Hassan Hassan

Syrian Government Shakeup Expected To Diffuse Presidential Power and Integrate Minorities In Syria, a significant government reshuffle is anticipated in the coming weeks, primarily aimed at integrating minority groups and distributing the myriad roles currently held by President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The reshuffle is poised to be narrow in scope, affecting only a handful of key portfolios, be...

What might Syria’s anticipated government shakeup reveal about the regime’s efforts to diffuse presidential authority and broaden minority inclusion? In this Running Notes piece, @hhassan.bsky.social  parses the political calculus behind the expected reforms.

Brilliant piece by the Iran scholar Mehrzad Boroujerdi on the unresolved contradictions that Khamenei leaves behind, his intellectual journey and ideological battles—did you know he translated Kahlil Gibran and Sayyid Qutb into Persian?—and what's at stake in the impending succession. A must read! ⤵️

The Unresolved Contradictions Ali Khamenei Leaves Behind Iranians are left to reckon with the political order the supreme leader shaped, while the impending succession places the Islamic republic’s future in question

One of the most interesting profiles I've read on Ali Khamenei, tracing his intellectual/ideological journey while untangling the succession dilemmas he leaves behind.

By scholar of Iranian intellectual history Mehrzad Boroujerdi for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/argument/the...

Iran Strikes Back at the Gulf as the US Pursues a Regime Change It Cannot Force The new round of attacks on Iran by the United States embodies a paradox. It is the highest-stakes campaign at least since Israel’s targeting of high-level Iranian and Hezbollah officials in early 2024. The current operation, involving B-2 bombers and naval strikes, dwarfs the June 2025 strikes on Fordow and Natanz, which already set Iran’s […]

"Washington has the resources in place to keep up the heat on the Iranian regime, to drain its resources and cause it lasting damage."
@hhassan.bsky.social on regime change in Iran

Iran Strikes Back at the Gulf as the US Pursues a Regime Change It Cannot Force The new round of attacks on Iran by the United States embodies a paradox. It is the highest-stakes campaign at least since Israel’s targeting of high-level Iranian and Hezbollah officials in early 2024. The current operation, involving B-2 bombers and naval strikes, dwarfs the June 2025 strikes on Fordow and Natanz, which already set Iran’s […]

🧵The strikes on Iran will wound the leadership of the Islamic republic, but regime change requires a counterforce that the U.S. and Israel simply do not have | @hhassan.bsky.social

Iran Strikes Back at the Gulf as the US Pursues a Regime Change It Cannot Force The new round of attacks on Iran by the United States embodies a paradox. It is the highest-stakes campaign at least since Israel’s targeting of high-level Iranian and Hezbollah officials in early 202...

NEW: The strikes on Iran will wound the leadership of the Islamic republic, but regime change requires a counterforce that the U.S. and Israel simply do not have, writes @hhassan.bsky.social . newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Syria’s president is poised to cede authority over a handful of government portfolios, reinstating the previously abolished prime minister position and integrating minority figures into key Cabinet roles, reports @hhassan.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...
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In "Running Notes", expect 400-to-600-word pieces from our staff & contributors offering urgent context on the Middle East & beyond. No hot takes or news tickers, just the exclusive insights and analysis that usually stay in our editorial meetings.

The Jewish Woman Who Was the Love of Palestine’s Most Famous Poet Died This Week “Rita is an erotic poem. … Rita in all my poems is a Jewish woman.” – Mahmoud Darwish, in a 1996 interview with Israeli literary critic Helit Yeshurun. On Feb. 24, Tamar Ben-Ami, a Jewish-Israeli woma...

5. The Jewish Israeli woman who loved and was loved by Palestine’s most famous poet died this week. Their romance couldn’t survive politics, but the poetry it inspired is loved by millions: newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Everything About Bad Bunny Is Political, Even His Choice of Perfume Just when we thought Bad Bunny’s popularity couldn’t reach new heights, we were proved wrong. The most streamed artist of all time made global news after his stunning Super Bowl performance on Feb. 8,...

4. Everything about Bad Bunny is political, even his choice of perfume. Interesting tidbits on the Puerto Rican superstar's choice of scent, by Ola Salem newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Why Israelis Are OK With Another Iran War Why do Israelis, who seemed so stricken by last June’s 12-day war with Iran, appear to be eagerly supporting a second round led by the U.S.? There are two possible answers to this question. The first,...

3. For many Israelis, reports Ori Goldberg, war with Iran is always proper and desirable, outcome be damned. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Yemen's ‘Dismantled’ Separatists Are Still Causing Chaos For Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), a single social media post can still set events in motion. On paper, the pro-independence group was dismantled in January after losing control of much ...

2. In Yemen "the Saudi-UAE rift will escalate, and the protests are an indication of that,” a senior Yemeni govt official told Saeed Al-Batati. The armed networks once built by the UAE have neither disappeared nor fundamentally changed: newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Syrian Government Shakeup Expected To Diffuse Presidential Power and Integrate Minorities In Syria, a significant government reshuffle is anticipated in the coming weeks, primarily aimed at integrating minority groups and distributing the myriad roles currently held by President Ahmad al-S...

1. Syria’s president is poised to cede authority over a handful of government portfolios, reinstating the previously abolished prime minister position and integrating minority figures into key Cabinet roles. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

We’re expanding at New Lines magazine. Today we're rolling out a new section focused on short, timely news analysis & reporting. This is to bridge a gap between our award-winning longform essays and daily headlines.

Check out our 5 inaugural pieces of "Running Notes": newlinesmag.com/running-notes/

Please read this wonderful article on the historical lessons of the French Resistance @diane2v.bsky.social

"Protests against ICE raids have spread far beyond Minnesota, with demonstrations reported in hundreds of towns and cities. These actions might not stop deportations in Minneapolis, but they do something else that historians recognize as vital: tell those resisting on the ground that they are seen."

Global Thought Archives

What cities around the world have really interesting, dynamic intellectual “scenes”? Want to tell the story/paint a portrait of such a “scene” — especially in the Global South — for @newlinesmag.bsky.social’s Global Thought series? Pitch me: dpostel@newlinesmag.com

newlinesmag.com/topic/global...

Lots of interesting and wholesome developments in this thread.

@hhassan.bsky.social
This is an excellent article, and gives just a bit of hope which is even better.

In Post-Roe America, Abortion Care Is Being Reborn From the Ground Up A British doctor finds fear and legal chaos being transformed into a new, decentralized model of reproductive freedom

9. Interestingly, the US "underground" is said to be actually out-innovating the UK's legal bureaucracy. NHS gatekeeping vs the US post-Dobbs chaos creating a decentralized, telehealth-driven model that's faster & more autonomous than the "settled" law of 1967 newlinesmag.com/reportage/in...

8. The rise of "Shield Laws" created a legal paradox. A patient in a total-ban state like Alabama can now access pills legally (or semi-legally) from US-based telehealth providers, provided those doctors are in states like NY or MA that enacted specific laws to block out-of-state prosecution.

7. Research for a "Plant Parenthood" series uncovered 100+ plants (like peacock flower and wild ginger) historically used for abortion by midwives and enslaved women, highlighting that community-managed care predates the "white male physician" consolidation of the 19th century.

6. Muslim organizers like Heart to Grow are producing guides that frame bodily autonomy as an anti-colonial rejection of control, arguing that wanting to make decisions about your body isn't a "Western feminist thing" but deeply rooted in their own theological interpretation.

In Post-Roe America, Abortion Care Is Being Reborn From the Ground Up A British doctor finds fear and legal chaos being transformed into a new, decentralized model of reproductive freedom

5. Borrowing from Latin American activists, some networks are distributing medication before pregnancy is confirmed. It’s framed as regulating menstruation ("missed period pills") rather than abortion, bypassing both stigma and specific legal trigegrs newlinesmag.com/reportage/in...

4. Leading doctors admitted that the long-standing requirement for pre-abortion ultrasounds was often for research purposes or because "doctors love doing procedures," not medical necessity. Post-Dobbs, the removal of these barriers through telehealth has streamlined care significantly.

3. Churches are now running travel networks. The First Unitarian Church in Dallas designed a travel program that literally flies groups of women to New Mexico for same-day procedures. The SACRED curriculum is pushing congregations to move from "lesser of two evils" rhetoric to a "moral good."

2. Mexican "companions" (veterans of Latin American activism) are guiding Texans via anonymous text chains. One "pill bank" operator mails meds & care packages with heavy overnight pads and pregnancy tests, so women don't have to risk buying a test in a local drugstore.

In Post-Roe America, Abortion Care Is Being Reborn From the Ground Up A British doctor finds fear and legal chaos being transformed into a new, decentralized model of reproductive freedom

1. Abortion access actually expanded post-Dobbs. A 12% increase in provider-administered abortions in 2024 compared to 2020. The system simply mutated into something decentralized. newlinesmag.com/reportage/in...

In Post-Roe America, Abortion Care Is Being Reborn From the Ground Up A British doctor finds fear and legal chaos being transformed into a new, decentralized model of reproductive freedom

Important, granular reporting on the underground world of abortion care in the US - by Sabrina Das, an obstetrician, gynecologist & abortion surgeon in London, and a fellow at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health in New York.

Tidbits in the next posts. newlinesmag.com/reportage/in...

While Israel’s Construction Industry Falters, Apartments Are Springing up Around Ramallah Revoking the permits of 160,000 Palestinian workers has meant chaos for building projects and has all but destroyed the economy of the West Bank — though for some, it is a desirable place to own prope...

exemplary reporting here by @lisang.bsky.social, deeply informed and informative — a really fascinating read, looking at the injustices of Palestinian life and Israeli economics from very different angles than we usually see them
newlinesmag.com/reportage/wh...