Century International

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

The “bad borders” myth has only masked the true sources of problems in the region. tcf.org/content/repo... (5/5)

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

@nicholasdanfort.bsky.social ‘s history of Middle Eastern border creation, richly illustrated with historical maps, shows that there is nothing exceptionally conflict-prone about the shape of regional states. (4/5)

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

Rather, those borders only became problematic because of the way MENA regimes and their colonial antecedents tied citizenship rights to ethnic and religious identity. (3/5)

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

But in a new report, fellow @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social argues that it’s not the location of borders in the Middle East that has predisposed some regional countries to strife. (2/5)

Beyond Bad Borders: How Nationalism, Imperialism, and Power Politics Shaped the Modern Middle East In 2014, the Islamic State swept across large swaths of Iraq and Syria, soon emerging as the obligatory lede for every article about the Middle East and

A popular story holds that colonial borders are the source of problems in the Middle East. The narrative is promoted by everyone from the Islamic State to American politicians—neoconservative and liberal and otherwise. (1/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

As Iraq looks toward the future, the central tension between militias and the state remains the single greatest obstacle to its stability. Read more: tcf.org/content/repo... (5/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

In a new report, CI fellow @sajadjiyad.bsky.social argues that to forge a stable state, Iraqis need space to resolve their disputes independently and on their own time. (4/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

US and international policymakers want to sideline the Islamic Resistance groups because of their ties to Iran, and for other other geopolitical reasons—but US pressure hampers Iraqi governance efforts. (3/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

At the heart of the struggle for the state is the rivalry between competing Shia coalitions: the Coordination Framework, which wants a modern state, and the Islamic Resistance groups, which prefer fragmented authority. (2/5)

Integrate, Normalize, or Fight: Choices Facing the Shia Armed Factions in Iraq Iraq’s two-decade-long state-building project is facing a precarious moment. On the one hand, the country is closer than ever to having a functioning

22 years after Saddam’s fall, Iraq is being pulled toward two starkly different possible futures: a central government that serves its populace—or state capture by armed groups and special interests. (1/5)

Progressives Can Lead With a Just Foreign Policy. First, They Must Confront Their Mistakes. The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

Time is running out. The international order is collapsing. Progressives need to offer an alternative policy when it can still save lives. tcf.org/content/comm.... (5/5)

And progressives need a bold new vision based on three core features: the rule of law, moral clarity, and accountability. (4/5)

Progressives need to stop running from fights and start embracing tough debates—about Palestine, counterterrorism, and how to deliver security without authoritarianism and forever war. (3/5)

Progressives Can Lead With a Just Foreign Policy. First, They Must Confront Their Mistakes. The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

In a new commentary, CI’s @eamonka.bsky.social and @tcambanis.bsky.social argue that progressives need a radical change in their approach on foreign policy. tcf.org/content/comm... (2/5)

Progressives Can Lead With a Just Foreign Policy. First, They Must Confront Their Mistakes. The Century Foundation The Century Foundation The Century Foundation

In foreign policy as in domestic, Trump’s opponents have so far failed to do much more than chase at his heels with reactive objections as he plows ahead with reckless gambits. (1/5)

The Future of Lebanon’s Unlikely Solar Revolution The Century Foundation takes your data security and privacy seriously. That's why we want you to know that, when you visit our website, we use technologies like cookies to collect anonymized data so…

Still, as energy expert Marc Ayoub explains in a new Q&A with CI fellow Zack Cuyler, there are still many things that could go wrong as Lebanon tries to complete a just and equitable renewable energy transition. (3/3) tcf.org/content/comm...

Lebanon's solar boom, led by private rooftop instillations and municipalities, has seemingly plateaued. But a new government and a $250 million World Bank loan could give Lebanon a window of opportunity to kick-start the energy transition and reform the power sector. (2/3)

The Future of Lebanon’s Unlikely Solar Revolution The Century Foundation takes your data security and privacy seriously. That's why we want you to know that, when you visit our website, we use technologies like cookies to collect anonymized data so…

After Lebanon’s energy system collapsed in 2019–21, the country’s solar production increased 10x in a few short years—one of the world’s more unlikely renewable energy revolutions. (1/3)

Home to Syria: Lebanon’s New Refugee Returns Plan Lebanon has grappled for years with how to manage its Syrian refugee population. This year, though, Lebanon finally adopted an official plan for refugee

The Lebanese government, @abujamajem.com argues, needs the plan to succeed—and will need to carefully strategize with international partners so that it does. tcf.org/content/comm... 3/3

In a deeply researched new report, CI fellow @abujamajem.com documents the challenges Syrian refugees are facing, their decision processes, and the details of the new Lebanese plan. 2/3

Home to Syria: Lebanon’s New Refugee Returns Plan Lebanon has grappled for years with how to manage its Syrian refugee population. This year, though, Lebanon finally adopted an official plan for refugee

Lebanon finally has a viable plan for Syrian refugees to safely return to their country. But can the plan survive Lebanon’s anti-Syrian politics and the realities of ongoing violence and economic crisis in Syria? 1/3

America Can Still Escape Disaster in Iran It was just a month ago that Donald Trump bombed Iran against the advice of his own intelligence services and claimed that the country’s nuclear

New analysis from @eamonka.bsky.social @tcambanis.bsky.social
tcf.org/content/comm...

An opportunistic alliance of those who oppose forever war can power a U.S. foreign policy based on values and diplomacy rather than endless military intervention. 3/3

Trump’s attack on Iran revealed common ground between MAGA anti-interventionists and pro-diplomacy progressives—a possible first step toward a better U.S. foreign policy. 2/3

America Can Still Escape Disaster in Iran It was just a month ago that Donald Trump bombed Iran against the advice of his own intelligence services and claimed that the country’s nuclear

For now, attention has shifted away from America’s decision in late June to join an elective war against Iran. The disaster is still unfolding—though it’s not too late to correct course. 1/3

Syria for Beginners: Five Sources to Follow Israel’s bombing of Syria last week, in an apparent attempt to intervene in brewing communal bloodshed in the country’s south, drove home a point that

Sources to follow on Syria: in a new commentary, @aronlund.bsky.social has compiled a must-follow list of media for policymakers and analysts with a fresh interest in Syrian affairs tcf.org/content/comm...

Trump’s reckless USAID cuts probably slowed Lebanon's solar transition, but they also revealed structural flaws in the aid regime. Lebanese entrepreneurs could pick up some slack—but their impact will be uneven. New Q&A w/ Zack Cuyler & Camillo Stubenberg tcf.org/content/comm...

The Lessons of the Biden Administration’s Efforts to Sanction Israeli Settlers Among the possible U.S. policies to reign in Israeli excesses, measures targeting illegal settlements in the West Bank might seem to be relatively

Unlike the Biden effort, effective sanctions against Israeli settlers would need a comprehensive communications strategy; clear off-ramps; and to be accompanied by policies that target Israeli state support for settlements. (6/6) tcf.org/content/comm...

The Lessons of the Biden Administration’s Efforts to Sanction Israeli Settlers Among the possible U.S. policies to reign in Israeli excesses, measures targeting illegal settlements in the West Bank might seem to be relatively

@delaneysimon.bsky.social‬'s key takeaway on the Biden settler policy:

Sanctions cannot be truly effective in the absence of a serious policy on Israel’s settlements. (5/6) tcf.org/content/comm...

Others in the Biden admin thought the sanctions on settlers should have been softer:

“We don’t want to have these people not buy food, or not have their kids go to camp,” one official said. (4/6)