Andrew M Leber
@andrewleber.bsky.social
Asst. Prof. of political science, Tulane U
MENA politics, some photography, some translation
New Orleans, LA ⚜️
MENA politics, some photography, some translation
New Orleans, LA ⚜️
Looking for a short read on your commute home (at the intersection of IR theory and current events)?
I wrote on international status and MBS' Washington visit for @carnegieendowment.org
I wrote on international status and MBS' Washington visit for @carnegieendowment.org
![Still, the symbolic value of the visit went beyond burnishing the crown prince’s reputation by signaling the kingdom’s international status: what political scientists define as “collective beliefs about a given state’s ranking [in the world, based] on valued attributes.” Leaders—including in Saudi Arabia—seek out international prestige and recognition not only to boost their own egos, but to cultivate domestic support as well.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:m4zukalob5mkjsiqudexsiwg/bafkreifa3c23r5o6rdh5rrtef2iqjnixbgtfrhqq4houitvpudgttdnsae@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Looking for a short read on your commute home (at the intersection of IR theory and current events)?
I wrote on international status and MBS' Washington visit for @carnegieendowment.org
I wrote on international status and MBS' Washington visit for @carnegieendowment.org
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington yielded a few headline-grabbing deals. @andrewleber.bsky.social breaks down what changed – and what didn’t – for the U.S.-Saudi relationship this week: youtube.com/shorts/1pEJB...
Takeaways from MBS's Washington Visit
YouTube video by Carnegie Explains
youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington yielded a few headline-grabbing deals. @andrewleber.bsky.social breaks down what changed – and what didn’t – for the U.S.-Saudi relationship this week: youtube.com/shorts/1pEJB...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will step back from all public commitments in an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he wrote in a statement.
Crimson News Staff report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Crimson News Staff report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Summers To Step Back from Public Commitments Amid Epstein Scandal | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawerence H. Summers will step back from all public commitments in an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he wrote in a…
www.thecrimson.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will step back from all public commitments in an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” he wrote in a statement.
Crimson News Staff report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Crimson News Staff report.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
With security cooperation with the U.S. and economic ties with China, do Gulf monarchies get the best of both worlds? @andrewleber.bsky.social explains: China’s manufacturing capacity and high-tech capabilities shape competition in the region.
Full article: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Full article: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Imports and Influence: China’s Growing Economic Presence in the Gulf
The Arab Gulf monarchies offer a window into the policy implications of China’s rising global economic influence, driven by its substantial manufacturing capacity and growing range of high-tech capabi...
carnegieendowment.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:23 PM
With security cooperation with the U.S. and economic ties with China, do Gulf monarchies get the best of both worlds? @andrewleber.bsky.social explains: China’s manufacturing capacity and high-tech capabilities shape competition in the region.
Full article: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Full article: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Join us next week!
Tiffany Simon (@harvardkennedy.bsky.social) will present "Happiness as Control: The Political Consequences of Entertainment Policy in Saudi Arabia" and @andrewleber.bsky.social (@tulanepolisci.bsky.social) and @aasiegel.bsky.social (@colorado.edu) will discuss
Tiffany Simon (@harvardkennedy.bsky.social) will present "Happiness as Control: The Political Consequences of Entertainment Policy in Saudi Arabia" and @andrewleber.bsky.social (@tulanepolisci.bsky.social) and @aasiegel.bsky.social (@colorado.edu) will discuss
October 29, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Join us next week!
Tiffany Simon (@harvardkennedy.bsky.social) will present "Happiness as Control: The Political Consequences of Entertainment Policy in Saudi Arabia" and @andrewleber.bsky.social (@tulanepolisci.bsky.social) and @aasiegel.bsky.social (@colorado.edu) will discuss
Tiffany Simon (@harvardkennedy.bsky.social) will present "Happiness as Control: The Political Consequences of Entertainment Policy in Saudi Arabia" and @andrewleber.bsky.social (@tulanepolisci.bsky.social) and @aasiegel.bsky.social (@colorado.edu) will discuss
In case of interest for anybody in the DC area
October 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In case of interest for anybody in the DC area
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Initiatives like the Riyadh Comedy Festival aren’t helping Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman “clean up” his image abroad. But the kingdom’s international reputation isn’t its main priority here.
@andrewleber.bsky.social, on @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/10/04/n...
@andrewleber.bsky.social, on @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/10/04/n...
The image Saudi Arabia hopes to achieve beyond the comedy festival
Saudi Arabia is working to reshape its global cultural image, but controversies over several acts in its comedy festival tied to the country's human rights record are underscoring the tension between ...
www.npr.org
October 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Initiatives like the Riyadh Comedy Festival aren’t helping Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman “clean up” his image abroad. But the kingdom’s international reputation isn’t its main priority here.
@andrewleber.bsky.social, on @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/10/04/n...
@andrewleber.bsky.social, on @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/10/04/n...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Two especially good bits ⬇️
What @andrewleber.bsky.social’s analysis captures, that much discourse around “-washing” events in the Gulf & beyond often neglects, are these domestic drivers.
Not everything is done solely, or mainly, for an international gaze. Some risks are taken despite that gaze.
What @andrewleber.bsky.social’s analysis captures, that much discourse around “-washing” events in the Gulf & beyond often neglects, are these domestic drivers.
Not everything is done solely, or mainly, for an international gaze. Some risks are taken despite that gaze.
October 4, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Two especially good bits ⬇️
What @andrewleber.bsky.social’s analysis captures, that much discourse around “-washing” events in the Gulf & beyond often neglects, are these domestic drivers.
Not everything is done solely, or mainly, for an international gaze. Some risks are taken despite that gaze.
What @andrewleber.bsky.social’s analysis captures, that much discourse around “-washing” events in the Gulf & beyond often neglects, are these domestic drivers.
Not everything is done solely, or mainly, for an international gaze. Some risks are taken despite that gaze.
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Dwayne has his job back because we organized for it. We fight or we die. Join AAUP today www.aaup.org/join
October 3, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Dwayne has his job back because we organized for it. We fight or we die. Join AAUP today www.aaup.org/join
I looked at the domestic drivers of the Riyadh Comedy Festival for @carnegieendowment.org
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
The Riyadh Comedy Festival Isn’t Trying to Change Your Opinion of Saudi Arabia
The driving forces are domestic.
carnegieendowment.org
October 3, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I looked at the domestic drivers of the Riyadh Comedy Festival for @carnegieendowment.org
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨
October 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨
Speaking tomorrow with Elias Muhanna at Brown University on a panel about Gulf-monarchy "giga-projects," for anybody interested in stopping by.
events.brown.edu/middle-east/...
events.brown.edu/middle-east/...
Giga-Projects: Envisioned Communities in the Age of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030”
The webinar hosted by Elias Muhanna, director of the Center for Middle East Studies, will be focused on megaprojects like NEOM, the Red Sea Project...
events.brown.edu
October 1, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Speaking tomorrow with Elias Muhanna at Brown University on a panel about Gulf-monarchy "giga-projects," for anybody interested in stopping by.
events.brown.edu/middle-east/...
events.brown.edu/middle-east/...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
"Perhaps the most ghastly piece printed during Hegseth’s reign as publisher was an assertion that Princeton’s characterization of sex with an unconscious person as nonconsensual was an effort to “indoctrinate” students."
thebaffler.com/salvos/battl...
thebaffler.com/salvos/battl...
Battle of the Sexes | Jasper Craven
Pete Hegseth has used his many perches—from Princeton to the Pentagon—to agitate for a kind of trickle-down masculinity.
thebaffler.com
September 28, 2025 at 2:22 PM
"Perhaps the most ghastly piece printed during Hegseth’s reign as publisher was an assertion that Princeton’s characterization of sex with an unconscious person as nonconsensual was an effort to “indoctrinate” students."
thebaffler.com/salvos/battl...
thebaffler.com/salvos/battl...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
it's a great interview, and what's striking is that at the end of the day both klein and coates believe in winning people over. the difference is that coates thinks you do this by telling them the truth, and klein thinks you do it by empathizing with them and recognizing their concerns as Real
This was revealing. Worth reading. The basic demand is that Coates spend less time thinking/writing his true feelings and more time playing political strategist. Klein asks him over and over him to do Dem strategy; he says no, over and over. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines
www.nytimes.com
September 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
it's a great interview, and what's striking is that at the end of the day both klein and coates believe in winning people over. the difference is that coates thinks you do this by telling them the truth, and klein thinks you do it by empathizing with them and recognizing their concerns as Real
"As AI bots like ChatGPT become inextricably tangled with people’s private and public lives, it’s causing unpredictable new crises."
futurism.com/chatgpt-marr...
futurism.com/chatgpt-marr...
ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners
Across the world, marriages are being destroyed as spouses use AI like OpenAI's ChatGPT to attack their partners.
futurism.com
September 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
"As AI bots like ChatGPT become inextricably tangled with people’s private and public lives, it’s causing unpredictable new crises."
futurism.com/chatgpt-marr...
futurism.com/chatgpt-marr...
With due respect to the authors, this article further affirms the bankruptcy of terrorism studies in being a) value-neutral on "the state" and b) drawing artificial divisions with other forms of political violence.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise
For the first time in more than 30 years, attacks by the far left outnumber those by the far right.
www.theatlantic.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
With due respect to the authors, this article further affirms the bankruptcy of terrorism studies in being a) value-neutral on "the state" and b) drawing artificial divisions with other forms of political violence.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
September 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
Across the Middle East, Israel’s strikes on Qatar have raised questions– among them whether the region can rely on the U.S. for protection.
Amr Hamzawy, Sarah Yerkes, @andrewleber.bsky.social, and Marwan Muasher share more: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Amr Hamzawy, Sarah Yerkes, @andrewleber.bsky.social, and Marwan Muasher share more: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
September 12, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Across the Middle East, Israel’s strikes on Qatar have raised questions– among them whether the region can rely on the U.S. for protection.
Amr Hamzawy, Sarah Yerkes, @andrewleber.bsky.social, and Marwan Muasher share more: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Amr Hamzawy, Sarah Yerkes, @andrewleber.bsky.social, and Marwan Muasher share more: carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
Reposted by Andrew M Leber
🔝 This is the most-read story on FT right now >>
🚨 My latest story: Saudi authorities shut down two dozen music “lounges” in recent weeks over violations to public health and hygiene codes, but their existence has been controversial for years as conservatives see them as signs of the rapid decay of morals and social norms.
September 17, 2025 at 11:23 AM
🔝 This is the most-read story on FT right now >>
I joined Carnegie colleagues Amr Hamzawy, Marwan Muasher, and Sarah Yerkes in assessing the regional fallout of Israel's recent strikes on Doha.
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
The Widespread Fallout of Israel’s Qatar Strikes
The operation against Hamas in Doha has eliminated the notion that the Middle East can rely on America for protection of its lands.
carnegieendowment.org
September 11, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I joined Carnegie colleagues Amr Hamzawy, Marwan Muasher, and Sarah Yerkes in assessing the regional fallout of Israel's recent strikes on Doha.
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...
'“They don’t want to go down in history as the people who facilitated either a genocide or the pathway to a genocide,” he says; they want jobs in the next White House.'
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
The Spin on Gaza
Those who resigned in protest over the war say its enablers are rewriting history.
nymag.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:38 AM
'“They don’t want to go down in history as the people who facilitated either a genocide or the pathway to a genocide,” he says; they want jobs in the next White House.'
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
[email protected] is "seek to hire an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in Comparative Political Economy." Open area focus, but looking especially for:
energy transitions
natural resources governance
domestic environmental/climate politics
apply.interfolio.com/172989
energy transitions
natural resources governance
domestic environmental/climate politics
apply.interfolio.com/172989
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
September 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
[email protected] is "seek to hire an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in Comparative Political Economy." Open area focus, but looking especially for:
energy transitions
natural resources governance
domestic environmental/climate politics
apply.interfolio.com/172989
energy transitions
natural resources governance
domestic environmental/climate politics
apply.interfolio.com/172989
"A headline in “Intelligencer” captured Cassidy’s posture: “Key Republican Almost Annoyed Enough at RFK Jr. to Act.”"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
R.F.K., Jr., Brings More Chaos to COVID Policy and the C.D.C.
When MAGA met MAHA, Donald Trump vowed that Kennedy would “go wild on health.” Promises made, promises kept.
www.newyorker.com
September 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"A headline in “Intelligencer” captured Cassidy’s posture: “Key Republican Almost Annoyed Enough at RFK Jr. to Act.”"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...