Frederick Deknatel
@freddydeknatel.bsky.social
Journalist, fellow at Century International, editor of Hidden Cities: https://hiddencities.substack.com/
Previously: Founding executive editor, Democracy in Exile @dawnmenaorg.bsky.social; managing editor @wpr.bsky.social; staff editor @foreignaffairs.com
Previously: Founding executive editor, Democracy in Exile @dawnmenaorg.bsky.social; managing editor @wpr.bsky.social; staff editor @foreignaffairs.com
Pinned
Frederick Deknatel - The Century Foundation
Frederick Deknatel is a journalist, editor and fellow at Century International, where he writes about Middle Eastern affairs. From 2021 to 2025, he was
tcf.org
I'm thrilled to join the Century Foundation as a fellow at Century International, where I'll be writing on Syria's future, from the huge challenges of reconstruction to the prospects for U.S.-Syria ties after Assad. @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social
tcf.org/experts/fred...
tcf.org/experts/fred...
"The proposed projects reflect the stated desire of the Syrian authorities to rely on private investment as the engine of economic development and reconstruction."
@naderatassi.bsky.social on opaque megaproject deals Syria has signed with mainly Gulf investors. www.arab-reform.net/publication/...
@naderatassi.bsky.social on opaque megaproject deals Syria has signed with mainly Gulf investors. www.arab-reform.net/publication/...
Deals Without Details: The Opaque Political Economy of Syria’s New Mega-Projects
Amid a flurry of multi-billion-dollar memoranda of understanding (MoUs), the Syrian Transitional Government is positioning private investment as the engine of reconstruction. The recent announcemen…
www.arab-reform.net
November 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
"The proposed projects reflect the stated desire of the Syrian authorities to rely on private investment as the engine of economic development and reconstruction."
@naderatassi.bsky.social on opaque megaproject deals Syria has signed with mainly Gulf investors. www.arab-reform.net/publication/...
@naderatassi.bsky.social on opaque megaproject deals Syria has signed with mainly Gulf investors. www.arab-reform.net/publication/...
Health insurance is fraud -- that's the super secret plan Republicans have to finally repeal and replace Obamacare.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Health insurance is fraud -- that's the super secret plan Republicans have to finally repeal and replace Obamacare.
Reposted by Frederick Deknatel
The administration went all the way to the Supreme Court on Friday night to halt food-stamp funding. 🤡
Shaheen: "When I talk to my constituents in New Hampshire, you know what they say to me? They say, 'Why can't you all just work together to address the problems that are facing this country?'"
November 10, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The administration went all the way to the Supreme Court on Friday night to halt food-stamp funding. 🤡
Reposted by Frederick Deknatel
Not that he didn’t already know, but now Trump knows for sure he can roll the Dems every time and there’s no need to negotiate for anything
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Not that he didn’t already know, but now Trump knows for sure he can roll the Dems every time and there’s no need to negotiate for anything
By caving, Senate Democrats are sending the message that they have absolutely no feeling for the national mood — despite how people voted less than a week ago.
Maybe they’ll have a better idea when the primaries kick off in a few months.
Maybe they’ll have a better idea when the primaries kick off in a few months.
November 10, 2025 at 3:13 AM
By caving, Senate Democrats are sending the message that they have absolutely no feeling for the national mood — despite how people voted less than a week ago.
Maybe they’ll have a better idea when the primaries kick off in a few months.
Maybe they’ll have a better idea when the primaries kick off in a few months.
"The city’s highest-paid workers — New Yorkers making $312,000 a year or more — saw their hourly wages rise by almost 35 percent between 2019 and 2024. That was more than triple the hourly wage growth experienced by upper-middle-class employees." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/n...
Zohran Mamdani and the Revenge of the Struggling Yuppie
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:16 AM
"The city’s highest-paid workers — New Yorkers making $312,000 a year or more — saw their hourly wages rise by almost 35 percent between 2019 and 2024. That was more than triple the hourly wage growth experienced by upper-middle-class employees." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/n...
Reposted by Frederick Deknatel
"When I began filing for Western news desks, the shift was immediate. The story didn’t need to be true; it had to be acceptable. Each edit taught me what kind of suffering was legible, what kind of death was allowed to matter."
Don't miss this essay by Adam Makary themarkaz.org/the-grammar-...
Don't miss this essay by Adam Makary themarkaz.org/the-grammar-...
The Grammar of Power: On Journalism, Grief, and the Stories That Break Us
This essay examines how grieving for Palestine is policed in classrooms, newsrooms, and across borders, revealing the cost of bearing witness.
themarkaz.org
November 9, 2025 at 9:18 PM
"When I began filing for Western news desks, the shift was immediate. The story didn’t need to be true; it had to be acceptable. Each edit taught me what kind of suffering was legible, what kind of death was allowed to matter."
Don't miss this essay by Adam Makary themarkaz.org/the-grammar-...
Don't miss this essay by Adam Makary themarkaz.org/the-grammar-...
Reposted by Frederick Deknatel
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani.
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
November 8, 2025 at 3:43 PM
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani.
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani.
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
November 8, 2025 at 3:43 PM
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani.
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
The natural move after declaring: “We just lost an election, they said, based on affordability. It’s a con job by the Democrats.”
BREAKING: The Trump administration seeks an emergency pause to a court order demanding full November SNAP payments.
Trump administration seeks to halt SNAP food aid payments after a court order
The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order to distribute November’s full SNAP benefits during a U.S. government shutdown. U.S.
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 5:11 PM
The natural move after declaring: “We just lost an election, they said, based on affordability. It’s a con job by the Democrats.”
Is your home still a home
when your house has been demolished?
Is your neighborhood still a neighborhood
when your neighbors are dead or gone?
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
when your house has been demolished?
Is your neighborhood still a neighborhood
when your neighbors are dead or gone?
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
November 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Is your home still a home
when your house has been demolished?
Is your neighborhood still a neighborhood
when your neighbors are dead or gone?
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
when your house has been demolished?
Is your neighborhood still a neighborhood
when your neighbors are dead or gone?
“We Are Still Here,” a new poem in Hidden Cities by Vaheed Ramazani
hiddencities.substack.com/p/we-are-sti...
“The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.” www.reuters.com/world/middle...
www.reuters.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
“The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.” www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Yea but what about “clean, beautiful coal”
China has made cheap, clean energy available in huge quantities. The world should take the win econ.st/4oqFszB
Photo: Eyevine
Photo: Eyevine
November 7, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Yea but what about “clean, beautiful coal”
A world the Trump administration is trying to prevent.
We are going to live in a world where the the marginal cost of electricity is very close to zero
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
November 6, 2025 at 6:30 PM
A world the Trump administration is trying to prevent.
The New York Times is instituting Sharia law, not Mamdani.
November 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The New York Times is instituting Sharia law, not Mamdani.
“One former employee has said that everyone knows the project won’t work; it is now just a matter of letting MBS down gently.”
“In true Neom fashion, there’s a mountain at the end of the runway that had to be blown up,” said a senior architect.
“In true Neom fashion, there’s a mountain at the end of the runway that had to be blown up,” said a senior architect.
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“One former employee has said that everyone knows the project won’t work; it is now just a matter of letting MBS down gently.”
“In true Neom fashion, there’s a mountain at the end of the runway that had to be blown up,” said a senior architect.
“In true Neom fashion, there’s a mountain at the end of the runway that had to be blown up,” said a senior architect.
Reposted by Frederick Deknatel
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:56 AM
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
The New York Times is desperate to cover Mamdani’s mayoralty more aggressively than the New York Post.
the New York Times is trying *so hard* to accuse Mamdani of a bait & switch but its evidence is incredibly thin
November 6, 2025 at 12:34 AM
The New York Times is desperate to cover Mamdani’s mayoralty more aggressively than the New York Post.
It was, in fact, just about a sandwich. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
November 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
It was, in fact, just about a sandwich. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
"The results, then, are a marked contrast to the accommodation, capitulation and outright surrender of prominent individuals and institutions in the face of Trump’s demands." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/o...
November 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
"The results, then, are a marked contrast to the accommodation, capitulation and outright surrender of prominent individuals and institutions in the face of Trump’s demands." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/o...