I'm honoured to be serving on the committee for the Lee Ann Fujii Article Award for Innovation in the Interpretive Study of Political Violence as part of the @apsa.bsky.social Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. Send us your articles! The deadline is March 30. Full details here:

What a month it has been for the region! New piece out in @foreignpolicy.com with Reva Dhingra on the implications of the fall of the Assad regime for Syrian refugees around the world.

Allison Meakem@ameakem.bsky.social · 2y ago

Numerous countries in Europe and the Middle East are rushing to try to repatriate Syrian refugees. But "as Syrians consider their own futures, the least that host governments can do is give them time to make difficult choices themselves," Reva Dhingra and @lmourad.bsky.social write.

I spoke to @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social @reuters.com last week about how much of the focus on the US-Canada border right now is mostly about *showing* that we (i.e. Canada) take the border issue seriously (& much less so about whether or not the policies themselves are effective). @npsia.bsky.social

Anna Mehler Paperny@mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · 2y ago

Canada promised Trump a border crackdown. Easier said than done. - www.reuters.com/world/americ...

Ceasefire, the view from #Lebanon soon after it came into effect at 4am

Civilians in Beirut are heading to seek shelter at the American University of Beirut Hospital amid Israeli evacuation orders in central Beirut. 🇱🇧 (Photo sent by local residents to L'Orient Today)

While all are focused on the "imminent" ceasefire, Israel is threatening and waging its largest assault on central Beirut yet. This is absolute horror.

Kareem Chehayeb@chehayebk.bsky.social · 2y ago

In case you missed it… finally made it somewhere safe but: #Lebanon: 4 Israeli evacuation warnings for central Beirut including near the busy Hamra street. Traffic and chaos everywhere as people flee. Warnings call for people to stay 50 meters away instead of the usual 500.

Thoroughly disgusting that bombs are dropping as a public relations manoeuvre

The non-stop pounding of Beirut in recent hours is most likely an attempt by Netanyahu to sell the ceasefire agreement that falls far short of what he promised Israelis.

My Memorial Uni students and I are so excited to host @stephrschwartz.bsky.social @lmourad.bsky.social, Yvonne Su and Megan Bradley for a virtual conversation on Forced Migration & International security on November 25, 2pm EST. #wiis-canada members also invited to join! Contact me to register.

As the Biden administration continues to call the war in Lebanon a “limited incursion," entire villages in the South are being blown up, and just today the city of Baalbek and surrounding areas are being threatened with shelling and forced to evacuate - forcing tens of thousands to flee again.

In Lebanon, a family's memories are detonated along with their village

Mhaibib, a village perched on a hill just north of the Lebanon-Israel border, was leveled by a series of explosions on Oct. 16.

apnews.com

Our Fall 2024 Newsletter is out! This is the last issue with our wonderful editorial team @nerminallam.bsky.social@seanyom.bsky.social & Gamze Çavdar, before we welcome a new dynamic trio of editors: @dbgreenwald.bsky.social@sebnemgumuscu.bsky.social & Samer Shehata #menasky

"The large-scale destruction of villages, such as the border town of Yaroun, as well as of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, raises fears that those displaced may not have viable paths to return home when the fighting stops" Written with the incomparable Lama Mourad. Gift link. menasky

Israel Is Weaponizing Forced Displacement—Again

In Lebanon as in Gaza, Israel cannot bomb its way into security.

foreignpolicy.com

These last weeks, adding to this horrible year, have been beyond imaginable for Lebanon and its people. I feel like I've been screaming into the void but at least, with this, I hope that @separkinson.bsky.social and I's screams get out a bit louder.

Foreign Policy@foreignpolicy.com · 2y ago

Israel’s use of forced displacement as a political weapon is all too familiar to Lebanon’s population, @lmourad.bsky.social and @separkinson.bsky.social write.

There are times when words really fail you & @warghetti.bsky.social is still able to write with such force. I have not been posting much, but this is one of the most powerful pieces of writing I have read in a while. Even its rhythm so powerfully expresses how I'm feeling.

A Year of War Without End

In guise of an editorial, senior editor Lina Mounzer struggles to find the words to describe the horror of the past year.

themarkaz.org

After all the death and destruction today, Israel is still conducting airstrikes on Lebanon at this moment.

This is the single deadliest day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war. Just the reported numbers so far (as always in a situation of this scale, we know these are underreported) places today's death toll at nearly 1/3 of total deaths in the entire 2006 war (which was 33 days).

I've been away from here for a little bit but just in case this reminder hasn't reached folks! Still time to apply - deadline today for APSA Migration & Citizenship awards.

APSA Mig & Citzp@migcitizenapsa.bsky.social · 2y ago

Deadline is tomorrow!

The latest BattleRhythm episode with Anessa Kimball on Kissinger, toxic CSIS workplace, the new P-8 decision plus interview with Lama Mourad about tomorrow's Evacuation panel at the Year Ahead conference (still a few tickets left) soundcloud.com/cdsnpodcasts... #cdndef @cdsn.bsky.social #cdndef

There is a lot going on right now, and some small signs of hope too. @lmourad.bsky.social & I share our thoughts on the dangers of advocating for displacement as a humanitarian solution. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

I'll be joining colleagues this year for @cdsn.bsky.social The Year Ahead conference, and moderating a sadly ever-more-relevant conversation around evacuations. More info & ticket details below.

Steve Saideman@smsaideman.bsky.social · 3y ago

The @cdsn.bsky.social ends most years with a big event. This year: two of them! --The book launch of the second volume on Canadian Defence Policy featuring CDS Wayne Eyre as our keynote speaker --The Year Ahead conference. New location, heaps of insights, tickets are starting to sell.

The @cdsn.bsky.social ends most years with a big event. This year: two of them! --The book launch of the second volume on Canadian Defence Policy featuring CDS Wayne Eyre as our keynote speaker --The Year Ahead conference. New location, heaps of insights, tickets are starting to sell.

There are so many things to be worried about amid the ongoing horror we're seeing in Gaza, @stephrschwartz.bsky.social & I take up why we think it's so dangerous to advocate for the right to flee when politicians are openly discussing an intent to expel. In @globeandmail.bsky.social today

Opinion: In Gaza, civilian evacuation looks like forced displacement. That cannot be the way forward

There is a danger in advocating for Palestinians’ right to flee, when there is evidence of an intent to systematically expel and no guarantee of the right to return

t.co

“We worry that systematic displacement is passing as a humanitarian remedy. We must remember that at a minimum, forcibly displacing civilians is a human rights violation; at the extreme, systematic population transfer is a crime against humanity.” @lmourad.bsky.social & @stephrschwartz.bsky.social

Opinion: In Gaza, civilian evacuation looks like forced displacement. That cannot be the way forward

We need to help Palestinians find safe passage as they flee Israeli bombardment in Gaza – but we must also ensure they have the right to return

theglobeandmail.com

The APSA MENA Politics Section's Fall newsletter is out! Editors @seanyom.bsky.social Nermin Allam & Gamze Çavdar (Bluesky-less, is that what we're calling it?) & board put together a fantastic issue. See the full issue below, & follow along here for more on this packed issue! polisky menasky

Scholars in MENA region encouraged to apply for 2024 ICPSR Summer Program scholarship umich.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?... #Econsky menasky polisky

👋 blue skies! Follow and tag us so we can share your news with the section 📣📣📣

& now for the depressing stuff: Attacks on LGBTQ+ in Lebanon have escalated rapidly, in what is clearly an effort to displace people's attention away from the absolute failure of authorities to address the real issues in the country & their continued collusion and corruption with the banking sector.

First post here, and since I'm here thanks to @leahwest-nsl.bsky.social, I'll start off similarly by saying: follow me for Middle East politics (& lots of Lebanon) and refugee issues, but since all of that is pretty depressing at the moment - here's a pic of the wonderful Basha.