Can someone let the AP know that violating court orders is not a sign of "executive power. " It is a sign of contempt, lawlessness and authoritarianism.

hot take: women are less likely to use AI because we’re quick to clock flattery as a tool of manipulation

Rule by law rather than rule of law has become a textbook authoritarian consolidation practice

NEW: Our latest issue features a roundtable with faculty organizers Lisa Hajjar @lisahajjar.bsky.social, Lara Deeb, Darryl Li, Andrew Ross, Meera Shah on the experience of fighting against repression on their campuses since October 7, 2023.

"Deep state" is originally a Turkish concept. So is the experience of living with one for decades. This week @ekoshy.bsky.social & I talk to @mertcanbayar.bsky.social about conspiracy theories and what Turkey's history tells us about Trump's America itallhappenedbefore.substack.com/p/episode-7-...

Strange to see empty shelves. But it seems like a good occasion to share that I’m moving to SOAS University of London. I’m thrilled to join what has long been a dream department for me. Say hello if you’re coming through London!

Imagine the narcissism of someone who needs to put their name and face everywhere. On a personality trait study of 157 leaders - including 14 autocrats like Putin and Erdoğan - Trump scored highest on narcissism. Trump also scored lowest on conscientiousness. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Conference funding opportunity! Deadline May 10. APSA is offering up to $4000 in funding per panel for travel to an international conference of select political science associations. Full info here, including links to eligible conferences including ECPR and CEPSA: apsanet.org/PROGRAMS/Int...

We are hiring! Turkish Politics & Political Theory at Bilkent POLS. Details for each position below : stars.bilkent.edu.tr/staffapp/POL... stars.bilkent.edu.tr/staffapp/POL...

Starting soon - join us at 10:00am ET to unpack the role of pop culture on creative resistance. Register: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Too many Americans stayed entirely silent when the Trump admin went after Mahmoud Khalil for his pro-Palestine activism and were surprised when the fight on free speech ultimately escalated to Jimmy Kimmel. Have they learned the lesson and will they speak up early this time?

For anyone working with scholars from the MENA region, I wanted to share a community resource. For 156 weeks, with the help of co-hosts from Turkey, Syria, and Iran, I've run a MENA writing solidarity group across time zones. Here's the info: www.liselhintz.com/mena-solidar.... Please share!

Interested in how everyday entertainment can become part of opposition discourse? And how tweets about TV shows can be political acts? Join me Monday April 27 at 10am ET for a Kalkınma Atölyesi webinar on the politics of pop culture and creative resistance. Use flyer QR code to register.

Unconscionable

One week to go! Please consider submitting an abstract if your research touches on how governments are reshaped by data infrastructures, tech vendors, and/or automated decision systems.

Monday, May 4! More Info and to Register: bit.ly/4bzsdr5

Studying art or pop culture? Going to APSA? Join us Sept 2! I'm chairing a "Studying Cool Stuff Seriously" @interpretivemm.bsky.social short course. Featuring @mweitzel.bsky.social @micahenglish.bsky.social @jelenasubotic.bsky.social @alexislerner.bsky.social @colleenwood.rocks and more

If this hasn’t crossed your feed yet, take a second to enjoy this certified banger

In “Censorship and Surveillance at US Universities,” Torin Monahan details the expansive apparatus used by university administrations, often following federal or state political pressures, to police pro-Palestine and progressive speech on campuses across the country. @merip.bsky.social

Day 506 of uninterrupted, nationwide protests in Georgia. 🇬🇪

the president of the united states is personally looting the treasury to the tune of literally billions of dollars and that he is not being immediately removed from office and tried for high crimes against this country is a devastating indictment of every part of our political system

For all interested in interpretive methods: Join us Friday May 1 at 12:00pm ET for our Spotlight Scholars webinar, featuring three early career researchers. www.interpretivemethods.com/upcoming-eve.... Also check out the Research Digest I put together: www.interpretivemethods.com/research-dig...

In MAGA biopolitics, teen births "crash"ing is a bad thing. In AKP Turkey, women should have at least three children. Everyday media, like cooking shows and #tradwives content, make these agendas more palatable to wide audiences My article in Politics and Gender www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Important points. Both about Musk's antisemitism and how populist discourse works: by framing "elites" so that it looks like you're punching upward even when you're at/near the top. Like how Erdoğan frames himself as a pious man of the people but lives in a 1000+ room palace steeped in corruption

New episode in our 2026 World Cup Debutants series now out! Jordan’s historic first qualification. With @curtisryan.bsky.social, we explore football, identity, rivalries and politics shaping the game in that country. Do listen and like, share and subscribe! www.buzzsprout.com/2253650/epis...

Worth reflecting on how fast public discourse on this has changed. When we published “The One State Reality” in @foreignaffairs.com in 2023, three influential participants in a forum the next issue called as antisemites (in kinda embarrassing and lazy pieces).

Editor's Pick: An exclusive investigation has verified three cases of U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran following a "double-tap" pattern — with multiple blasts increasing harm to civilians for little military advantage. @chrisosieck.bsky.social & @ntabrizy.bsky.social report.

Nice analysis of Orban's defeat. @grigopop.bsky.social's survey shows lower trust in Orban allies Putin and Trump than the EU. Domestic issues likely mattered more. But findings may support our argument that populists lack a feedback loop to course correct on FP. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/19/t...

For all EU citizens this is the minimum you can do by signing this petition. Enough EU complicity in Israel‘s genocide and human rights abuses. Demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights : eci.ec.europa.eu/055/public/#...

For students and scholars from/working on MENA that are struggling to get work done amid everything, I have a writing solidarity group that I hope can help. We just finished Week 154. Here's all the info: liselhintz.com/mena-solidar.... Feel free to share with students or anyone who might benefit.

Great discussion of how journalists and editors navigate media capture. Resonates a lot with media industry people I interviewed who struggle with feelings of hypocrisy and try to find ways to assert agency. Raises tough questions of whether everyday resistance challenges or sustains the regime.

See, it's funny because his administration is comically corrupt and constantly committing felonies and war crimes.

Trump's son-in-law, his business buddy and JD Vance are going to negotiate an end to the U.S. bombing campaign against Iran. We need to talk about how fucked up this is. 🧵

My colleague Narges Bajoghli provides the smartest, clearest, most informed take I’ve seen on Iran’s LEGO videos. Political, ideological, generational context - all there. From 20 years of research on Iran’s media makers. I couldn’t pick a quote. They’re all too good. nymag.com/intelligence...

Wow Ceasefire agreement did include Lebanon. Trump: "agreed that included Lebanon." Mediators: "believed the ceasefire to include Lebanon." Pakistan announced it included Lebanon. "However, the US position shifted following a phone call between Netanyahu and Mr. Trump." CBS News:

This is so well done. 👌

The detainment of a Turkish comic for a vulgar joke about Süleyman the Magnificent may seem weird but not significant. But it's similar to 2012 sanctions against the "The Magnificent Century." The show's risqué scenes sparked a culture war by a party intent on controlling Ottoman representation.

Six months ago I published this book explaining how American primacy had been bad for the Middle East. It anticipated much of what we have just lived through and so many are still living through. I hope you’ll read it. www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWRVH66...

Yes. Like motivated bias: an ego-protection mechanism that leads people to discount info telling them they’re wrong. Leaders often ignore/malign such evidence to avoid negative emotions. FP effects increase when leaders: Centralize power Score high on narcissism Publicly invest in an issue So..

Thread from @bcfinucane.bsky.social who has been a must-read on all this, going back to the boat strikes.

“military aged males” got normalized as a viable target for war and it’s pretty much a racialized fiction meant to justify indiscriminate murder.

The President of the U.S. The man with the nuclear codes. And people are just going to pretend this is ok. In a functioning society, he would be removed from office within hours by his own party.

This unseating of an(other) elected official is important in the Turkish case. It also illustrates how autocratizing governments test out repression strategies against minorities before using them against others. My take with Harun Ercan: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Folks, I give you the New York Times

Read it here www.merip.org/2026/04/our-...

The TikTok girlies (gender neutral) are hatching a plan to all buy copies of communion by hooks on Vance's release date. I will be participating.

A potential consequence of populists’ hyper-mediatized approach to politics is they create evidence for their own future indictment. Here’s to hoping.

This, 10x over. When warning about media capture, we're not talking about state takeover. Although that happened in Turkey. State closure already happened in the US. We're talking about how business and government partner in ways that bring even private media coverage into gov-friendly hands.

Adding a Turkey perspective to those noting the US doesn't need to leave NATO to disrupt the alliance. A "problematic ally," as some of the gentler critics of Ankara's S-400 purchase and Hamas ties have called Turkey, can do as much if not more damage inside than out. Russia knows this.