Hassan Hassan
@hhassan.bsky.social
Founder and Editor in Chief, @newlinesmag.bsky.social. New York Times Bestselling Author https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1682450201/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1699110557&sr=8-1. Father of two boys
Inside Beirut’s Fight To Save Its Reading Culture longreads.com/2025/09/16/b... (from @newlinesmag)
Inside Beirut’s Fight To Save Its Reading Culture - Longreads
"As reading declines and self-censorship grows, bookshops are shuttering in the city once hailed as the Arab world’s publishing capital."
longreads.com
September 17, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Inside Beirut’s Fight To Save Its Reading Culture longreads.com/2025/09/16/b... (from @newlinesmag)
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
How do you rebuild an economy soaked in blood? In post-Assad Syria, a committee is striking quiet deals with oligarchs. Billions are at stake, and so is justice. @kshaheen.bsky.social and @hhassan.bsky.social report for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
Balancing Fairness and Stability in Syria’s Political Transition
The new government says deals with Assad-era cronies are a form of justice that protects economic recovery and provides no immunity for past abuses
newlinesmag.com
August 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
How do you rebuild an economy soaked in blood? In post-Assad Syria, a committee is striking quiet deals with oligarchs. Billions are at stake, and so is justice. @kshaheen.bsky.social and @hhassan.bsky.social report for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
NEW: How do you rebuild an economy soaked in blood? In post-Assad Syria, a committee is striking quiet deals with oligarchs. Billions are at stake, and so is justice. @kshaheen.bsky.social and @hhassan.bsky.social report for @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
Balancing Fairness and Stability in Syria’s Political Transition
The new government says deals with Assad-era cronies are a form of justice that protects economic recovery and provides no immunity for past abuses
newlinesmag.com
July 31, 2025 at 12:26 PM
NEW: How do you rebuild an economy soaked in blood? In post-Assad Syria, a committee is striking quiet deals with oligarchs. Billions are at stake, and so is justice. @kshaheen.bsky.social and @hhassan.bsky.social report for @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
We spoke to the Syrian government about Reuters’ recent investigation about reported deals with Assad-era business cronies & tycoons.
New, exclusive details by @kshaheen.bsky.social and me in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
New, exclusive details by @kshaheen.bsky.social and me in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
Balancing Fairness and Stability in Syria’s Political Transition
The new government says deals with Assad-era cronies are a form of justice that protects economic recovery and provides no immunity for past abuses
newlinesmag.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
We spoke to the Syrian government about Reuters’ recent investigation about reported deals with Assad-era business cronies & tycoons.
New, exclusive details by @kshaheen.bsky.social and me in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
New, exclusive details by @kshaheen.bsky.social and me in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ba...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
This is *really* a good piece.
One of Syria’s most aggressive disinformation campaigns followed the Sweida violence.
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria
Seven months after Assad’s fall, an analysis of the violence in Sweida shows how international interference and internal paralysis are pushing the country back toward chaos
newlinesmag.com
July 25, 2025 at 3:33 PM
This is *really* a good piece.
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
"The crisis in Sweida is no longer just a local or even national story. Israel’s intervention and the disinformation campaign that followed reframed what began as a tribal and political dispute into something far more distorted..."
One of Syria’s most aggressive disinformation campaigns followed the Sweida violence.
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria
Seven months after Assad’s fall, an analysis of the violence in Sweida shows how international interference and internal paralysis are pushing the country back toward chaos
newlinesmag.com
July 25, 2025 at 2:16 AM
"The crisis in Sweida is no longer just a local or even national story. Israel’s intervention and the disinformation campaign that followed reframed what began as a tribal and political dispute into something far more distorted..."
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
Worth reading from @hhassan.bsky.social on events in Suweida. @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria
Seven months after Assad’s fall, an analysis of the violence in Sweida shows how international interference and internal paralysis are pushing the country back toward chaos
newlinesmag.com
July 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Worth reading from @hhassan.bsky.social on events in Suweida. @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
One of Syria’s most aggressive disinformation campaigns followed the Sweida violence.
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria
Seven months after Assad’s fall, an analysis of the violence in Sweida shows how international interference and internal paralysis are pushing the country back toward chaos
newlinesmag.com
July 24, 2025 at 9:53 PM
One of Syria’s most aggressive disinformation campaigns followed the Sweida violence.
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
In this piece, I try to cut through the noise to separate real local grievances from the louder, destructive foreign propaganda.
In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
A pair of MUST reads at @newlinesmag.bsky.social — @shaneburley.bsky.social on Laura Loomer and Jewish MAGA's danse macabre, @benlorber8.bsky.social on the antisemitic core of MAGA's obsession with Epstein and why progressives have no business jumping on the bandwagon. Ideology critique at its best.
July 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
A pair of MUST reads at @newlinesmag.bsky.social — @shaneburley.bsky.social on Laura Loomer and Jewish MAGA's danse macabre, @benlorber8.bsky.social on the antisemitic core of MAGA's obsession with Epstein and why progressives have no business jumping on the bandwagon. Ideology critique at its best.
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
NEW: Zohran Mamdani has support from South Asian groups in his NYC mayoral run, but the community is split. Some back his progressive platform, others worry about rent freezes and many remain unaware of his campaign, writes Yashica Dutt for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
The South Asian Vote May Be Split for Zohran Mamdani in New York City
Son of a prominent filmmaker and academic, the mayoral hopeful is gaining traction in progressive circles, but support for him is not unanimous within South Asian communities
newlinesmag.com
June 17, 2025 at 11:52 AM
NEW: Zohran Mamdani has support from South Asian groups in his NYC mayoral run, but the community is split. Some back his progressive platform, others worry about rent freezes and many remain unaware of his campaign, writes Yashica Dutt for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
NEW: A major tourism project in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is upending Bedouin life in one of the world’s most sacred landscapes, reports Jessica Buxbaum for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/eg...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/eg...
Egypt’s Sinai Megaproject Is Erasing Bedouin Culture
The ‘Great Transfiguration Project’ promises tourists luxury in the sacred valley of St. Catherine, but locals say it's destroying centuries of heritage and pushing people off their land
newlinesmag.com
June 17, 2025 at 11:58 AM
NEW: A major tourism project in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is upending Bedouin life in one of the world’s most sacred landscapes, reports Jessica Buxbaum for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/eg...
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/eg...
The Psychological Barrier Broken by Iran and Israel’s Missile Exchange
By crossing a former red line and engaging in direct conflict, Tel Aviv and Tehran may have set a dangerous precedent
Superb by Kareem Shaheen and Rasha Elass in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
By crossing a former red line and engaging in direct conflict, Tel Aviv and Tehran may have set a dangerous precedent
Superb by Kareem Shaheen and Rasha Elass in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
The Psychological Barrier Broken by Iran and Israel’s Missile Exchange
By crossing a former red line and engaging in direct conflict, Tel Aviv and Tehran may have set a dangerous precedent
newlinesmag.com
June 17, 2025 at 12:48 AM
The Psychological Barrier Broken by Iran and Israel’s Missile Exchange
By crossing a former red line and engaging in direct conflict, Tel Aviv and Tehran may have set a dangerous precedent
Superb by Kareem Shaheen and Rasha Elass in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
By crossing a former red line and engaging in direct conflict, Tel Aviv and Tehran may have set a dangerous precedent
Superb by Kareem Shaheen and Rasha Elass in @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
Such stories are the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters.
Four elite commandos infiltrated the Assad regime’s nerve center, eliminated top officers & destroyed the main ops center, cutting all comms. Assad’s forces collapsed into chaos.
11 days later, Assadist 50-year rule was over.
Four elite commandos infiltrated the Assad regime’s nerve center, eliminated top officers & destroyed the main ops center, cutting all comms. Assad’s forces collapsed into chaos.
11 days later, Assadist 50-year rule was over.
May 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Such stories are the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters.
Four elite commandos infiltrated the Assad regime’s nerve center, eliminated top officers & destroyed the main ops center, cutting all comms. Assad’s forces collapsed into chaos.
11 days later, Assadist 50-year rule was over.
Four elite commandos infiltrated the Assad regime’s nerve center, eliminated top officers & destroyed the main ops center, cutting all comms. Assad’s forces collapsed into chaos.
11 days later, Assadist 50-year rule was over.
Ahmad Al-Sharaa on this day in 2023:
‘I see you sitting in Aleppo as I see you sitting in front of me now .. Not much is left for this regime to be dislodged from Aleppo & then Syria .. We believe in the next year or two. I say this not to boost morale, but based on information & numbers.’
‘I see you sitting in Aleppo as I see you sitting in front of me now .. Not much is left for this regime to be dislodged from Aleppo & then Syria .. We believe in the next year or two. I say this not to boost morale, but based on information & numbers.’
May 27, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Ahmad Al-Sharaa on this day in 2023:
‘I see you sitting in Aleppo as I see you sitting in front of me now .. Not much is left for this regime to be dislodged from Aleppo & then Syria .. We believe in the next year or two. I say this not to boost morale, but based on information & numbers.’
‘I see you sitting in Aleppo as I see you sitting in front of me now .. Not much is left for this regime to be dislodged from Aleppo & then Syria .. We believe in the next year or two. I say this not to boost morale, but based on information & numbers.’
We have a big piece from Syria today, an investigation by Kamal Shahin:
A hidden cyberattack involving spyware distributed among Syrian officers may have played a critical role in the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...
A hidden cyberattack involving spyware distributed among Syrian officers may have played a critical role in the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...
How a Spyware App Compromised Assad’s Army
An investigation reveals how a cyberattack exploited soldiers' vulnerabilities and may have changed the course of the Syrian conflict
newlinesmag.com
May 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
We have a big piece from Syria today, an investigation by Kamal Shahin:
A hidden cyberattack involving spyware distributed among Syrian officers may have played a critical role in the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...
A hidden cyberattack involving spyware distributed among Syrian officers may have played a critical role in the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. In @newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
We have a couple of really incredible reporting stories out of Syria, including a fascinating investigation into the use of spyware against the army ahead of Assad's collapse on Monday, and this excellent investigation into the violence against the Druze: newlinesmag.com/spotlight/sy...
Syria’s Druze Are Wary in the Wake of Attacks
The voices of those who have experienced recent violence make clear the fear that is now eating away at the country’s hopes of unity
newlinesmag.com
May 23, 2025 at 2:59 PM
We have a couple of really incredible reporting stories out of Syria, including a fascinating investigation into the use of spyware against the army ahead of Assad's collapse on Monday, and this excellent investigation into the violence against the Druze: newlinesmag.com/spotlight/sy...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
Academics: have you ever assigned a @newlinesmag.bsky.social article, podcast episode, or video essay in a class? If so, which one(s) and what class(es)? Any and all details welcome! You can respond here, DM me, or e-mail [email protected] 🙏
May 20, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Academics: have you ever assigned a @newlinesmag.bsky.social article, podcast episode, or video essay in a class? If so, which one(s) and what class(es)? Any and all details welcome! You can respond here, DM me, or e-mail [email protected] 🙏
Everything about the Syrian president and his story is mind-boggling. Take this, for example:
Exactly 20 years ago today, he was captured by the Americans in Iraq and jailed.
Today he met (and impressed) the US president in Riyadh.
His life reads like a ready-made Hollywood script.
Exactly 20 years ago today, he was captured by the Americans in Iraq and jailed.
Today he met (and impressed) the US president in Riyadh.
His life reads like a ready-made Hollywood script.
May 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Everything about the Syrian president and his story is mind-boggling. Take this, for example:
Exactly 20 years ago today, he was captured by the Americans in Iraq and jailed.
Today he met (and impressed) the US president in Riyadh.
His life reads like a ready-made Hollywood script.
Exactly 20 years ago today, he was captured by the Americans in Iraq and jailed.
Today he met (and impressed) the US president in Riyadh.
His life reads like a ready-made Hollywood script.
This is making a huge buzz in the Middle East, with very significant popular discussions:
Rare audio of a candid conversation between Egypt's Nasser & Libya's Gadhafi about #Israel surfaced in recent days.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/wh...
Rare audio of a candid conversation between Egypt's Nasser & Libya's Gadhafi about #Israel surfaced in recent days.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/wh...
Why a Candid Conversation From 55 Years Ago Has Scandalized the Arab World
The uproar sparked by a recording of a colorful discussion between Egypt's Nasser and Libya's Gadhafi reveals more about contemporary Middle Eastern politics than history
newlinesmag.com
April 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This is making a huge buzz in the Middle East, with very significant popular discussions:
Rare audio of a candid conversation between Egypt's Nasser & Libya's Gadhafi about #Israel surfaced in recent days.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/wh...
Rare audio of a candid conversation between Egypt's Nasser & Libya's Gadhafi about #Israel surfaced in recent days.
newlinesmag.com/spotlight/wh...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army led a massive deployment in destruction, killings & arrests in the West Bank. But while it maintains a webpage in 5 languages, the spokesperson updated with details in Hebrew only, @sammysussman.bsky.social reports. newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
The Curious Gaps in the Israeli Army’s Updates
On a little-known web page called War Diary, the military spokesperson provides information on its activities in five languages, but reports details of West Bank operations in Hebrew only
newlinesmag.com
April 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army led a massive deployment in destruction, killings & arrests in the West Bank. But while it maintains a webpage in 5 languages, the spokesperson updated with details in Hebrew only, @sammysussman.bsky.social reports. newlinesmag.com/reportage/th...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
Badar’s fellowship is partially subsidized by the Scholars at Risk program, which works with U.S. universities to host international scholars facing threats in their countries. He never imagined that a country with a Scholars at Risk program would one day pose a risk to scholars.
A powerful essay ⤵️
A powerful essay ⤵️
NEW: The detention of Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri parallels the cases of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. His colleague Nader Hashemi reflects for @newlinesmag.bsky.social on his recent visit with Suri in an ICE facility in Texas.
newlinesmag.com/first-person...
newlinesmag.com/first-person...
Teaching Gandhi in a Texas Detention Center
A visit to the ICE facility housing the Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri, whose case parallels those of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk
newlinesmag.com
April 23, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Badar’s fellowship is partially subsidized by the Scholars at Risk program, which works with U.S. universities to host international scholars facing threats in their countries. He never imagined that a country with a Scholars at Risk program would one day pose a risk to scholars.
A powerful essay ⤵️
A powerful essay ⤵️
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
What exactly is an “America First” foreign policy? Is it a form of realism, or something darker?
In a new piece for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I look under the hood and examine the contradictions and confusions that have bedeviled the doctrine for the past century.
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
In a new piece for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I look under the hood and examine the contradictions and confusions that have bedeviled the doctrine for the past century.
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
The ‘America First’ Masquerade
Though packaged as a kind of foreign policy realism, the doctrine guiding the Trump administration is riddled with contradictions
newlinesmag.com
March 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
What exactly is an “America First” foreign policy? Is it a form of realism, or something darker?
In a new piece for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I look under the hood and examine the contradictions and confusions that have bedeviled the doctrine for the past century.
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
In a new piece for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I look under the hood and examine the contradictions and confusions that have bedeviled the doctrine for the past century.
newlinesmag.com/argument/the...
Reposted by Hassan Hassan
I write about A LOT of this stuff in my book, very much based on Anthony Kaldellis's brilliant scholarship.
This article does an excellent job laying out that history of "Roman denialism" and its legacies in the modern day. Highly recommend reading!
This article does an excellent job laying out that history of "Roman denialism" and its legacies in the modern day. Highly recommend reading!
Western writers have long hesitated to call Byzantium what it was: the Roman Empire. Historian Anthony Kaldellis calls this “Roman denialism” & has spent years critiquing it. Now he takes the fight to a popular audience.
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...
Overcoming the Deep Roots of Byzantine Orientalism
A new book masterfully lays out the history of the Eastern Roman Empire and its legacies
newlinesmag.com
March 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I write about A LOT of this stuff in my book, very much based on Anthony Kaldellis's brilliant scholarship.
This article does an excellent job laying out that history of "Roman denialism" and its legacies in the modern day. Highly recommend reading!
This article does an excellent job laying out that history of "Roman denialism" and its legacies in the modern day. Highly recommend reading!
Western writers have long hesitated to call Byzantium what it was: the Roman Empire. Historian Anthony Kaldellis calls this “Roman denialism” & has spent years critiquing it. Now he takes the fight to a popular audience.
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...
Overcoming the Deep Roots of Byzantine Orientalism
A new book masterfully lays out the history of the Eastern Roman Empire and its legacies
newlinesmag.com
March 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Western writers have long hesitated to call Byzantium what it was: the Roman Empire. Historian Anthony Kaldellis calls this “Roman denialism” & has spent years critiquing it. Now he takes the fight to a popular audience.
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...
By Luka Ivan Jukić in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/overc...