au réel. Elle est dans la recherche de la vérité. Ça a l'air simple. C'est en réalité ce qui manque le plus à la politique française. Ça fait un an, un an et demi que je côtoie un peu le milieu politique, et notamment la Macronie. Et ce qui me frappe à chaque fois, c'est leur déconnexion totale du réel. Ces gens vivent dans un monde imaginaire. Un monde qu'ils ont construit à partir d'idées auxquelles ils croient, pas à partir de ce qui se passe réellement. Les chiffres, les résultats, les conséquences concrètes de leurs décisions passent après le récit. Toujours. Et ce n'est pas un hasard. C'est le produit direct d'une matrice intellectuelle : celle du wokisme et de la déconstruction. L'idée que la vérité n'existe pas. Que tout est construction sociale. Que tout peut être construit et déconstruit selon le discours qu'on choisit de tenir. Si la vérité n'existe pas, alors le réel n'a plus de droit de veto. Et si le réel n'a plus de droit de veto, vous pouvez mener n'importe quelle politique tant que le récit tient. C'est pour ça que Sarah Knafo m'a autant intéressé. Elle n'est pas tombée dans ce piège. Elle part du réel, pas du récit. Et ce piège va devenir impossible à tenir. Parce que la mécanique est implacable. Quand votre prisme est fondé sur un mensonge, vous prenez des décisions fondées sur un mensonge. Donc vous faites des politiques qui ne marchent pas. Donc vous produisez des systèmes dysfonctionnels. Ce n'est pas une question de bonnes ou de mauvaises intentions. C'est une question de rapport au réel. On peut être brillant, diplômé, bien intentionné, et échouer systématiquement simplement parce qu'on regarde le monde à travers une carte fausse. Et c'est là que j'ai un message pour les jeunes. Il y a énormément de gens intelligents autour de vous. Des gens qui savent raisonner, argumenter, construire une pensée. Mais l'intelligence ne protège pas des pièges. Elle permet souvent juste de mieux les justifier. Je ne compte plus le nombre d'amis à moi qui sont décroissantistes, alors que c'est un non-sens total. Je ne compte plus ceux qui sont marxistes, alors que c'est un non-sens total. Je ne compte plus ceux qui croient encore au socialisme, parce qu'ils veulent être du bon côté, du côté des gentils. Alors que le socialisme n'a produit dans l'histoire que de la misère et des morts. Le point commun de tous ces pièges, c'est qu'ils sont désirables moralement. On n'y adhère pas parce que ça marche. On y adhère parce que ça donne l'impression d'être quelqu'un de bien. Et c'est exactement pour ça qu'ils sont dangereux : ils vous dispensent de vérifier. Or on entre dans une époque où ne pas vérifier va coûter de plus en plus cher. L'IA est en train d'oblitérer la possibilité de croire durablement à des choses fausses. Tout s'accélère. Les conséquences arrivent plus vite. L'information brute est accessible à tous en quelques secondes. Les systèmes fondés sur des illusions s'effondrent en quelques années là où ils tenaient des décennies. Et les individus qui pensent à travers des illusions vont prendre le mur avec eux. Alors redéveloppez votre esprit critique. Sérieusement. Partez du principe que ce qu'on vous a appris à l'école peut être de l'endoctrinement. Pas parce que tout est faux, mais parce que vous ne l'avez jamais vérifié vous-même. Et c'est cet endoctrinement non vérifié qui causera votre peine dans le futur : dans vos choix de carrière, dans vos choix d'investissement, dans les causes que vous défendrez, dans les gens que vous suivrez. Quand on vous dit quelque chose, une seule question compte : est-ce que ça fonctionne, oui ou non ? Regardez les résultats. Regardez l'histoire. Regardez les chiffres. Pas les intentions. Si vous voulez avoir un futur à peu près correct dans le monde qui vient, il n'y a qu'une boussole qui tienne : la recherche de la vérité. Le réel finit toujours par avoir raison. La seule question, c'est de savoir si vous l'aurez compris avant lui.

I am saddened and shocked by Alice Edward's article published today in the @Telegraph and the extent to which it misrepresents my work and that of the special procedures system she was part of until July 2026. telegraph.co.uk/gift/be34cb6… Collectively, we have been unequivocal: Any sexual harassment and violence committed against women and girls on and since 7 October 2023, including hostages in captivity, are grave crimes. Survivors deserve to be heard, and perpetrators must be held accountable. I have said so before, and the full record of my engagement is here:   ohchr.org/en/press-releases/… ; ohchr.org/en/press-releases/… & ohchr.org/sites/default/file… Ms. Edwards claims that I have never condemned the reports of violence, including sexual violence against women and girls on the 7th of October, and that I have hidden behind Israel’s refusal to grant me entry. Both these claims are incorrect. My statement outlining my engagement on and since the 7th October 2023 makes it clear that I have made several démarches to gain access to primary information, survivors,  witnesses, and first responders. As I told the General Assembly on 8 October 2026, the first time a former hostage approached me was in June 2026 at the Human Rights Council. I have since met her and am handling her case under the established procedure open to every victim; where each step is subject to her full and informed consent. Ms. Edwards also leaves out the fact that when she invited me to join her allegation letter relating to the events of 7th of October 2023, I reviewed it in good faith and made written suggestions on 3rd December 2023. In my feedback, I also asked to see the primary information and testimonies Ms. Edwards had received - a normal request between mandate holders. She declined without explanation, which was the first and only time  I have been denied such a request during my mandate. Contrary to me, she did not invite me to any further engagement on Palestine and Israel after that, nor share any information on any related action she may have taken. Statements such as these only serve the wider efforts to discredit rapporteurs, including rapporteurs that criticize Israel for its serious human rights violations. They serve to dismiss every UN finding of Israeli violations of human rights and international law as being biased against the State of Israel. Ms. Edwards should understand this better than most. Since 2024, she herself was publicly accused of bias against Palestinian victims, and even endured calls for her dismissal. Ms. Edwards knows all too well how stressful it is to have your impartiality questioned. Every one of us is doing our best for victims, whoever they are, and wherever they live. The current President of the Human Rights Council was emphatically clear that mandate holders must be able "to carry out their responsibilities free from personal attacks, intimidation or undue pressure." That included Ms. Edwards when she was a rapporteur but is also expected of her today in her current engagement with rapporteurs (since her resignation as a rapporteur).

Mamdani is stone-faced as the protesters call him a traitor and sellout.

The World Bank has more than tripled private capital mobilization. But is it delivering greater development impact? @MVSvenstrup explores how the #G20 could help advance MDB reforms to encourage more catalytic risk-taking. cgdev.org/blog/world-banks-p…

If you hate the West, why live here??

Absolutely brilliant from my friend @afalkhatib And particularly brilliant that he got this into the New York Times as their audience needs to read it most (along with Guardian readers). ‘The people of Gaza clearly did not matter to those claiming to champion Palestinian lives. Two months ago, 44 percent of American Muslims surveyed by Pew Research said they had a favorable view of Hamas, a number I believe understates the true level of support among Arab and Muslim diaspora communities. I cannot enter a mainstream Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian-American space and critique Hamas meaningfully without facing backlash or outright hostility. Hamas is now facing a humiliating defeat. Despite Israeli rejection of the initial phased disarmament framework, Hamas acquiesced to the Board of Peace’s demands. All the devastation was for nothing. Large segments of the pro-Palestine community and Western left bet on a losing horse and embraced a rotten resistance narrative now invalidated by Hamas itself. The last thing Palestinians need is more denial from the left. The Palestinian national project has a rare chance to evolve toward nation-building, peace and coexistence alongside a Jewish Israel that is not about to be exterminated. Chants of “from the river to sea” and the like are destructive conceits. Gaza has no future as long as Hamas holds two million Palestinians hostage to its nihilistic agenda.’ Full piece is 👇🏼

Anthony Fauci made mistakes. But his diary reveals a conscientious public servant trying to save as many lives as he could during the pandemic. His recent summons before a Senate committee was surely intended to humiliate him. It should embarrass America economist.com/united-states/…

Once again, the professor has come up short… His latest screed is an impressive display of economic prestidigitation. He concedes that wages are growing faster for low-income workers and then attempts to bury that dispositive fact beneath nearly 2,000 words. Bank of America data show that spending among lower- and middle-income households has converged toward levels at the top as they lead labor market gains. Professor Reich has a documented history of “inventing dialogue” when the truth doesn’t fit his narrative, a habit that forced him to rewrite his memoir after the media exposed his fabrications. Burger King appears not to be the only one who peddles “Whoppers.” As I do not like “punching down,” this will be the last response to his four-decade pattern of packaging falsehoods as fact.

I am not happy about the Economist’s article, which feels like a hit piece. There is also a background to it, which is more troubling (as I will share at some point). I asked them to allow me to respond. I am waiting for their answer. If not in the magazine, I will share my response here.

The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles. Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system. We will preserve these assets for the Iranian people.

Gary Economics has just ruined its credibility and proven that it clearly knows very little about economics. The absolute tax legend @DanNeidle destroyed Gary in his own documentary. The very documentary just a compilation of Gary being proven wrong time and time again about his "solution" to economic inequality. Let me know if you have watched it. The Dan Neidle debate has gotta be one of the best moments in the show!! #garystevenson @Channel4 @garyseconomics

Starting in early 2025, Elon Musk and the Trump administration began terminating USAID's programs and firing its staff — with Musk himself boasting about "feeding it into the woodchipper." One year ago today, USAID was officially dissolved, its remaining programs haphazardly folded into the State Department. Amid all the lies and misinformation that have followed, some facts about what has actually been lost: • USAID saved more than 3 million lives a year at a cost of less than $10/month per American. That is what was destroyed. On purpose. • According to Boston University's Global Impact Counter — which tracked deaths attributable to the cuts until it stopped operations in February 2026 — an estimated 781,000 people died preventable deaths in the first year, including 518,000 children. • Global child mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) rose in 2025 for the first time in 35+ years — by 200,000 additional deaths. • USAID's 50-country disease surveillance network — the system that cut outbreak response times from 2 weeks to 48 hours — is gone. We are now watching an unprecedented Ebola outbreak unfold in real time — with the highest first-month caseload and death rate in modern history. • Programs reaching 93 million women and children were cut 92%. TB programs cut 56%. Water and sanitation cut 86%. Over 2,000 health facilities permanently closed. • 25 million fewer people received humanitarian assistance in 2025. The overall humanitarian budget was slashed 74% — from $14.1 billion to $3.7 billion. • 363 million people face acute hunger in 2026. The famine early-warning system that would have seen it coming went dark for five months. • $1.7 billion in democracy and governance funding (election monitoring, anti-corruption work, support for independent media and civil society) was terminated. • 360+ independent media outlets lost funding. Hundreds of legal clinics closed. • Far from saving money, the Trump administration itself has already said the dismantlement will cost taxpayers at least $19.2 billion in cancellation fees, severance, and penalties. That's more than half of USAID's annual budget — spent on destruction and closeout, not support for vulnerable people. • American farmers, universities, and businesses are among the casualties too. USAID partnered with more than 3,500 U.S. companies and maintained 17 university-based research labs. Its work with U.S.-based contractors and the private sector generated hundreds of thousands of American jobs and multiplied the return on every dollar spent. Those markets and partnerships are gone.