Jonathan Hassine for @thepublicsource.bsky.social on the historical role and make-up of the Lebanese army, and what the 1983-4 crisis and that attempt to deploy the army against domestic political forces tell us about Lebanon today: thepublicsource.org/military-dis... (via @ziadaburish.bsky.social)

Arming the State Against the Nation

Deploying the army to crush the opposition was tried before. Jonathan Hassine revisits the “military approach” — and the hard lesson Lebanon cannot afford to relearn.

thepublicsource.org

Hassine revisits pivotal moments in the country's history, including 1958, 1976, & 1983, to ask what those episodes can — and cannot — teach us about Lebanon's current predicament. Read: thepublicsource.org/military-dis... Edited by Sintia Issa w/thanks to Ziad Abu-Rish (@ziadaburish.bsky.social)

Historian Jonathan Hassine argues that the Lebanese army's weakness wasn't simply the product of corruption or state collapse. It was shaped by decades of political choices, Lebanon's confessional system, and the country's regional alliances.

The army was then ordered to confront other Lebanese. The result wasn't the restoration of state authority. It was the February 6 Uprising. Within weeks, the army itself had fragmented.

The U.S. poured military equipment into the Lebanese Armed Forces, much of it paid in cash by the Lebanese state. More than 10,000 men underwent intensive training by the U.S. Marines and Special Forces. By many accounts, the army had never been stronger.

Forty-three years ago, another U.S.-backed agreement promised something remarkably similar. The May 17 Agreement of 1983 sought to restore Lebanese sovereignty, strengthen the state, and empower the Lebanese army.

The Lebanese government signed a U.S.-brokered framework agreement with Israel on June 26. For many, this is an unprecedented moment that could pave the way for a peaceful resolution to a decades-old problem. History suggests otherwise.

Read Adam Hanieh on the US-Israeli war on Iran, specifically the dynamics of the Strait of Hormuz emerging as the central strategic question. www.jadaliyya.com/Details/4746...

The Political Economy of the War on Iran: An Interview with Adam Hanieh

Since Israel launched its attack on Iran in June 2025, the conflict has been analyzed largely through the lens of military escalation and fluctuations in global energy markets. Yet the war’s consequen...

jadaliyya.com

Terrific roundtable featuring grad students studying in UAE discussing their experiences during the US-Israeli war on Iran. www.jadaliyya.com/Details/4747...

Wartime Interruptions: Perspectives from Postgraduate Students in the United Arab Emirates

After the outbreak of the US/Israeli war on Iran on February 28, 2026, many schools and universities across the UAE and the wider Gulf shifted to online learning. The uncertainty surrounding daily com...

jadaliyya.com

بالتزامن مع توقيع الولايات المتحدة والكيان الصهيوني ولبنان اتفاق إطار ثلاثي جديد في واشنطن، ننشر الترجمة العربية لتحليل المؤرخ والأكاديمي زياد أبو ريش، الذي يقدّم سياقًا تاريخيًا ضروريًا لفهم ما تعنيه هذه اللحظة. ⬇️ thepublicsource.org/ar/lebanese-... @ziadaburish.bsky.social

Today, @rmabud.bsky.social argues that while the current focus on costs of living represents an essential reorientation from the left, an affordability frame that fails to confront the Trump administration’s bureaucratic and cultural power grab is bound to fail.

Affordability Politics Needs a Power Analysis

A renewed focus on the cost of living crisis is a welcome and potentially unifying frame for the political left. Yet unless we confront the Trump administration's consolidated economic, cultural…

lpeproject.org

A fantastic two year postdoctoral opportunity in Persian Literature here at UC Davis. Come join us and share widely with folks in MLA and Middle East studies! mesana.org/resources-an...

Middle East Studies Association

The Department of Comparative Literature and the Program in Middle East/South Asia Studies invite applications for the newly established Bita Daryabari Endowment Postdoctoral Scholar/Lecturer position...

mesana.org

This is a must-read from @nasserelamine.bsky.social of where things stand in #Lebanon on various levels in the wake of the US-Iran MOU, and hits the nail on the head re what things will hinge on. A few highlights below! newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

Nasser Elamine, Interim Contours — Sidecar

On Lebanon.

newleftreview.org

Folks looking to expand their Lebanon (not to mention Middle East and beyond) library should take advantage of @stanfordpress.bsky.social 4-day sale (53% discount on all in-stock print and ebook titles June 23-26). User code SGermain at checkout for 53% off.

Watch and learn from @keshavarziana.bsky.social as he takes on the question of why do we find the US in continuous military confrontation in and over the Persian Gulf. www.jadaliyya.com/Details/4745...

"Rethinking US Middle Eastern Policy" Lecture Series: Space and Regionalism in the Persian Gulf with Arang Keshavarzian

In this video, Professor Arang Keshavarzian discusses the historical context of contemporary issues in the Persian Gulf. It is the sixth in a series that aims to educate the public about the history, ...

jadaliyya.com

Southern Lebanese archivist Amani Rammal’s Withaqeyya insists that ordinary people resisting Zionism are the true architects of Lebanon’s contemporary history. Fatima el-Samman interviews her on the making of a people's archive. Read: thepublicsource.org/archives-occ...

Really important reporting by Will Christou for @theguardian.com on both Israeli demolitions of villages in south Lebanon and the identification of six multinational construction equipment conglomerates that may be aiding and abetting those war crimes. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Construction equipment multinationals may be aiding Israeli war crimes, experts say

Exclusive: Images show Israeli military using six companies’ bulldozers and excavators to demolish south Lebanon villages

theguardian.com

This Juneteenth, we revisit "Black-Palestinian Transnational Solidarity: Renewals, Returns, and Practice" by Noura Erakat and Marc Lamont Hill. This essay explores Black-Palestinian solidarity and its impact on struggles for justice and freedom. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Black-Palestinian Transnational Solidarity: Renewals, Returns, and Practice

This introductory essay outlines the context for this special issue of the Journal of Palestine Studies on Black-Palestinian transnational solidarity (BPTS). Through the analytic of “renewal,” the ...

tandfonline.com

Director Seán Murray’s new documentary, “Journacide: The War on Truth,” investigates Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalists. He says the "Gaza doctrine" of targeted killings "is now being applied in Lebanon.”

Not clear how long the term of 👇🏼US-Iran MOU will last given the track records of the US and Israel. But the meltdown over US-Iran MOU happening in Israeli political & military circles along with that of their US supporters is something to behold. edition.cnn.com/2026/06/17/m...

US releases official agreement with Iran. Read the 14-point text | CNN

The United States on Wednesday released the official text of the memorandum of understanding reached over the weekend with Iran.

edition.cnn.com

What does Trita Parsi think happened when The Free Press claimed State Dept. was “investigating” him for allegedly seeking to “undermine the US,” only to have the State Dept. deny any plans "to revoke [Parsi's] green card?" Read Parsi's take on Substack: tritaparsi.substack.com/p/so-they-tr...

So they tried to deport me…

The Free Press reported that the State Department was preparing to deport me. But it appears the hit piece was designed to trigger a deportation.

tritaparsi.substack.com

Reporting on/from residents of southern Lebanon returning to check on their houses after US-Iran deal announced. apnews.com/article/leba...

Few residents return to Lebanon's Nabatiyeh after a US-Iran truce with fighting nearby

Some residents of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh have returned to find their homes have been destroyed or damaged by war.

apnews.com

Lebanon is mentioned *three times* in the first article of the official text of the US-Iran MOU - “termination of military operations”, “territorial integrity and sovereignty”, “permanent termination of war.” Completely incompatible with Israeli policy -will US enforce? www.cnn.com/2026/06/17/m...

US releases official agreement with Iran. Read the 14-point text | CNN

The United States on Wednesday released the official text of the memorandum of understanding reached over the weekend with Iran.

cnn.com

A draft law could criminalize seed-saving practices in Lebanon, while Israel devastates southern Lebanon. Yara El Murr & Julia Choucair Vizoso take us inside the struggle to keep agriculture in the hands of the farmers who grow our food ⬇️: thepublicsource.org/seeds-food-s...

With Race in Transit, Randa Tawil follows the itineraries of the early Syrian diaspora, stitching together migrants' travels across archives from Beirut, Marseille, Liverpool, Manila, Washington, D.C., Michigan, and Texas. https://ow.ly/41xj50Z8ZbW #ReadUP

Great piece from @dorfonlaw.bsky.social about how to limit the executive branch’s influence over universities. New in @knightcolumbia.org’s series on “Reconstructing Free Expression” knightcolumbia.org/blog/a-nongo...

A Nongovernmental Disbursement Structure to Fund Research

knightcolumbia.org

Really appreciated Peter L’Official on how players with roots in the African diaspora helped create the world of soccer today. He does so with wonderful prose, deep research, and direct engagement with dynamics of anti-Blackness, racism, colonialism, and more. nymag.com/intelligence...

Why Always Vini?

The Brazilian superstar’s lonely, galvanic fight against racism in global soccer.

nymag.com

An invaluable source of documentation + analysis by Nicolas Sawaya & Michael Spagat, and a critical building block for other people's work. Lebanese government does not make it easy to know how many people Israel killed or injured, let alone who they are. pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/projects/...

The Death Toll in the War in Lebanon

pure.royalholloway.ac.uk

Amid reports of a rift between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, reporter Lylla Younes says such stories are "ultimately meaningless" as long as the United States gives Israel full impunity in Lebanon and beyond.

“The Word 'Ceasefire' Has Lost Its Meaning”: Lylla Younes on Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of South Lebanon

Israel is continuing to carry out attacks on Lebanon amid ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. Iran is maintaining its demand that Lebanon be included in a ceasefire deal. Lylla Younes, an investigative journalist based in Beirut, say...

democracynow.org

NEW: Rethinking Political Change in Iran from Protest to War Sociologist Mohammad Ali Kadivar details how political protest has, and will continue to shape Iran's political culture over the past two decades.

Rethinking Political Change in Iran from Protest to War

One month before the United States and Israel began the current war against Iran on February 28, 2026, mass uprisings within the country resulted in the severest government crackdown in its modern…

buff.ly