The Edward Said reading room at Columbia’s Butler library. Houses nearly 2000 volumes from the Said’s personal collection. Lovely place to work, and where I did most the preparation for my comps at the end of 2021. Thinking about it now, for some reason

We warn against the danger of regional escalation. We condemn all actions that threaten dragging the region into war. Israeli-Iranian retaliations must end. The inhumane war on Gaza must end now. The focus of the world must remain on ending the catastrophic aggression on Gaza.

What an amazing piece of art. Hadi Rahnaward - Fragile Balance (2023)

The most dangerous moment in any geostrategic rivalry is when the parties alter the rules #IranIsraelConflict

Our new commentary Crisis Group offers ideas about how diplomats could get better results from talks with the Taliban. So far, negotiations with the Taliban have failed to make their regime more politically inclusive or respectful of women’s rights. 1/ crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asi…

Despite global outcry, no legal action has targeted the Taliban's worsening oppression of #Afghan women & girls. The ICJ offers an untapped option. New FAQ by Open Society Justice Initiative explores the ICJ vs ICC, next steps, recognition issues, civil society's role + more! justiceinitiative.org/publications/q…

We’ve collectively become inured to escalation risks. Many people have drawn the wrong lessons from the close calls.

Issue 14 of The Ideas Letter is ragingly good. How could it not be with a virtuosic essay on neoliberalism (and its antinomies) from Marcos Nobre, Brazil's greatest philosopher/critical theorist?! theideasletter.substack.com

NEW COMMENTARY | Rethinking Talks with the Taliban
crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asi…

Judgement at Tokyo by Gary J. Bass | Book review | The TLS the-tls.co.uk/articles/judge…

It is difficult to negotiate peace when the two parties at war are not ready for a solution and outside players fuel the conflict. Yet, even if it is not easy, we cannot ignore Sudan, says Zeinab Badawi on.ft.com/4cYsEv8

In a major new report, based on unprecedented access, we detail a human rights crisis for 56,000 men, women and children imprisoned following the territorial defeat of Islamic State in NE Syria in 2019. Ten facts, a 🧵amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

Grassroots and civil society organizations in Haiti are leading the struggle against government corruption and the return of dictatorship. Open Society Foundations is pledging $20M and combining efforts with WKKF to help strengthen the fight for human rights, protect farmers,…

With poor, heavily indebted countries being left high and dry, we are witnessing a dangerous retreat from the principles upon which much of the post-1945 global economic architecture was built, write Indermit Gill and M. Ayhan Kose of the World Bank. bit.ly/3xzN2mf

'We can understand more or less who is not voting [for the BJP] and why, so we focus on them'
Our Financial Times deep dive into the formidable grassroots operation of India’s BJP, one of the world's biggest electoral machines w/John Reed जॉन रीड jyotsna singh
ft.com/content/d5a1df…

Six months into the war on Gaza, over 10,000 women have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned | UN Women – Headquarters unwomen.org/en/news-storie…

A regional Middle East conflict threatens the lives of millions of civilians. We have been sounding the alarm on this risk for months now. The most urgent & necessary way forward is a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to end the suffering & de-escalate tensions
nrc.no/news/2024/apri…

As more than 2 billion people in 50 countries head to the polls this year, AI-generated content is widely dominating election campaigns across the world.

@RestofWorld is tracking the most noteworthy incidents of AI-generated election content.

restofworld.org/2024/elections…

A grim anniversary- 1 year since fighting broke out in #Sudan . Violence continues thousands displaced & atrocities committed with near total silence from the international community. Civilians in Sudan deserve to see a robust, concerted global response. hrw.org/news/2024/04/1…

IRC welcomes all efforts to prevent further escalation of conflict, which is the last thing the Middle East needs. When the UN Secretary General says the region is “on the brink” it should be a wake up call to de-escalate before it is too late to prevent regional conflagration.