Daniel Block

If you read this and it makes you think at all about Iraq, well:

The Son of the Last Shah Wants to Be the Next Leader of Iran Reza Pahlavi has a famous name but whether he has enough support inside the country to rise to power is unclear.

The son of Iran’s shah wants to come back and lead his old country. Some people think it’s a great idea. Others think it’s awful. And many think it’s impractical—but that his efforts are endangering Iran and the world.

Me in @politico.com: www.politico.com/news/magazin...

How War Between Iran and Israel Could Escalate—and Drag In the United States A conversation with Daniel B. Shapiro.

What does Israel's attack mean for the Middle East? And will the United States also end up striking Iran? To find out, @foreignaffairs.com spoke with Daniel Shapiro, the former assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East: www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/dan-sha...

The Liberals Who Can’t Stop Winning Trump isn’t the only reason Canada’s center-left has stayed in power.

Canada’s Liberals are the most successful progressive party in the Western world, and possibly the whole world.

Me for @theatlantic.com:

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Path to American Authoritarianism What comes after democratic breakdown.

"In 2025, worrying about the fate of American democracy has become almost passé."

-Steven Levitsky and @lucanway.bsky.social, on how the resistance has gone away when it's needed most. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Will the Gaza Cease-Fire Last? A conversation with Marc Lynch.

In a Q&A with Senior Editor Daniel Block, @abuaardvark.bsky.social considers what the Gaza cease-fire will mean for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Middle East.

Will the Gaza Cease-Fire Last? A conversation with Marc Lynch.

After months of devastation and tens of thousands of deaths, Israel and Hamas have a ceasefire agreement. What does it mean, and what comes next? To find out, I spoke with Marc Lynch for @foreignaffairs.com:

www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/...

An amazing lede to a great essay by my friend and colleague @danblock.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Thank you!

Big Ski Is Trying to Snow You A recent strike at a major resort has put the spotlight on what a bad deal both workers and visitors are getting.

“The Park City strike illustrates just how distorted the American ski business has become, both for workers and for visitors,” writes Daniel Block. “Central to the malaise is one trend: monopolization”:

Big Ski Is Trying to Snow You A recent strike at a major resort has put the spotlight on what a bad deal both workers and visitors are getting.

I don't normally write about personal stuff. But in the wake of the Park City strike, I had to. Here's what it's like to work at a large ski mountain, and how corporations have made the sport worse.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

here’s a utopian idea for the future: North America Schengen Zone

Annual ‘winners’ for most egregious US healthcare profiteering announced Selling body parts without consent and billing desperate parents $97,599 for air transport among worst examples

The "winners" of the 2024 Lown Institute's Shrkeli Awards for health care profiteering include UnitedHealthcare; an air ambulance company that charged $97,599; and a University of North Texas facility that allegedly sold body parts without notifying next of kin.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ten New Ideas for the Democratic Party to Help the Working Class, and Itself. | Washington Monthly This package of essays is not an exercise in political “messaging.” It is an effort to provide the policy scaffolding of a new liberalism.

“Ten New Ideas for the Democratic Party to Help the Working Class, and Itself.”

From @glastris.bsky.social in the new issue of the @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social

washingtonmonthly.com/2025/01/05/t...

Economists Are in the Wilderness. Can They Find a Way Back to Influence? (Gift Article) Economists have long helped to shape policy on issues like taxes and health care. But flawed forecasts and arcane language have cost them credibility.

A great story on economist soul-searching from @bencasselman.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/b...

seems like a pretty ripe time for someone to introduce a new photo and/or social video app

‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This’ The Palisades Fire is destroying places that I’ve loved.

"Mom just told me that her friend sent her some new photographs: My childhood home, which she and my Dad built together in Topanga Canyon, may be gone." Such a moving essay by @nancywalecki.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Democrats’ Disastrous Misreading of Latino Public Opinion They spent more than a decade tacking left on immigration to win Latino votes. It may have cost them the White House—twice.

A pretty standard bit of conventional wisdom over the past 10+ years: moving to the left on immigration policy might lose you some white voters, but it'll sure win you a lot of Latino voters.

The second part turns out to maybe never have been true. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Oh, this is very cool: The Atlantic now has a feature—that red "Follow" link on the author page—allowing you to sign up for email alerts for any writer you want. Like, oh, I don't know ... www.theatlantic.com/author/gilad...

Parents, Put Down Your Phone Cameras In trying to capture so much of our kids’ lives, we risk missing out.

The only thing I would add to this nice little parenting essay is that the advice applies to the rest of life, too. Enjoy things while they're happening! www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The truth is that men aren’t thinking about the Roman Empire, or the Middle Ages, they’re thinking about @mikeduncan.bsky.social’s chronicle of a fictitious revolution on Mars.

The Strange Triumph of a Broken America Power abroad comes with dysfunction at home.

This data-rich @foreignaffairs.com piece by Michael Beckley is the best explanation I've seen of American politics, both foreign and domestic. The sources of our strength are also, increasingly, the sources of our dysfunction.

The Age of Climate Disaster Is Here Preparing for a future of extreme weather.

“Money alone will not prepare communities for weather of historic extremes.”

To build resilience to climate-fueled disasters, governments must think strategically about how to reduce devastation, argued Alice Hill in a 2023 essay.

Mets superfan — and Cavs star — Donovan Mitchell is PUMPED that Juan Soto is heading to Queens.

It’s the Best Time in History to Be a Pizza Sicko My quest to make the perfect at-home pie

“Violinists have the Stradivarius. Sneakerheads have the Air Jordan 1. Pizza degenerates like me have the Ooni.”

@saahildesai.bsky.social on his singular, pointless quest to make the best pie possible:

The Best of Books 2024 This year’s top picks from Foreign Affairs’ editors and reviewers.

Congrats to the winners of @foreignaffairs.com’s best books of the year, including @himself.bsky.social @radchenko.bsky.social @mireyasolis.bsky.social @dahliasc.bsky.social Saleha Mohsin, Nathan Thrall, Adam Shatz, Joya Chatterji, Simon Shuster, and Anna Reid. www.foreignaffairs.com/lists/best-b...

On the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” Mara Karlin discusses how the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are transforming the nature of warfare. Start listening here: fam.ag/4ijYGEB

India Is Hoping for a Trump Bump Modi will seek greater alignment with Washington—but more autonomy, too.

“India is not nervous about a Trump administration,” writes @tanvimadan.bsky.social. “New Delhi is more prepared for the president-elect than it was in 2016. It has accumulated experience in dealing with Trump and his team.”

The Best of Books 2024 This year’s top picks from Foreign Affairs’ editors and reviewers.

In this list, explore the very best of the hundreds of books on international politics, economics, and history that were featured in the magazine this year, selected by Foreign Affairs’ editors and book reviewers: