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Abu Aardvark
@abuaardvark.bsky.social
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Marc Lynch. GW Professor, POMEPS commander, Brewers fan. The one true Abu Aardvark. AMERICA’S MIDDLE EAST. Find me at https://abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io

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Marc Lynch is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, where he is also director of both the Institute for Middle East Studies and the Middle East Studies Program. .. more

Political science 59%
Sociology 30%
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abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · Dec 6
“An excellent, unflinchingly honest account of what every Arab knows: America's policies and dominance in the Middle East have provoked untold disasters based on a deep-rooted culture of racism and colonialism. The world needs this book now more than ever." Fida Jiryis
www.amazon.com/Americas-Mid...
America's Middle East: The Ruination of a Region
America's Middle East: The Ruination of a Region - Kindle edition by Lynch, Marc. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading America's Middle East: The Ruination of a Region.
www.amazon.com

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 11h
If Trump grew enormous white wings he could fly like an eagle and yet earn his oh I give up
foreignaffairs.com Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 12h
If Trump can bring about a managed leadership transition in Tehran, “he may yet earn his self-bestowed title of ‘peacemaker-in-chief,’” write Ilan Goldenberg and Nate Swanson.
America’s Best Chance to Transform Iran
The right way to deploy military threats, pressure, and support for the opposition.
fam.ag

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 11h
Yeah maybe that wasn’t the right ask Chuck.
paleofuture.bsky.social Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 13h
Kristi Noem: “Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis.”
Noem: I just spoke with @RealTomHoman @ICEDirector @CBPCommissioner. Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis. As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country. The most transparent administration in American history-thank you @POTUS Trump. Make America Safe Again 1:24 PM • 2/2/26 • 101K Views

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 11h
I’m sorry but it’s morbidly funny how quickly Trump killed the Kennedy Center by putting his name on it. Everything he touches dies, rotting in shame, and he needs to know that every moment of what’s left of his life.

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 11h
“While the Trumps got to fill their pockets with royal cash, it’s unclear what, if anything, the Emiratis got out of the deal, at least from a financial perspective.”
zacheverson.com Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 15h
New: “Why The Trump-UAE Crypto Deal Made No Financial Sense—For The Emiratis” 💰🤷🇦🇪

@kylekhanmullins.bsky.social (whom you should follow) and me for @forbes.com
Why The UAE’s Investment In World Liberty Financial Was A Sweetheart Deal For Trump
What did the UAE get out of it?
www.forbes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

foreignaffairs.com
Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 12h
If Trump can bring about a managed leadership transition in Tehran, “he may yet earn his self-bestowed title of ‘peacemaker-in-chief,’” write Ilan Goldenberg and Nate Swanson.
America’s Best Chance to Transform Iran
The right way to deploy military threats, pressure, and support for the opposition.
fam.ag

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 12h
XTwitter is still the only place for Arabic language content and is better for Middle East news. Everything else I see is either AI slop or profoundly tilted to right wing and explicitly racist narratives; the “left” stuff is mostly extreme clickbait content. Ben Smith saying more about himself.
brizzyc.bsky.social Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 12h
So Semafor's Ben Smith thinks "X is back" "now undoubtedly at the beating heart of news again" and boy is that profoundly depressing if true. It was just weeks ago that news broke that it is flooded with fake sexualized photos of women and KIDS. www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...
🟡 Semafor Media: Heated rivalry | Semafor
In today’s edition: the arrival of the California Post.
www.semafor.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

brizzyc.bsky.social
Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 12h
So Semafor's Ben Smith thinks "X is back" "now undoubtedly at the beating heart of news again" and boy is that profoundly depressing if true. It was just weeks ago that news broke that it is flooded with fake sexualized photos of women and KIDS. www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...
🟡 Semafor Media: Heated rivalry | Semafor
In today’s edition: the arrival of the California Post.
www.semafor.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Rosemary A. Joyce, Aviel Roshwald

ryanjreilly.com
Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 12h
"President Trump has backtracked on a major point in negotiations with Harvard, dropping his administration’s demand for a $200 million payment to the government in hopes of finally resolving the administration’s conflicts with the university, according to four people briefed on the matter."
Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

paleofuture.bsky.social
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 13h
Kristi Noem: “Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis.”
Noem: I just spoke with @RealTomHoman @ICEDirector @CBPCommissioner. Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis. As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country. The most transparent administration in American history-thank you @POTUS Trump. Make America Safe Again 1:24 PM • 2/2/26 • 101K Views

Reposted by Marc Lynch

rondeibert.bsky.social
Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 13h
NEW from @suzannesmalley.bsky.social

NSO Group tried to hijack an international diplomatic process on spyware (called "Pall Mall") to launder their sullied reputation

Fortunately, the French 🇫🇷 and UK 🇬🇧 govts (who steer Pall Mall) weren't having any of it therecord.media/spyware-make...
Spyware maker is hijacking diplomatic efforts to limit commercial hacking, civil society warns
Spyware maker NSO Group trumpeted the company’s participation in the Pall Mall Process, which drew criticism from civil society leaders and government officials who called out human rights abuses.
therecord.media

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Jack N. Rakove

rachelshelden.bsky.social
Rachel Shelden @rachelshelden.bsky.social · 14h
The idea that the Court should operate entirely in secret is a modern phenomenon. The idea that the Court should be separated from the public is a modern phenomenon. Earlier generations did not accept a powerful, isolated & secretive Court and we shouldn't either 1/6

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

zacheverson.com
Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 15h
New: “Why The Trump-UAE Crypto Deal Made No Financial Sense—For The Emiratis” 💰🤷🇦🇪

@kylekhanmullins.bsky.social (whom you should follow) and me for @forbes.com
Why The UAE’s Investment In World Liberty Financial Was A Sweetheart Deal For Trump
What did the UAE get out of it?
www.forbes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Nandita Sharma, Peter Holmes , and 9 more

chadbourn.bsky.social
Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 15h
CNN is reporting the real reason Trump is closing the Kennedy Centre for two years is not for renovation: “the Kennedy Center does not have a 2026/2027 season. There would not have been any programming to announce."

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 18h
Nobody knows what this is about and yet everyone pretty much does

Reposted by Marc Lynch

jmalsin.bsky.social
Jared Malsin @jmalsin.bsky.social · 18h
Middle East powers are pushing for a US-Iran summit in Turkey later this week. The urgency is increasing.

"⁠The region’s unprecedented harmony is a measure of shared anxiety: that a U.S. strike on Iran would export chaos—refugees, militancy, instability." www.wsj.com/world/middle...
Middle East Pushes for Iran-U.S. Meeting to Head Off Attack
A flurry of diplomatic activity reflects concerns that military action could destabilize the region.
www.wsj.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Michael A. Clemens

filipecampante.bsky.social
Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 18h
This is what an economy based on connections looks like. We will all be poorer as a result. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/b...
The Key to Managing Tariffs: Be Big and Have the President’s Ear
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

matthewjbell.bsky.social
Matthew Bell @matthewjbell.bsky.social · 21h
A whistleblower complaint against Tulsi Gabbard is so classified that the lawyer of the whistleblower hasn't been allowed to look at the complaint itself. Neither has Congress. www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Exclusive | Classified Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Stalls Within Her Agency
Congress hasn’t seen the complaint, which was filed eight months ago with the U.S. intelligence community watchdog’s office.
www.wsj.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

ambgordongray.bsky.social
Gordon Gray @ambgordongray.bsky.social · 21h
@ishaantharoor.bsky.social writes that "numerous U.S. diplomats... were frustrated by what they saw as Biden’s acquiescence to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and unwillingness to condition U.S. aid to Israel along its compliance with international humanitarian law."

wapo.st/4rrkWAb
Column | In Gaza, an ‘apocalyptic wasteland’ foretold
Seen two years later, a suppressed U.S cable warning of a “wasteland” in northern Gaza, as reported by Reuters, is a small footnote of history.
wapo.st

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Ben H. Ansell, Brendan Nyhan , and 9 more

ariehkovler.com
Arieh Kovler @ariehkovler.com · 23h
If a university student group had celebrated Charlie Kirk being killed, complete with a graphic made from an actual picture of the killing, the whole lot of them would have been expelled before the ink on the digital story was dry.

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 23h
“This outcome was not the unavoidable result of fighting Hamas in dense urban terrain… Israeli targeting practices consistently defined military value broadly, treated intelligence gaps permissively, and shifted risk away from Israeli forces and onto civilians.”

warontherocks.com/2026/01/gaza...
Gaza and the Conduct of Urban War: Civilian Harm, Risk, and Responsibility
Urban warfare is often invoked as an alibi: dense terrain, an embedded enemy, human shields, imperfect intelligence. These conditions are real but they do
warontherocks.com

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 23h
International law governing conflict isn’t just “at a breaking point.” It was intentionally destroyed to protect Israel’s war on Gaza.
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d
International law meant to limit effects of war at breaking point, study finds
International law meant to limit effects of war at breaking point, study finds
Report covering 23 conflicts over last 18 months concludes more than 100,000 civilians have been killed as war crimes rage out of control An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity. The extensive study by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights describes the deaths of 18,592 children in Gaza, growing civilian casualties in Ukraine and an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Steven Heydemann, Jonathan M. Gilligan , and 7 more

liberalcurrents.com
Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 1d
“Let us be clear: we want the power of the state. We wish to hold the criminals of the regime accountable. We wish to seize back the public funds looted by Trump and his cronies. We wish to undo the damage he has done to the government. More than any of that we wish to rebuild.”
From Powerlessness to Power
We will not achieve any of our ultimate goals without exercising state power, and the most effective way to take state power is through nonviolent but confrontational resistance.
www.liberalcurrents.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

3arabawy.substack.com
عمو حسام @3arabawy.substack.com · 1d
The Secret Egyptian Air Base Behind Sudan’s Drone War
The Secret Egyptian Air Base Behind Sudan’s Drone War
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d
International law meant to limit effects of war at breaking point, study finds
International law meant to limit effects of war at breaking point, study finds
Report covering 23 conflicts over last 18 months concludes more than 100,000 civilians have been killed as war crimes rage out of control An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity. The extensive study by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights describes the deaths of 18,592 children in Gaza, growing civilian casualties in Ukraine and an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell , and 24 more

royalpratt.bsky.social
Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 1d
University of Illinois college republicans advocate for executing protesters as “traitors” with art that takes a disturbing killing and makes it even more extreme.
dailyillini.com/news-stories...
‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid killings - The Daily Illini
In a post that included a graphic of a presumed officer holding a gun to someone's head, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE."
dailyillini.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

diplomatofnight.com
Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 1d
Doesn't seem like this should be his job
Schumer: "I have many jobs as leader.. and one is to fight for aid to Israel — all the aid that Israel needs. I will continue to fight for it. «We delivered more security assistance to Israel, our ally, under my leadership than ever, ever before. We will keep doing that."

abuaardvark.bsky.social
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 1d
Rowan also inexplicably on the Gaza Board of Peace
donmoyn.bsky.social Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d
This is the U Penn donor who helped push the President out, pushed to eliminate arts & science offerings, and drafted Trumps "compact" with universities.
People like Rowan repeatedly claimed the moral high ground to impose their agenda on students and faculty.
tonytassell.bsky.social Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 1d
Top Apollo Global Management executives including chief Marc Rowan held wide-ranging discussions over the firm’s tax arrangements with Jeffrey Epstein throughout the 2010s www.ft.com/content/092d...

Reposted by Shibley Telhami, Marc Lynch, Kim L. Scheppele , and 13 more

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d
This is the U Penn donor who helped push the President out, pushed to eliminate arts & science offerings, and drafted Trumps "compact" with universities.
People like Rowan repeatedly claimed the moral high ground to impose their agenda on students and faculty.
tonytassell.bsky.social Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 1d
Top Apollo Global Management executives including chief Marc Rowan held wide-ranging discussions over the firm’s tax arrangements with Jeffrey Epstein throughout the 2010s www.ft.com/content/092d...
Apollo chief Marc Rowan consulted Epstein on firm’s tax affairs
New files reveal extensive talks between disgraced financier and key decision makers at US private capital firm
www.ft.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch, David Murakami Wood

justinhendrix.bsky.social
Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 1d
I took a close look at the latest Department of Homeland Security AI use case inventory, which details over 200 applications across DHS component agencies, including CBP and ICE. DHS is rapidly deploying these tools in US cities, while increasingly engaging in violence and defying court orders.
DHS AI Surveillance Arsenal Grows as Agency Defies Courts
A Department of Homeland Security AI inventory contains details on new tools used by ICE and border patrol agents in Trump's deportation campaign.
www.techpolicy.press

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

brizzyc.bsky.social
Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 1d
"A 2-year-old boy was breastfeeding in detention. One 6-year-old boy had leukemia. An 8-year-old girl began wetting the bed. A 14-year-old girl engaged in self-harm." A must read.