Winthrop Rodgers

The US Immigration Industrial Complex is a Threat to Everyone If President Dwight D. Eisenhower were alive today, he very well may warn of the ever-growing immigration industrial complex.

"US immigration enforcement has evolved into a rapidly growing multi-billion-dollar industry in which profitability increasingly dictates policy and enforcement priorities."

By: @tylermcbrien.com

inkstickmedia.com/the-us-immig...

The Trump Administration Is Ending Aid That It Says Saves Lives The State Department will let lifesaving projects expire because “there is no strong nexus between the humanitarian response and U.S. national interests,” according to an internal email.

Across 7 countries barred from US aid, >6.2m people are facing “extreme or catastrophic conditions,” per UN. But they have little to offer US in return for help. In other cases, State Dept has restored/offered aid in exchange for desirable mineral rights, or as payment for accepting US deportees

Chevron, Iraq agree to exclusive talks over West Qurna 2 oilfield Chevron has entered into exclusive talks with Iraq over the giant West Qurna 2 oilfield, moving closer to acquiring the field from sanctioned Russian oil firm Lukoil .

Chevron, Iraq agree to exclusive talks over West Qurna 2 oilfield reut.rs/3OEggZu

Trump Is Strong-Arming the World Out of Climate Action Washington is leveraging its power to intimidate countries that are trying to protect the planet.

Washington is leveraging its power to intimidate countries that are trying to protect the planet. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/18/t...

What recent developments in Syria mean for the Kurds Kurdish forces suffered a major setback as the Damascus government seized northeast Syria and cemented its partnership with Washington — yet Kurdish cross-border solidarity has been renewed.

As Damascus and its backers move to remake Syria in their preferred image, the Kurds will face major challenges in maintaining the compromises they have managed to salvage, writes @wrodgers2.bsky.social.

www.chathamhouse.org/2026/02/what...

Kurdish-French scholar Hamit Bozarslan’s insight that “the heart of Kurdistan is currently beating in Rojava” appears more than vindicated by the reaction of ordinary Kurds to the recent events in Syria.

What recent developments in Syria mean for the Kurds Kurdish forces suffered a major setback as the Damascus government seized northeast Syria and cemented its partnership with Washington — yet Kurdish cross-border solidarity has been renewed.

NEW from me for @chmenap.bsky.social: Syria's Kurds suffered a dramatic setback over the past month, but the response from ordinary Kurds and their leaders was remarkable as cross-border solidarity skyrocketed.
www.chathamhouse.org/2026/02/what...

What recent developments in Syria mean for the Kurds Kurdish forces suffered a major setback as the Damascus government seized northeast Syria and cemented its partnership with Washington — yet Kurdish cross-border solidarity has been renewed.

Kurdish forces suffered a major setback as the Damascus government seized northeast Syria and cemented its partnership with Washington — yet Kurdish cross-border solidarity has been renewed, writes @wrodgers2.bsky.social.

Read the new Expert Comment ⤵️
www.chathamhouse.org/2026/02/what...

Scotland's music scene could finally get the museum it deserves Plans for a Scottish Rock Museum are gathering pace, with music insiders lining up artefacts, venues and artists’ backing.

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583631...

Chants of “Free Free Rojava, Free Free Rojhelat, Free Free Kurdistan” at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

“We have had from President Trump what amounts to a revolution. It is not grandiose to call this the end of the Western alliance.”

This week Bronwen Maddox delivered the Director’s Annual Lecture at @chathamhouse.org, chaired by Matt Frei (@channel4news.bsky.social)

Find out more ➡️ bit.ly/4pHKSpH

Deep Dive: Iraqi Kurdistan caught in the middle amid Iran-US escalation Iraq’s Kurdistan region has in recent weeks been rocked by seismic events on its borders. To the east, Iran has been reeling from protests initially led by merchants in Tehran that have widened to eng...

NEW from me for @amwajmedia.bsky.social: the Kurdistan Region is closely watching the protests in Iran, with the leadership adopting a quiet caution amid great risk. So far the Iranian Kurdish parties have expressed unity, but can they seize an opening?
amwaj.media/en/article/d...

I was quoted in this piece by Winthrop Rodgers: “The region has never really escaped the legacy of dictatorship, and in Syria, it has worsened. The old Baathist denial of Kurdish rights is back, now reinforced by ethnic chauvinism and religious extremism.”

From Aleppo to Iran: A split-screen moment for Kurdish anxieties Fighting in Aleppo and Iran’s protests reinforce both the centrality of Kurds in the changes taking place in the Middle East and the precarity of their position

NEW from me in @thenewarab.bsky.social: Kurds around the world are watching events in Aleppo and Iran with outrage and trepidation. They reinforce both the centrality of Kurds in the changes taking place in the Middle East and the precarity of their position.
www.newarab.com/analysis/ale...

From Aleppo to Iran: A split-screen moment for Kurdish anxieties Fighting in Aleppo and Iran’s protests reinforce both the centrality of Kurds in the changes taking place in the Middle East and the precarity of their position

NEW from me in @thenewarab.bsky.social: Kurds around the world are watching events in Rojava and Rojhelat with outrage and trepidation. They reinforce both the centrality of Kurds in the changes taking place in the Middle East and the precarity of their position.
www.newarab.com/analysis/ale...

How Iran switched off the internet Tehran went from ‘halal internet’ to near-total blackout but activists have smuggled in Starlink devices to get information out

“In a sense Iran’s firewall is the inverse of China’s great firewall…In Iran, the government has essentially blacklisted the entire internet and is experimenting with “white listing” some essential services to keep its sputtering economy functional.”
www.ft.com/content/5d84...

New paper: 'Austerity and Resistance: The Public Salary Crisis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq'

Winthrop Rodgers discusses how a decade-long financial crisis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has hit public servants the hardest.

📚 Read here: https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/130368/

Love watching the Rangers get embarrassed

Up to 80 journalists strike in Scotland over STV job cuts STV journalists were on strike in Glasgow and Aberdeen over plans to cut jobs and local news programming.

Around 80 STV journalists turned out on picket lines outside broadcaster STV’s headquarters in Glasgow and Aberdeen today as staff face compulsory redundancies pressgazette.co.uk/news/up-to-8...

US will ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, Trump says U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration is moving to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes in a bid to reduce home prices.

JUST IN: President Trump said his administration is moving to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes in a bid to reduce home prices reut.rs/4ps3cmC

Musk’s Grok AI Generated Thousands of Undressed Images Per Hour on X Elon Musk’s X has become a top site for images of people that have been non-consensually undressed by AI, according to a third-party analysis, with thousands of instances each hour over a day earlier ...

"the chatbot generated about 6,700 [images] every hour that were identified as sexually suggestive or nudifying, according to Genevieve Oh, a social media and deepfake researcher....Oh calculated that 85% of Grok’s images, overall, are sexualized."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Banaz Mahmod was murdered 20 years ago; the fight for a law on ‘honour’-based abuse goes on After years of campaigning, Mahmod’s sister Bekhal hopes UK government is finally ready to bring in Banaz’s law

“Banaz’s law proposes that defendants are prevented from using “honour” as a defence; that “honour”-based abuse is explicitly recognised as an aggravating factor in sentencing, backed by statutory guidance shaped by women and campaigners.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Front pages of American newspapers after Jan. 6, 2021, with headlines like "Capitol Chaos," "Assault on Democracy," "Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol."

Five years ago.

Trump issues first official US statement in Venezuela attack, says the US captured Maduro.

Presumably this answers what the helicopters in Caracas were doing. Still unclear if so, and how many people were killed in the attacks. Venezuela as of now, 431am ET, hasn't confirmed Trump's claim

U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela as Trump escalates pressure on Maduro regime, sources say President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, U.S. officials told CBS News, ratchet up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela as Trump escalates pressure on Maduro regime, sources say www.cbsnews.com/live-updates...

Venezuela says it rejects "military aggression" by the US Venezuela rejects "military aggression" by the United States, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said in a statement early Saturday.

Venezuela says it rejects "military aggression" by the US reut.rs/4pYL9pn

‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate? ‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate?: Defenders say AI can do good to fight the climate crisis. But spiralling energy and water costs leave experts worried During a golden sunset in Memphis in May, Sharon Wilson pointed a thermal imaging camer...

‘Just an unbelievable amount of pollution’: how big a threat is AI to the climate?: Defenders say AI can do good to fight the climate crisis. But spiralling energy and water costs leave experts worried During a golden sunset in Memphis in May, Sharon Wilson pointed a thermal imaging camer...

US ‘adapt, shrink or die’ terms for $2bn aid pot will mean UN bowing down to Washington, say experts Afghanistan and Yemen excluded from list of 17 priority countries chosen by Trump administration to receive aid laden with demands

Thomas Byrnes, CEO of MarketImpact...has been tracking aid cuts throughout the past year and said the $2b was significantly less than the $3.38b in funds given by the US to the UN in 2025, all of which was provided under the previous Biden administration.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Why intra-Kurdish rivalries could stall Iraq’s new government With Sunni and Shia blocs in rough consensus over the parliament speaker and prime minister, Kurdish parties are yet to agree on their selection for president

Now that the Sunnis have united and chosen a speaker, the onus is on the Kurds to do the same regarding the presidency. But the prospects seem quite dim, as I lay out in my latest for @thenewarab.bsky.social
www.newarab.com/analysis/why...

Why intra-Kurdish rivalries could stall Iraq’s new government With Sunni and Shia blocs in rough consensus over the parliament speaker and prime minister, Kurdish parties are yet to agree on their selection for president

Now that the Sunnis have united and chosen a speaker, the onus is on the Kurds to do the same regarding the presidency. But the prospects seem quite dim, as I lay out in my latest for @The_NewArab.
www.newarab.com/analysis/why...