Simon Mabon
@profmabon.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.4K following 54 posts
Professor of International Politics, author, podcaster. Lancaster University. SEPAD. Sectarianism, geopolitics, sovereignty, nomos, political theory. The Struggle for Supremacy (CUP) Houses built on sand (MUP) Saudi & Iran (IB Tauris)
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Reposted by Simon Mabon
fpcthinktank.bsky.social
🇸🇾 🎉Thank you to all who joined us in Parliament for our roundtable on Syria’s transition nine months on.

Our expert panel reflected on interim governance, legal reform & the prospects for meaningful accountability.

📝 A takeaway report will be out soon: fpc.org.uk/join/
Reposted by Simon Mabon
profmabon.bsky.social
Much deserved!

I’ll get you a celebratory coffee next time you’re around. (Catch up long overdue).
Reposted by Simon Mabon
maryamaldossari.bsky.social
The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza.
Israel controls the flow of food into Gaza. It has calculated how many calories Palestinians need to stay alive. Its data shows only a fraction has been allowed in.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza
Israel controls the flow of food into Gaza. It has calculated how many calories Palestinians need to stay alive. Its data shows only a fraction has been allowed in
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Simon Mabon
patrickdunleavy.bsky.social
John Simpson
“The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights warns that countries are becoming bolder in attacking dissidents in the UK. Russia, China & Iran are the worst, but Bahrain, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, & the UAE have all attacked people here.”
Reposted by Simon Mabon
mjsdc.bsky.social
Trump’s Justice Department is currently asking the Supreme Court for permission to build a deportation machine that can disappear anyone, citizen and immigrant alike, to a foreign prison forever, permanently extinguishing their constitutional rights with zero due process. slate.com/news-and-pol...
The Trump administration believes it has the legal authority to abduct any individual-citizen or immigrant, documented or not-and illegally deport them to another country without due process. It further claims that it can extinguish all of that person's constitutional rights by imprisoning them in a foreign nation. And it asserts that once that person has been locked away abroad, the U.S. government has no power or responsibility to bring them home, even if they were indisputably deported in error.
profmabon.bsky.social
And how this sits alongside what is happening in Syria.

Neoliberal pragmatism in operation again?
Reposted by Simon Mabon
judah-grunstein.bsky.social
Trump and Miller are intent on building an unaccountable domestic secret police force that would be the world's third-biggest security force by funding levels, after the US and China's *militaries*.

That kind of funding dwarfs its stated purpose, which tells you what its real purpose will be.
Reposted by Simon Mabon
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
A judge ruled Anthropic training AI on books without permission was legal, but pirating the books was not. This is ultimately a very damaging decision but there are many other cases working their way through the legal system that have worse facts

www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
Judge Rules Training AI on Authors' Books Is Legal But Pirating Them Is Not
A judge rules that Anthropic's training on copyrighted works without authors' permission was a legal fair use, but that stealing the books in the first place is illegal.
www.404media.co
Reposted by Simon Mabon
somdeepsen.bsky.social
This is such an important day for New Yorkers. Rooting for Mamdani! www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Simon Mabon
adhaque.bsky.social
“So, bottom line – all of these arguments are really trying to dress up purely preventative action into something more legally respectable. These arguments are not just weak, they are fatally weak.”

Peak Marko.

Hang it in the Louvre.
Reposted by Simon Mabon
Reposted by Simon Mabon
zeteo.com
Zeteo @zeteo.com · Jun 22
“Donald Trump has guaranteed that Iran will be a nuclear weapons state in 5 to 10 years from now.”

Iranian writer @tparsi.bsky.social tells @mehdirhasan.bsky.social that US bombing of Iran would push Tehran toward developing nuclear weapons.

Watch the full conversation:
zeteo.com/p/breaking-t...
Reposted by Simon Mabon
phildobbie.bsky.social
If you want to understand the background in the Iran-Israel war, and where it could lead us, you really need to listen to this week’s Why Curve, with Simon Mabon from Lancaster University, Listen to the full episode here: whycurve.com/episode/worl...
profmabon.bsky.social
“When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back at you.”
Reposted by Simon Mabon
shashj.bsky.social
Stark regime change message from Netanyahu here. “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom. The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag and its historic legacy”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...
profmabon.bsky.social
A wonderful thread.
oddtypeofdragon.bsky.social
Important news: the Weston Library in Oxford (part of the Bodleian) has added a small baby play space.

And they've called it the Toddleian.