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Rohan Advani

@rohanadvani.bsky.social
838 followers 186 following 61 posts

sociologist. mostly reading and writing about sovereign wealth funds, political economy, and development. persian gulf and singapore. phd @uclasociology // fellow @centuryintl #coys

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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
thrilled to have defended my phd dissertation, “Development Returns: Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Politics of State Investment,” with my incredible committee: CK Lee, @edwardwalker.bsky.social @kevanharris.bsky.social and Monica Prasad. I couldn’t have done it without them :)
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Daniel Tavana @danieltavana.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Excited to share that my recent @ajpseditor.bsky.social paper, "Endogenous opposition: Identity and ideology in Kuwaiti electoral politics," received Best Article awards from @apsa.bsky.social's Democracy & Autocracy and @apsamena.bsky.social sections. A link to the article can be found below.
Title: Endogenous opposition: Identity and ideology in Kuwaiti electoral politics. Abstract: How do opposition elites succeed in authoritarian elections? Existing theories of authoritarian politics suggest a pivotal role for elections in enhancing the survival of incumbent dictators. Yet, in many contexts, opposition elites attract considerable support and constrain the policymaking authorities of these dictators. This article presents a theory of endogenous opposition that traces the electoral success of opposition elites to the strategic use of symbolic ideological appeals, or campaign appeals that cast politicians as allies of particular ideological movements. I present quantitative and qualitative evidence in support of my argument from Kuwait. I show that minority elites who use symbolic ideological appeals are more likely to capture voters from other minority groups. Once elected, these legislators are more likely to oppose the ruling family in the legislature. These findings challenge existing theories of authoritarian politics and point to ideology as an understudied source of opposition success in authoritarian elections.
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Arang Keshavarzian @keshavarziana.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
A thoughtful analysis of state building in post-colonial economies seeking to become outposts for capital
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Pleased to share my latest article, “Banking on the Ruins of Empire: Developing Global Finance in Kuwait and Singapore,” published at Social Science History. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Banking on the Ruins of Empire: Developing Global Finance in Kuwait and Singapore | Social Science History | Cambridge Core
Banking on the Ruins of Empire: Developing Global Finance in Kuwait and Singapore
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 10/07/2025
It makes sense to expect a new age of inducements for institutional capital pools to hold sovereign debt (aka financial repression), as @martinsandbu.ft.com argued last week. Alas, it appears state managers are too macrofinancially incompetent to pull that off and instead are self-sabotaging bigly.
Dutch pension funds set to sell €125bn of government bonds
Overhaul of Eurozone’s largest retirement sector is expected to put pressure on continent’s debt markets
Pension funds 💔 gilts
For whom the bell tolls
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Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich
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Thanassis Cambanis @tcambanis.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
“America First” foreign policy centers on dominance and big-dollar deals for the Trump Organization or the US. CI fellows analyze the president’s MENA trip @rohanadvani.bsky.social @aronlund.bsky.social @abujamajem.com @tcambanis.bsky.social @dahliasc.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions
Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as
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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 21/05/2025
@centuryintl.bsky.social roundtable on Trump's Gulf tour, featuring @aronlund.bsky.social, @rohanadvani.bsky.social, @veenaa.bsky.social, @tcambanis.bsky.social and @dahliasc.bsky.social 👇🏻 With my take on Syria sanctions relief: "an entirely screwed up way to arrive at the ideal policy outcome."
tcf.org
Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions
Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
What Trump’s Middle East trip tells us about US policy on Syria, the Gulf, Iran, Palestine, Israel, and the region @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social @rohanadvani.bsky.social @veenaa.bsky.social @tcambanis.bsky.social @abujamajem.com @dahliasc.bsky.social & me tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Roundtable: Trump’s Middle East Transactions
Century International: President Donald J. Trump showcased his signature foreign policy style on his Middle East tour last week, revealing as much as
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Hettie O’Brien @hettieobrien.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
I’ve been piecing together this Guardian long read for over a year - about a thoroughly plausible, utterly crooked lawyer who pretended to be the perfect gentleman while he spun a web of deceit. Thanks to @davidedgarwolf.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
An English gentleman, a crooked lawyer: the secrets of Stephen David Jones
The long read: With his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. Then they started to get suspicious
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Mike McCarthy @itsmccarthy.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Fred Block reviewed The Master's Tools for @dissentmag.bsky.social. He contrasts my book, which identifies radical forms of economic democracy as the solution to our political crisis, with another, which argues such democracy is an impossibility. In typical form, he has interesting things to say!
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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 08/05/2025
@centuryintl.bsky.social colleague @rohanadvani.bsky.social on how Trump's new tariffs could prompt Middle East countries to break with a U.S.-sponsored regional trade regime that served, in large part, to lock in American influence: tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence
When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Great piece by Rohan Advani on how Trump’s tariffs have wrecked decades of U.S. economic influence-building in the Middle East, for no apparent reward. @rohanadvani.bsky.social @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence
When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs mean that the 1990s dream of peace and democracy in the Middle East through economic liberalization is dead—even if it was always illusory. My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Trump’s Tariffs End a Liberalization Dream in the Middle East—and Shrink American Influence
When Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, exporters, traders, government officials, and heads of state scrambled to find their country on
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Order from Ashes @orderfromashes.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs mean that the 1990s dream of peace and democracy in the Middle East through economic liberalization is dead, writes @rohanadvani.bsky.social in a new commentary. (1/6)
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The UK's NWF is positive for progressive management of the economy. But in the long-run, the Left will have to repurpose it to expand its balance sheet, include trade unions, and build up its own financial expertise. My latest for Tribune tribunemag.co.uk/2025/04/diri...
tribunemag.co.uk
Dirigisme Just to Feel Something
Rachel Reeves threatened us with a good time by creating the notionally statist, pro-green National Wealth Fund. But its lack of funding, reliance on private capital and exclusion of the unions will s...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
PE firms trying to come for retirement funds: "higher interest rates and declining asset values have led to fewer initial public offerings and sales. Investors aren’t getting their money back, choking off the cycle of reinvestment." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Private Equity Is Coming for America’s $12 Trillion in Retirement Savings
Inside the push to change how every American’s nest egg is invested and make private assets mainstream.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Investments are going to be pouring in, but Gulf states should make sure that they're not locked into costly obligations and that their diplomatic and de-escalatory initiatives are not compromised. My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Will Gulf Countries Think Trump's Glitter Is Gold?
Donald Trump has quickly made it clear that the guiding light in his relationships with Arab countries of the Gulf will be his trademark transactionalism.
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Smart piece on USA-Gulf relations under Trump, highlighting their deeply mismatched expectations and suggesting Gulf states are likely best off hedging against overexposure to America’s chaotic politics by tilting eastward. @rohanadvani.bsky.social @centuryintl.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Will Gulf Countries Think Trump's Glitter Is Gold?
Donald Trump has quickly made it clear that the guiding light in his relationships with Arab countries of the Gulf will be his trademark transactionalism.
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POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
The Project on Middle East Political Science is pleased to announce POMEPS Studies 54: Debating American Primacy in the Middle East. Download the full PDF here: pomeps.org/pomeps-studi...
pomeps.org
POMEPS Studies 54: Debating American Primacy in the Middle East - Project on Middle East Political Science
In September 2024, POMEPS and the Mershon Center for International Studies at the Ohio State University convened a workshop with regional experts and international relations theorists to debate the na...
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
"Syria's new Islamist leaders are undertaking a radical overhaul of the country's broken economy, including plans to fire a third of all public sector workers and privatising state-run companies" @riham-alkousaa.bsky.social @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/middle...
reuters.com
Syria's new Islamist rulers to roll back state with privatizations, public sector layoffs
The pace of the declared crackdown on waste and corruption has triggered protests from government workers amid fears of a sectarian jobs purge.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
“There is nothing inevitable, though, about the tremendous energy demand that AI boosters say they’ll need.” great by @katearonoff.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/1894... Thank god we had a little bit of market discipline!
newrepublic.com
What If Tech Execs Don’t Really Need All These Data Centers?
The rush to build new computing and energy infrastructure for artificial intelligence comes with a lot of unintended consequences—especially if this new infrastructure isn’t actually needed.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
“We didn’t want to have to fight for 13 years, we shouldn’t have had to. We wanted change, not to have to bring down a regime,” @willchristou.bsky.social from Damascus www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...
theguardian.com
‘Our father did not die for nothing’: on the ground in Damascus, disbelief turns to jubilation
In Syria’s capital, residents are in a daze as they try to absorb Assad’s dramatic downfall
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Must read
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Scott Williamson @scottrw630.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
My book is out! I’m grateful for the many people in Jordan, Tunisia, Stanford, and elsewhere who helped it reach this point. If you’re interested in why some autocrats stay popular or why ruling monarchs are so durable in today’s world, this book is for you! www.cambridge.org/core/books/k...
cambridge.org
The King Can Do No Wrong
Cambridge Core - Middle East Government,Politics and Policy - The King Can Do No Wrong
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
“The insurgents vowed to push all the way into Damascus, but life in the Syrian capital remained normal…In southeastern Aleppo, however, the main road out of the city was gridlocked as people fled the fighting, and gas stations were short on fuel.” apnews.com/article/syri... @chehayebk.bsky.social
apnews.com
Syria launches counterattacks in an attempt to halt insurgency, as Iran's top diplomat meets Assad
The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo.
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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Al-Watan says Assad made an unannounced trip to Moscow on Friday where he met with Putin, and he will receive Iranian FM Araghchi in Damascus today. It's been previously reported that Araghchi will go to Ankara next, presumably bringing along messages from Assad. alwatan.sy/archives/411...
alwatan.sy
يستقبل عراقجي اليوم وأجرى مباحثات مهمة مع بوتين وتباحث هاتفياً مع نظيره الإماراتي ورئيس وزراء العراق حول التطورات الأخيرة في سورية ... الرئيس الأسد: سورية مستمرة في الدفاع عن استقرارها ووحدة أراضيها و...
أكد الرئيس بشار الأسد أن سورية مستمرة في الدفاع عن استقرارها ووحدة أراضيها في وجه كل الإرهابيين وداعميهم، وهي قادرة وبمساعدة حلفائها وأصدقائها على دحرهم والقضاء عليهم مهما اشتدت هجماتهم الإرهابية. موق...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
We’re all trying to guess how ideological cleavages within Trump’s cabinet may affect the Middle East. But could a lesser known Lebanese politician drive American policy in the region? Great analysis of Massad Boulos by the excellent @aronlund.bsky.social tcf.org/content/comm...
tcf.org
Trump’s Would-Be Lebanon Whisperer
With Donald Trump now on his way back to the White House, the Middle East is on tenterhooks about future U.S. policy. If Trump maintains the radical
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Order from Ashes @orderfromashes.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
MAGA boosters will try to credit Trump with opening up new economic opportunities in the Gulf. The truth is that those economies were already on the rise. @rohanadvani.bsky.social in this week's roundtable tcf.org/content/report/how-trump-ca…
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
My contribution to our latest roundtable on what a Trump presidency may mean for the Middle East
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Looking for sharp analyses of MENA politics? Please follow my far more interesting and smarter colleagues here
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
I wonder what Tulsi Gabbard thinks of all these Trump FP/NatSec appointees
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 07/11/2024
Possible candidates for Trump’s Middle East team include David Friedman, Jason Greenblatt, Avi Berkowitz. None of these are “outsiders” www.axios.com/2024/11/07/t...
axios.com
Top names for Trump's foreign policy team
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East will dominate the start of his second term while the challenge from China continues.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 07/11/2024
Now the Israeli gov knows who they are dealing with, and a lame duck president, we’ll likely see an intensification of this sort of stuff www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
theguardian.com
Palestinians will not be allowed to return to homes in northern Gaza, says IDF
Brig Gen Itzik Cohen said in a briefing that aid would only be allowed to enter south of the strip, not the north
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 02/01/2024
Very few scholars have done ethnographic research of labor migration in both India and the Gulf. Andrea Wright's new book is an exception -- it was a pleasure to read and review her work! www.jadaliyya.com/Details/45629 @jadaliyya.bsky.social mena sky
jadaliyya.com
Review of "Between Dreams and Ghosts: Indian Migration and Middle Eastern Oil"
Studies of migrant labor in the Persian Gulf often generate stereotypical images of Indian men caught in a Faustian bargain: compelled to leave their homes and loved ones in search of employment, or w...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 27/12/2023
Interested in the development of Marxism and neo-Marxism in the field of political sociology? @itsmccarthy.bsky.social and I provide a broad overview in the new Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Sociology. The entire volume is full of wonderful resources! www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/elg...
e-elgar.com
Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Sociology
‘Providing an invaluable guide to contemporary political sociology, by a range of foremost contributors, this comprehensive Encyclopedia will provide an essential point of research reference for sch...
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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 09/11/2023
On Century International's "Order from Ashes" podcast, Thanassis and I discussed my new report on donor support for Lebanon's public institutions and services, and all the complications and weird distortions that support entails: tcf.org/content/podc... For the report: tcf.org/content/repo...
tcf.org
Adopt a Ministry: How Foreign Aid Threatens Lebanon’s Institutions
Lebanon’s economic crisis has impoverished the country’s people and brought the state to the brink of collapse. Millions of people in Lebanon are
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 04/11/2023
Excellent primer on neighbouring states’ reaction. Covers Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, GCC, and more www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-...
crisisgroup.org
The Gaza War Reverberates Across the Middle East
As war rages in Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate, causing grievous harm to civilians and threatening stability across the Middle East. Crisis Group experts offer a 360-degr...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 01/11/2023
Inside story: Quds Force chief in Lebanon, but Hezbollah ‘calling the shots’ Menasky amwaj.media/article/axis...
amwaj.media
Inside story: Quds Force chief in Lebanon, but Hezbollah ‘calling the shots’
The commander of Iran’s Quds Force is on the ground in Lebanon as clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continue, Amwaj.media has learned. Multiple informed sources said Esmail Qa’ani arrived in Be...
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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 26/10/2023
Good @carnegiemec.bsky.social Michael Young interview with @crisisgroup.bsky.social's Tahani Mustafa, including on the prospects for an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza and the Israeli military's real effectiveness: carnegie-mec.org/diwan/90851 menasky
carnegie-mec.org
Is Israel Prepared to Take Gaza?
In an interview, Tahani Mustafa says that the Israeli armed forces have less combat knowhow than many people presume.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 26/10/2023
Rashid Khalidi, lucid as ever www.thedriftmag.com/a-desperate-...
thedriftmag.com
“A Desperate Situation Getting More Desperate”
Since Hamas’s gruesome attack on October 7, we’ve watched as Israel has — with our government’s blessing and material aid — bombarded the captive residents of the Gaza Strip and displaced mo...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 23/10/2023
US homeownership is 66%—after The Great Inheritance (and the many more who will inevitably miss out), this may even end up more vicious.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 21/10/2023
A really excellent, short interview w @mwhanna.bsky.social on Rafah and Egyptian concerns about population transfers www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
wbur.org
Pressure mounts on Egypt to open its border to Gaza refugees
Egypt controls the Rafah crossing, which is the way out for desperate Palestinians trapped by Israel’s blockade and attacks.
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 21/10/2023
Adam Shatz at his best www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Adam Shatz · Vengeful Pathologies · LRB 20 October 2023
The inescapable truth is that Israel cannot extinguish Palestinian resistance by violence, any more than the...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 17/10/2023
“The US needs to try to restrain Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, both for the sake of Palestinians in the crossfire and so that American forces are not drawn into deadly regional escalation. Wider war is a real danger" @abujamajem.bsky.social & Thanassis Cambanis tcf.org/content/comm... menasky
tcf.org
America Needs to Prevent a Regional War in the Middle East
Palestinian militant organization Hamas’s massacres on October 7 have provoked shock and horror around the world. But revulsion at the group’s atrocities
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
Singaporean Minister of Home Affairs on Israel-Palestine: 1. Strong, unequivocal condemnation of Hamas attacks 2. Can sympathise with plight of Palestinians and also condemn terrorism 3. Israel to respond w/ full might (but unclear if it supports or condemns tis) www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXH...
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Rohan Advani @rohanadvani.bsky.social · 11/10/2023
Well that’s one possible explanation menasky
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