Wolfram Lacher
@wlacher.bsky.social
Political scientist with a longstanding interest in violent conflict, Libya and the Sahel. Author, Libya's Fragmentation; co-editor, Violence and Social Transformation in Libya. Views my own. https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/researcher/wolfram-lacher
Gaza is suffering the world's worst economic crisis ever recorded, with nine in 10 businesses destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people unemployed, a top UN development agency warned on Thursday. www.rfi.fr/en/middle-ea...
Gaza suffers world's worst ever economic crisis: UN
Gaza is suffering the world's worst economic crisis ever recorded, with nine in 10 businesses destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people unemployed, a top UN development agency warned on Thursday.
rfi.fr
The Guardian will stream NAZA on its website for free >>> www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...
Global release announced for acclaimed Gaza documentary NAZA
Theatrical rollout across 56 territories planned for documentary about Israel’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza before film will stream on Guardian website
theguardian.com
A paraître le 15 octobre : "Une révolution trahie. La fabrique des mouvements armés au Mali", de Denia Chebli, dernier opus de la collection Logiques du désordre chez @cnrseditions.bsky.social. Une enquête de quinze ans sur les vies des membres des mouvements armés maliens. #Mali #Sahel 1/7
Die Debatte über Antisemitismus in der Linken ist eine gezielte rechte Kampagne, um die Linke zu schwächen und hat jeden Realitäsbezug verloren, sagt der Soziologe Peter Ullrich taz.de/Linke-und-An...
Linke und Antisemitismus: „Die Debatte hat die Funktion, die Linke zu schwächen“
Der Soziologe Peter Ullrich weist Antisemitismusvorwürfe gegen die Linkspartei zurück. Er kritisiert eine rechte Kampagne, die strategisch eingesetzt werde.
taz.de
Seit dem 7.10.2023 werden Proteste und wissenschaftliche Veranstaltungen zu Palästina/Israel an Universitäten als Sicherheitsproblem behandelt. DÖRTHE ENGELCKE & ILYAS SALIBA zeigen auf, wie im Namen der Antisemitismusbekämpfung staatskritische Wissenschaften diszipliniert werden. buff.ly/Ig5ng2j
First international coverage of a story that has dominated Libyan media for the past week - no official confirmation of these and other allegations to date, but yes: it very much looks like Saddam Haftar was behind the August drone strikes on fuel depots & power & desalination plants in Zawiya.
Haftar’s terrorist cell: mercenaries and a Repsol CEO
The Libyan general orchestrating the drone strikes in Zawiya, in western Libya. Allegedly, among those recruited were Spanish mercenaries and a senior manager from the oil company.
ilfoglio.it
First international coverage of a story that has dominated Libyan media for the past week - no official confirmation of these and other allegations to date, but yes: it very much looks like Saddam Haftar was behind the August drone strikes on fuel depots & power & desalination plants in Zawiya.
Haftar’s terrorist cell: mercenaries and a Repsol CEO
The Libyan general orchestrating the drone strikes in Zawiya, in western Libya. Allegedly, among those recruited were Spanish mercenaries and a senior manager from the oil company.
ilfoglio.it
POMEPS is pleased to announce a call for papers for the Weaponized Citizenship and Statelessness Workshop, a joint initiative with the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. More information and application available here: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...
Call for Papers: Weaponized Citizenship and Statelessness - Project on Middle East Political Science
POMEPS & MENA Initiative Workshop, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University Workshop Date: Friday, March 26, 2027 While citizenship is often understood as a source of rights and protection, ...
pomeps.org
Since August, Haftar's forces have carried out at least 30 summary executions of men they had held prisoners for years, often incommunicado, and tortured to extract "confessions", before sentencing them to death before military courts. At least 50 men are at imminent risk of execution.
Libya: Dozens Executed, Scores Remain at Imminent Risk - Amnesty International
At least 50 men under sentence of death in eastern Libya are at imminent risk of execution as the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), the de facto authorities in the region, have resumed executions for t...
amnesty.org
Some interesting details here on the role of Ukrainian operatives in Mali and Libya
Ukraine is fighting Russia anywhere it can – even in the deserts of Africa | CNN
An elite group of Ukrainian drone operators has spent years hunting Russians from dugouts in Ukraine. They are now doing so in remote deserts thousands of miles from home.
edition.cnn.com
📚 #Research by BRISMES Members | "The Authoritarian Convergence against #AcademicFreedom in #Germany: Political Interference, Securitization, and the Weaponization of Antisemitism Allegations" by Dörthe Engelcke and Ilyas Saliba @isaliba.bsky.social Read more: www.ispf-lab.cnr.it/system/files...
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
The Demise of Conflict Studies - Dissent Magazine
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
dissentmagazine.org
Am 10. Sept. rollt die Bundesregierung den VAE in Berlin den roten Teppich aus. Deutschland hat eine klare Haltung zu den Gräueltaten im #Sudan, zumindest theoretisch. 🇩🇪setzte sich für internationale Untersuchungen ein. Doch wenn es um die Rolle der Emirate geht, bleibt es auffallend still. (1/2)
Rahel Jaeggi zu den Einlassungen von Nassehi & Co: "Hier sortiert sich das akademische Feld in vorauseilendem Gehorsam selbst, um nicht in den Fokus der neu entdeckten autoritären Liebe zur wissenschaftlichen Neutralität zu geraten. Man könnte auch sagen: Die Entsolidarisierung ist in vollem Gange."
Wertneutralität der Wissenschaft: Auch bei völkischem Denken?
Wird das Gebot wissenschaftlicher Neutralität verletzt, wenn sich akademische Institute gegen rechtsextreme Positionen wenden? Bemerkungen zur neuen Diskussion um die Wertfreiheit der Wissenschaften.
faz.net
Empfehle allen diese 15 Minuten von @bertpsch.bsky.social dazu was dieser Moment bedeutet. Es macht in der Kürze klar deutlich wie die AfD einzuordnen ist und welcher Umbruch gerade passiert bei dem das Stigma um diese Partei und ihren Rechtsextremismus verschwindet open.spotify.com/episode/2ynW...
Kommentar zum AfD-Sieg: Der Ernstfall ist jetzt (Wahlkreis-Spezial)
Was jetzt? · Episode
open.spotify.com
Neue ECCHR-Analyse zeigt: Trotz internationaler Warnungen lieferte Deutschland von 2023 bis 2026 kontinuierlich Rüstungsexporte nach Israel in Milliardenhöhe - und widersprach damit seiner eigener Verteidigung vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof 👉 www.ecchr.eu/fileadmin/Pu...
“Cultural sensitivity has always been the Commission’s strong point,” one EU diplomat said, sarcastically.
King Leopold’s ghost haunts European Commission gathering | Euractiv
Commissioners meet at palace built for King Leopold II to celebrate his reign over Congo
euractiv.com
The US State Department has designated A/I, a small Italian provider of open source infrastructure for political activists, as a global terrorist group. They will reach into our very homes to grab us — if we let them. www.state.gov/releases/off...
Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist - United States Department of State
Today, the Department of State, in partnership with the Department of the Treasury, is announcing the designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Autistici/Inventati...
state.gov
Depuis le Sud-libyen, les Haftar se rêvent en patrons du Sahara - by @celianmace.bsky.social, with comments from @emadbadi.bsky.social, @andrewlebovich.bsky.social and me.
Depuis le Sud-libyen, les Haftar se rêvent en patrons du Sahara
Contrôle sécuritaire, libérations d’otages, soutien aux groupes armés... Saddam Haftar, le fils cadet du maréchal libyen, étend son influence sur le désert, jusque dans les pays frontaliers.
liberation.fr
“The Trump administration has shown a proclivity for announcing flashy peace deals and an utter lack of interest in implementing them. There is no reason to expect that Libya…will be any different.” —Wolfram Lacher
Libya: The Dangerous Gamble | Wolfram Lacher
On my last visit to Tripoli, this past June, the city often felt as if it had left the protracted conflicts of Libya’s post-Qaddafi era behind. At night,
nybooks.com
So, in a matter of weeks, Haftar did a favour to Trump by facilitating the release of an American hostage (detained by ISSP) and a favour to Putin by facilitating the release of two Russian prisoners (detained by FLA). This guy knows who to please to navigate a fascist global order
“Washington’s misadventure was not an aberration so much as the ultimate expression of the inherent vice of its Middle East strategy.” abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/the-end-of-a...
The End of America's Middle East
I have been bad about updating the blog this summer – forgive me, it has been very, very hot in Gainesville, and planning our move back to DC for the fall semester (more on that later) has taken up a ...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io
Das ist verrückt – die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate haben 2016 einen israelischen Auftragskiller nach London geschickt, um einen britischen Staatsbürger, einen bekannten Berater mit mutmaßlichen Verbindungen zur Muslimbruderschaft, umzubringen. Ein ehemaliger Komplize hat jetzt ausgepackt.
UAE-funded mercenary 'ran covert operation' against British activist in London | ITV News
Mercenary Abraham Golan was allegedly hired to mount a covert surveillance operation against a British academic, on UK soil. | ITV National News
itv.com
EXCLUSIVE: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Investigation by @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...
Rumour was growing the whole afternoon and Hamid Amadou N'gadé just confirmed: clashes have happened between the Niger and Chad armies at the border between the two countries in the Diffa region. New hotspot developing in the Sahel
Excellent analysis of the latest developments in #Libya by @wlacher.bsky.social in @nybooks.com 👇
Wolfram Lacher@wlacher.bsky.social · 2mo ago"As both sides build up their arsenals and collude in defrauding the state, they are inexorably pushing Libya toward crisis. Boulos, seeking to cement the status quo by entrenching the rule of the two families, may turn out to be the harbinger of its collapse." My latest, in @nybooks.com
It seems like UFPR started a major assault on Nigerien army posts in northern Niger this morning. UFPR’s leader’s Mahmoud Sallah have been released and armed by Libya’s LAAF last June. According to RFI, Macron urged Haftar to release Mahmoud Sallah during their meeting in February 2025
