Aaron Y. Zelin

The Conquest of al-Andalus. A Translation of Fatḥ al-Andalus (Routledge Medieval Translations) Published in Al-Masāq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean (Ahead of Print, 2025)

First academic journal review of my translation & study of the medieval text Fath al-Andalus(The Conquest of al-Andalus) is out,& it's mostly positive,particularly about how it presents a clear & readable translation from a difficult original www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A View from the CT Foxhole: Zohar Palti, Former Director, Policy & Political-Military Bureau, Israel’s Ministry of Defense - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point Zohar Palti is the Andrew Viterbi Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, D.C.; Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; and a con...

On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks, Don Rassler and I interviewed Zohar Palti, former head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Israeli Mossad, for the October issue of the CTC Sentinel. Fascinating and insightful.

ctc.westpoint.edu/a-view-from-...

Lots of performative posts on this site. Meanwhile we grind every week for the last 3 years to tell stories in the US courts that no one else does. Decide to do more than performative posts, put your resources towards a news site that has a track record of impact.

www.CourtWatch.news/upgrade

The meme-ification of political violence It's less ideology than the internet — what the media and Trump don't understand about the current wave of shootings.

The meme-ification of political violence

Very thoughtful discussion here

www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...

A Visit to the Badr Organisation's Najaf Branch Iraq is gearing up for parliamentary elections next month, and among the parties that primarily gain votes from the country’s Twelver Shia community, the Badr Organisation is undoubtedly one of the mo...

My latest: my visit to the Najaf office of the Badr Organisation (one of Iraq's major pro-Iranian factions), discussing the group's outlook on Iraq and the wider region, including the question of relations with the new Syrian government www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/a-visit-to...

They are experiencing friction at times, but they keep consistently moving the ball down the field. Which is why I am not especially reassured by the Greek chorus of "he can't do that" every time he announces what he is going to do.

This isn't dooming. Resistance requires a realistic assessment.

Druze Factions in al-Suwayda' after the National Guard Merger: Interview with a Constituent Group Since late August, virtually all Druze armed factions in the southern Syrian province of al-Suwayda’ have merged into the ‘National Guard’ initiative that is endorsed by Hikmat al-Hijri (one of the th...

New interview with Quwat Fursan Hamza, one of the constituent factions of the Druze 'National Guard' initiative backed by Hikmat al-Hijri. It has recently rebranded as 'Battalion 501- Special Assignments' of the National Guard www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/druze-fact...

Tom Nichols: All The Circuit Breakers Are Gone President Trump’s loyalty purges continue.

Tom Nichols: All The Circuit Breakers Are Gone
www.thebulwark.com/p/tom-nichol...

These numbers are abysmal for a consumer product, especially one that is devouring our economy and destroying the environment and being force-fed to everyone

escaping reality for a while

Trump & Hegseth Preach Insanity to The General Officers On a special edition of Shield of the Republic, Eric and Eliot break down Secretary of Defense Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s speeches to the General Officer Corps at Quantico this week.

Trump & Hegseth Preach Insanity to The General Officers
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-and-...

This is insane

I remember when one (theoretically) had to break a quaint thing called a "law" before arrested and sent to prison

Talk about devaluing the dollar

Peacemaker unexpectedly taking the lead for the most emotionally devastating show of 2025

Bringing lethality to every part of government, from DoD to the FBI to HHS

1. Whip up moral panic claiming immigrants are drug-dealing cartel members

2. Stop enforcing laws against cartels

3. Blame immigrants for increased drug-dealing

Endnotes are never acceptable, and this is one of my most strongly-held writing beliefs.

It's like the Stanford Prison experiment is going on again, except it's the whole country.

This Week in Northern Syria [37.2025] September 24 - 30: al-Shar' at UNGA, Gov't forces close Deir Hafir road, SDF detains dozens in al-Raqqah, and more...

This week's newsletter is free access... check it out and considering becoming a paid subscriber

akmckeever.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Check out @mattfulton.net excellent interview with @azelin.bsky.social

Everything ‘Atun pushed back against for Patraeus’ 2015 comments more or less came to pass a decade later

There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa How times have changed

There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa www.jihadologyplus.com/p/there-and-...

Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.

Difficulty level: Impossible

As with social media algorithms, identity characteristics (race, religion, gender, etc) are deeply and inextricably embedded in how we interact with social or parasocial or faux social technologies.

Jonas, Barry | Program on Extremism | The George Washington University Barry Jonas

We’re excited to welcome Barry Jonas, a seasoned federal prosecutor, to PoE as our new Senior Research Fellow. He’ll lead work on legal issues tied to extremism and counterterrorism - and help shape cutting-edge training programs.

There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa How times have changed

There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa www.jihadologyplus.com/p/there-and-...

Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.

1923 aerial photo of Damascus looking north-south, Umayyad mosque in the center of the frame

x.com/jaretalaassi...

Quick reminder that fascism is almost always obsessed with the aesthetics of the male body—sculpted, uniformed, disciplined.

A few quick #JOLTS 📈:
Starting with: Job openings are way down from their peak, but they've fallen slowly if at all in recent months. No obvious sign that labor demand is falling off a cliff.
#NumbersDay

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary - 2025 M08 Results

Still no evidence of major cracks in the job market in August JOLTS data. Openings, hires, layoffs all close to flat. Revisions were modest. #NumbersDay
www.bls.gov/news.release...