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Jun 10, 2024: Adam Shatz · Israel’s Descent in the London Review Review of Books: For all their missteps, the students drew attention to matters that seemed to …

Jun 3, 2024: Aid shipments into southern Gaza are being squeezed out by commercial convoys, humanitarian organisations say, at a time when Israel’s military push …

Jun 1, 2024: From Public Domain Review, wonderful collection of pictures from Ottoman-era Palestine.

May 30, 2024: From The UAE’s rising influence in Africa, in the Financial Times. Also in the FT: Bulk of gold smuggled from Africa exported to UAE, says report: In …

May 27, 2024: AI companies freeze out partisan media | Semafor Last week, OpenAI announced a five-year deal to license content from News Corp.’s outlets to …

May 26, 2024: Masters of War, by Thomas Meaney, in Harpers: The Atlanticist is a special species of Western liberal who sees the world order as an American-led, …

Apr 23, 2024: Sam Roberts, writing for NYT: Terry Anderson, Reporter Held Hostage for Six Years, Dies at 76

Feb 20, 2024: Gideon Levy in Haaretz: Now is the time for the United States, and in its wake the international community, to make a decision: Will the endless …

Nov 27, 2023: How China is tearing down Islam This is a remarkable investigation by the FT on how China is tearing down mosques or altering them by removing domes …

Sep 25, 2023: Opinion | Egypt’s Government Is Bulldozing the City of the Dead - The New York Times

Sep 2, 2023: UAE launches Arabic large language model in Gulf push into generative AI | Financial Times

Sep 2, 2023: ‘Bridges with everyone’: how Saudi Arabia and UAE are positioning themselves for power | Financial Times

Sep 2, 2023: Is the Middle East’s Makeover a Mirage? | Foreign Affairs Joost Hiltermann.

Aug 23, 2023: Sharif Hussein and the campaign for a modern Arab empire | Aeon Essays Sharif Hussein and the campaign for a modern Arab empire | Aeon Essays: The importance of Hussein and his Arab Kingdom for today is a forgotten …

Aug 23, 2023: The à la carte world: our new geopolitical order | Financial Times The à la carte world: our new geopolitical order | Financial Times: Welcome to the à la carte world. As the post-cold war age of America as a sole …

Aug 23, 2023: Egypt's Zambian gold scandal Hossam over at 3arabawy (recently reborn as a Substack newsletter - do subscribe) has been providing some coverage of what he calls Goldgate, the …

Jun 10, 2023: Report – Al-Sisi’s Bubble in the Desert: The Political Economy of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital - POMED

Jun 4, 2023: UAE: The Human Rights Situation in the United Arab Emirates Ahead of COP28 - Amnesty International

Jun 4, 2023: Alex de Waal · The Revolution No One Wanted: War in Khartoum · LRB 18 May 2023: Sudan’s​ capital, Khartoum, is being destroyed in a fight to the …

Jun 3, 2023: The New World Disorder (Robert Wright & Thomas Friedman) - Even Tom Friedman describes what is going in Israel/Palestine as “the one state …

Jun 1, 2023: Can the Two-State Solution Be Saved? Debating Israel’s One-State Reality Some of the responses to the Foreign Affairs “One-State Reality” …

May 30, 2023: Finished reading: The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. by Jack London 📚 The concept: a secret society of assassins carries out “socially useful” …

May 14, 2023: Syrians in Turkey facing uncertain future whether Erdoğan stays or goes | Turkey | The Guardian An estimated 4 million Syrians live in Turkey and …

May 11, 2023: Fascinating: How one of Vladimir Putin’s most prized hacking units got pwned by the FBI - Ars Technica

May 3, 2023: Marcos Makes Mark on Foreign Policy in Push for Closer U.S.-Philippines Ties - The New York Times If he makes a mean gumbo, can he be all bad? This …

Apr 16, 2023: A number of international news websites blocked in Egypt after reporting the capture of Egyptian troops in the current fighting between military and …

Apr 16, 2023:

Apr 15, 2023: The Quest to Save the Dying Cypriot Arabic Language - New Lines Magazine

Apr 13, 2023: Leaker of U.S. secret documents worked on military base, friend says - The Washington Post: “The man behind a massive leak of U.S. government secrets …

Apr 13, 2023: As a watch geek, this article irked me. The writer clearly does not know watch terminology: terms like “sports watch” mean something …

Apr 13, 2023: New website for Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s venture arm reveals ties to more than 50 VC and PE firms including Blackstone, KKR, Andreessen Horowitz, …

Apr 13, 2023: Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza’s final statement to the court handling his sham trial is remarkable: “But I also know that the day …

Apr 12, 2023: Fascinating piece on an attack on musicians who play Nazi favorites Strauss and Wagner in Israel: Jascha Heifetz in the Case of the Violinist and the …

Apr 11, 2023: This is a great resource on who owns Lebanon’s banks (and profits from the protection they currently enjoy): ‘They’ Have Names: …

Apr 11, 2023: Economic Predation in Egypt’s Prisons - TIMEP “When outside visits were temporarily suspended during the pandemic… guards complained to …

Apr 11, 2023: “Whatever the outcome of these protests, a state that considers equality an existential threat can never be a democracy. The reason Palestinians …

Apr 11, 2023: How the record Boeing deal was caught between Washington and Riyadh | Semafor: Riyadh paused deal after US backlash on OPEC+ move in October 2022, …

Apr 11, 2023: Science is broken | Semafor: “An astonishing number of scientific studies, especially in medicine and the social sciences, are wrong. …

Apr 11, 2023: Via Semafor’s Flagship

Apr 10, 2023: Truffle Hunting in Syria, Once a Beloved Pastime, Is Now a Danger - The New York Times: “At least 84 people have been killed so far this year …

Apr 10, 2023: Syria’s state capture: the rising influence of Mrs Assad | Financial Times: “Her name, in particular, has become shorthand for an era of …

Apr 10, 2023: I highly recommend this Classic Lemon Meringue Pie.

Apr 10, 2023: Khalil Gibran on youth. “In his youth, he felt doomed to insignificance, dwarfed by a universe that seemed immense and remote. But as he matured, he …

Apr 9, 2023: Q&A: Noam Chomsky on Palestine, Israel and the state of the world | Al Jazeera “If you want to talk about long-term outcomes, you can’t just …

Apr 9, 2023: Tunisia’s Kais Saied Balks at IMF Bailout - New Lines Magazine The consequences of a default would be catastrophic. The country’s 2023 budget, which …

Apr 6, 2023: Tunisia: Chaima Issa, the first female political prisoner under Kais Saied’s regime Monia Ben Hamadi, reporting for Le Monde, on political …

Apr 6, 2023: The Markaz Review, Sophia Al-Maria: The Gaze of the Sci-fi Wahabi Built on the retreating sands of reality and increasingly submerged in the unreal, …

Apr 6, 2023: An Expensive Bribe for a Syrian ID - New Lines Magazine From an anonymous essay on a devastated Syria: I hadn’t been to Syria in years, and what I …

Apr 4, 2023: How Sanctions Hurt Iran’s Protesters | Foreign Affairs Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, writing in Foreign Affairs: Given that economic restrictions will …

Apr 4, 2023: Jean-Marie Guéhenno : « Une vision pessimiste du changement ne devrait pas être l’inspiration de notre diplomatie » - Le Monde My former boss …

Apr 2, 2023: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Faces an Existential Crisis - New Lines Magazine Abdelrahman Ayyash, who has just published a new book on the Egyptian …

Apr 2, 2023: Autumn of the Patriarch: How to help Tunisians defend their democracy – European Council on Foreign Relations Tarek Megeresi, in a policy brief for …

Apr 2, 2023: Perpetual Protest and the Failure of the post-2003 Iraqi State - MERIP From the conclusion of this fine piece by Fanar Haddad: The prospect of …

Apr 2, 2023: Red Alert: Who will protect the Palestinians? David Kretzmer and Limor Yehuda, writing in Just Security, on the Huwara “pogrom”.

Apr 2, 2023: Israel’s Cabinet Okays Advancing National Guard Under Far-right Ben-Gvir Despite Shin Bet, Police Chief and AG Warnings - Haaretz.com It seems …

Apr 2, 2023: Who Cares if Palestinians Are Dead or Alive? – Haaretz.com Gideon Levy: A family is informed that their son has fallen in battle. Another family, …

Apr 2, 2023: Is China forging an alternative Middle Eastern order? Marc Lynch reviews Dawn Murphy’s China’s Rise in the Global South.

Mar 30, 2023: The end of the Moroccan “model”: How Islamists lost despite winning Shadi Hamid, writing for Brookings: Today, the PJD, despite its success or …

Mar 30, 2023: The Death of Syria’s Mystery Woman - New Lines Magazine Fascinating story on a quietist and quietly influential religious movement in Syria, by Laila …

Mar 28, 2023: Support Civil Society in Tunisia | Newsweek Former US Ambassador to Tunisia Gordon Gray.

Mar 27, 2023: Daylight saving controversy leaves Lebanon with two time zones Ridiculous although the story is overblown: the Maronite Church may refuse to to delay …

Mar 27, 2023: Israel Boils as Netanyahu Ousts Minister Who Bucked Court Overhaul Mr. Gallant’s dismissal unleashed chaotic late-night demonstrations in and around …

Mar 25, 2023: US will send old tank-busting planes to Middle East, advanced jets to Asia and Europe: Report | Middle East Eye This makes it sound like a …

Mar 25, 2023: www.middleeasteye.net Leading Moroccan activists and intellectuals call on government to suspend ties with Israel.

Mar 25, 2023: newlinesmag.com This article traces the origins of hummus to 13th century Syria, which is plausible, but muddles the picture by claiming the best …

Mar 22, 2023: Yezid Sayigh: To Receive an IMF Loan, Egypt Pledges to End the Unique Status of Its Military Companies - Carnegie Middle East Center - Carnegie …

Mar 22, 2023: Seraj Assi and Zachary Foster writing in Ha’aretz: Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich delivered a speech in Paris this week denying the …