Century International

Fossil Fuel Dependency Is the Real Cause of Lebanon’s Energy Crisis Lebanon’s energy crisis is nothing new. Intermittent blackouts and crumbling infrastructure have been a problem for decades. But with the total collapse

Read more from @charlielawrie.bsky.social: tcf.org/content/repo...

Lebanon’s grinding energy crisis has benefited generator owners, smugglers, and large fuel importers. But in a new report based on three years of fieldwork, @charlielawrie.bsky.social identifies a more basic, root cause of the crisis: the country’s structural dependency on fossil fuel.

From Smugglers to Supply Chains: How Yemen’s Houthi Movement Became a Global Threat The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Read more: tcf.org/content/repo.... With support from @XCEPT_Research

Only int'l cooperation can stop the Houthi arms program. But US disengagement & regional tensions make a coalition unlikely. Now, there’s growing danger the Houthis are exporting their deadly capabilities to war zones in Africa. - @peterjsalisbury.bsky.social @veenaa.bsky.social + Henry Thompson

From Smugglers to Supply Chains: How Yemen’s Houthi Movement Became a Global Threat The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Read more: tcf.org/content/repo.... With support from @XCEPT_Research

In a decade, Yemen’s Houthis have transformed from low-tech insurgent group to regional power that can fire missiles up to 2,600km.

Our new report shines a light on the inner workings of the Houthis’ startling expansion. By @peterjsalisbury.bsky.social @veenaa.bsky.social + Henry Thompson

From Smugglers to Supply Chains: How Yemen’s Houthi Movement Became a Global Threat The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Read more: tcf.org/content/repo...

No one has been able to constrain the Houthis. Why?

Using OSINT research, our report reveals how the Houthis built an astonishing arsenal in secret using a complex web of global supply chains.

By @peterjsalisbury.bsky.social @veenaa.bsky.social and Henry Thompson & w support from @XCEPT_Research

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem Burned houses and mosques, kidnappings, pogroms, masked thugs attacking unarmed olive harvesters: in the last few years such Israeli settler violence has

To stop settlements, sanctions need to address state and institutional support.

Otherwise, the settlement enterprise will continue to expand and foreclose the possibility of equal rights for Palestinians in a Palestinian state.

Read more: tcf.org/content/comm... (5/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem Burned houses and mosques, kidnappings, pogroms, masked thugs attacking unarmed olive harvesters: in the last few years such Israeli settler violence has

Settlements aren’t a sideshow. They’re the centerpiece of Israel’s policy to control Palestinians and make a Palestinian state impossible. (4/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem Burned houses and mosques, kidnappings, pogroms, masked thugs attacking unarmed olive harvesters: in the last few years such Israeli settler violence has

@yaelmiz.bsky.social argues that current sanctions misdiagnose settler violence as a matter of individual accountability.

Sanctions fail when they treat settlements as an aberration rather than what they are: a project of state policy. (3/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem Burned houses and mosques, kidnappings, pogroms, masked thugs attacking unarmed olive harvesters: in the last few years such Israeli settler violence has

Many policymakers in Europe and the US have called for sanctions on “extremist settler violence” in response to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank.

But sanctions, as currently conceived, haven’t worked, and probably aren’t going to. (2/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem Burned houses and mosques, kidnappings, pogroms, masked thugs attacking unarmed olive harvesters: in the last few years such Israeli settler violence has

The settlement enterprise is not separate from the Israeli state—it is the Israeli state.

So argues @yaelmiz.bsky.social in a new commentary. (1/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

@yaelmiz.bsky.social argues that current sanctions misdiagnose settler violence as a matter of individual accountability.

Sanctions fail when they treat settlements as an aberration rather than what they are: a project of state policy. (3/5)

Sanctions Can’t Solve the Israeli Settlement Problem The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Many policymakers in Europe and the US have called for sanctions on “extremist settler violence” in response to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank.

But sanctions, as currently conceived, haven’t worked, and probably aren’t going to. (2/5)

Century’s New Democracy Meter Shows America Took an Authoritarian Turn in 2025 At a time when experts are warning of unprecedented democratic backsliding in the United States under the second Trump administration, how should people

Elections remain mostly free, though there are storm clouds on that horizon, as well.

But the study results indicate that voting still offers Americans an escape hatch from an antidemocratic nightmare.

Full report: tcf.org/content/repo... (5/5)

But civil society, higher education, and rights also severely suffered in 2025—especially because of immigration enforcement that violated rights and due process. (4/5)

The core problem is an all-powerful executive branch, made worse by a pliant Congress, a compromised judiciary, and grand corruption. t.co/4ykYgUCz0O (3/5)

TCF’s new US Democracy Meter uses 23 indicators and a 100-point scale to analyze the erosion of American democracy in 2025. The results: American democracy is now at greater risk than at any time since Watergate, & may even be approaching its pre-Civil Rights Movement low. (2/5)

Century’s New Democracy Meter Shows America Took an Authoritarian Turn in 2025 At a time when experts are warning of unprecedented democratic backsliding in the United States under the second Trump administration, how should people

In the first year of Trump 2.0, the United States went from being a passing if imperfect democracy to sliding into authoritarianism: new Century Foundation findings from @nateschenkkan.bsky.social @tcambanis.bsky.social tcf.org/content/repo... (1/5)

Syria’s Reconstruction Risks Cutting Out the Syrian People The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

@freddydeknatel.bsky.social argues that, without reforms, reconstruction risks ushering in a new era of cronyism and corruption in Syria, benefiting only Sharaa’s allies and international developers, while the Syrian people continue to be locked out of key decisions. tcf.org/content/comm... (3/3)

Syria’s Reconstruction Risks Cutting Out the Syrian People The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Reconstruction of Syria’s infrastructure has an estimated price tag of $400b—20x the size of the country’s GDP. But the Syrian people aren’t getting a say in how it’s done. (2/3)

Syria’s Reconstruction Risks Cutting Out the Syrian People The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Syria’s new president, former rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, is big on inclusive rhetoric. But when it comes to his reconstruction agenda, the reality is falling far short of the marketing—new commentary from @freddydeknatel.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm... (1/3)

The authors argue that Trump has doubled down on militarized approaches at the expense of human development, threatening to deepen the very instability U.S. policy purports to prevent. The cuts pose long-term risks to America’s influence and standing in the region. (4/4)

The report compares data leaks with official reports from previous years, and finds that program funding has been drastically reduced in almost every sector and country in the region, with exceptions carved out for security-related funding, especially in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. (3/4)

The Foreign Aid Wipeout: A Shadow Revolution in America’s Middle East Policy Since January, Donald Trump has fundamentally reshaped U.S. foreign assistance, ostensibly to align with his “America First” foreign policy. The

For the first time, a new Century International report by Daphne McCurdy and Laurel Bradley provides a detailed tally of the overall cuts to American aid to MENA funded by USAID and the State Department. tcf.org/content/repo... (2/4)

The Foreign Aid Wipeout: A Shadow Revolution in America’s Middle East Policy Since January, Donald Trump has fundamentally reshaped U.S. foreign assistance, ostensibly to align with his “America First” foreign policy. The

The Trump administration announced staggering cuts to global U.S. development assistance earlier this year, but the specifics of those cuts by program area and region have been hard to assess, since the administration has also shut down data reporting websites. (1/4)

Lebanon and Syria’s Detainee Dilemma The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

@abujamajem.com ‘s commentary sketches not only the difficulties of the negotiations, which are emblematic of the challenges facing Syria’s new leaders, but also the human cost of these prolonged detentions. tcf.org/content/comm... (3/3)

Lebanon and Syria’s Detainee Dilemma The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

In a new commentary featuring reporting from both countries, CI fellow @abujamajem.com explains that though Lebanese officials welcome relief from their overcrowded prisons, and Syrians long for the return of loved ones, the Lebanese electorate may not stand for it. (2/3)

Lebanon and Syria’s Detainee Dilemma The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Political prisoner or terrorist? The question lies at the heart of the latest diplomatic challenge between Lebanon and Syria, as the latter tries to repatriate thousands of its nationals held in Lebanese prisons. (1/3)