Waleed K. Salem وليد سالم الشوبكي
@waleedksalem.bsky.social
Egyptian scholar & journalist. Authoritarian politics; comparative judicial politics; politics of the Gulf States. صحافي مصري وباحث في العلوم السياسية
A Hoya, a Husky, and currently of Simon Fraser University.
A Hoya, a Husky, and currently of Simon Fraser University.
Pinned
اتجمعوا العشاق
YouTube video by الشيخ إمام
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpG...
"اتجمعوا العشاق في سجن القلعة. اتجمعوا العشاق في باب الخلق. ... مين اللي يقدر ساعة يحبس مصر."
"اتجمعوا العشاق في سجن القلعة. اتجمعوا العشاق في باب الخلق. ... مين اللي يقدر ساعة يحبس مصر."
Looks like Saudi Arabia is now bearing the brunt of the US and Israel to achieve their purported goals in going to war with Iran.
September 20, 2026 at 5:30 AM
Looks like Saudi Arabia is now bearing the brunt of the US and Israel to achieve their purported goals in going to war with Iran.
I have a great deal of respect for Prof Mearsheimer’s past scholarship. And his views on Russia have been quite consistent for decades. And yet I think propagating Russian talking points, as he does here, is a mistake.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Mp...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Mp...
Episode 8: The Russia I Saw
YouTube video by John Mearsheimer - Offensive Realism
m.youtube.com
September 16, 2026 at 4:13 PM
I have a great deal of respect for Prof Mearsheimer’s past scholarship. And his views on Russia have been quite consistent for decades. And yet I think propagating Russian talking points, as he does here, is a mistake.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Mp...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Mp...
It’s not just in Germany. Political amnesia is autocrats’ god-send.
Only in the 70+ age cohort was the AfD vote share relatively modest in Sachsen-Anhalt.
“We must never forget” has an expiration date. Roughly two generations removed, it turns out.
“We must never forget” has an expiration date. Roughly two generations removed, it turns out.
September 7, 2026 at 8:48 PM
It’s not just in Germany. Political amnesia is autocrats’ god-send.
L’Arc d’Hormuz — that is the more apt name for the thing.
«Qu'y a-t-il dans un nom ?»
«Qu'y a-t-il dans un nom ?»
September 4, 2026 at 4:46 PM
L’Arc d’Hormuz — that is the more apt name for the thing.
«Qu'y a-t-il dans un nom ?»
«Qu'y a-t-il dans un nom ?»
Reposted by Waleed K. Salem وليد سالم الشوبكي
An excellent point! Microsoft, Apple and others are pushing us to use half-baked AI while their calendar apps remain barely functional. It truly is bizarre when one pauses to reflect on it.
Failing to see the problem with this.
Had a conversation with my students last term. Is there any other tech that has relied on being so forcefully pushed onto people to be successful? I can’t think of one. Advertised heavily, etc? Yes. Pushed onto people so they have to constantly turn it off? No
Had a conversation with my students last term. Is there any other tech that has relied on being so forcefully pushed onto people to be successful? I can’t think of one. Advertised heavily, etc? Yes. Pushed onto people so they have to constantly turn it off? No
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
August 1, 2026 at 5:07 PM
An excellent point! Microsoft, Apple and others are pushing us to use half-baked AI while their calendar apps remain barely functional. It truly is bizarre when one pauses to reflect on it.
As someone who grew up in a village in the Nile Delta, I wholeheartedly agree.
Yet I think Booker is a good man and even this bit of performative politics can be in honoring and elevation of farmers. Perhaps.
Yet I think Booker is a good man and even this bit of performative politics can be in honoring and elevation of farmers. Perhaps.
Agricultural work is difficult. It requires training, skill and experience. You can't just hop into a field and perform at the same level as professionals do. Some lawmakers like to pretend that this is all just "unskilled" manual labor, and that couldn't be farther from the truth.
@ufwfoundation.bsky.social has had a campaign called “Take Our Jobs” since 2010 in which they invite celebs and electeds to work alongside farmworkers for a day. It’s the one Colbert did and Cory Booker has done. More people need to participate. ufwfoundation.org/cory-booker-...
July 31, 2026 at 5:16 PM
As someone who grew up in a village in the Nile Delta, I wholeheartedly agree.
Yet I think Booker is a good man and even this bit of performative politics can be in honoring and elevation of farmers. Perhaps.
Yet I think Booker is a good man and even this bit of performative politics can be in honoring and elevation of farmers. Perhaps.
A case to watch. The argument that your data is “property,” open to government seizure and inspection, has limitations. For one thing, this type of property encompasses everything. It’s liable to prosecutorial abuse. 1/2
July 31, 2026 at 2:29 AM
A case to watch. The argument that your data is “property,” open to government seizure and inspection, has limitations. For one thing, this type of property encompasses everything. It’s liable to prosecutorial abuse. 1/2
Reposted by Waleed K. Salem وليد سالم الشوبكي
Presidents of Finland and Germany issue a proposal, and an invite, for a Helsinki-style process in the Middle East, arguing that, as in cold-war era, trust wouldn’t be a prerequisite for success. 1/
www.ft.com/content/3485...
www.ft.com/content/3485...
The Middle East needs its own Helsinki Act
Trust is not a prerequisite for peacemaking — and Iran and its neighbours should follow the example of cold war détente
www.ft.com
July 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Presidents of Finland and Germany issue a proposal, and an invite, for a Helsinki-style process in the Middle East, arguing that, as in cold-war era, trust wouldn’t be a prerequisite for success. 1/
www.ft.com/content/3485...
www.ft.com/content/3485...
I study and write about the Gulf states, and I find myself increasingly thinking that only a collective regional approach to Hormuz management can ameliorate the vulnerability it poses to everyone, in the region and beyond. 🧵 1/
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/w...
A Modest Proposal for the Strait Dispute: A Shared Pact Among Gulf States
A London-based research group has invoked a now-defunct European pact on coal and steel to suggest forming a coalition of countries that would share control of the Strait of Hormuz.
www.nytimes.com
July 19, 2026 at 2:33 PM
I study and write about the Gulf states, and I find myself increasingly thinking that only a collective regional approach to Hormuz management can ameliorate the vulnerability it poses to everyone, in the region and beyond. 🧵 1/
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/w...
Reposted by Waleed K. Salem وليد سالم الشوبكي
It’s always been arrogant to assume that we can predict even most of the costs of #ClimateChange. Let alone presume that we can properly quantify them, and successfully adapt to them.
A key word with a lot of our climate failure is arrogance. Along with selfishness and greed.
#ClimateCrisis
A key word with a lot of our climate failure is arrogance. Along with selfishness and greed.
#ClimateCrisis
We didn't previously integrate wildfire-smoke costs into the supposed cost of climate change for the US, and it turns out to be bigger than all those other costs combined. Oops! Gosh I wonder if we're underestimating anything else. Probably shoulda done something about this. Ah well.
What Worries Me Most About This Wildfire Smoke
We didn’t know days like this could happen. Then we learned how bad they really are.
heatmap.news
July 18, 2026 at 9:51 PM
It’s always been arrogant to assume that we can predict even most of the costs of #ClimateChange. Let alone presume that we can properly quantify them, and successfully adapt to them.
A key word with a lot of our climate failure is arrogance. Along with selfishness and greed.
#ClimateCrisis
A key word with a lot of our climate failure is arrogance. Along with selfishness and greed.
#ClimateCrisis
mandate means business.
Hungary’s de-Orbánification continues: President Tamás Sulyok has signed the law removing himself from office and ousting Constitutional Court judges over 70—including court chief Péter Polt, an Orbán loyalist & former longtime chief prosecutor. The illiberal state is ending. www.reuters.com/worl...
July 19, 2026 at 4:40 AM
mandate means business.
“They want sovereignty without democracy, Judaism without morality, power without restraint, and land without Palestinians.”
(This captures the modus operandi of extremists in other faith traditions as well.)
From the moral authority that is Gershon Baskin.
(This captures the modus operandi of extremists in other faith traditions as well.)
From the moral authority that is Gershon Baskin.
We are at war: How settler extremists are attacking Palestinians, Israeli democracy
open.substack.com/pub/gershonb...
open.substack.com/pub/gershonb...
We are at war: How settler extremists are attacking Palestinians, Israeli democracy
While the majority of us look away, a determined minority is reshaping our country
open.substack.com
July 16, 2026 at 3:59 PM
“They want sovereignty without democracy, Judaism without morality, power without restraint, and land without Palestinians.”
(This captures the modus operandi of extremists in other faith traditions as well.)
From the moral authority that is Gershon Baskin.
(This captures the modus operandi of extremists in other faith traditions as well.)
From the moral authority that is Gershon Baskin.
Shocking but not surprising.
MAHA lunacy meets pseudoscience meets the manosphere meets culture wars meeting pervasive incompetence of 47 & co.
As warfare transforms before our eyes—in Ukraine, Iran and elsewhere—this pretender is obsessed with the bench press and “bulking.“
MAHA lunacy meets pseudoscience meets the manosphere meets culture wars meeting pervasive incompetence of 47 & co.
As warfare transforms before our eyes—in Ukraine, Iran and elsewhere—this pretender is obsessed with the bench press and “bulking.“
Hegseth now wants taxpayers to pay to give testosterone injections to troops to make them better warfighters.
July 15, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Shocking but not surprising.
MAHA lunacy meets pseudoscience meets the manosphere meets culture wars meeting pervasive incompetence of 47 & co.
As warfare transforms before our eyes—in Ukraine, Iran and elsewhere—this pretender is obsessed with the bench press and “bulking.“
MAHA lunacy meets pseudoscience meets the manosphere meets culture wars meeting pervasive incompetence of 47 & co.
As warfare transforms before our eyes—in Ukraine, Iran and elsewhere—this pretender is obsessed with the bench press and “bulking.“
Indeed, the electability “argument” seems to have the triple-stink of being simultaneously vacuous, racially tinged AND patronizing toward voters.
Point here being: on top of everything the article notes a/b how elections actually work, electability args likely have negative effects beyond individual elections, especially on women, BIPOC, & LGBTQIA+ candidates & potential candidates. B/c the default for "electability" in the US is a white man.
July 14, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Indeed, the electability “argument” seems to have the triple-stink of being simultaneously vacuous, racially tinged AND patronizing toward voters.
“All-hat-no-cattle“ and MOUs of ambiguity — brilliant!
“. . for all of Danielle Smith’s talk about doubling oilsands production by 2035 — and maybe because of it — we are still very much in the land of make-believe.”
The only thing missing from that all-hat-no-cattle photo of Smith and Ford is a sharpie.
The only thing missing from that all-hat-no-cattle photo of Smith and Ford is a sharpie.
I've probably written a version of this column three times now, but it still bears repeating: all the MOUs in the world can't change the underlying economics of expanding oil production in Alberta (and the real roadblocks standing in its way). #cdnpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/14/o...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/07/14/o...
July 14, 2026 at 3:48 PM
“All-hat-no-cattle“ and MOUs of ambiguity — brilliant!
In most cases, most of the time, bureaucratic mistakes/crimes can be explained by incompetence rather than malice. Not in this case. Conditions of ICE arrests and detention seem intended to maximize casualties. “Self-deport or die“ is Stephen Miller’s proposition to (undocumented) immigrants.
We update our tracker weekly, typically on Mondays, to show who Trump's immigration enforcers have killed in the field and in his concentration camps, as well as who his agents have injured. All our tables should be read as minimum numbers.
We are still keeping a running count of ICE deaths in the Trump era. When updated with yesterday's tragedy, it'll be at 31 deaths in the field and 59 deaths in custody.
prospect.org/2026/01/29/i...
prospect.org/2026/01/29/i...
July 14, 2026 at 2:55 PM
In most cases, most of the time, bureaucratic mistakes/crimes can be explained by incompetence rather than malice. Not in this case. Conditions of ICE arrests and detention seem intended to maximize casualties. “Self-deport or die“ is Stephen Miller’s proposition to (undocumented) immigrants.
RIP! Influential figure and mixed (if enlightening) legacy.
Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani dies aged 74 ft.trib.al/G6HnOBa
Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani dies aged 74
Former ruler was known for modernising gas-rich Gulf state and pursuing regional dialogue rather than confrontation
ft.trib.al
July 12, 2026 at 5:25 PM
RIP! Influential figure and mixed (if enlightening) legacy.
Absolutely fascinating and a must read: on algorithmic moral authority In the game:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Infallibility Trap: Why Football’s Tech Revolution is the Perfect Alibi
How Outsourcing Absolute Truth to Black-Box Algorithms Builds the Ultimate Apparatus for Invisible Manipulation
substack.com
July 12, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Absolutely fascinating and a must read: on algorithmic moral authority In the game:
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
State criminality.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo should still be alive. They let him bleed out in the fucking street while he begged for help.
The son of the man ICE murdered has called for an investigation into his fathers death. ICE uses the excuse of the victim weaponizing their vehicle when we have seen footage of ICE causing the issues!
Credits: @nowthisimpact
Credits: @nowthisimpact
July 8, 2026 at 10:29 PM
State criminality.
Reposted by Waleed K. Salem وليد سالم الشوبكي
The head of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission, which investigated crimes committed by the previous dictatorship, is now imprisoned by the next dictatorship.
A Tunis court today sentenced Sihem Bensedrine, 75, a prominent human rights defender to 25 years in prison in apparent retaliation for her work. The sentence reflects the cruelty of the governments attempt to strangle human rights in Tunisia. www.hrw.org/news/2026/06...
Tunisia: Rights Defender Given 25-Year Sentence
A Tunis court on June 26, 2026, sentenced Sihem Bensedrine, 75, a prominent human rights defender and former president of the Truth and Dignity Commission, to a total of 25 years in prison and a heavy...
www.hrw.org
June 26, 2026 at 5:04 PM
The head of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission, which investigated crimes committed by the previous dictatorship, is now imprisoned by the next dictatorship.
“Yet if there is any lesson from the four years of death and devastation, since Israel elected the most far-right government in its history, it is that even seemingly small ideological and dispositional differences are a matter of life and death.”
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
What Israel's upcoming election means for the world
European Leaders and U.S. Political Elites Yearn for Israeli Voters to Turn the Page on Netanyahu and the Gaza War. But Netanyahu's Allies in the Global Far Right Are Not Merely Watching From the Side...
www.haaretz.com
June 7, 2026 at 2:02 PM
“Yet if there is any lesson from the four years of death and devastation, since Israel elected the most far-right government in its history, it is that even seemingly small ideological and dispositional differences are a matter of life and death.”
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
From the U.S. side, the single denial of the claims in the article comes from an anonymous White House official. It’s unclear to me why anonymity was granted. NYTimes should‘ve insisted on naming the source of denial (of, apparently, an official report) or just said the WH refused to comment.
Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel
www.nytimes.com
June 6, 2026 at 10:12 PM
From the U.S. side, the single denial of the claims in the article comes from an anonymous White House official. It’s unclear to me why anonymity was granted. NYTimes should‘ve insisted on naming the source of denial (of, apparently, an official report) or just said the WH refused to comment.