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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Interesting that both reactionary centrists and some of the more doctrinaire socialists have found themselves in the same place on the so-called (and entirely misnamed) "culture war". Facile economism really is an impediment to serious analytical and political thinking.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

One of Britain's leading allies in the Middle East has apparently spent years systematically desecrating one of the most treasured parts of our national culture. Sportswashing was supposed to make it easier for states like the UK to support regimes like the UAE. Clearly this does the opposite.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The details are out, and they are jaw dropping. We may need to coin a new term for whatever the opposite of "sportswashing" is. The inherent problem for certain regimes in raising their profile is that a great many people will then see them for exactly who they are. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

bbc.co.uk

Manchester City charges: Premier League confirms club guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches

The Premier League confirms that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm one of the signatories of this open letter to the PM and Foreign Secretary. “In light of Saudi Arabia’s extensive record of violations in Yemen, we urge your government not to involve itself in Saudi operations and focus on de-escalatory diplomacy” www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-accu...

middleeasteye.net

UK accused of 'fuelling' Yemen war as Saudi jets receive British support

Academics and civil society groups warn British military assistance to Riyadh risks complicity in further violations as fighting escalates

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There is a genuine incomprehension amongst many journalists and politicians that anyone might care sincerely about Palestinians or seriously object to their indiscriminate slaughter. The natural human response to this genocide is something they simply cannot understand.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"I don't care about unauthorised crossings of the border". Same here. The only thing wrong with small boat crossings to the UK is that desperate people were forced to resort to them. We should have welcomed them at the front door. We can still welcome them now. www.youtube.com/shorts/R3pMF...

youtube.com

i don't care #uspolitics #immigration

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🚨NEW🚨: Ten unions call for Andy Burnham to end Britain’s military support for Saudi Arabia, due to the war crimes it has committed in Yemen. The unions also argue that, contrary to government claims, “Escalating this war will make our bills more expensive”. transitionsecurity.org/update/brita...

transitionsecurity.org

Britain should end its military collaboration with Saudi Arabia

Ten trade unions call on the British government to end its military support for Saudi Arabia.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

transitionsecurity.org

Britain should end its military collaboration with Saudi Arabia

Ten trade unions call on the British government to end its military support for Saudi Arabia.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Relegate them to division five of the Manchester Football League and fine them the entire GDP of Abu Dhabi

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

youtube.com

i don't care #uspolitics #immigration

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Thanks to the "legitimate concerns" paradigm, we have a national consensus that migrants (you know which specific ones) are a problem. More migrants = bad, fewer migrants = good. In that context, "anti-migrant protestor" isn't even neutral language to describe this fascist thug. It is *positive*.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

My interview with Novara last night, explaining some of the background and context to recent developments in Yemen. This was recorded just before it came to light that Burnham has agreed to support the latest Saudi bombing campaign www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShC...

youtube.com

Expert: Why War In Yemen Is INEVITABLE – Almost

YouTube video by Novara Media

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'll be popping up on Novara Live during the next hour to talk about this.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

"Concerns". In narrative and policy terms, the "legitimate concerns" paradigm must be one of the greatest political disasters of the modern era. A racism laundry run by centrist pundits and politicians, which has achieved one thing and one thing only: the mainstreaming of the far right.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Extraordinary article. Barely any attempt to balance with a contrary view. Pure stenography for military hawks. And it effectively portrays current Russian aggression not as an expression of the nature of the current Russian regime but of the inherent nature of Russia itself. Entirely unserious.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The UK has allowed the US to use British bases for the Iran war, but only for "defensive" operations. Did they get that agreed in writing? Are they monitoring compliance with that agreement? Non-trivial questions that journos and MPs should be asking.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I know "evil" is a big term to use, but how else to describe overt hostility toward empathy itself? Used properly, I think the term can aid rather than preclude serious analytical thinking about a given subject. And sometimes, its use is necessary to convey the severity of the danger that's posed

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Until very recently, the word “woke” conveyed something beautiful: political awakening in the context of the African-American liberation struggle. The way it has been forcibly stripped from that context and transformed into a ubiquitous term of derision is shockingly cruel & inherently anti-black 1/

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

It might be worth thinking through what the principle of "solidarity" actually means in this context. It is working class people who are and who will be hit hardest by the climate emergency. In the Global South especially, but also in the UK, including GMB & Unite members www.ft.com/content/7441...

ft.com

Unions combine to try to stop Ed Miliband becoming chancellor

Britain’s probable next prime minister, Andy Burnham, under pressure from Unite the Union and GMB

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

The only "cancel culture" that has ever existed is the one targeted at minorities, women and the left. That is how power works. Many liberals were taken in by the "free speech" moral panic because (as in the case of "free markets") they lack an analysis of power. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

theguardian.com

Greta Thunberg and Gary Lineker sign letter defending Southbank Centre chair

Misan Harriman accused of promoting Golders Green attack ‘conspiracies’ and comparing Reform voters to Nazis

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Global warming has clearly been a major factor in the radicalisation of the Western right-wing. A truth so inconvenient for their interests and ideology that they preferred to cut ties with empirical reality itself. This then bred habits of belligerence and dishonesty that fed into other issue areas

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

The Labour right's real fear isn't that the bond markets won't like a more progressive policy agenda. It's that the public will, and that Labour will win in 2029 as a result. There'll be no future for "better things aren't possible" centrism if that happens. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

It’s not the bond markets Andy Burnham should be afraid of. It’s his own MPs | Aditya Chakrabortty

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Just for context, Laleh is probably one of the most important academics in the country right now, given the sheer depth and quality of her knowledge and expertise in the Gulf, shipping and logistics.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Empathy is a very important analytical tool. Any analyst willing to empathise with progressives - not agree with, just empathise with - can see with trivial ease why Starmer is so unpopular. But empathy with progressives is not exactly a feature of British political discourse! Hence the blind spot

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

On Iran, I think we have to acknowledge that Starmer allowed the US to use UK bases in their war of aggression. And that a war of aggression whose consequences are bound to undermine Britain's security and economy is something our PM should actively oppose, not just passively stand aside from.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

For those of us who see Palestinians as human beings, this was Starmer's defining moment. It is not sustainable to behave in this way while leading the nominally progressive party in a two party system. Starmer's unpopularity is not one of life's great mysteries. www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8_s...

youtube.com

Keir Starmer denies saying Israel 'has the right' to withhold water and power from citizens in Gaza

YouTube video by LBC

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Humanists UK @humanists.uk · 14/06/2026

Day three of #FestivalofHumanism is go. This morning, we start off by examining the UK's modern and colonial history with Middle Eastern allies, regimes, monarchies, and dictatorships. A warm welcome to our speaker David Wearing. A sobering and thorough exploration of political and military history.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

At #BISA2026 ? Come to our roundtable: "The British state as a source of global insecurities: critical scholarship & political accountability in a time of crisis", at 1.15pm today. Our aim is to start a conversation about what a new critical scholarship on UK foreign relations can look like.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Coincidentally, I wrote this almost exactly 6 years ago today. Many didn't want to hear it at the time. On a re-read, there's a few things I'd change (e.g. the tone is too polemical, I miscatagorised Starmer's politics...), but overall I think it stands up novaramedia.com/2020/05/11/t...

novaramedia.com

The Left’s Approach to Keir Starmer Isn’t Working | David Wearing

Since becoming Labour leader, Keir Starmer has failed to put any real pressure on Boris Johnson over his handling of the coronavirus crisis. But the reason Johnson has had an easy ride from Starmer is...

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

My review of Stephen Quick's "The Dhofar War: British covert campaigning in Arabia 1965–1975" for the journal Cold War History www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

The Dhofar War: British covert campaigning in Arabia 1965–1975

Published in Cold War History (Ahead of Print, 2026)

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

My review of Adam Hanieh's wonderful new book, "Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the Modern World Market", for the Journal of Development Studies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

Crude Captialism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the Modern World Market

Published in The Journal of Development Studies (Ahead of Print, 2026)

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I was interviewed by @owenjones.bsky.social last week: on MAGA imperialism's effect on US hegemony, and why the Trump-Starmer spat is something of a pantomime www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vc0...

youtube.com

The Iran War Is Worse Than Iraq – Asst Prof Dave Wearing

YouTube video by Owen Jones

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I was interviewed on Novara on Friday evening, about the war's implications for the Gulf, the world economy and the UK www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bot...

youtube.com

Iran War Will WRECK World Economy, Says Qatar

YouTube video by Novara Media

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Join me and @faizashaheen.bsky.social next Monday 26 Jan at Woodford Memorial Hall as we discuss UK foreign policy in a time of geopolitical crisis

"New World Order? Venezuela, Greenland, Iran: Geopolitics and the UK". Faiza Shaheen in conversation with Dr David Wearing, Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Sussex. Monday 7.30pm, 26th January. Pankhurst Hall, Woodford Memorial Hall, 209 High Road, London E19 2PA

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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

@davidwearing.bsky.social : "Look at the record of the people who are on this board of peace.. are these credible people to be promoting peace? Are these credible people to deliver the interests of the Palestinian people? It's not cynical to say they aren't, its just a recognition of reality"

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

This Christmas, please consider making a donation to UNRWA, the UN agency that plays a leading role in sustaining Palestinian life, in defiance of Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing. donate.unrwa.org/int/en/general

donate.unrwa.org

UNRWA | UN Agency for Palestine Refugees - make a donation

UNRWA provides vital aid, education, and healthcare to over 5 million Palestine Refugees. Your donation helps deliver hope and life-saving support.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

History will record how a non-trivial number of supposedly liberal centrists went along - wittingly or unwittingly - with the transparently McCarthyite scam of the cancel culture/free speech moral panic And in doing so helped pave the way for neo-fascism.

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caatuk.bsky.social @caatuk.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

📢 CAAT is hiring a Supporter Development Manager! We're looking for a skilled communicator & natural relationship builder to join our team. You'll be responsible for the recruitment, retention & engagement of supporters, as well as fundraising. ➡️ Apply now: caat.org.uk/about-caat/j...

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Campaign Against Arms Trade are a great source of reliable information and high quality analysis on UK arms sales. They have important resources on UK arms to Israel in the context of the Gaza genocide. Vital that we keep ourselves informed about these things. caat.org.uk/publications...

caat.org.uk

CAAT - How the UK arms and supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza

The UK is deeply complicit in supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza: through arms sales, RAF reconnaissance flights over Gaza, from which it is suspected intelligence is shared with Israel, training of...

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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

and in framing themselves as the only True Knowers, the data boys fail to understand how they form part of the complicated, contingent outcomes they’re claiming to observe objectively. “We can only respond to poll numbers, not shape action,” is itself a theory of the world that evidence doesn’t back

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Clearly Labour would sooner alienate even more of the progressive voters they're losing than do what it takes to build the voter coalition they need to keep Farage out of no10.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

There has been a relentless, cacophonous campaign to stigmatise pro-Palestinian activists. But the inconvenient truth is that these are just ordinary people of good conscience who see the horrors of Gaza and simply cannot bear to stand by and do nothing. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

I’m on hunger strike in a British prison. This is why | Amu Gib

Our demands are simple – and they start with stopping the flow of arms to Israel, says activist Amu Gib

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Please join Angela Davis, Robin D.G. Kelley, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and many others in signing this call for an academic and cultural boycott of the UAE, in relation to its complicity in genocide in Sudan. spectrejournal.com/for-a-cultur...

Working with complicit Emirati institutions plays directly into the UAE’s cover and aids in manufacturing consent for its sub-imperialist project in Sudan. Inspired by the legacies of boycotts against South African apartheid, the Israeli occupation, and the role boycott has played in decolonial struggles the world over, we see this tool as the strongest and most strategic weapon we have to pierce this morbid illusion, end the systematic Emirati violence against the Sudanese people, and wrest the region’s political future back from the architects of its demise.

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

It's straightforwardly far right rhetoric, and obviously inciteful towards negatively racialised men. The test for the rest of the political class is whether they're prepared to name it as such and condemn it. We've learned the hard way that the toxin will only spread if they don't.

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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 18/12/2025

Eight Palestine Action activists are being left to die in prison – all without even facing trial. We must force the government to act, before it’s too late ⬇️ goodlaw.social/3e3320

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David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Bearing in mind what Edward Said had to say about who has "permission to narrate", it would be good to hear from Arabic speakers in general and Palestinians in particular about their word and concept for "uprising", what it means to them, and what they make of the Western debate about that word.

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