Institution dump
This post’s content is going to be very similar to the developmental one preceding it, so I won’t belabor it with unnecessary details. I appreciate that this is uncharacteristic of […]
Development article dump
I had initially been banking mad stacks of articles which I fully intended to turn into independent blog posts. As I progressed through the pile, I realized that there seemed […]
What am I NOW READING
I am right now reading Niall Ferguson’s excellent biography on Henry Kissinger. I am only come recently to the portions wherein Kissinger has begun writing public essays in Foreign Affairs […]
Syrian Deescalation
The story here is basically one of the US needing to take a more involved role in setting the stage in Syria, but recognizing that we cannot also command the […]
Institutional limitations
As I update this post on 16 November 2016, several months have passed since the events described in this excerpt have taken place. However, considering that Lebanon has only two […]
Mixed messages on giving a fuck in Iraq
The cluster of stories which this post belongs to were shamelessly ripped from the now-defunct Middle East daily brief once circulated… well, daily, by Foreign Policy magazine. I gathered them […]
Supplanting informal institutions
Following the previous post, it may be worthwhile to examine a part of the world where institutions are not simply failing – as is the case in Iraq (although there […]
Building Egyptian pyramids without the Fifth Column
It is, of course, absurd to expect a detailed explanation for every single thing that I’ve read. More often than not, I breeze through something as quickly as possible and […]
the role of non-state actors
Do not be alarmed by the great volume of posts which have all appeared on the same day – early in November. I had accumulated a backlog of articles intended […]
Preliminary bull moosery
Note: This post is not at all in keeping with the stated themes described in the missiony statement portion of the first post. This is, however, my favorite thing I’ve […]
a fake newspaper 