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Biff Parker-Magyar

@biffpm.bsky.social
1.8K followers 552 following 125 posts

Assistant Prof. in Political Science @Yale. Formerly @MITPoliSci @HarvardWCFIA. Contentious politics in Jordan & Syria. peripatetic product of the garden state. biffpm.github.io

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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Excited to see this! Comparing Egypt’s Muslim Brothers and Iraq’s Communist Party, Nasir Al Masri brings a focus on colonialism, time, and factional dynamics to look at why some groups choose radicalism or moderation
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
thank you Erin!
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Thank you Matt!! Hope all is well in Michigan
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
This was the first paper I worked on in grad school and I’m grateful for the feedback along the way. The questions it raises are now at the heart of my broader work, largely centered on Jordan and why state workers, especially teachers, so frequently take to the streets. More forthcoming, I hope!
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
A joy of Syria's transition is thanking by name the talented researchers and old friends who have helped me move it forward: Lina Omran, now doing fascinating PhD research at Krems on migration and violence, and Walid @walid-alnofal.bsky.social, long one of the best journalists on southern Syria.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The status of inhabitants of state housing that often functioned as de facto military barracks is now among the country’s most sensitive transitional justice questions. That’s to say nothing of the broader re-staffing of the state.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Since I began this paper, Syria has experienced half of a civil war, the fall of the regime, and 18 months of post-war fragility and cautious hope (and I have lived 22% of my life).
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I trace how these logics played out across communities: Idlib's Kafranbel and Hass, Rif Dimashq's Dimas and Zabadani. Kafranbel, a revolutionary hotbed, had a surplus of civil servants - some of whom told me they'd sought those jobs given their exclusion from more sensitive ones
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I point to how differences in selection processes, compensation, and surveillance across this repressive/civilian divide shape how these personnel influence and engage their communities during revolutionary episodes.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
While towns likely hosting repressive staff experienced fewer protests, those home to conventional state workers protested at rates similar to communities across Syria.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The paper disaggregates patterns of protest in ~Sunni communities in 2011 Syria, asking whether state “employees” were likely to be repressive staff or civilians - teachers, healthcare workers, bureaucrats.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Pleased that my paper “Paper Pusher or President’s Guard: Contentious Action in Syria’s Revolution” has been conditionally accepted at the Journal of Peace Research. The latest version is online here: osf.io/preprints/os...
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Unfortunately tho in the end they weren’t wrong
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Her first hit came out during my fieldwork and as someone whose true peak proficiency is in Ammani dialect it was a dream But also a lot of friends sent it to me as *you* would like this (derogatory)
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Svend-Erik Skaaning @skaaning.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Three 2-year full-time postdoctoral positions in autocratic politics at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University (in connection to projects headed by Jakob Tolstrup and Alexander Baturo). Flexible start date. Application deadline: June 1, 2026. international.au.dk/about/profil...
international.au.dk
Three 2-year Postdoctoral positions at Aarhus University: Projects on personality cults and strategic communication in autocracies - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Congrats!!
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Again, these are two sides of the same coin. These experts would have strenuously opposed bumbling into a global conflict with no endgame. This administration did not want to listen to them in the first place; they wouldn’t be calling on them now.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Thanks to Amytess Girgis and Sander Trubowitz for organizing!
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
#APSALabor's annual virtual workshop is next Friday, and this year's organizers have done an incredible job. Please circulate and DM for the Zoom link if you'd like to join! We're on from 7 am to 5:40 pm EDT, with a great set of presenters from across oceans and timezones.
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Marsin Alshamary @marsin.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
My article for @brookings.edu with @hamzehhadad.bsky.social on the value of Iraqi stability for the region, and the cost of allowing it to descend into the regional war: www.brookings.edu/articles/ira...
brookings.edu
Iraq must not be a staging ground for war with Iran | Brookings
Iraq has long balanced between Washington and Tehran, but the coming weeks will test Iraq’s resolve and capability like never before.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The Washington Post laying off their Middle East team weeks ago is of course a feature, not a bug, of this moment: Broad devaluation of fact based analysis and even the pretense of scrutiny of U.S. policies beyond the superficial press releases of our ossified alliances
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The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 09/02/2026
An immigration court dropped its case against Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a little less than a year after federal agents arrested her on a street near Tufts University
on.wsj.com
Immigration Court Drops Case Against Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk
The Turkish national had been arrested by plainclothes federal officers outside her apartment.
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Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
October 2025 Arab Barometer Palestinian opinion survey finds “widespread frustration with existing leadership. Fatah’s support has eroded sharply, Hamas has largely maintained its base, and political alienation has become the dominant stance.” www.arabbarometer.org/media-news/p...
arabbarometer.org
Press Release: Two Years of War on Gaza Reshape Palestinian Priorities, Politics, and Social Norms – Arab Barometer
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Lisel Hintz @liselhintz.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
February 1 deadline for @apsamena.bsky.social award nominations. Advisers/committee members/mentors, please nominate students with strong dissertations. Self-nominations welcome in all other categories. apsamena.org/awards/apsa-...
apsamena.org
APSA-MENA Section Awards, 2025-26 - APSA MENA POLITICS
The Middle East and North Africa Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) seeks nominations for several awards recognizing exceptional contributions to the field that inte...
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taylr @taylordahlin.com · 27/01/2026
brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis
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Rana B. Khoury @rbkhoury.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Kind of surreal to be discussing my new book on my favorite podcast for learning about new books. Marc as always knows so much about the topic; it's a real privilege (if intimidating) to be in conversation with him.
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Jared Malsin @jmalsin.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Our just-published investigation into Assad's surveillance state which revealed how the former regime urged friends, spouses, and neighbors to inform on each other, leaving a legacy of broken trust that will take years to unravel. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Families, Neighbors Informed on Each Other in Assad’s Syria, With Deadly Consequences
Intelligence files found in a Damascus prison complex reveal cases that led to brutal detentions; a wife records a husband.
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Brian Highsmith @bhighsmith.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
🚨We analyzed 138 million geocoded property tax records to quantify how municipal boundaries spatially overlap onto economic segregation in every US metro area—creating disparities in localities’ ability to fund public goods. And we made an interactive map of our results! [1/16]
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APSA @apsa.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Call for Applications: Early-career scholars in the Arab #MENA region are invited to attend the 2026 Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR), held at @maxwellsu.bsky.social. Deadline: Dec 14th. Apply now!
buff.ly
Call for Applications: 2026 Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) | Deadline: December 14, 2025 -
Call for Applications: Apply Now for the 2026 Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) Deadline: December 14, 2025 Maxwell School, Syracuse University, NY, USA June 14–26, 2026 The…
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
truly the depths of wikipedia
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
earlier this year I learned that Benjamin Netanyahu was enrolled in MIT's Political Science PhD news.mit.edu/1996/netanya... bsky.app/profile/dand...
news.mit.edu
Professor recalls Netanyahu's intense studies in three fields
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
third recent text from friends in ~Jordan asking if Zohran Mamdani is *really* about to win 1. as a political scientist we absolutely love to discuss early voting 2. first time in a while my voice messages back haven't needed to explain some distressing feature of U.S. politics 3. fingers crossed
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POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
TWO MORE DAYS to apply for the POMEPS Travel – Research – Engagement (TRE) grants for 2026. Awards of up to $3,000 will be offered to support research travel to the broader Middle East. Deadline to apply: Oct. 15th. More info: pomeps.org/call-for-pro...
pomeps.org
Call for Proposals: 2026 Travel Research Engagement Grants - Project on Middle East Political Science
The Project on Middle East Political Science announces a call for proposals for POMEPS Travel – Research – Engagement (TRE) grants for 2026. Awards of up to $3,000 will be offered to support research ...
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Weatherhead Center for International Affairs @weatherheadcenter.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
New article from @biffpm.bsky.social on a little-noticed court decision to outlaw Jordan’s teacher’s union. Her analysis? The muted response underscores how Jordan’s political landscape has shifted as attention/activism center on Gaza. loom.ly/D97MUsU
Graph shows the number of monthly protests in Jordan from 2016 to 2024, with a steep rise in protests in 2024 focused on Palestine.
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POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
POMEPS is pleased to call for proposals for the POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops to be held in a virtual format throughout the academic year 2025-2026. The deadline to apply is Sept. 15. More info: pomeps.org/pomeps-junio...
pomeps.org
Call for Proposals: POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops 2025-2026 - Project on Middle East Political Science
The Project on Middle East Political Science is pleased to call for proposals for the POMEPS Junior Scholar Book Development Workshops to be held in a virtual format throughout the academic year 2025-...
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Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
That shift is obvious to all: I reached out to a knowledgeable friend about the piece, and he hadn't even heard of the court case: "I've been on Palestine frequency since 2023" But it also shows up in the data, for instance ACLED's tabulations of protests in Jordan --
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
The muted response to the decision also underscores how Jordan’s political landscape has shifted as attention and activism center on Gaza and recent, horrifying images of starvation, rendering secondary many of the animating controversies of the post–Arab Spring years
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
The court decision declared unconstitutional an Arab Spring-era law conceding organizing rights for teachers, and comes nearly 5 years after a crackdown on the group that came to be seen as primary evidence of Jordan's shrinking political space
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
I wrote a piece for @jodemocracy.bsky.social on a little-noticed court decision last week to effectively permanently outlaw Jordan’s teacher’s union www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...
journalofdemocracy.org
The Quiet Demise of Jordan’s Political Space | Journal of Democracy
In the shadow of Gaza’s destruction, the Jordanian regime has quietly repressed one of the main sources of the country’s political activism.
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Steven Heydemann @stevenhyde.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
reuters.com
Syrian forces massacred 1,500 Alawites. The chain of command led to Damascus.
A Reuters investigation found 40 distinct sites of killings, looting and arson during three days of sectarian massacres following an Assad loyalist insurgency. The chain of command led from the attackers directly to men serving alongside Syria’s new leaders in Damascus. The killings now threaten Syria's fragile transition.
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Diana B. Greenwald @dbgreenwald.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
"'This was an amazing success tonight,' Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview. 'They should make peace immediately or they'll get hit again.'" That does not sound like a leader who wants this to be "one and done." www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive.
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Middle East Research and Information Project @merip.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
NEW: Why are women overrepresented in STEM fields in the Arab world, despite broader gender inequality? Fida Adely, Jennifer Olmsted and Sana Odeh surveyed members of Arab Women in Computing to find out, and the results defy simplistic economic explanations. READ NOW
buff.ly
Unpacking the Gender 'Paradox’ Behind Arab Women in Tech - MERIP
ompared to women in the United States and most European countries, Arab women are highly represented in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and related computing fields. In fact, six of […]
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
10 million people "President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States." (as a quick reminder, it did.) www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Trump says everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran
President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the United States.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
list experiment in the wild
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Days before masked ICE agents detained Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk to deport her, Dept determined that the admin had not produced any evidence showing she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
No evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism, State Dept. office found
An internal memo, prepared before Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE, raises doubts about the Trump administration’s claims that she supports Hamas.
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Biff Parker-Magyar @biffpm.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Congrats, Chagai! Amazing news.
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