Analysis from @soliman.bsky.social for #OrbisJournal podcast #ShiftingGround.

Huge. A Brookfield-backed datacenter company is pulling out of a major project in Virginia, that they had been working on for years, due to growing political opposition

🇹🇷 When in Istanbul

Soliman is an Asianist who evaluates every theater, coalition, and hard power commitment through a single organizing question: Does this serve or dilute America’s position in the Indo-Pacific? @politybooks.bsky.social smallwarsjournal.com/2026/04/07/r...

Really enjoyed this conversation with The Geopolitical Desk. Grateful for their time and a genuinely thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion. A long, substantive interview that gets into the core arguments of the book. @politybooks.bsky.social Take a look: www.thegeopoliticaldesk.com/mohammed-sol...

VIDEO – Book Talk: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East with Mohammed Soliman and Amb. Douglas A. Silliman. agsi.org/events/book-...

“Reading [West Asia] from Seoul, one question sharpens into focus: where does 🇰🇷 fit in this West Asia architecture? Soliman’s answer is that Korea is already a player in West Asia, as exemplified in its ties with 🇦🇪." @politybooks.bsky.social www-koreatimes-co-kr.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.kore...

“Reading [West Asia] from Seoul, one question sharpens into focus: where does 🇰🇷 fit in this West Asia architecture? Soliman’s answer is that Korea is already a player in West Asia, as exemplified in its ties with 🇦🇪." @politybooks.bsky.social www-koreatimes-co-kr.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.kore...

Looking forward to this conversation about my book, West Asia, later today.

TOMORROW at 3pm ET: “Book Talk: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East” with @soliman.bsky.social and Amb. Douglas A. Silliman. Join us: agsi.org/events/book-...

Join AGSI on Tuesday 3/31 at 3pm for “Book Talk: West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East” with @soliman.bsky.social and Amb. Douglas A. Silliman. Register: agsi.org/events/book-...

Tomorrow at @stimsoncenter.bsky.social, I'll be discussing my book, West Asia (@politybooks.bsky.social) with two thinkers I deeply respect: @emmamashford.bsky.social & Daniel Markey. Book signing too. Come say hello. www.stimson.org/event/the-mi...

How will the Iran war reshape American power, especially in Asia? What does it mean for the future of the Gulf, for India–Pakistan, and for Turkey? And where does Europe fit into all of this? How about in infrastructure, connectivity, and logistics?

How the Escalation Trap Works

The Ukrainian FPV attack-drone revolution has arrived in the Middle East. For the first time, an Iranian-backed militia has carried out an FPV drone attack in Iraq. The FPV munition flies around Victory Base near Baghdad International Airport before slamming into a building.

Top Oil Supply Chokepoints

I’m tired of living through historic events.....

Grateful to see West Asia climbing the Amazon charts 📚 #2 in Political Science • Top 20 in Asian Politics • Top 40 in Middle Eastern Politics Thank you to everyone reading, sharing, and debating these ideas. a.co/d/09N3OSZz

"The world is changing very fast right in front of us. The old world is gone ... We live in a new era in geopolitics, and it's going to require all of us to sort of re-examine what that looks like and what our role is going to be."

In my new book, West Asia, I trace the rise of the Gulf as a nerve center for this expansive system, stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Order West Asia today: a.co/d/07MPms0V

Happy book release day! Order your copy today. www.amazon.com/West-Asia-Am...

Trump’s Board of Peace

Taiwan’s technology industry would also commit to making at least $250 billion in direct investments to expand advanced semiconductor, energy and artificial intelligence operations in the US. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Meta is signaling a deeper push into the Gulf’s AI race through a high-profile hire with close ties to the region. www.axios.com/2026/01/12/m...?

Gulf capital is structurally intertwined with the success of leading AI frontier labs, including Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, and many others. x.ai/news/series-e

Kissingerian consolidation

They had "Venezuela" in the search bar with the latest tab selected so they could see real time updates as posts were coming through

Trump: "The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. And we've superseded it by a lot. They now call it the Donro Doctrine."

Happy New Year. We are closer to 2050 than to 2000!

Keep an eye on Nvidia’s growing footprint in Israel: “Such a transaction would effectively provide Nvidia with a fast-track expansion of its AI talent base in Israel, at an implied cost of roughly $10-15 million per employee.” www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/ar...

At this rate, America's biotech industry won't just sputter, it will collapse before it can even compete with China.

After Nvidia-Groq, here’s another milestone acquisition: Meta-Manus right before the sunsetting of 2025. Expect more acquisitions in 2026! manus.im/blog/manus-j...

“When the towers came down, it changed the game.” A long goodbye to the first quarter of the 21st century. open.substack.com/pub/soliman/...

happy holidays!! 🎄🎁🎅

What to watch: Secretary Bessent laid out the strategic industries where the government wants to step in to push reshoring: chips, steel, shipbuilding, and pharmaceuticals.

As 2025 winds down, I’ve been reflecting on a year that felt unusually full of movement, ideas, and life changes. And grateful for the conversations, the travel, and the people who shaped this year. If you’re curious: lnkd.in/et4Mc-Vx

As 2025 winds down, I’ve been reflecting on a year that felt unusually full of movement, ideas, and life changes. And grateful for the conversations, the travel, and the people who shaped this year. If you’re curious: lnkd.in/et4Mc-Vx

After Ukraine, Russia’s next move may be in the Middle East—this book shows how and why. West Asia by Mohammed Soliman (@soliman.bsky.social) is out now in the UK. See more: www.politybooks.com/...

Google’s TPUs are on a serious winning streak, across the board. #Anthropic www.anthropic.com/news/expandi...

Just back from the Mediterranean Dialogues in Napoli, after an incredible few days discussing the AI infrastructure boom reshaping the region — from subsea cables to an emerging U.S.–EU–Gulf AI infrastructure bridge.

“We’ve underestimated Chinese power…I think the Chinese technology, military, and economics are stronger than we think they are.” — Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to China

The internet we knew is disappearing. In 2020, almost everything online was written by people. Now, nearly half of it comes from AI and by next year, it could be most of it. AI made words cheap. Truth got expensive.

Shocking for me and for the entire DC foreign policy community. Ashley Tellis has been accused of unlawfully removing classified documents from secure government locations and holding multiple meetings with Chinese officials dating back to 2023. www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/p...

How It Started….. How It's Going

Each F-35 requires 418 kg of rare earths, an Arleigh Burke destroyer requires 2,600 kg, and a Virginia-class submarine requires 4,600 kg. With the majority of U.S. imports coming from China. Unprecedented crisis.

OpenAI makes up around $330B of the $880B total future contract value (RPO) tied to Microsoft, Oracle, and CoreWeave, so a lot of supplier growth depends directly on OpenAI’s stability.

how money is moving around the AI ecosystem

how money is moving around the AI ecosystem

Great discussion by @soliman.bsky.social at @fpri.bsky.social. Even with increases in defense spending, it is the capacity to produce at scale which is going to matter. Do you have the supply chains, raw materials and components in place and the industrial capacity and the requisite labor force? 1/