I spent last weekend at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Washington DC – the first in-person meeting of MESA in several years, and a much needed one for an embattled academic community. MESA has been absolutely exceptional over the last several years in rising to the
Plus Syria, Title VI investigations, and a full roundup from the MENA Academy The war in Sudan is decidely not a nihilistic "war about nothing", argues Khaled Mustafa Medani in a tour de force article in the Fall 2025 issue of the APSA's section journal MENA
Crazy things happen in world politics all the time, yes, but there really aren't many scenes as surreal as Ahmed Sharaa – not so long ago a leading jihadist insurgent in Iraq and Syria and now Syria's president – triumphantly visiting the White House. But unlike a lot
My new article for Foreign Affairs (no paywall) argues that Israel's belief that its unchecked air campaign bombing Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran with impunity can be the path to regional hegemony is a dangerous fantasy. Hegemony requires more than just military dominance – and even the military dominance
Plus a full roundup from the MENA Academy and a new publication on gender and sexuality in Africa It's time for our regular roundup of research and articles from the MENA Academy and it's a really rich crop! But first, I'm delighted to share
It is difficult to share Trump’s optimism that the cease-fire has unlocked a broader transformation of the Middle East—or even that it will survive contact with reality on the ground in Gaza. I have a new article out in Foreign Policy (the first I've published there
Plus the latest from the MENA Academy Last week, the Trump White House announced a somewhat odd 20 point peace plan for Gaza; the language was so casual and the key points so vague that I at first assumed that it was just a public summary of the real document,
Middle East Politics and the Academy
Plus another roundup from the MENA academy! For most of the first two years of Israel's devastating war on Gaza it avoided paying serious costs despite the mounting expert consensus that its campaign involved at the least major war crimes and potentially amounted to genocide. The historic rulings
Plus, major new surveys of Syrian public opinion and German academics. Britain, France, Canada and Portugal have now officially recognized the State of Palestine, in one of the first really major political consequences of Israel's horrific war on Gaza. At one level, this is a major symbolic moment,
The crackdown on Gaza protests paved the way to today’s full on assault on free speech. Abu Aardvark's MENA Academy depends on support from readers – become a core supporter today Join the MENA Academy The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian
Early in my academic career I spent a lot of time in Jordan. I still remember the shock across the country and King Hussein’s palpable rage when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized an assassination attempt on Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Amman. This was only a few years after
The fall semester is now well underway, which has been exhilerating in some ways and exhausting in others. There's a lot going on in the Trump administration's ongoing war on higher education and a lot going on in the Middle East. For now, though, I want
Basically, it sucks. Last week, Tuft's Dan Drezner and my GW colleague Dave Karpf published really good pieces on what it's like to be, respectively, a dean of international affairs and a professor of political communications in the fall of 2025. Karpf observes that "Most
A little book review essay on a critical subject to launch the new semester. Thank you so much for subscribing to Abu Aardvark's Ghost and the MENA Academy (sounds like a killer indy band, right?). Moving from Substack to Ghost raised the costs of maintaining the blog considerably
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 from Substack to Ghost raised the costs of maintaining the blog considerably – Ghost's
Stephane Lacroix's spectacular new book on Islamism in Egypt, plus (perhaps) the last MENA Academy scholarship roundup of the summer The end of the summer is fast arriving, I'm afraid. Last week, I offered up some grim forecasts for the coming semester along with a long
Maybe I can help. The first of August is the traditional breaking point for academics to suddenly realize that despite the scorching temperatures the summer is rapidly coming to an end. The coming semester is going to be deeply challenging for all of us, and especially for those of us
A fascinating new collection of essays building on our recent book has never been more timely Note: I've been sick the last few days and have fallen behind on posting. I'll be making up for that, I'm afraid. Keep an eye out very soon
An important new book offers surprising answers. That, plus a call for papers on Syria and this week's roundup of new journal articles! As promised, we're back this week with a full MENA Academy roundup – including not only journal articles but also a return to our