Michael Brill

Trump Renames Institute of Peace for Himself

The Saddam Hussein University for Islamic Studies!

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...

This is up there with the Saddam Hussein University for Islamic Studies!

Trump's sycophants have had his name added to the signage of the US Institute of Peace. A sick, obscene parody. The desperate, pathetic grovelling to support his delusional demand for a Nobel. Sick.

Making the Forever War The late historian Marilyn B. Young, a preeminent voice on the history of U.S. military conflict, spent her career reassessing the nature of American global ...

Making the Forever War: Marilyn Young on the Culture and Politics of American Militarism is on sale at the @umasspress.bsky.social holiday sale! 40% discount when you use the code HOLIDAY for this & other books.
www.umasspress.com/978162534568...

"The US failed to deter RUS in 3 ways: it limited UKR's capability to respond to RUS encroachment; it was reluctant to follow through on its own threats; & it communicated to RUS in word & deed that UKR’s defense was not a high-level US priority." -Brayden Whatcott

www.ifc.usafa.edu/articles/mee...

How Israel emerged as major threat to Syria’s post-Assad future A year after Assad’s fall, hope grows in Syria — but unrelenting Israeli raids still threaten security and stability in the south, writes Paul McLoughlin.

A year after Assad’s fall, hope grows in Syria — but unrelenting Israeli raids still threaten security and stability in the south, writes Paul McLoughlin ⬇️

Hmmm... Seems like the @wilsoncenter.org quickly discovered that 8 remaining employees couldn't do the work or match the research output of all the established programs DOGE and the Trump administration destroyed. 🤔

www.wilsoncenter.org/microsite/9/...

Cold War Center needs to raise $67.5 million | Arkansas Democrat Gazette The National Cold War Center in Blytheville needs to raise $67.5 million by the end of the decade if it wants to meet a goal of opening a museum by 2030 or 2031.

"The National Cold War Center, designated as the official museum of the cold war by Congress, will be housed on the site of the former Eaker Air Force Base, originally named Blytheville Air Force Base."

www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/de...

‘Hiding Saddam Hussein’ Director Unveils Feature ‘No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman,’ About Female Sniper Who Takes on ISIS (EXCLUSIVE) No Paradise if You Are Killed follows a Kurdish-Norwegian female sniper hoping to rescue her younger sister imprisoned by ISIS in Mosul

“'No Paradise if You Are Killed by a Woman,' now in post-production, leaps forward a decade from the fall of Saddam and to the rise of the Islamic State." @variety.com

variety.com/2025/film/gl...

Since Assad’s Fall, Many Families of the Forcibly Disappeared Still Lack Answers “I can’t say ‘may they rest in peace,’” says the mother and wife of two missing Syrians.

“I can’t say ‘may they rest in peace,’” says the mother and wife of two missing Syrians.

A window into Saddam’s Iraq and Qadhafi’s Libya Hadi Hasan’s The President’s Cake and Jihan K’s My Father and Qadhafi are both personal stories set against the turbulent backdrop

"The eras of both these dictators were the subject of discussions at the Doha Film Festival, courtesy two films — The Pre­s­i­dent’s Cake & My Father & Qadhafi."

www.dawn.com/news/1957358

Palestinian Islamic Jihad reportedly rebuilding its presence in Syria Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported on November 26 that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been “increasingly strengthening its military wing in Syria in recent weeks,” particularly around Palestinian...

"Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization that originated in Gaza in 1979. The group managed to establish a headquarters in Damascus in 1990, which brought 'Islamic Jihad leaders into direct contact with Iranian officials for the first time.'"

www.longwarjournal.org/archives/202...

Tehran presses Berlin on 1980s Iran-Iraq war chemical weapons supplies Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday pressed Germany to release any findings into German companies suspected of supplying materials for chemical weapons deployed by Saddam Hussein during the 1980s Ira...

"Relations between Berlin & Tehran are at a low ebb after Germany joined France & Britain in September in reimposing international sanctions on Iran for what the European powers see as defiance of UN nuclear inspections." -The political club for such occasions!

www.iranintl.com/en/202511267...

The American Legacy in Iraq | Alhurra Akeel Abbas, a scholar at the Washington Institute, focuses on national and religious identities, modernity, and democratization in the Middle East. More than twenty years after the end of Saddam H…

"The Shiite Islamist parties, desperate to cover up their own failures of governance, have long tried to frighten the public with the possibility of a return of the Baath Party." -Akeel Abbas

alhurra.com/en/7741

"There are many actors working toward Air Force modernization, but this complex organizational topography creates real challenges for integrating diverse efforts into a single modernized force." @elenawicker.bsky.social

www.ifc.usafa.edu/articles/out...

"In one year’s time for our second Threat Horizon report, not only will we provide a look at what’s coming in 2027, but we will also assess how our 2026 predictions fared and reflect on what reality offered instead."

www.ifc.usafa.edu/articles/ins...

Assad’s Chemical Weapons Remnants Threaten Civilians at Over 100 Sites in Syria Syria’s newly reactivated mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has warned that remnants of chemical weapons left across the country pose a direct threat to civili...

"Syria’s newly reactivated mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has warned that remnants of chemical weapons left across the country pose a direct threat to civilians in more than 100 suspected locations."

english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5...

Lebanon: Syria signals readiness to share information on Assad era assassinations - Enab Baladi Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar said that Syria is showing a positive attitude toward providing his country with information on […]

"During & after the Lebanese civil war, a wave of assassinations targeted militia leaders, intellectual & political figures, & security officials, in the context of the struggle for influence between Syria, other Lebanese actors, & Israel."

english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...

Is Venezuela the New Iraq? - FPIF There are continuities and discontinuities in the spectacle of American power.

"Iraq’s invasion shattered the Baathist state, ignited sectarian conflict, and empowered Iran—outcomes directly contrary to U.S. goals. Venezuela is equally vulnerable."

fpif.org/is-venezuela...

Syria reactivates its mission to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons - Enab Baladi Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has reactivated the country’s permanent mission to the Organisation for the Prohibition of […]

"The decision calls on OPCW inspection teams to continue investigating & collecting evidence related to the use of chemical weapons, with these efforts to support national accountability processes..."

english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...

"According to the documents, arrangements were also made to hold a meeting between former president Bashar al-Assad & several Palestinian factions to shift attention away from Hamas."

english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...

Opinion | Dick Cheney and the Fruits of Regime Change He has largely proved right about Iraq and the broader Middle East.

This piece reads like the author is a time traveler from the period & misunderstands Iraq, the Mid-East, and jihadi terrorism the same ways in which the Bush administration did. This is a primer on how to learn nothing in more than 2 decades. @wsj.com

www.wsj.com/opinion/dick...

YouTube video by Crown Center for Middle East Studies Survival Politics: Baghdad’s Citizens from Saddam Hussein to the 2025 Elections

OUT NOW: Watch the recording of our most recent Crown Seminar! Profs. Alissa Walter & Marsin Alshamary discussed recent elections in #Iraq & how ordinary Iraqi citizens negotiate with state officials, militias, & political parties to survive & assert their rights. youtu.be/7nlxDQE-_HA

IDF reveals Hamas-Assad regime connection in found letters | The Jerusalem Post Documents revealing a direct connection between Hamas and the fallen Assad regime were discovered by the IDF during operations in the Gaza Strip, the military revealed on Friday morning.

The IDF disocovered documents revealing the connection between Hamas and the ousted Assad regime during ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
www.jpost.com/israel-news/...

War in Venezuela, Brought to You By the Same People Who Lied Us Into Iraq Washington is making big claims to make the case for U.S. intervention. We’ve heard all these arguments before.

Here we go again.

It should be humiliating to be considered an acceptable hire by anyone in this administration

Since the shell organization that is the Wilson Center has 8 employees, the new fellows should be ready to wear a lot of different hats. 🤔

www.wilsoncenter.org/article/wils...

Bodies Keep Turning Up in Syria, Haunting New Leaders In the months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have continued to discover large-scale burial sites, sometimes by chance.

"After more than a decade of unspeakable & unending violence, the challenge in Syria is no longer finding mass graves. A monthslong investigation by @wsj.com revealed the country is awash in them."

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Fired Scholars and Big Grants to Favored Projects: Inside Trump’s N.E.H.

"The agency recently announced what it said were the two largest awards in its history, which together consume nearly 10 percent of its annual budget of $207 million. Both went to handpicked recipients." @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/a...

"Against drone swarms flak may have numerous benefits over more advanced air defense. First, as was the case with B-17 & B-29 bombers facing flak in WWII, you don’t need a bullseye to cause damage." - @spindel.bsky.social & Keith L. Carter

www.ifc.usafa.edu/articles/air...