Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

@brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social

680 followers 310 following 49 posts

PhD student at the University of Cambridge Saudi Arabia, Middle East politics & computational social science

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · Nov 15

👋 Welcome to all new faces here! Excited to share ideas, insights, and discussions on Middle East politics & scholarship on authoritarianism. You can find my main publication on the effect of Covid on Saudi politics and authoritarian legitimation here: doi.org/10.1017/S153...

“The Pandemic Was a Global Exam, and Our Country Came in First”: Autocratic Performance Legitimacy in Saudi Arabia | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge Core

“The Pandemic Was a Global Exam, and Our Country Came in First”: Autocratic Performance Legitimacy in Saudi Arabia - Volume 22 Issue 3

doi.org

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 9d

Enjoying watching the UK trip over own shoelaces on this...

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 9d

Rest of world already pouncing.

@bloomberg.com @reuters.com #H1B
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

4 13 49

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Ahmed Al Omran @alomran.me · 21d

🔝 This is the most-read story on FT right now >>

Ahmed Al Omran @alomran.me · 22d

🚨 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.

3 3

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · Aug 7

🥳

Politics Journal @politicsjournal.bsky.social · Aug 6

2024 Best Research Article published in Politics @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com @uofglasgow.bsky.social: we're happy to announce the winner is Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social for his work on violence in social movements. Details: journals.sagepub.com/page/pol/col...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · Aug 6

Congratulations! 🥳

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Lisel Hintz @liselhintz.bsky.social · Jul 6

If you’re a PhD student from or working on MENA, or if you are advising MENA students who could benefit from a supportive online working space, please reach out.

We’ve had dozens of PhD students from Turkey alone finish their dissertations, apply for grants and jobs, revise article submissions.

Lisel Hintz @liselhintz.bsky.social · Jul 6

Tomorrow begins Week 119 of the Zoom writing group I started post-2023 earthquakes. What are we?

*Students and scholars of all levels/fields
*Expanded to include those from or working on MENA
*8-10 sessions/week, join any/all
*Solidarity + structure for writing tasks

Interested? Please reach out!

3 9

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Jul 1

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social is now published by OUP in the USA (rest of world soon)

If you are interested in why you see so many dictatorships & illiberal leaders influencing world politics then this is the book for you.

2 31 74

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · Jun 26

This should be much, much bigger news in Germany. It should be a lead item on the national news.

"A four-year-old Black boy died in a fire in a house in Wilhelmshaven occupied exclusively by people of recent immigration background...The public prosecutor's office is now investigating the arson."

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · Jun 25

Grim news from Germany. A black family, who had previously experienced several incidents of racial harassment, was the victim of a suspected arson attack on Monday. One child is dead, the other is in critical condition. A fundraiser for them is here: www.gofundme.com/f/unterstutz...

1 120 230

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · Jun 24

POMEPS Call for Papers: Syria after Assad Workshop. We seek papers on topics related to understanding Syria today that will be discussed at a virtual workshop on Sept. 19th. The deadline to apply is July 21st. For more info on how to apply: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...

Call for Papers: Syria after Assad Workshop - Project on Middle East Political Science

The stunning collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 has thrown up crucial questions about the future of Syria and the Syrian people. For example, is Syria transitioning mainly from fourteen yea...

pomeps.org

2 2

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Grigore Pop-Eleches @grigopop.bsky.social · May 18

Exit polls and turnout figures look very promising for Nicușor Dan (and prediction markets seem to agree). But lots of uncertainty remains given the gap between exit polls and results in the first wave. Meanwhile, Simion claimed victory, setting the stage for fraud claims (and possibly violence.)

1 3 17

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Simon Wolfgang Fuchs @simonwfuchs.bsky.social · May 18

“'No one knows better than us that the Gazans have nowhere to return,' explained a commander, whose battalion was involved in the destruction of about a thousand buildings over two months in 2025. [...]'The idea was to destroy everything.'" #Gaza
www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-...

‘Render it unusable’: Israel’s mission of total urban destruction

Bulldozers and explosives are flattening Gaza from the ground — what soldiers say is a systematic campaign to make the Strip unlivable.

www.972mag.com

10 8

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Authoritarian Political Systems Group @apsgworkshop.bsky.social · May 15

Do you have any new publications or CfPs to share with the APSG community? Do you work on authoritarian politics and are in the academic market (or will soon)?
Let us know!!
forms.gle/wMqEnjAgJyxq...

Google Forms: Sign-in

Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

forms.gle

5 5

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · May 7

Wrote up a similar set of results the other day if you haven’t read it already.

benansell.substack.com/p/labour-is-...

Labour is Learning the Wrong Lessons

Centre-left incumbents are staying in power by aggressively pushing back on populists, not by aping them

benansell.substack.com

4 5

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · May 6

They're also canceling The Middle East Journal as an academic outlet to transition it to a policy-focused format by fall 2025

5 5

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · May 5

Ähnlich ein überraschend kritischer Kommentar in der FAZ von Christian Meier kürzlich: www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...

Netanjahus Krieg in Gaza: Damit Deutschland nicht Komplize wird

Israels Militäraktion in Gaza verfolgt kein rationales Ziel mehr. Das Vorgehen der Armee dient nur noch den politischen und ideologischen Bedürfnissen Netanjahus und seiner Koalition.

www.faz.net

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · Apr 28

The comparativists are making good sense of US politics: a great new piece by my old friend and collaborator @lmorgenbesser.bsky.social

How ICE is becoming a secret police force under the Trump administration

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement meets most criteria that have defined secret police forces in authoritarian regimes. And the worst may be yet to come.

theconversation.com

19 45

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · Apr 28

A decline in public investments and overall austerity, however, create more breeding ground for grievances that the far right can capitalize on.
If you combine this with a normalization of their anti-immigrant position, it is the ideal situation for them.
This is exactly what Labour is doing.

2 3 29

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Thomas Hegghammer @hegghammer.net · Apr 23

AI free is the new organic

4 11

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Ziad Daoud @ziaddaoud.bsky.social · Apr 23

My latest: Trump is heading to Saudi in mid-May, chasing $1 trillion in investments

He may leave disappointed

The kingdom’s role in the global economy is shifting -- from an exporter of capital to a seeker of funds

Full analysis on the Bloomberg terminal

1 2

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Dr. Stephanie Seul @stephanieseul.bsky.social · Apr 16

Das betrifft nicht nur Journalist*innen, die für die SZ schreiben, sondern auch alle Wissenschaftler*innen. Informa (Routledge, Taylor&Francis) hat sämtliche Daten an Microsoft verkauft, ohne Zustimmung der Autor*nnen & ohne jede Vergütung.

Danke für nichts.

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

1 45 86

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Dana El Kurd @danaelkurd.bsky.social · Apr 10

"The data analytic tools now being used to scour social media were enhanced during the Biden administration, a former Biden administration DHS official said."

Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · Apr 10

Would appreciate some intrepid journalists finding out and publishing the names of every tech company involved in any part of this www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Inside the DHS task force scouring foreign students' social media

A critic called the review a return to “McCarthyism,” a reference to tactics used to identify alleged communists during the Cold War.

www.nbcnews.com

20 34

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social · Apr 9

Congrats! 🥳

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

nico10.bsky.social @nico10.bsky.social · Apr 9

Very excited to see my PhD dissertation published! I asked who gets to imagine Edinburgh’s future. I spoke with political leaders, tech entrepreneurs and higher education officials responsible for delivering the Edinburgh City Region Deal. Open access link ⬇️

Envisaging Dataist Modernity

Who gets to imagine datafied visions of the future city (region) and why is it important to look at universities as powerful urban stakeholders?

www.transcript-publishing.com

7 9

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · Apr 8

At a time when international students and scholars are turning away from America, instead of seizing this opportunity, Number 10 have a steely focus on winning the Runcorn by-election to help defend their wafer-thin majority of 174 seats.

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Apr 8

The UK government is proposing to finally finish off its universities by further tightening the terms of the graduate visa route. The stupid fools. Playing with dangers they don't even understand. www.ft.com/content/f441...

UK Home Office’s reform of graduate visas runs into opposition

[FREE TO READ] Education department at odds with plan to curb number of overseas students allowed to stay in Britain

www.ft.com

1 81 220

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Authoritarian Political Systems Group @apsgworkshop.bsky.social · Mar 31

New Publication!
@fabioangiolillo.bsky.social, @felixwiebrecht.bsky.social & @staffanlindberg.bsky.social introduce the party-system democracy index (PSDI), a new global measure on regime preferences across party systems.
doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Party Systems, Democratic Positions, and Regime Changes: Introducing the Party-System Democracy Index | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core

Party Systems, Democratic Positions, and Regime Changes: Introducing the Party-System Democracy Index - Volume 55

doi.org

1 6 8

Reposted by Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd

Andrew M Leber @andrewleber.bsky.social · Mar 27

Rephrasing this:

While technically accurate to refer to the "Houthi-controlled" Yemeni health ministry, phrasing + skepticism about casualty numbers is uncomfortably similar to discrediting Gaza casualty the so-called "Hamas-run" Ministry of Health

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

"Vance responded a minute later: “Excellent.” Thirty-five minutes after that, Ratcliffe, the CIA director, wrote, “A good start,” which Waltz followed with a text containing a fist emoji, an American-flag emoji, and a fire emoji. The Houthi-run Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people were killed in the strikes, a number that has not been independently verified." - from Atlantic Article linked

2 1 2