Inside Beirut’s Fight To Save Its Reading Culture longreads.com/2025/09/16/b... (from @newlinesmag)

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...

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...

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...

This is *really* a good piece.

"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..."

Worth reading from @hhassan.bsky.social on events in Suweida. @newlinesmag.bsky.social

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.’

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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 ⤵️

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...

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!

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...