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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
, 5 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
[Thread] Mattis is exactly right to be as critical (and perhaps even more critical) of the Obama administration's approach to the Middle East as he is with Trump's
The sheer badness and incompetence of Trump's foreign policy has helped obscure and distract from President Obama's tragic legacy. This has allowed ex-Obama aides to write self-aggrandizing books about the world ('The World As It Is') as if 2008 to 2016 never happened
What Mattis says about Biden was also very much true of Obama: “[Biden] exuded the confidence of a man whose mind was made up, perhaps even indifferent to considering the consequences were he judging the situation incorrectly"
As I wrote in 2016, Obama's ideological rigidity—somehow—even managed to surpass George W. Bush's. Despite failures (and considerable destruction and loss of life) Obama wasn't willing to rethink his starting premises. Bush, oddly enough, was

brookings.edu/blog/markaz/20…
@BrookingsFP And it wasn't just foreign policy: Obama's intellectual arrogance—and his unwillingness to take seriously the criticisms of even well-meaning interlocutors—led to major missteps at home too:

I discuss this here in @TheAtlantic: theatlantic.com/international/…
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
I just finished @elgindy_'s "Blind Spot"

It's probably the single best book I've ever read on the US and the failures of Israeli-Palestinian peace. It's such a brilliant and devastating account that it's almost chilling

Buy it here: amazon.com/Blind-Spot-Ame…
@elgindy_ @BrookingsFP @BrookingsPress If there was one book from 2019 I could recommend to the staff of each and every Democratic presidential candidate, it would be this. The same goes for anyone in government or Congress who's serious about rethinking the fundamental assumptions of US policy in the Middle East
@elgindy_ @BrookingsFP @BrookingsPress What's remarkable about this book is that it somehow manages to completely avoid polemics. This is sober, practical, and clear-sighted work. And, importantly, there are clear policy proposals that follow directly if you accept the thrust of @elgindy_'s account
Read 4 tweets
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
In the latest episode of The Wisdom of Crowds, we talk nationalism and whether it's inherently legitimate or inherently coercive—or, more likely, both soundcloud.com/the-wisdom-of-…
I do believe nationalism is inherently legitimate, insofar as nationalist preferences among at least a part of the electorate are a natural outcome of any democratic process. That's why I'm uncomfortable with attacking those ideas as anti-democratic or "bad" 1/x
Nationalism is inevitable (at least in the modern era). But part of me wishes it were otherwise. All nationalist projects involve violence, and most modern nation-states—to become what they became—went through periods of "sorting" 2/x
Read 5 tweets
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Shadi Hamid
@shadihamid
America's preeminent Islamic scholar—Sheikh Hamza Yusuf—has said problematic things before, but this might be the most morally abhorrent thing he's said yet. That he's still hailed in our community is, well, not good. Hopefully it will begin to change
Hamza Yusuf unapologetically—and rather coarsely— blames Syrians for their own suffering at the hands of a brutal regime: "If you humiliate a ruler, God will humiliate you"
The most disgusting thing Hamza Yusuf says in the clip is this: "I am no fan of the rulers [in Syria], I was no fan of Saddam but now we see the wisdom of why these people were in those places"
Read 8 tweets

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John Hayward
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The logical endpoint of Democrats' shrill rhetoric on illegal immigration is safe and comfortable transportation, funded by the U.S. taxpayer, for the entire population of Central America to migrate if it so desires. We can't have migrants dying on the journey, can we?
We can't build facilities to house even unaccompanied minors who cross the border - the Democrats won't hear of it! The only recourse is to keep families together in their countries of origin as they board mass transportation provided by the United States.
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Nervana Mahmoud
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#Thread on AJ+ Holocaust denial that triggered wide outrage.
Denying or downplaying the #Holocaust is not new. It has been a recurring theme by AJ arabic since its establishment. 1/
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cyberobserver
@OSINTResearcher
#Trump campaign #BradPascale in #Romania makes me ponder a few questions:
🤔
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-Purpose is to offer #socialmedia manipulation advice for #EU May vote?
-Perfect opportunity to meet with other election manipulators in the region?
Romanian American diaspora
States-Leanings-Delegate#
NY-Dem-29
CA-Dem-55
FL-LeansR-29
MI-LeansD-16
PA-Tossup-20
IL-Dem-20
DE-Dem-3
OH-Tossup-18
GA-LeanR-16
Could Romanian media influence Romanian American voters?
As Romanian immigrants in America steadily increase, the population of Romanian voters might be heavily influenced by the strong ties to political and religious opinions held by leaders in Romania.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_…
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Olivier Guitta
@OlivierGuitta
A terror attack in #Paris against the #Iran-ian main opposition group the #MEK was foiled. Attack due to take place during their conference whose speakers included Rudy #Guilani.The 2 arrested terrorists were a couple of Iranian origin living in Belgium bit.ly/2MJbZir
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