I like me some transregional studies abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/a-new-home-f...

Nobody expected that, gosh that’s so hard to believe

"For a country such as Yemen, which depends heavily on imports," al-Shaibi said, "these consequences could prove more painful than direct effects of fighting."

Maine Beer’s Lunch is a very very good beer.

It's very telling that most international headlines are "Yemen's Houthis break truce and attack Saudi Arabia" when, whatever you think of Riyadh's ostensible enforcement of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government's sovereignty over its airspace, Saudi Arabia bombed Sana'a airport first

In 2002, a US special ops guy set up a company "working on agricultural/development projects in CAsia" (agriculture=poppies?). His company is registered in Singapore, has a 75,000-ft2 warehouse in Dubai, air bases in S Africa & Sudan and is supplying RSF w weapons. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Worth reading: @haidhaid22.bsky.social for @arabreforminit.bsky.social on Syrian authorities' top-down, investment-driven approach to large-scale reconstruction/redevelopment, and resulting popular resistance: www.arab-reform.net/publication/...

Congrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...

Hard to escape a sinking feeling that things are about to heat up around the Bab al-Mandab. Houthi messaging growing louder, as is chatter about (re)deployments on the coast.

So, so dangerous escalation. The whole Middle East could destabilize by attacking water infrastructure. Doesn't help the US President is openly threatening non-military assets as a negotiating tactic.

Trump’s Board of Peace drops full Gaza recovery plan in favour of tiny pilot scheme www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

"...these developments do nothing to resolve what the BoP actually is: a US-designed architecture for managing Palestinians, not one for facilitating their self-determination." arabcenterdc.org/resource/ham...

NEW: The Trump admin finalized a regulation which makes the largest changes to the student visa process in 50 years, along with changes to rules for exchange visitors and international journalists. 🧵on some of the most consequential changes set to go into effect in September.

UAE using the Pegasus family and friends option... “The Emirates bought it and redistributed it to friendly services. You could say it’s like Netflix: a friend pays for the subscription, and the others use their account.”" www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ju...

I hope the college students who protested the US-funded massacre of Palestinian civilians, while being vilified by their universities and politicians and even the president, understand that they are actually having an impact, just much slower than they hoped

I miss Brewers baseball can baseball come back please

"I'll see you again in 25 years." I'm covering the miraculous Twin Peaks Season 3—aka The Return—for @popheist.com, starting with the season premiere. I hate to say "this is not your father's Twin Peaks" since it's literally the same people, but there's no mistaking that we're seeing something new.

Primary list

You might have heard about a provision in this year's defense bill that merges the US & Israeli defense technological enterprises. I took a look, and the implications of this are enormous.

In @foreignaffairs.com, Jaser Abu Mousa argues that Hamas has been weakened beyond repair and that allies and enemies alike exaggerate its current power. www.foreignaffairs.com/palestinian-...

The captain said that this was a rocket launch 😳

Trump has been threatening Spain with sanctions all week, so it seems like they're a lock to win the World Cup now.

Still mad about Egypt but I dislike England more than I dislike Argentina so yay I guess. Mbappe was the only player left I really wanted to watch and now that’s scuppered too so I guess it’s just a big “meh” at this point

Hormuz’s Omani route explained by @WSJ.com’s Rebecca Feng, Costas Paris, and Joe Wallace: Apparently a U.S.-backed shuttle traffic system run by smaller-scale, less risk-averse tanker operators. They are now also taking fire from Iran. www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Conflict-linked marine pollution is spiking in the Persian Gulf, new #remotesensing research finds. An increase of 4x more spills from targeted oil facilities and ships, leaks and dumps, all risking protected areas, desal plants and marine life. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

If the U.S. and Iran allow even this modest understanding to disappear, the next cease-fire will become merely the pause before the next battle — and war, rather than diplomacy, could well become the permanent condition. My latest for @NYTOpinion www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/o...

Mahmoud Khalil has filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump and private organisations alleging a conspiracy to suppress pro-Palestinian speech:

We're far enough removed from the initial clash that I think they're trying to iron something out The way this usually goes is Houthis make noise, KSA promises them something, half of it never gets fulfilled, but peace is kept I think we're heading toward that, but keep eyes on Houthi mobilization

“Armed factions active across Iraq would disarm”

Would love to hear those “conversations” lol

A 20% charge would work out to about $32 million for a fully-loaded very large crude carrier at current oil prices. That’s far higher than the tolls that have been charged by Iran, which have previously been described as reaching $2 million www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“Parscale vowed the effort would produce at least 50 million digital impressions per month, as well as influence how AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini characterized Israel and the war.” time.com/article/2026...

Flying home after a deer totaled my car somewhere in Kentucky (I’m fine thank god) and at 4:00 AM the airport is playing the Talking Heads Wild Wild Life and yes, yes it is.

Finally watched the Dylan biopic and the best line in the movie is definitely Joan Baez’s “you’re kind of an asshole Bob”

No the history of US foreign policy began in January 2025 obviously

I wonder if US support for Israel’s devastation of Gaza had anything to do with the world distancing from us, maybe we could get someone from the Biden administration to reflect on that www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/o...

Trump's proposing a 20% surcharge on traffic through the strait of Hormuz. It's another calamity that Americans will play off but the rest of the world won't forget--and it's exactly what he proposed in 1989: open.substack.com/pub/musgrave...

Guess this wasn’t a Haaretz exclusive, interesting and weird how many people must have wanted this bizarre story out there, and who they hoped to knife by leaking it www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/u...

Big development: Yemen government says its forces attacked Sanaa airport. The attack was intended to prevent airplane from Iran from landing, in attempt to reopen airport. Yemeni government likely acted with Saudi backing. High potential for escalation. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/...

By popular demand (one person who DM’d me), an obituary for Lindsey Graham, focused on a lesser-known episode from the Lindsey Lore that has long defined him for me.

COLLINS: Do you want to get reimbursed? TRUMP: Yeah. Because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We are going to be reimbursed for protection COLLINS: By who? TRUMP: By the countries we're protecting. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain ...

🙃

A very perceptive essay on why Egypt's government didn't allow the returning World Cup football team to arrive via the usual airport and in the capital. barracks.substack.com/p/the-crowd-...

In-bound flights to Aden airport are now being diverted. It seems mostly to Djibouti. It's a fragile moment waiting to see how the Houthis respond to these strikes. We could well see a sudden escalation before mediation for political and economic gains.

Israeli narrative of the Mossad recruiting Ahmedenejad and the insane plot to install him as Iran’s leader. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

I hope the gates to heaven are hosted today by hundreds of thousands of beautiful Iraqi and Iranian and Palestinian and Lebanese children and they get to decide

I’m doing this at my next event (classes)

Islamic State remnants and Shia militias studying the route and licking their chops

The Lucinda Williams/Bob Dylan show was a “no phones” event and I have to say I really like this trend (looking forward to the same at Phoebe Bridgers in September). People actually listening and staying off phones for hours to just experience. Also Lucinda is very old but still rocks so hard.

Brilliant! The long-read you didn't know you wanted. The Washingtonian's Jessica Sidman reveals that most of those janky and sketchy food trucks on the National Mall are illegal and run by the mob. washingtonian.com/2026/06/29/d...