Huss Banai
@hbanai.bsky.social
Associate Professor of International Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington. Books on liberalism, democracy, human rights, Iran, and US-Iran relations. Working on a book on enmity in politics. Co-Editor, Int'l Studies Review.
hussbanai.info
hussbanai.info
Reposted by Huss Banai
Reminder that shortly after ordering these strikes, Hegseth removed the press corps from the Pentagon and the SouthCom Commander overseeing operations in the Caribbean unexpectedly announced he is stepping down 2 yrs before his term is up. What we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reminder that shortly after ordering these strikes, Hegseth removed the press corps from the Pentagon and the SouthCom Commander overseeing operations in the Caribbean unexpectedly announced he is stepping down 2 yrs before his term is up. What we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.
Reposted by Huss Banai
So tough on crime. Very hostile to foreign narcoterrorists.
Juan Hernández, a former president of Honduras, was found guilty by a US jury last year of conspiring to import cocaine, via one of "most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world"
Trump intends to pardon him.
By Shawn McCreesh, Annie Correal, Jeff Ernst
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
Trump intends to pardon him.
By Shawn McCreesh, Annie Correal, Jeff Ernst
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:59 AM
So tough on crime. Very hostile to foreign narcoterrorists.
Support Canadian businesses and independent bookshops as much as you can today. 🙏🏽
November 28, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Support Canadian businesses and independent bookshops as much as you can today. 🙏🏽
Please stop with the (anti)intellectual fad of putting “post” before everything. The inability to clearly distinguish new phenomena from older, familiar ones is an understandable challenge, but let’s not make things worse by just slapping on “post” to the familiar while we figure out a new moniker.
November 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Please stop with the (anti)intellectual fad of putting “post” before everything. The inability to clearly distinguish new phenomena from older, familiar ones is an understandable challenge, but let’s not make things worse by just slapping on “post” to the familiar while we figure out a new moniker.
Reposted by Huss Banai
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Huss Banai
In Run Like a Girl I talk in detail about the attacks, harassment and threats I faced online and offline not because I need sympathy but because we need change. No woman in politics or media should have to endure targeted abuse just for doing her job and speaking up.
🔗 tinyurl.com/22jux727
🔗 tinyurl.com/22jux727
November 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
In Run Like a Girl I talk in detail about the attacks, harassment and threats I faced online and offline not because I need sympathy but because we need change. No woman in politics or media should have to endure targeted abuse just for doing her job and speaking up.
🔗 tinyurl.com/22jux727
🔗 tinyurl.com/22jux727
Today in endtimes in academia...
November 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Today in endtimes in academia...
Reposted by Huss Banai
My colleague, Dr. Vahid Abedini, was illegally detained by ICE on Saturday. He is currently being held without a court date in sight, despite being in the country legally. Please spread the word! We must ensure his due process rights are upheld. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-prof...
OU College of International Studies professor reportedly arrested by ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly arrested an OU professor at Will Rogers International Airport Saturday.
www.oudaily.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
My colleague, Dr. Vahid Abedini, was illegally detained by ICE on Saturday. He is currently being held without a court date in sight, despite being in the country legally. Please spread the word! We must ensure his due process rights are upheld. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-prof...
Reposted by Huss Banai
This is pretty striking and makes me wonder exactly what Labour have been up to in making policy seemingly in response to / fear of the former rather than the middle group.
Why do people think England flags have been raised on lampposts?
White adults
National pride: 26%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 49%
Both: 19%
Ethnic minority adults
National pride: 15%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 55%
Both: 20%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
White adults
National pride: 26%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 49%
Both: 19%
Ethnic minority adults
National pride: 15%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 55%
Both: 20%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 22, 2025 at 8:01 PM
This is pretty striking and makes me wonder exactly what Labour have been up to in making policy seemingly in response to / fear of the former rather than the middle group.
One of the most impressive things about Mamdani is that his style of politics is nothing like the populist leftists of recent times. He is the anti-Corbyn and anti-Occupy *in style and approach* - important aspects of mass politics movement politicians tend to be oblivious about.
November 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
One of the most impressive things about Mamdani is that his style of politics is nothing like the populist leftists of recent times. He is the anti-Corbyn and anti-Occupy *in style and approach* - important aspects of mass politics movement politicians tend to be oblivious about.
Reposted by Huss Banai
this is your brain when your entire politics is just a set of aesthetics
November 21, 2025 at 11:04 PM
this is your brain when your entire politics is just a set of aesthetics
Stop this “Trump loves Mamdani” nonsense! He loves to be seen as admiring of celebrity at first; he can reverse course in 5 minutes! He’s done this with so many people that you’d have to be some special observer of his by now to not have noticed!
November 21, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Stop this “Trump loves Mamdani” nonsense! He loves to be seen as admiring of celebrity at first; he can reverse course in 5 minutes! He’s done this with so many people that you’d have to be some special observer of his by now to not have noticed!
Finally listened to this, which was very good. The title of the episode is very poorly-crafted, however. It's not NYT-level headline diversion bad, but I really can't understand why it wasn't simply called "MAGA is the Home of Anti-Semitism Now" or some such clearer title.
Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show.
Is this the future of MAGA?
With political writer John Ganz, who’s studied the roots of antisemitism on the right and has followed the evolution of MAGA closely.
youtu.be/6jyDHToxC-4?...
Is this the future of MAGA?
With political writer John Ganz, who’s studied the roots of antisemitism on the right and has followed the evolution of MAGA closely.
youtu.be/6jyDHToxC-4?...
Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes and the Right’s ‘Groyper’ Problem | The Ezra Klein Show
YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Finally listened to this, which was very good. The title of the episode is very poorly-crafted, however. It's not NYT-level headline diversion bad, but I really can't understand why it wasn't simply called "MAGA is the Home of Anti-Semitism Now" or some such clearer title.
How did so many high profile people get lured into the Epstein world?
Status.
He was the mysterious rich guy with hideaways that only extremely high-status people were invited to. Nectar to the status-chasing mind. He seemed to hold the keys to a really-existing Eyes Wide Shut world.
Status.
He was the mysterious rich guy with hideaways that only extremely high-status people were invited to. Nectar to the status-chasing mind. He seemed to hold the keys to a really-existing Eyes Wide Shut world.
November 14, 2025 at 6:31 PM
How did so many high profile people get lured into the Epstein world?
Status.
He was the mysterious rich guy with hideaways that only extremely high-status people were invited to. Nectar to the status-chasing mind. He seemed to hold the keys to a really-existing Eyes Wide Shut world.
Status.
He was the mysterious rich guy with hideaways that only extremely high-status people were invited to. Nectar to the status-chasing mind. He seemed to hold the keys to a really-existing Eyes Wide Shut world.
So I believe this is actually post about Biden...
No one has figured out the exact scale of the Hispanic vote collapse yet, but I tried to get my arms around it. Read the rest here: www.thebulwark.com/p/2025-elect...
November 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
So I believe this is actually post about Biden...
We immigrated to Canada and landed in Toronto one year after the Blue Jays’ last World Series win. I became a Canadian partly by learning to love baseball through the Jays.
This is the closest I’ve come to feel what my schoolmates back then told me it felt to be on top of the world.
Go Jays!
This is the closest I’ve come to feel what my schoolmates back then told me it felt to be on top of the world.
Go Jays!
November 2, 2025 at 1:49 AM
We immigrated to Canada and landed in Toronto one year after the Blue Jays’ last World Series win. I became a Canadian partly by learning to love baseball through the Jays.
This is the closest I’ve come to feel what my schoolmates back then told me it felt to be on top of the world.
Go Jays!
This is the closest I’ve come to feel what my schoolmates back then told me it felt to be on top of the world.
Go Jays!
Reposted by Huss Banai
Right-wingers with their petulant anti-anti-racism nourished the viper of antisemitism in their bosom.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/a-viper-in...
A Viper in its Bosom
The Right nourished and protected its Antisemitic Wing
www.unpopularfront.news
October 30, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Right-wingers with their petulant anti-anti-racism nourished the viper of antisemitism in their bosom.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/a-viper-in...
Don’t be surprised if you read the exact same line a year from about the US midterms: “Analysts said the results were due, in part, to a fragmented opposition, which included many of the same leaders repudiated by voters two years ago when they elected Mr. Milei”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/w...
Argentina’s Voters Hand Javier Milei a Crucial Victory in Midterm Election
www.nytimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Don’t be surprised if you read the exact same line a year from about the US midterms: “Analysts said the results were due, in part, to a fragmented opposition, which included many of the same leaders repudiated by voters two years ago when they elected Mr. Milei”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/w...
Reposted by Huss Banai
Angus: This is a guy who showed an AI video of himself dumping diarrhea on his own citizens. So the fact that he’s freaking out because we showed a video that just had Ronald Reagan speaking shows he’s not trustworthy.
October 25, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Angus: This is a guy who showed an AI video of himself dumping diarrhea on his own citizens. So the fact that he’s freaking out because we showed a video that just had Ronald Reagan speaking shows he’s not trustworthy.
This is a great conversation that’s about much more than just strongmen. Kudos to @aysezarakol.bsky.social and @ppfideas.bsky.social for rounding the topic so capaciously
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
Fixing Democracy: Confronting the Strongmen
Podcast Episode · Past Present Future · 10/22/2025 · 1h 12m
podcasts.apple.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is a great conversation that’s about much more than just strongmen. Kudos to @aysezarakol.bsky.social and @ppfideas.bsky.social for rounding the topic so capaciously
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
This Westie is already over the cooler temps in the Midwest.
October 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
This Westie is already over the cooler temps in the Midwest.
Reposted by Huss Banai
Among all the things wrong with this, maybe it is not in the U.S. national interest for the president to make dramatic foreign policy changes in response to a TV ad?
October 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Among all the things wrong with this, maybe it is not in the U.S. national interest for the president to make dramatic foreign policy changes in response to a TV ad?
IR scholars need to pay more attention to this stuff than they currently do.
3/ Thread. bsky.app/profile/jenn...
Balaji (a close associate of Thiel & Andreessen) leads the “network state” movement, which encourages tech elites to build their own “countries” by acquiring physical territory w/in host countries & building “parallel institutions” to replace existing ones in media, education, finance, & science 1/
October 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM
IR scholars need to pay more attention to this stuff than they currently do.
Reposted by Huss Banai
The ol’ “If-it-weren’t-for-me” brand of free-market capitalism. 🤡
October 22, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The ol’ “If-it-weren’t-for-me” brand of free-market capitalism. 🤡