Excited to share that my recent @ajpseditor.bsky.social paper, "Endogenous opposition: Identity and ideology in Kuwaiti electoral politics," received Best Article awards from @apsa.bsky.social's Democracy & Autocracy and @apsamena.bsky.social sections. A link to the article can be found below.

A thoughtful analysis of state building in post-colonial economies seeking to become outposts for capital

Rohan Advani@rohanadvani.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Pleased to share my latest article, “Banking on the Ruins of Empire: Developing Global Finance in Kuwait and Singapore,” published at Social Science History. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Pleased to share my latest article, “Banking on the Ruins of Empire: Developing Global Finance in Kuwait and Singapore,” published at Social Science History. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

It makes sense to expect a new age of inducements for institutional capital pools to hold sovereign debt (aka financial repression), as @martinsandbu.ft.com argued last week. Alas, it appears state managers are too macrofinancially incompetent to pull that off and instead are self-sabotaging bigly.

A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich

“America First” foreign policy centers on dominance and big-dollar deals for the Trump Organization or the US. CI fellows analyze the president’s MENA trip @rohanadvani.bsky.social @aronlund.bsky.social @abujamajem.com @tcambanis.bsky.social @dahliasc.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions

Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as

tcf.org

@centuryintl.bsky.social roundtable on Trump's Gulf tour, featuring @aronlund.bsky.social, @rohanadvani.bsky.social, @veenaa.bsky.social, @tcambanis.bsky.social and @dahliasc.bsky.social 👇🏻 With my take on Syria sanctions relief: "an entirely screwed up way to arrive at the ideal policy outcome."

Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions

Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as

tcf.org

What Trump’s Middle East trip tells us about US policy on Syria, the Gulf, Iran, Palestine, Israel, and the region @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social @rohanadvani.bsky.social @veenaa.bsky.social @tcambanis.bsky.social @abujamajem.com @dahliasc.bsky.social & me tcf.org/content/comm...

Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions

Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as

tcf.org

I’ve been piecing together this Guardian long read for over a year - about a thoroughly plausible, utterly crooked lawyer who pretended to be the perfect gentleman while he spun a web of deceit. Thanks to @davidedgarwolf.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

An English gentleman, a crooked lawyer: the secrets of Stephen David Jones

The long read: With his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious

theguardian.com

Fred Block reviewed The Master's Tools for @dissentmag.bsky.social. He contrasts my book, which identifies radical forms of economic democracy as the solution to our political crisis, with another, which argues such democracy is an impossibility. In typical form, he has interesting things to say!

@centuryintl.bsky.social colleague @rohanadvani.bsky.social on how Trump's new tariffs could prompt Middle East countries to break with a U.S.-sponsored regional trade regime that served, in large part, to lock in American influence: tcf.org/content/comm...

Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence

When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on

tcf.org

Great piece by Rohan Advani on how Trump’s tariffs have wrecked decades of U.S. economic influence-building in the Middle East, for no apparent reward. @rohanadvani.bsky.social @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence

When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on

tcf.org

Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs mean that the 1990s dream of peace and democracy in the Middle East through economic liberalization is dead—even if it was always illusory. My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence

When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on

tcf.org

Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs mean that the 1990s dream of peace and democracy in the Middle East through economic liberalization is dead, writes @rohanadvani.bsky.social in a new commentary. (1/6)

The UK's NWF is positive for progressive management of the economy. But in the long-run, the Left will have to repurpose it to expand its balance sheet, include trade unions, and build up its own financial expertise. My latest for Tribune tribunemag.co.uk/2025/04/diri...

Dirigisme Just to Feel Something

Rachel Reeves threatened us with a good time by creating the notionally statist, pro-green National Wealth Fund. But its lack of funding, reliance on private capital and exclusion of the unions will s...

tribunemag.co.uk

PE firms trying to come for retirement funds: "higher interest rates and declining asset values have led to fewer initial public offerings and sales. Investors aren’t getting their money back, choking off the cycle of reinvestment." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Private Equity Is Coming for America’s $12 Trillion in Retirement Savings

Inside the push to change how every American’s nest egg is invested and make private assets mainstream.

bloomberg.com

Investments are going to be pouring in, but Gulf states should make sure that they're not locked into costly obligations and that their diplomatic and de-escalatory initiatives are not compromised. My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Will Gulf Countries Think Trump's Glitter Is Gold?

Donald Trump has quickly made it clear that the guiding light in his relationships with Arab countries of the Gulf will be his trademark transactionalism.

tcf.org

Smart piece on USA-Gulf relations under Trump, highlighting their deeply mismatched expectations and suggesting Gulf states are likely best off hedging against overexposure to America’s chaotic politics by tilting eastward. @rohanadvani.bsky.social @centuryintl.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Will Gulf Countries Think Trump's Glitter Is Gold?

Donald Trump has quickly made it clear that the guiding light in his relationships with Arab countries of the Gulf will be his trademark transactionalism.

tcf.org

The Project on Middle East Political Science is pleased to announce POMEPS Studies 54: Debating American Primacy in the Middle East. Download the full PDF here: pomeps.org/pomeps-studi...

POMEPS Studies 54: Debating American Primacy in the Middle East - Project on Middle East Political Science

In September 2024, POMEPS and the Mershon Center for International Studies at the Ohio State University convened a workshop with regional experts and international relations theorists to debate the na...

pomeps.org

"Syria's new Islamist leaders are undertaking a radical overhaul of the country's broken economy, including plans to fire a third of all public sector workers and privatising state-run companies" @riham-alkousaa.bsky.social @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Syria's new Islamist rulers to roll back state with privatizations, public sector layoffs

The pace of the declared crackdown on waste and corruption has triggered protests from government workers amid fears of a sectarian jobs purge.

reuters.com

“There is nothing inevitable, though, about the tremendous energy demand that AI boosters say they’ll need.” great by @katearonoff.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/1894... Thank god we had a little bit of market discipline!

What If Tech Execs Don’t Really Need All These Data Centers?

The rush to build new computing and energy infrastructure for artificial intelligence comes with a lot of unintended consequences—especially if this new infrastructure isn’t actually needed.

newrepublic.com

“We didn’t want to have to fight for 13 years, we shouldn’t have had to. We wanted change, not to have to bring down a regime,” @willchristou.bsky.social from Damascus www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

‘Our father did not die for nothing’: on the ground in Damascus, disbelief turns to jubilation

In Syria’s capital, residents are in a daze as they try to absorb Assad’s dramatic downfall

theguardian.com

Must read

Aron Lund@aronlund.bsky.social · 2y ago

💥 Brand new! A detailed look at Syria's crisis by Sam Heller and me, including the Homs situation, Turkey's role, Tahrir al-Sham's politics and funding, Russian-Iranian plans, sectarian tensions, Assad's control over aid flows, chemical weapons, and much more. Read it here: tcf.org/content/comm...

My book is out! I’m grateful for the many people in Jordan, Tunisia, Stanford, and elsewhere who helped it reach this point. If you’re interested in why some autocrats stay popular or why ruling monarchs are so durable in today’s world, this book is for you! www.cambridge.org/core/books/k...

The King Can Do No Wrong

Cambridge Core - Middle East Government,Politics and Policy - The King Can Do No Wrong

cambridge.org

“The insurgents vowed to push all the way into Damascus, but life in the Syrian capital remained normal…In southeastern Aleppo, however, the main road out of the city was gridlocked as people fled the fighting, and gas stations were short on fuel.” apnews.com/article/syri... @chehayebk.bsky.social

Syria launches counterattacks in an attempt to halt insurgency, as Iran's top diplomat meets Assad

The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo.

apnews.com

Al-Watan says Assad made an unannounced trip to Moscow on Friday where he met with Putin, and he will receive Iranian FM Araghchi in Damascus today. It's been previously reported that Araghchi will go to Ankara next, presumably bringing along messages from Assad. alwatan.sy/archives/411...

يستقبل عراقجي اليوم وأجرى مباحثات مهمة مع بوتين وتباحث هاتفياً مع نظيره الإماراتي ورئيس وزراء العراق حول التطورات الأخيرة في سورية ... الرئيس الأسد: سورية مستمرة في الدفاع عن استقرارها ووحدة أراضيها و...

أكد الرئيس بشار الأسد أن سورية مستمرة في الدفاع عن استقرارها ووحدة أراضيها في وجه كل الإرهابيين وداعميهم، وهي قادرة وبمساعدة حلفائها وأصدقائها على دحرهم والقضاء عليهم مهما اشتدت هجماتهم الإرهابية. موق...

alwatan.sy

We’re all trying to guess how ideological cleavages within Trump’s cabinet may affect the Middle East. But could a lesser known Lebanese politician drive American policy in the region? Great analysis of Massad Boulos by the excellent @aronlund.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...

Trump’s Would-Be Lebanon Whisperer

With Donald Trump now on his way back to the White House, the Middle East is on tenterhooks about future U.S. policy. If Trump maintains the radical

tcf.org

MAGA boosters will try to credit Trump with opening up new economic opportunities in the Gulf. The truth is that those economies were already on the rise. @rohanadvani.bsky.social in this week's roundtable https://tcf.org/content/report/how-trump-can-make-things-worse-in-the-middle-east

My contribution to our latest roundtable on what a Trump presidency may mean for the Middle East

Order from Ashes@orderfromashes.bsky.social · 2y ago

In a new @CenturyIntl roundtable, fellows assess some of the ways Trump II could make things worse for the Middle East https://tcf.org/content/report/how-trump-can-make-things-worse-in-the-middle-east Includes views from our CI fellows, follow here: https://go.bsky.app/L4xSLft