Opinion | Reckoning With Israel’s ‘One-State Reality’

Reckoning with Israel’s One State Reality— @stelhami.bsky.social and I joined @ezraklein.bsky.social podcast. It was good.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/o...

⁩“Energy is at the heart of it" w/ Laleh Khalili YouTube video by Makdisi Street

youtu.be/2maPDsQ0quo

“Lebanese know.. the final hours of a cease-fire with Israel are usually the fiercest. But the Israeli escalation in Lebanon — with 100 targets hit in ten minutes, it was the heaviest bombardment since Israel began striking the country over a month ago — came after the declaration of a cease-fire.”

IR Theory and the Middle East at War The last two and a half years have challenged some of the most enduring assumptions about Middle Eastern order in the field of International Relations of the Middle East. The US-Israeli attack on Iran...

Check out this monster compendium of questions for IR theory after the last 2 1/2 years in the Middle East. New one by me and @mortenvalbjorn.bsky.social introducing a fantastic new issue of POMEPS Studies

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

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...

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...

Iraq: A Letter of Resignation | Brady Kiesling The following is the text of John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Mr. Kiesling is a career diplomat who has

From 2003… “The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests.. Our current course will bring instability and danger, not security…” www.nybooks.com/articles/200...

Sovereignty Without Defense: The Army, the State, and Hezbollah’s Weapons As the resistance defends Lebanese territory, some insist it must be disarmed. Ziad Abu-Rish on measuring sovereignty against Hezbollah’s force — why it’s flawed, or propaganda.

thepublicsource.org/lebanese-arm...

It enrages me that the Iran fiasco had basically relegated Israel’s absolutely horrific assault on Lebanon to a sideshow which barely gets noticed. That alone should be a crisis that grips the urgent attention of the entire world and nobody even notices.

The Regional War Lebanon Hoped to Avoid: Unpacking the Escalation YouTube video by The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

www.youtube.com/live/d-3eErf...

This is why in the 21st century you have to think of “the Gulf” in terms of stocks as well as flows

Is Iran gaining the upper hand against the US and Israel? Officially, U.S. President Donald Trump’s optimism remains unshaken. Tehran is near defeat, he said once again on Wednesday, two days after hinting that the war — which, in his view, was...

Is Iran gaining the upper hand against the US and Israel? today.lorientlejour.com/article/1498...

This week will be hosting a talk by Marc Lynch (George Washington University) about his recent book “America’s Middle East: The Ruination of A Region" Thursday, March 12, 2026 3:30pm to 5:00pm CDT in Ten Hoor Hall , 117 at the University of Alabama.

Washington calls for Rodolph Haykal's dismissal, Beirut refuses What L'Orient-Le Jour learnedThe U.S. suspended its coordination with the Lebanese Army to pressure for Army Commander Rodolph Haykal's dismissal, several diplomatic sources told L'Orient-Le...

This is a very irresponsible policy. today.lorientlejour.com/article/1498...

This week will be hosting a talk by Marc Lynch (George Washington University) about his recent book “America’s Middle East: The Ruination of A Region" Thursday, March 12, 2026 3:30pm to 5:00pm CDT in Ten Hoor Hall , 117 at the University of Alabama.

Really looking forward to this conference on Andor and the Politics of Star Wars at the U. of Alabama next month. Public screening of episodes, and presentations by really impressive scholars. And also me. Registration is at the link.

Thanks, @whazbun.bsky.social !

sites.ua.edu/whazbun/ando...

Rethinking US Policy Toward Iran: A Forum - MERIP The Trump administration’s aggressive stance toward Iran defines much of US policy toward the Middle East. Any effort to imagine new paths for US policy in the region will need to reformulate US-Iran ...

Paths not taken… a forum I organized during the first Trump administration www.merip.org/2020/06/reth...

costsofwar.watson.brown.edu

Air strikes on Beirut airport: From the archives In light of Israel's threats on Feb. 24 to target Beirut airport if Hezbollah intervenes in a potential Iran-U.S. war, we invite you to revisit this article, originally published on June 25,2024....

today.lorientlejour.com/article/1418...

“Andor and the Politics of Star Wars: An interdisciplinary conference,”April 23-24 2026, at the University of Alabama. sites.ua.edu/whazbun/ando...

Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural…

PITCH US: MERIP's editors are inviting open pitches for our Summer 2026 issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa!

Read more and pitch at the link below.

But the biggest and most influential source of my thinking on this is Jonathan Schell's under recognized masterpiece: Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People.

Iran Toppled the Shah in 1979. Why This Time Isn’t Quite Like That "The conditions in Iran today are not comparable to those that precipitated the downfall of the Shah and the triumph of the revolution of 1979," writes Narges Bajoghli

Excellent analysis by Narges Bajoghli:
time.com/7345623/iran...

From Jerusalem to Cairo and Beirut w/ Jean Said Makdisi YouTube video by Makdisi Street

youtu.be/g_tIA3F2nJM

Outcast in the third wave

@eriktheguide.bsky.social

“Bauhaus” dark roast coffee from High Wire (Oakland, CA)

A Christmas message from the Mayor of Bethlehem in Palestine, the birthplace of Jesus Christ:

Anna Boghiguian – The Sunken Boat The Sunken Boat marks Anna Boghiguian’s (b. 1946) first solo exhibition in the Nordic region. The exhibition explores global maritime history, rising sea levels, and the climate crisis through immersi...

www.aros.dk/en/art/curre...