Steven Heydemann
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Steven Heydemann
@stevenhyde.bsky.social
2.9K followers 750 following 1.7K posts

Ketcham Chair in Middle East Studies, Prof. of Gov, Smith College; Nonresident Senior Fellow CMEP, Brookings. Former VP, Center for Applied Research on Conflict, USIP.
https://smith.academia.edu/StevenHeydemann

Videos
Political science 66%
Sociology 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Axel Bruns, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 3 more

gregsargent.bsky.social
Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d
This is really good to see: Miki Sherrill just put out a statement sharply criticizing the Senate Dems' pending cave in the government shutdown, ripping it as "malpractice" and a betrayal of the people who are "counting on us to fight for them." Sherrill knows what drove her victory. Wake up, Dems.

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Jonathan Hopkin, Alan Richardson , and 4 more

mauraquint.bsky.social
maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 1d
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Nandita Sharma, Will Jennings , and 9 more

keptsimple.bsky.social
m @keptsimple.bsky.social · 2d
incredible new trump photo
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 3d
If there’s anything there that would lift that tuber out of the dumb as rocks category he’s keeping it very well hidden.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 3d
Shining a light on Syria's new/old crony capitalism, with Jamal al-Sharaa as a pivotal figure in new crony networks.

syrianobserver.com/who/jamal-al...
Jamal al-Sharaa: The Brother Who Tested the Boundaries of Power - The Syrian Observer
Jamal al-Sharaa has become a cautionary tale: a reminder that even in post-Assad Syria, the struggle against corruption begins not in the ministries—but at home.
syrianobserver.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
An incredible story. Thank goodness Elizabeth survived.

‘Strung Up and Tortured’: Hostage Recounts 2 ½ Years of Captivity www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/w...
‘Strung Up and Tortured’: Hostage Recounts 2 ½ Years of Captivity
www.nytimes.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
www.reuters.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
There’s only one figure in American politics today who is imposing state ownership of the means of production. It’s not Mamdani.
dsc250.bsky.social David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 4d
So Mamdani's win in NYC was so powerful Tuesday night that Trump has become a socialist too?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
A huge fuck you to ICE and its whole clown car of corrupt cronies.

Jurors Find Sandwich Hurler Not Guilty of Assault www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Jurors Find Sandwich Hurler Not Guilty of Assault
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Steven Heydemann

simonwfuchs.bsky.social
Simon Wolfgang Fuchs @simonwfuchs.bsky.social · 4d
Yesterday, we were able to watch "Lyd" at the Hebrew University. A moving testimony to the Nakba and a reflection on the erasure of Palestinian identity in Israel - today, the film was again banned from being screened publicly:

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Israel Police prevent, threaten Arab town's budget over historical documentary's screening
After Sakhnin's Mayor Halted a Screening of 'Lyd' – a Film on the Israeli Expulsion of Arabs in Lod – Its Director Petitioned the Courts. According to the Mayor, the Police Cited a Danger to Public Sa...
www.haaretz.com

Reposted by Steven Heydemann

dsc250.bsky.social
David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 4d
So Mamdani's win in NYC was so powerful Tuesday night that Trump has become a socialist too?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."

Reposted by Steven Heydemann

diplomatofnight.com
Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 4d
In a demonstration of how pathetic and meaningless the Abraham Accords are, the Trump administration is going to announce tonight that Kazakhstan is joining them.

The only problem is that Kazakhstan has had full and formal relations with Israel since 1992.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
en.majalla.com/node/328060/...
Syria lacks a coherent policy on foreign fighters
The recent standoff between Syrian security forces and Firqatul Ghuraba—a French-led jihadist faction entrenched in the Harem camp in Idlib—exposes flaws in Damascus's approach
en.majalla.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
The true spirit of Republican interfaith tolerance.
dhnexon.bsky.social Dan Nexon @dhnexon.bsky.social · 4d
TIL that Roberts has never actually read the NT.

Reposted by Steven Heydemann

dhnexon.bsky.social
Dan Nexon @dhnexon.bsky.social · 4d
TIL that Roberts has never actually read the NT.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 4d
My condolences to the family of Syrian human rights attorney Khalil Ma’touq, killed under torture by the Assad regime. The news has long been expected but that does not diminish the sense of loss. I worked very briefly with Khalil in 2012, enough to sense his decency, humanity, and courage.

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Melissa R. Michelson, Alan Richardson , and 1 more

leahgreenberg.bsky.social
Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · 6d
Trump declares that Republicans have lost the shutdown. Absolutely zero reason for Dems to cave at this point
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 6d
Syria needs a reconstruction plan. @yezidsayigh.bsky.social @carnegiemec.bsky.social

carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/...
Syria Needs a Reconstruction Plan
Without clarity on the country’s economic framework, Assad-era cronyism may reappear.
carnegieendowment.org

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 6d
How Ahmad al-Sharaa might consolidate authoritarian control under conditions of competitive authoritarianism - which is a plausible path for Syria. This short piece is a useful guide to how it's happened elsewhere.

ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx...
A Para-State: How a Shadow Partisan Network Governs State Ad
This article examines how competitive authoritarian regimes reshape state administration through informal, extralegal structures that bypass formal institutional frameworks. While prior research highl
ideas.repec.org

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 8d
www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/20...
Omani Foreign Minister says Israel, not Iran, is prime source of insecurity in region | The National
Badr Al Busaidi calls for increased engagement between Gulf states and Tehran
www.thenationalnews.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 9d
This has been a condition of the U.S., particularly some hold out senators, for fully removing Ceasar sanctions. Al-Sharaa just made that move a little easier.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 9d
When arrogance, ignorance, insularity, delusion, and entitlement meet reality.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Katie Miller is threatening the citizenship of a critic | Arwa Mahdawi
Threatening to deport your critics, even those with US citizenship, seems to have become Maga policy
www.theguardian.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 10d
UAE denials of support for the RSF collapse under scrutiny.

www.middleeasteye.net/news/inside-...
Exclusive: Inside the UAE's secret Sudan war operation at Somalia's Bosaso
Colombian mercenaries, regular transport flights and cargo marked 'hazardous' reveals a vast covert operation fuelling the RSF massacres in el-Fasher
www.middleeasteye.net

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 11d
Within USIP there were disagreements about its ties to USG. Folks like Bill Taylor supported closer integration. I opposed it. USIP was a nongovernmental NGO. It derived huge credibility from that. If it is rebuilt let’s strengthen its independence. Keep it apart from USAID. And State.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 11d
Yeah. I have my USIP construction project hardhat on a bookshelf. Every time I look at it I find it hard to believe what’s happened.

Reposted by Steven Heydemann

erinmcunningham.bsky.social
Erin Cunningham @erinmcunningham.bsky.social · 11d
A classified report by a U.S. gov’t watchdog found that Israeli military units committed “many hundreds” of potential violations of U.S. human rights law in the Gaza Strip that would take the State Department “multiple years” to review. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec... @johnphudson.bsky.social
Classified U.S. report finds backlog of hundreds of possible Israeli human rights violations
The report found “hundreds” of possible Israeli human rights violations, further complicating a process to review credible allegations against IDF military units in Gaza.
www.washingtonpost.com

Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 11d
Especially pernicious to suggest that racial diversity erodes trust. White workers can't trust Black and Brown workers because race trumps shared economic grievances. It's an obscene and so profoundly racist argument it has to be called out.
Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 11d
Vance pushing white nationalist racism into a sphere of organizing that is highly diverse and inclusive, in which Black and Brown people, women especially, play especially important leadership roles. Attempting to use race to suppress class as a basis for inclusive collective action.
dieworkwear.bsky.social derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12d
JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.

Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steven Heydemann, Jesse M. Shapiro , and 15 more

dieworkwear.bsky.social
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12d
JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.

Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵

Reposted by Steven Heydemann, Juan Cole, Jillian Schwedler

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 12d
Mamdani is attacked for not embracing Israel's Jewishness. But as I noted in 2021 what's unique is the US stance: "There is no case except Israel’s where the US actively advocates for a form of ethno-nationalist state that discounts large portion of its population"
www.brookings.edu/articles/ame...
America must rethink its unique and contradictory advocacy of Israel’s Jewishness | Brookings
Shibley Telhami argues that the United States' unique advocacy for Israel specifically as a Jewish state conflicts with the notion that states should represent and treat all their citizens equally, wh...
www.brookings.edu