@arabist.net
I write about politics, geopolitics, technology and culture, with particular focus on MENA. Recovering journalist and OG blogger at arabist.net; formerly at @open-society.bsky.social and @crisisgroup.org. Usual caveats apply.
If your congressperson votes any additional funding for this, don’t vote for them in the midterms. Let the Pentagon reallocate from its already wildly inflated and misspent budget.
In Lebanon, Israel seems to be following the same logic it deployed in Gaza: emptying out entire areas through what amounts to ethnic cleansing.
@joelleabirached.bsky.social writes from Beirut as bombs rain down once again:
This administration makes a lot of head-scratching decisions, but the non-decision to replenish the strategic oil reserve while prices were in the low $60s is one of the head-scratchingest when you think about who is in leadership positions on energy.
The sheer strategic stupidity of bailing Russia out of its economic hole by launching a war that entirely foreseeably spikes the oil price - and then having no minesweepers in place to deal with the foreseeable fallout. Rank incompetence.
Less than a quarter of Americans support the US-Israeli war in Iran, but legacy Jewish establishment groups like the ADL, AIPAC, and the Jewish Federations are throwing their weight behind this unpopular war, and they’re falsely claiming to speak in the name of all American Jews while doing so.
Pope Leo XIV’s Vatican newspaper is the only publication in the Western world to run the photograph of 150 Iranian girls' graves — killed in President Trump's military strikes — on its front page.
And that’s some pretty tough competition.
Iran names Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, as new supreme leader, state media report reut.rs/4s0C4NZ
This whole story is so horrifying at so many levels. It should be a seismic scandal but it will probably barely make a ripple.
Walid Khalidi, an exceptional Palestinian scholar and one of the most important memory-holders of Palestine has passed away.
All the polls on the U.S. war in Iran so far
G. Elliott Morris, writing on polls on US sentiment towards the Iran war in Strength in Numbers:
"The big takeaway from these numbers is that the new war in Iran is very unpopular. Not merely n... https://arabist.net/2026/03/06/all-the-polls-on-the.html
Qatar warns war will force Gulf to stop energy exports ‘within days’
Andrew England and Malcolm Moore, in the Financial Times:
Qatar’s energy minister has warned that war in the Middle East could “bring down the economies of th... https://diary.arabist.net/2026/03/06/qatar-warns-war-will-force.html
How much is this going to cost US taxpayers?
“The opposition remains deeply fragmented. Many constituencies—including liberals, democrats, leftists, women’s groups, and marginalized communities such as Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, and those in southern Khuzestan—do not align with Pahlavi.”
@alexshams.bsky.social talks with Asef Bayat:
a thing historians will marvel about when they study this era is the extent to which the "war is a thing that happens to poorer, browner people" class went about systematically dismantling every aspect of the global political order that confined the costs of war to poorer and browner people
It’s a bit odd that where the CIA station in Riyadh is appears to be public knowledge. Usually they are in embassies.
Because they want Pahlavi not reformists?
x.com/gothburz/sta... extraordinary testimony by a diplomat involved in the Oman-led negotiations between the US and Iran.
J Street opposes President Trump’s reckless decision to launch a war of choice against Iran. Read our full statement: https://bit.ly/3N71E4w
"History shows external attack tends to consolidate regimes, not topple them."
@alivaez.bsky.social explains why the idea that American and Israeli bombing would trigger a popular uprising in Iran is wishful thinking to @wsj.com.
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
How to understand war with Iran? We must get away from propaganda. Facts suggest two interpretive frameworks: a foreign war as a mechanism to destroy democracy at home; and a foreign war as an element of personal corruption by the president of the United States.
snyder.substack.com/p/why-attack...
In fact, this war was effectively triggered by Trump’s ultimatums and threats during the Iranian protests. This is absolutely Trump’s chosen course of action.
I was warned it might be not good for me in the long run, and have no real plan for how it’s going to make me feel later today, but this morning I decided to launch a preemptive strike on a stack of waffles slathered in maple syrup.
First you need to get Schumer and Jeffries out of the way
I’m sure he’ll resign in protest.
Netanyahu Calls Iran Strikes Necessary To Prevent War He Just Started
Netanyahu Calls Iran Strikes Necessary To Prevent War He Just Started
Stunning shift among Democrats - that's strikingly unreflected in the stances of their elected officials
Unfortunately many Dems seem to support this, most notably the leadership in Congress.
An unpopular president is about to drag the country into an unpopular war. Democratic leader should be out front in opposition, not politely asking for a briefing.
My piece in @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/27/d...