Today’s US FP news cycle is enraging. Nauseating. We need to ask “how possible” questions. We need to consider how the “constraining” marketplace of ideas - already seen to be susceptible to manipulation in 2003 - is now profoundly shaped by profit-driven, psychology-curated tech infrastructure.

The news cycle is nuts. If you know scholars from/studying the MENA region who might benefit from a writing solidarity group, please send them my way. All levels are welcome - grad students, full professors, anyone. We just finished Week 136 and we had first-timers this week.

For everyone else struggling with the news cycle and trying to teach. Here's a Jeopardy! game I made as a review for my Politics of Protest course (contains syllabus-specific stuff, class jokes, etc.): jeopardylabs.com/play/politic.... The template is easy to customize: jeopardylabs.com.

Today I taught my last class ever at Johns Hopkins SAIS. My Politics of Protest class was pretty much the ideal way to wrap it all up.

On Turkey's peace process, @sinemadar.bsky.social has been tracking the likelihood of parliamentary commission visit to jailed PKK leader Öcalan. Sinem is one to follow on all things Turkey. I spoke recently (and skeptically) about other peace process dynamics: open.spotify.com/episode/1eN4...

The next @pomeps.bsky.social Virtual Research Workshop series is coming soon. In the meantime, here's some great work coming out of previous VRWs. Check out @ashartnett.bsky.social and @msaleh-econhistory.bsky.social's recent article. Thanks to discussant Neil Ketchley! doi.org/10.1017/S000...

If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.

“Dubal…said…she was “kind of in tears” after the ruling. “This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty and staff and students,” said Ms. Dubal, who is also a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...

Totally different environment, but people from Turkey express similar sentiments when they hear just how much Turkish news and entertainment media I consume for my research. I get the word “sacrifice” a lot.

Tomorrow we finish Week 135 of our MENA Zoom solidarity group. This week, two new members joined our writing sessions. I post about this a lot because I want to make our community accessible to as many students and scholars from/working on MENA as possible. Please reach out/share if interested

1. Anne Kirstine Rønn @annekirstineronn.bsky.social. 2025. "What Does It Mean to Oppose Sectarianism? An Ordinary Language Study Among Lebanese Across Social Backgrounds." Congratulations, and thanks to discussant Ibrahim Halawi! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I'm working with @pomeps.bsky.social to check in on papers presented in our workshops in the last 5 years. To brighten our feeds, and boost hope around studying the Middle East, I wanted to share some papers that early career scholars workshopped and then published. Three from Spring 2024 VRWs:

Congratulations @michellelkahn.bsky.social! Her award-winning book on migration from Turkey to Germany and the racism migrants experience(d) can be downloaded for free

Check out The Qualitative Metamorphosis in @comppol.bsky.social! Great review by @ajayverghese.bsky.social of books by @saragoodman.bsky.social, Jen Cyr, @marioluissmall.bsky.social, Jessica Calarco, @alanjacobs.bsky.social, and @macartan.bsky.social. 👇 www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny...

LAST DAY to apply! POMEPS is pleased to announce a Call for Papers: Political Movements in North Africa and the Sahel after the Arab Uprisings. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 7th, COB. For more information on how to apply: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...

Sandwich Guy is found not guilty.

As chair of @pomeps.bsky.social Virtual Research Workshop committee, I'm tracking workshopped papers that have been published. To amplify this work, I'll share them here. First up: @oneryigit.bsky.social explains support for ethnic rights. Congrats! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Cuomo is out there using seriously, frighteningly bad AI to push a “socialist” scare tactic Halloween video. And @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is doing this lovely outreach thing. With a cat and künefe. This week, I wish I still lived in NYC.

‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...

Helpful (map-full!) piece on Turkey's growing presence in Africa. Statecraft tools range from military bases and trade deals to mosque-building and Turkish Airlines connections. I look at TRT Français's anti-imperialist media narratives. This piece nicely highlights arms sales.

The MENA writing solidarity group I run is open to new members! We’ve completed 132 weeks. 150+ scholars - from MA students to full profs - have joined. Some joined 200+ sessions. If you or your students from/working on MENA might benefit from a virtual writing community, please reach out!

Sharing only because I study Turkish politics. Nothing of comparative use to see here. Working on/living in the US? Scroll on by.

This is one of the weirdest, starkest, most on-point, most depressing forms of political communication I've seen. Follow @ok-sure.bsky.social's instructions. Find the timeline. Be shocked.

Populist authoritarians often criminalize marginalized identities. Could be ethnic, religious, sexual, etc. Current draft legislation positions Turkey to criminalize LGBTQ+ identities. And writing/posting about queer issues. US observers please take note. For Turkey’s sake. And for the US.

Like previous legislation targeting Turkey's minorities, the draft law seeks to criminalize an identity. Here, any expression or support of LGBTQ+ identities could be subject to prosecution. Speech, behavior, journalism, social media, healthcare access... This is Turkey's "Year of the Family."

Student media rules. They are lapping a lot of the spineless media orgs this year and showing how solidarity is the way.

Very generous offer for grad students from the outstanding @rbkhoury.bsky.social!

BREAKING: USC HAS JOIN THE RESISTANCE! That’s four (MIT, Brown, Penn, USC) of the nine schools Trump targeted. Stay tuned! 🍿 #DefendHigherEd #StandUpFightBack

If there was ever any doubt about the hyper-masculine populist posturing of this administration, here you go. Outright racists are “young boys” making “edgy” jokes just doing “what kids do.” Meanwhile, inflatable frogs and clarinetists playing the Ghostbusters theme are “domestic terrorists.”

Disassembling today’s “democracy melting” art installation on 4th St (of Trump-Epstein statue fame). I walked by the set-up this morning on my way to teach my Politics of Protest course. The artist team has done ice sculpture installations before, but right now in DC “ice” has extra resonance.

And now Brown University has rejected the Trump Loyalty Oath. Two down and seven to go! @aaup.org @aaupbrownchapter.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Ok, last final call. We host these once a year. And working on/from the Middle East is tough now for lots of reasons. So I'm over-posting. @pomeps.bsky.social workshops are designed to support MENA scholars in turning working papers into published articles. Apply today, and please share!

Important caution from @sedademiralp.bsky.social against inferring opposition attitudes from public actions. Repression can deter mass protest participation and curb dissent. But it can also stoke anger that drives people to vote. Especially in cases where it's (still) difficult to rig elections.

This is an amazing opportunity for those seeking a PhD programme in Exeter: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/pg-res... If you’re interested in a PhD in social psychology on the following topics, feel free to contact me - Activism - Social movements - Resistance - Solidarity - Leadership - Intergroup conflict

Turkey recap consistently does some of the best English-language reporting on Turkey I've seen. Their weekly news overviews, article digests, in-depth investigative pieces, and podcasts are super useful. Glad to see this Turkish-language initiative with @studyorecap.bsky.social - hayırlı olsun!

I enjoyed this Nick Ashdown piece on the tactics of "they" employed by Erdogan and MAGA nickashdown.substack.com/p/they?r=3pk...

Final call! Submit your abstracts by tomorrow, Oct 15, to present a paper in the Spring. Please share with PhD students/postdocs/ECRs working on MENA. Our virtual workshops are a great opportunity to get feedback, network, and turn a paper into a publication. Apply: pomeps.org/call-for-app...

This terrific article offers a taste of some of the essential research to be featured in Perspectives on Politics' upcoming special issue on "Political Science and the University." @poppublicsphere.bsky.social @apsa.bsky.social bit.ly/4382nHn

Abstracts due Oct 15! Don't miss the deadline for our POMEPS Spring Virtual Research Workshop series. And please share with students+mentees working on MENA. VRWs are an excellent way to get feedback on papers, turn them into articles. and create lasting networks. Contact me with any questions!

Adding to the regrettably relevant research. We explain how authoritarian regimes use local forms of bureaucratic hamstringing and rhetorical vilification to delegitimize opposition actors. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Clear rhetorical vilification. It seeks to delegitimize protesters, justify crackdown, and deter joiners. Naming: Labels that criminalize + evoke disgust Blaming: Fabricated/exaggerated/preemptive claims of violence Framing: Claims of wider nefarious networks My take: pomeps.org/adding-insul...

Humorous costumes and symbols do powerful work in anti-authoritarian protest. They symbolically erode the power of the regime, humanize protesters, and promote viral sharing of images countering regime claims. “Dismantling their narrative” captures it well. See: Turkey’s Pikachu. And penguins.

So many moves by the Trump administration are textbook authoritarian consolidation. Autocrats use baseless fraud/corruption charges to delegitimize challengers, tangle them up in the court system to punish and exhaust them, and intimidate others into compliance. See: Turkey et al.

My article on the 20 point gaza "peace plan" is now out. Let me tell you why peace processes in the Israeli Palestinian conflict seem to keep failing, with a focus on Tony Blair the menace of the middle east theconversation.com/a-gaza-peace...

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram. Community action works. Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

News feeds are horrible. So I want to share news of my MENA writing solidarity group. Week 130 starts Monday. 151 people joined at least one session. Some joined 100+. Email me if interested. I hope others will start their own groups. I made a blueprint to do so: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

So much going on. But I want to keep the continuous resistance of Boğaziçi academics in our minds. For their sake, for all our sake. Today marked the 1166th vigil. Demonstrators are protesting a government-imposed rector, curbs on academic freedom, and the targeting of students and faculty.

“Authoritarianism succeeds by making dissent costly. When the authoritarian gale sends citizens running for cover, civil society organizations must anchor democratic principles.” A must-read from my colleague and amazing writer Turkuler Isiksel. democracyproject.org/posts/civil-...

As usual, great analysis by @gonultol.bsky.social. My standard response to those asking “Is Turkey pivoting to the West” has always been: No. It’s called hedging. Or strategic autonomy. Read TR media. Erdoğan consistently positions Turkey as a mediator. It conveniently means you don’t take sides

Looks like Erdoğan will soon get the US state visit he didn't with Biden. Given obstacles to F-35 talks, the symbolism of the visit looms large. In an optimistic move, though, Turkey lifted a few tariffs from Trump 1.0. On those obstacles, my take w David Banks www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....