I really enjoyed being a guest on this podcast with Guy Burton and Francesco Bel Castro -- The latest FootPol Podcast featuring Jordan's first World Cup and more:

New episode in our 2026 World Cup Debutants series now out!

Jordan’s historic first qualification. With @curtisryan.bsky.social, we explore football, identity, rivalries and politics shaping the game in that country.

Do listen and like, share and subscribe! www.buzzsprout.com/2253650/epis...

“A whole civilization will die tonight” is the most vile thing a US president has ever said, certainly during the post-1945 era when they’ve had the power to kill civilizations with the dropping of a bomb. I’m staring into the darkness. May this not be one of the most fateful days in human history.

Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran Eid al-Fitr should be a time of joy, but for Jordanians, and for so many others across the region, this year it was accompanied by air raid sirens, missiles, and drone strikes. For the Hashemite Kingd...

Jordan is in an increasingly vulnerable position in the Iran war, but Jordan is also really between two conflicts. I wrote about this here, and on how the allies are a major part of the problem arabcenterdc.org/resource/jor...

POMEPS Studies 58: IR Theory and the Middle East at War - Project on Middle East Political Science In December 2025, POMEPS convened a workshop at Aarhus University in Denmark, bringing together scholars to collectively interrogate these questions: what core concepts, theories, or hypotheses in Mid...

This is the latest in the @pomeps.bsky.social studies series: IR Theory and the Middle East at War - a great lineup of authors here: pomeps.org/pomeps-studi...

President of Wisconsin’s largest mosque detained by US immigration agents Attorneys for Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born US green card holder, say he was targeted for criticizing Israel

He has a green card, but ICE is continuing a pattern of criminalizing criticism of US foreign policy and eviscerating the First Amendment. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

In Its Iran War Debate, Washington Has Lost the Plot in Asia The United States ignores the region’s lived experience—and the tough political and social trade-offs the war has produced—at its peril.

Colin Powell told George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war: "You break it, you own it". Trump's Iran message to allies in Asia and beyond is: "I break it, you own it". Good Evan Feigenbaum on how Trump's war could prove a disaster for US Indo-Pacific ambitions

carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran Eid al-Fitr should be a time of joy, but for Jordanians, and for so many others across the region, this year it was accompanied by air raid sirens, missiles, and drone strikes. For the Hashemite Kingd...

I wrote here on Jordan’s concerning situation as the US and Israeli war with Iran continues to expand - ‘Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran’ arabcenterdc.org/resource/jor...

Israel, the Axis of Resistance, and the End of Deterrence - Project on Middle East Political Science Waleed Hazbun, University of Alabama   Until last summer’s twelve-day war, Israel and Iran had avoided direct warfare despite indirect conflict and covert operations spanning nearly half a century.  T...

Memo on "Israel, the Axis of Resistance, and the End of Deterrence" for the POMEPS Studies 58 (@pomeps.bsky.social) pomeps.org/israel-the-a...

The “Suez moment” I talk about here

abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/ir-theory-an...

POMEPS Studies 58: IR Theory and the Middle East at War - Project on Middle East Political Science In December 2025, POMEPS convened a workshop at Aarhus University in Denmark, bringing together scholars to collectively interrogate these questions: what core concepts, theories, or hypotheses in Mid...

The Project on Middle East Political Science is pleased to announce POMEPS Studies 58: IR Theory and the Middle East at War. Download the full PDF here: pomeps.org/pomeps-studi...

Pakistan hosts diplomatic discussions on ending war Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an attempt to come up with a plan to de-escalate the Iran war, after another group got involved in the expanding conflict: Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an attempt to come up with a plan to de-escalate the Iran war, after another group got involved in the expanding conflict: Yemen's Houthi rebels. n.pr/4bGtmic

Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran Eid al-Fitr should be a time of joy, but for Jordanians, and for so many others across the region, this year it was accompanied by air raid sirens, missiles, and drone strikes. For the Hashemite Kingd...

I wrote here on Jordan’s concerning situation as the US and Israeli war with Iran continues to expand - ‘Jordanian Security and the US-Israel War on Iran’ arabcenterdc.org/resource/jor...

There are legitimate criticisms of be made of protest as a mechanism for change, namely the somewhat paradoxical nature of protest where it can oftentimes actually legitimate the narrative of the state, but 1) protest is still a major conduit for agitation and, 2) reflects already extant frustration

"I think responses [that ask only for the Administration to 'explain itself'] are pathetic. This isn’t a mystery that needs to be solved. This is not the case of the missing casus belli."

“Much more likely is a short to medium-length campaign to degrade the capabilities of the IRGC and the paramilitary Basij force in order to reduce the repressive capacity of the Iranian state... That wouldn’t be as easy in reality as it is on social media.”
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/eternal-suns...

POMEPS Studies 57: Syria After Assad - Project on Middle East Political Science Many developments during the past year have given rise to a host of crucial questions about the future of Syria and the Syrian people. To explore them, the Project on Middle East Political Science (PO...

Thrilled to publish this exceptional collection on Syria a year after Assad

pomeps.org/pomeps-studi...

A great opportunity for Middle East scholars looking to workshop their first book.

Call for Applications: Spring 2026 Virtual Research Workshops - Project on Middle East Political Science The POMEPS Spring Virtual Research Workshop convenes online discussions of groups of three thematically linked journal article-length papers focusing on topics/cases in the MENA region. To provide fee...

Apply now for the Spring 2026 POMEPS Virtual Research Workshops! The deadline to apply is October 15, 2025. For more information on how to apply, visit:
pomeps.org/call-for-app...

Today is the last day to vote in Apsa Mena officer elections. Please vote if you haven’t already. And if you have, thanks for voting!

Section members - Reminder about our elections! Only a few days left to get your vote in. You should have received an email (hint: search for 'Survey Research' in your inbox), or you can find the ballot on @apsa.bsky.social Connect. Get your votes in for your new elected representatives!

#menasky

Dear colleagues in the APSA MENA section: We have one more week of online voting for 3 executive committee positions: chair, treasurer, and at-large member. Pls see the link in your email from APSA and please vote!

Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza.

Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza
FAO, UNICEF, WFP & WHO reiterate call for immediate ceasefire & unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger & malnutrition.

Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war Figures from classified IDF database listed 8,900 named fighters as dead or probably dead in May, as overall death toll reached 53,000

Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

The destruction of #Gaza by Israel continues, with nearly 200.000 structures damaged or destroyed, according to the latest @UNOSAT / @UNHABITAT analysis. With over 60 million tons of rubble, and most of the agricultural land gone, Gaza is made unhabitable

unhabitat.org/sites/defaul...

Episode 6: The MERIP Roundtable, "On Recognition" | The MERIP Podcast Listen to Episode 6: The MERIP Roundtable, "On Recognition" from The MERIP Podcast. The MERIP Roundtable is a new format for the MERIP podcast featuring conversation on urgent issues in the Middle…

NEW PODCAST: The MERIP Roundtable "On Recognition"

@jdryan08.bsky.social is joined by EdCommers @lisahajjar.bsky.social, @seanyom.bsky.social, and Jacob Mundy to discuss genocide recognition by Israeli figures and institutions, and UK/Canada recognition for a Palestinian state.

buff.ly/IZuBpDI

Normalizing Gaza's genocide And other big questions about the direction of Middle Eastern politics. Thank you so much for subscribing to Abu Aardvark's Ghost and the MENA Academy (sounds like a killer indy band, right?). Moving...

Everyone now agrees that Gaza is at least close to genocide, but instead of acting to stop it the US and too many others are normalizing it. My new piece asks what that means for Gaza, Israel, regional order… and IR theory.

abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/normalizing-...

Syria at the Crossroads: Unpacking Sectarianism and the Crisis in Suweida - MERIP Join MERIP and Spectre Journal in the third installment of our Syria at the Crossroads conversation series. This conversation will center on the recent sectarian clashes in Suweida and further […]

TODAY 1PM EST: Syria at the Crossroads: Unpacking Sectarianism and the Crisis in Suweida

w/ Sara Ajlyakin, Sana Mustafa and Yasser Munif

Co-sponsored by MERIP and @journalspectre.bsky.social

The Ghost of Abu Aardvark Middle East Politics and the Academy

The start of a new semester is the perfect time to become a core supporter of Abu Aardvark’s Ghost and the MENA Academy. For the next three weeks I’m offering 25% off annual subscriptions - please consider joining up and helping me to keep the blog going!

abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/new-semester...

‘Can you tell us how he died?’: Mohamed Salah criticises Uefa over tribute to ‘Palestinian Pelé’ Footballer Suleiman al-Obeid was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Gaza last week, according to Palestine Football Association

‘Can you tell us how he died?’: Mohamed Salah criticises UEFA over tribute to ‘Palestinian Pelé’

www.theguardian.com/football/202...