Zeinab F. Shuker

Syria’s Environmental Crisis Is Its Achilles Heel It may be hard to imagine now, but Syrians once thought of their environmental treasures as being close to the soul of their country. As recently as a

Syria’s rivers are polluted and overdrawn, its forests depleted, and its wildlife decimated.

In a new commentary, @zfshuker.bsky.social writes that Syria’s environmental catastrophe is much more than an aesthetic crisis.

In fact, it poses direct threats to its economy and stability.

Conflict in the region is never good for Iraq, and I frankly think any Iraqi cheering for war as a mean for political change, rather than organic civil sphere development, is not good people.

U.S. to Withdraw Diplomats From Iraq Amid Iran Tensions

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

Escalations are never good, especially for Iraq in its election season.

With my favorites.

I have deleted all social media apps (for now) excepte this one. And the withdrawal symptoms are real. It’s fascinating and depressing how we came to relay on our phones and social media to waste time to the point of addiction.

Oil prices have been down to $60, and aside from the PM statement to the press that we need to develop the economy, #Iraq remains unengaged in any meaningful economic reforms. It is remarkable how dependent the country is on oil and how underprepared it is to invest in its oil.

The Path to American Authoritarianism What Comes After Democratic Breakdown

A very improtant article on the hybrid US regime in the making reader.foreignaffairs.com/2025/02/11/t...

Things started really going downhill for academia when many academics stopped reading, writing, and engaging effectively with theory and philosophy.

Recent news that the great Michael Burawoy was killed in a hit and run! Truly life is absurd and meaningless.

And they are not even good debates.

Amazing piece.

I am technologically regressing. There was a time where I could use a kindle to read and a computer to write. Now, physical books and a notebook and a pen or nothing is getting done. Slowly heading to cave art as a form of expression.

Same.

بنايات غريبة وحسرات... أين وجه بغداد الأول؟ معماريو بغداد يصرخون جراء ما يحدث من تخريب لطبيعة المدينة التي تخطت 1600 سنة من عمرها منذ بناها أبو جعفر المنصور عاصمة مدورة بأبوابها الشهيرة الأربعة، فما الذي يجري هناك؟

What better way to control a society and its resources than to remove all physical reminders of its identity and replace them with the ugly representation of you. www.independentarabia.com/node/447851/...

One of the most painful developments in Baghdad is the complete disappearance of the architectural identity of the city. Not only the new buildings are environmentally and socially damaging, they also an erasure of the historical memory of the society. This is 💯 intentional.

“Businessmen became politicians and were acclaimed as statesmen, while statesmen were taken seriously only if they talked the language of successful businessmen.” Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

On the eve of going back to campus and teaching grad and undergrad theory, I remind myself and my students that: "Theories are nets cast to catch what we call ‘the world’: to rationalize, to explain,
and to master it. We endeavour to make the mesh ever finer and finer." Popper

That’s why it’s important to not evaluate a governing system based on the leader’s clothing: words/ meetings but on how the new regime is tackling knowledge production. This is where the truth of this new era is located.

جدل حول تعديلات المناهج بسوريا.. ونسخة من أولى صفحات القرار أعلنت وزارة التربية والتعليم في الحكومة الانتقالية السورية الجديدة، الأربعاء، عن تعديلات على المناهج، أثارت جدلاً على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي في سوريا.

"ومن هذه التعديلات، حذف وحدة "أصل التطور والحياة" من كتاب العلوم. وحذف "الفكر الفلسفي الصيني" من كتاب الفلسفة في الصف الأول الثانوي، ودروس وصفحات كاملة من مقررات الفلسفة في منهاج الثانوي. "

arabic.cnn.com/middle-east/...

Lots of different reading projects for the holidays. Finally getting to Intermezzo.

Lift Sanctions to Give Syria a Chance to Recover Syrians have created a historic opportunity, albeit precarious, to build a democratic, pluralistic state. The moment of opportunity dawned on December 8,

Syria sanctions could torpedo a historic moment, writes CI director @tcambanis.bsky.social. The Biden admin can, in its final days, lift the U.S. designation of HTS & issue licenses or waivers to aid reconstruction.

Resources as a weapon.

Starting this journey here by recommending this great book I am reading now that is half travel guide/half philosophical textbook, my two favorite things.