Journalist, fellow at Century International @tcfdotorg.bsky.social, editor of @Hidden-Cities.com Previously: Founding executive editor, Democracy in Exile @dawnmenaorg.bsky.social; managing editor @wpr.bsky.social; staff editor @foreignaffairs.com
“The U.S. is now rethinking the scope of its footprint in the emirate, said U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations, even as Kuwaiti officials have said they still need a firm commitment of American support.” There’s going to be a lot more of this coming. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
The U.S. Liberated Kuwait but Now Struggles to Protect It From IranWashington is rethinking the wisdom of its large military footprint in the Persian Gulf emirate.www.wsj.com
News outlets that covered the US-Saudi nuclear deal without mentioning that Jared Kushner, Trump’s top foreign policy advisor, is getting paid by the Saudi government: WSJ NYT AP Reuters CNN NBC ABC CBS The Guardian Semafor Washington Post Fox News New York Post BBC Newsweek MS NOW
A nuclear deal for the Saudis. A media blackout for Kushner’s corruption.On Wednesday, the Trump administration signed a 30-year nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that paves the way for the kingdom to enrich its own uranium.popular.info
My longtime friend and comrade Ashraf Omar still languishes in jail
CPJ, partners demand release of Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar on arrest anniversary - Committee to Protect JournalistsThe Committee to Protect Journalists joined partner organizations on Wednesday to mark Ashraf Omar’s second arrest anniversary by calling for his immediate release. In the letter, the signatories voic...cpj.org
extremely funny to me that analysts whose entire job is to think about these possibilities are only now catching up to Bluesky Consensus
Carl QuintanillaRAPIDAN: We “no longer assume a near-term return to freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, we expect ongoing military risks to constrain vessel transits .. well into next year ..” 👀
Crude Oil has 43 days of supply left in the U.S. — the lowest inventory in 45 years @barchart.com ⛽️
The logical endpoint of the American conservative political impulse: pissy HOA behaviors + death squads of otherwise unemployable gun chuds. It's all been leading up to this baby.
Jen BenderyNEW: Trump is now threatening to punish Canada for wildfire smoke blowing into the U.S., as a GOP senator intros a bill to sanction Canadian officials “responsible” for the fires driven by climate change. “Insane," says one leading Canadian enviro group. www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie...
Iran’s heightened tolerance for risk is one way of understanding its chokehold on Hormuz. A battered regime believes it has nothing to lose and everything to gain by controlling the strait, as Ben Soodavar writes here in @hidden-cities.com www.hidden-cities.com/p/iran-wont-...
Iran Won't Give Up Its Leverage Over HormuzThreats to close the Strait of Hormuz were a decades-long Iranian bluff. Trump's war changed all that.www.hidden-cities.comFrederick Deknatel“The nuclear issue can be negotiated. Hormuz cannot,” one regime insider said. “The only regret now is that we should have closed the strait years ago, when the US first imposed sanctions.” www.ft.com/content/ecf0...
"There will be no return to the situation before the war, said @suzannemaloney.bsky.social of Brookings. As in Iraq, American assumptions and misperceptions changed the balance of power in the region, she said, and now the days of the Strait of Hormuz fully free for transit are probably over."
In Iran war, Trump Risks Another American ‘Forever War’President Trump, who promised to “end wars,” not start them, may have fallen into a familiar presidential trap.www.nytimes.com
“Here again, that contradiction arises between the needs of the people to heal and rebuild and the needs of those in power to consolidate power.” @qunfuz.bsky.social in @hidden-cities.com on Syria’s reconstruction under Ahmed al-Sharaa: www.hidden-cities.com/p/returning-...
Returning to Syria's Sea of RubbleThe ruins stretched for mile after mile. We drove on over dust to what had once been the suburbs of Damascus.www.hidden-cities.com
Belgium players mocking the US and Trump's meddling in the World Cup by doing the Trump dance after scoring the 4th goal against the USMNT
“On one floor of one of the hollowed-out, monochrome, skeleton buildings, someone had fitted new windows. In others, families had claimed a space and a few meters of privacy by pinning a sheet across a blown-out wall. People are returning. More every day.” @qunfuz.bsky.social @saqibooks.bsky.social
Returning to Syria's Sea of RubbleThe ruins stretched for mile after mile. We drove on over dust to what had once been the suburbs of Damascus.www.hidden-cities.comNew in @hidden-cities.com: @qunfuz.bsky.social on returning to a Syria in ruins and what the rubble reveals — from his new book just published by @saqibooks.bsky.social “Someone had painted on an intact bit of wall the words Eid bil-eid n’amara min jadeed, or Hand in Hand We’ll Build It Anew.”
“The U.S. evacuated most personnel but has kept a small staff on the ground.” A reminder that personnel around the region were moved to hotels (civilian sites), while US military aircraft were staged from Ben Gurion Airport (a civilian airport) near Tel Aviv (with civilians + military/intel bases).
Frederick Deknatel“The extensive damage done to America’s sole naval base in the Middle East—along with hits to at least 20 U.S. sites across the region, including military installations and diplomatic facilities—has the U.S. re-evaluating its entire footprint in the region, according to U.S. officials.”
“The image of a well-heeled island of stability is hard to reconcile with air raid sirens and sudden explosions of Iranian missiles and drones,” @freddydeknatel.bsky.social writes in a new analysis for WPR.
The Iran War Has Shattered the Gulf’s Image as a Regional ‘Oasis’The Gulf’s “gilded age” has been brought to a screeching halt by the Iran war. And the region's narrative of stability is at risk.www.worldpoliticsreview.com
“I will be one of the Jewish members of Congress most willing to stand up for Palestinian human rights. And I will stand firmly against bigotry aimed at Jews. Those are not two different jobs. They are the same job,” Brad Lander said.
RESULT: Darializa Avila Chevalier, a challenger backed by New York's left, has ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat. An earthquake result, which means all 3 congressional candidates backed by Mamdani have won: Chevalier, Brad Lander, and Claire Valdez.
Incredible research from @peterjsalisbury.bsky.social and team shows how Iran diffuses to its network the knowledge to manufacture and adapt. It's not just about drones; it's about navigating a networked world. "Beyond the Axis" changed how I understand the Iran war and read the future.
Peter SalisburyHow were Iran and its Axis of Resistance able to weather the conflicts of recent years, and even score a strategic victory? With support from @XCEPT_Research we've been studying exactly this question @TCFdotorg You can read our findings here: t.co/e4jgMwMeS2
How were Iran and its Axis of Resistance able to weather the conflicts of recent years, and even score a strategic victory? With support from @XCEPT_Research we've been studying exactly this question @TCFdotorg You can read our findings here: t.co/e4jgMwMeS2
https://tcf.org/content/report/beyond-the-axis/t.co