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Abu Aardvark
@abuaardvark.bsky.social

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

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%
Pinned
“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
So what does everyone do when monarchs stop being benevolent?

America’s Middle East reviewed in Arabic by the great Jordanian analyst Mohammed Abu Rumman - hopefully there will also be an English version

www.aajeg.com/opinion/%D8%...
اعترافات باحث أميركي مميّز
يعترف مارك لينش بأنه حين كتب كتابه الجديد "الشرق الأوسط الأميركي.. دمار منطقة"، كان في حالة من سورة الغضب، وهو يشاهد المذابح في غزّة لملايين الفلسطينيين.
https://www.aajeg.com/opinion/اعترافات-باحث-أميركي-مميّز

The sound of 1000 syllabi on the politics of terrorism being updated
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa where his “real allegiances” lie, given his “past of being a terrorist.”

Al-Sharaa, a fmr. senior figure in al-Qaeda’s Iraq network who later founded its Syrian arm in 2011, said that if a terrorist is “one who kills innocent...

Reposted by Marc Lynch

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa where his “real allegiances” lie, given his “past of being a terrorist.”

Al-Sharaa, a fmr. senior figure in al-Qaeda’s Iraq network who later founded its Syrian arm in 2011, said that if a terrorist is “one who kills innocent...
"A purely transactional view of the special relationship could eventually turn Israel into just another nation in Washington’s eyes — an outcome that would be the country’s worst nightmare." www.ft.com/content/28c3... via @ft
The sorry history of US policy in the Middle East
This administration’s transactionalism marks a departure in America’s approach to Israel, Palestine and the rest of the region
www.ft.com

“Now you will see me one more time if you do good. You will see me two more times if you do bad.”
He looks like a Lynchian nightmare

My personal web page is like ten years out of date and hasn’t been maintained at all. I want to start over from scratch. Let’s assume I have minimal tech skills and little free time - what’s the best platform these days?

“Lynch asks: “If Gaza’s impact on young Americans is greater than that of Iraq twenty years ago,
what kind of political revolution might they produce over the next half-decade?” The direction of travel is clear.” Good Trump-centric review of America’s Middle East in FT.

www.ft.com/content/28c3...
The sorry history of US policy in the Middle East
This administration’s transactionalism marks a departure in America’s approach to Israel, Palestine and the rest of the region
www.ft.com
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

New investigation: The Egyptian government has sharply escalated deportations of Sudanese refugees, even as war worsens across the border. Through leaked documents and extensive interviews, we examine how the system operates and how UNHCR has failed to protect those affected. buff.ly/jkkaCkg

Reposted by Marc Lynch

"I told him ‘You need to be as ambitious as Gamal Abdel Nasser’" – my piece on Syria's new president and what life is like under his rule, a year after the fall of the Assad regime.

With Saad Alnassife, from Damascus:
A year after Assad, Syria and the world wait to see if Sharaa is democrat or despot | The Observer
observer.co.uk

Reposted by Marc Lynch

“Assad, who escaped to Russia last December, is largely resigned to exile in Moscow, say four people close to the family. But other senior figures from his inner circle, including his brother, have not come to terms with losing power.” www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Assad's exiled spy chief and billionaire cousin plot Syrian uprisings from Russia
From exile in Moscow, ex-intel chief Kamal Hassan and Assad cousin Rami Makhlouf are spending millions in competing efforts to build fighting forces to lead a revolt along Syria’s coast. The governmen...
www.reuters.com

It’s cold day in hell

Fortunately I have my ways and means 😂

One of the things I love about DC airports is the unbelievably sensitive things people shout into their phones and just saying someone’s lucky I’m not a journalist

I almost included Don’t Worry about the Government but couldn’t decide what to cut
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.

paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...

Added to the queue

Reposted by Marc Lynch

This is good news: Canada removes Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and removes HTS from its List of Terrorist Entities.

www.canada.ca/en/global-af...
Canada announces measures related to Syria
The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety, today announced measures taken by the Government of Canada in relation to Sy...
www.canada.ca

Once in a Lifetime
Life in Wartime
And She Was
Girlfriend is Better
Wild Wild Life

What’s yours
a man in a suit is dancing in a row
ALT: a man in a suit is dancing in a row
media.tenor.com
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.

Reposted by Marc Lynch

Israel’s killing of two young Palestinian boys in Gaza for supposedly crossing the Israeli military’s ever-shifting yellow line last week is “horrific” and must be investigated, the UN has said. “It’s hard to see how two boys, eight and 10, can be considered a threat.”
UN Calls for Investigation Into Israeli Killing of 2 Boys Aged 8 and 10 in Gaza
The boys’ father said that their bodies were torn to pieces by Israel’s strike.
truthout.org
this shit is just beyond parody, man

An Assadist insurgency has thus far been a non-barking dog in Syria’s transition. Let’s hope it stays that way.

“the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy.. are thankfully over.. it is no longer the constant irritant, potential source of.. catastrophe, that it once was. It is rather emerging as a place of partnership, friendship, investment” lol

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

Reposted by Marc Lynch

Apply by 12/14! Early-career scholars in the #MENA region are invited to apply for the 2026 #IQMR, held at the @maxwellsu.bsky.social of Syracuse University, supporting up to three MENA scholars to attend.

Apply Now!
Call for Applications: 2026 Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) | Deadline: December 14, 2025 -
Call for Applications: Apply Now for the 2026 Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) Deadline: December 14, 2025 Maxwell School, Syracuse University, NY, USA June 14–26, 2026 The…
buff.ly

These horrid people are so thirsty to kill our children
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Marc Lynch

Ousted Syrian leader's former spy chief and billionaire cousin scheme to destabilise Syria with armed violence.
Al-Assad inner circle plotting Syrian uprisings from Russian exile: Report
Ousted Syrian leader's former spy chief and billionaire cousin scheme to destabilise Syria with armed violence.
bit.ly