Legal scholar. Write on Nat Sec, Intl Law & the MENA region. Non-Resident Fellow Quincy Institute. Author, Future of the Arab Spring.

World
Joined July 2013
My latest law review artcle "Securitizing the University" just dropped. It interrogates the university's relationship to US nat'l security both historically & since Oct 7. This relationship is at the heart of attacks against unis over the last 2 yrs /n papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Oman’s Foreign Minister @badralbusaidi calls for a new Gulf security architecture built by and for all Gulf States including (not excluding) Iran
Significant even brave intervention by Oman foreign minister @badralbusaidi at Cambridge calling for the Gulf States to form a non-aggression pact with Iran and Iraq. Says US should no longer be primary provider of security in region, adding external partners have imposed the most damaging of the priorities - "the requirement that Iran be excluded. Not just excluded. Worse. Positioned as the threat against which regional security had to be organised." He argues "What holds us back is that issues which ought to be handled at a regional level by the states of the Gulf themselves, are made more complex, more intractable and sometimes simply impossible to resolve because the region's security arrangements are insufficiently developed. "And they are insufficiently developed because they have relied for too long on the involvement of external powers. "The complications which stand in the way of successful resolutions to both the Iranian nuclear issue and the question of free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz are simply the latest effects of an unstable combination of power projection and dependency in the Gulf. "In other words, the nuclear issue and the Hormuz issue are both impossible to resolve because external powers continue to define the terms of engagement, while regional powers are unable to take collective responsibility for making their own security arrangements and reach a consensus on them". Says Iran "has for nearly half a century been systematically excluded from playing any meaningful role in the security arrangements of the region. "An exclusion with profoundly negative consequences, not just for Iran, but for the region as a whole". He says "Instead of a genuine security structure designed to maintain stable relations between the eight states of the Gulf, an unstable regional system has been constructed on the entirely false perception that there is a fundamental regional antagonism between Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf. "There is no such fundamental antagonism. There are problems, yes, of course. But the plain fact is that Arabs and Persians have lived in peace around the Gulf for centuries. It’s not a matter of whether you’re friendly or hostile to Iran. "Today, Persia is a fact, 93 million people and three thousand years of history. Roughly half of the Gulf littoral. "Any Gulf security architecture that doesn’t include them is inherently unstable. It’s structurally unsound. And recent events expose the terrible cost of allowing the false perception of antagonism and exclusion." "It is us, in the Gulf, who ultimately bear the responsibility for devising, developing and implementing a new regional security structure. The time has come when it no longer makes sense just to blame everyone else. We need to begin a new regional dialogue on Gulf security, and we need to do so before other solutions are imposed on the region which would effectively consolidate the pattern of dependency and exclusion for which we urgently need to find an alternative. What is needed, instead, is a new and inclusive framework, involving all eight Gulf littoral states".
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The most important part of this article wasn’t include in Greg’s tweet - which is that destroying the Iranian govt and bringing chaos to the country is the broadly shared goal of Israel’s security agencies. No matter who’s in charge. Israeli elections are a farce for its victims
"Israel and the US are preparing an operational plan aimed at toppling the Iranian regime...a devastating direct strike against the Iranian leadership, similar to operations carried out in the past, combined with additional military measures not previously undertaken, could set in motion a process that would ultimately bring down the regime." israelhayom.com/2026/10/26/n…
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
BREAKING: Saudi Arabia offers Yemen's Houthis $1 billion through Tehran to halt their attacks as part of a ceasefire, with Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman flying to Iran to negotiate it and even bringing the money with him aboard the C-130 aircraft he arrived on, per diplomatic Gulf sources to Israel Hayom. Iran offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. It was represented by President Pezeshkian, SNSC chief Mohsen Rezaei and senior IRGC officials. Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir were also taking part. This is one of the biggest concessions from the Saudis yet.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Benjamin Moser, author of Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History, told Rashid Khalidi that his 80-year-old mother, who had all but called him a Hamas member, apologized after reading his book: “I’m ashamed I ever said I was a Zionist.” His book traces Jewish opposition to Zionism over the past century and challenges their exclusion in discussions over Palestine. “No, you don’t get to set the rules anymore. We’re setting the rules now,” Moser said. Khalidi added that he had never seen so many people change their views so rapidly, noting that major publishers are now embracing books on Palestine that would have been virtually unpublishable just three or four years ago.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
‼️Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, in an interview with Hadley Gamble: • “The Americans are withdrawing from the region, and the Israelis are filling the vacuum.” • “We made a mistake by choosing Marco Rubio’s track instead of the Islamabad track. Rubio’s approach will lead us nowhere.” • “I do not believe Lebanese-Israeli negotiations, in their current format, will produce results as long as Israel continues to occupy southern Lebanon.” • “The government tried, but believing that the Americans can pressure Israel to withdraw is a complete illusion.” • “Israel is seeking to erase the memories of southern Lebanon, as though preparing to establish settlements in parts of it.” • Calls for internal dialogue based on the principle that only the Lebanese state has the right to possess weapons. • Says the only way to disarm Hezbollah is through dialogue and possibly a compromise, with the support of Iran and Israel. • Suggests that the British-Irish experience could serve as a model for Hezbollah’s disarmament, noting that even Margaret Thatcher accepted a compromise with the IRA. • “I cannot accept a hardline approach toward Hezbollah if it leads to civil war.” • “We cannot eliminate the Shia community or tell them to leave. They are part of Lebanon.” • Rejects the establishment of cantons, stressing that Christians and Muslims must continue living together. • Says Israel’s policy is aimed at erasing Palestinian national identity, from Gaza to the West Bank, while pursuing territorial expansion in Syria and Lebanon. • “Regardless of who wins the Israeli elections, nothing will change.” • Says Israeli policy is rooted in the Old Testament and biblical narratives. • Calls on the United States to send better diplomats and adopt better policies toward the region. • “Syria’s Druze are taking the wrong path by choosing to become a tool in Israel’s hands.” • “If we, as Druze, do not embrace broader movements of national solidarity and Arab nationalism, we are heading toward collective suicide.” • Says the Druze in Israel do not determine their own fate, arguing that the Israeli government makes decisions affecting Druze communities in both Israel and Syria. • Calls for engagement with Iran, arguing that Hezbollah’s actual policies have been determined in Tehran since Nasrallah’s assassination and that dialogue could help reduce escalation. • “The region’s crises will not end as long as Netanyahu, the Israeli government, or Israeli society believe they can do whatever they want through force.”
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We’re just casually talking about the U.S. using a nuclear weapon against Iran in a criminal war of aggression driven by the maniacal ago of one man and the imperialist objectives of a settler colonial state. This is not normal. Don’t let anyone treat it as such.
JUST IN: Iranian media is teaching citizens how to protect themselves if the US launches a nuclear attack on Iran. There is speculation that the US could use a tactical nuclear weapon against Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, as no conventional weapon can destroy facilities buried deep beneath it.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
⚡️ Mayor Zohran Mamdani's NYPD is poised to sign a three-year, $750,500 no-bid contract with Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte for FalcoNet, an AI-driven device that mimics a cell tower to track phones and can be mounted on police cars and drones or hidden in a backpack, the New York Daily News reported. Cognyte won a tender to sell intercept spyware to Myanmar's state telecom weeks before the 2021 military coup, Reuters previously reported. Meta banned the firm the same year, saying its customers used fake accounts to target journalists and politicians in Kenya, Mexico and Indonesia. The firm is part of an Israeli surveillance industry that grew big as a result of the military's monitoring of Palestinians, whose phone calls Israel's Unit 8200 has intercepted and stored by the millions, including to carry out genocide in Gaza and enforce a brutal illegal occupation in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates diplomat who is suddenly being promoted as a candidate for UN secretary general, hasn't only lied about the UAE role in sending arms and mercenaries to the genocidal Rapid Support Forces paramilitary in Sudan. She has also lied and covered up the UAE role in killing civilians in Yemen. Some examples: 1. mofa.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news… but see hrw.org/world-report/2017/co… 2. mofa.gov.ae/en/MediaHub/News… 3. wam.ae/en/article/hszr76ab-u…
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
🚨Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey have arrived to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, and Foreign Minister Araghchi in Tehran on Monday, videos show. They planned to discuss regional security, including Israeli actions in Palestine and Lebanon, and the consequences of U.S. military attacks on Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. It marks the first talks between Iran and the three countries since they signed the Mecca defence pact in August.
Baghaei: Regional security can only be ensured through trust and cooperation among the countries of the region.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
MASSIVE Iran CONFIRMS ultra-high-level security summit with Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan in Tehran, TODAY. Ali Bagheri Kani says the summit was proposed by Asim Munir - during his latest trip to Tehran. They will talk in detail about - yes, Grandmaster Lavrov explained it, also in his latest visit to Tehran: Indivisible regional security. Iran wants: • A security framework led by REGIONAL POWERS. • Cooperation WITHOUT U.S. or Israeli interference. • West Asia stability and security independence. In the room: • Iran's Security Council Secretary, Major General Mohsen Rezaee • Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman • Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir • Turkish Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalın The Mecca Defense Alliance finally wakes up.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
My take in @lemondefr on the candidacy of Lana Nusseibeh to lead the UN: "Throughout her career, she has leveraged the influence her country gained within the UN to obscure the crimes it commits [in Sudan]—and, at times, even to deny or conceal them." lemonde.fr/international/art…
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Correct! The E3 owns this war: the UK, France, Germany. They have supported this war militarily and politically including through actions taken by the IAEA Board of Governors, which the U.S. has weaponized against Iran for over 2 decades.
Official representatives of #Tehran are very gentle and polite. They turn blind eye to the fact that since March 2022 the #E3 (France, Germany and the UK) always tried to escalate in the #IAEA Board of Governors and in fact they set the stage for the #US and Israeli aggression against #Iran.
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The PA has lost its ever loving mind
على امتداد مسيرتي المهنية، بما في ذلك عملي في الأمم المتحدة، عملت على الدفع قدمًا نحو مسار سياسي يتيح للفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين العيش بأمان وحرية وكرامة. وأُعرب عن بالغ تقديري لثقة فلسطين بترشحي. Throughout my career including at the United Nations, I have worked to advance a political pathway that enables Palestinians and Israelis to live in security, freedom and dignity. I deeply appreciate Palestine’s confidence in my candidacy shorturl.at/wkntL
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Elections just made Israel lose a friend in Serbia and the prospects of having another friend win in Brazil.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
This is the moment that won Lula the runoff: Bolsonaro: "Why did 60% of the prisoners vote for you???" Lula: "I want 100%, including your father!!!"
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Reckless racist Incitement to violence and civil strife
Trump: "Somalia -- 98% of the people here now from Somalia don't work. They don't have to work because they steal so much. They all have a Mercedes Benz. Low IQ and they live better than you do."
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Watching him burn it all to the ground, this is just too good to be true.
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE President Trump escalated his invective against Norway, calling it a ‘shit house country’ and saying Norwegian immigrants are not welcome in the United States because the Nobel committee, based in the capital Oslo, has not awarded him a Peace Prize reut.rs/3U1joSt
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Flying the CENTCOM Commander in a helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz is exactly the kind of thing you do to make American voters believe that you actually control the Strait. However, it is now clear to everyone that the number of ships being struck is steadily increasing, and managing to fly a helicopter over the Strait in no way implies control over the passage of vessels through it.
US CENTCOM Commander visited the region this week-end. *he landed in the UAE on a C-17A 3 days ago, then visited aircraft carrier with MV-22B Osprey from Al Dhafra Air Base.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip, celebrates President Lula da Silva’s victory for his fourth term.
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Maryam Jamshidi (msjamshidi.bsky.social) retweeted
Se o Lula ganhar as eleições, vamos fazer um novo vídeo de LEGO pra vocês 😁🇧🇷
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