samar al-bulushi

I wrote about the Kenya protests, noting that US/NATO's growing reliance on Kenya to protect Western interests in Haiti, Somalia, AND the Red Sea (amidst the blockade led by Yemen's Houthi government) means that the US is likely to shield Ruto at all costs.jacobin.com/2024/07/kenya-…

Fully funded MPhil/PhD studentship at SOAS exploring Pan-Africanism, reparative futures & global order. Join the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project led by Dr Daniel Mulugeta. Includes tuition + stipend. Deadline: 15 May 2026. soas.ac.uk/study/student-…

Writing for @SecurityContext Negar Razavi shows how US foreign policy experts helped legitimate the attack on Iran, yet now blame Trump for it securityincontext.org/posts/hedging-…

Breaking: There are reports that top Kenyan politicians who looted Kenyan taxpayers’ money are in full panic and are now trying to broker a deal for the current US-Iran-Israel situation to cool down, after some of their multibillion-shilling properties were reportedly damaged by Iranian missile and drone attacks. The property market in the United Arab Emirates is also said to have lost almost 60% of its value overnight. Iran is believed to be aware of this and is escalating attacks to pile pressure on leaders who looted public wealth and invested it abroad.

A brilliant piece!

@africasacountry @QuincyInst @IPS_DC @CostsOfWar @airwars @SecurityContext @TransitionSec @DropSiteNews @FaisalAHAli @Mohamed_Gabobe @Geeskaplatform @JournalGobanimo @theelephantinfo @thecontinent_

@africasacountry @QuincyInst @IPS_DC @CostsOfWar @airwars @SecurityContext @TransitionSec @DropSiteNews @FaisalAHAli @Mohamed_Gabobe

For 20 years, Somalia has served as a laboratory for US-led unchecked forever war, yet has failed to garner significant critical attention & analysis. As bombs fall on Iran, now is the time to confront how decades of presidential over-reach got us here. arabcenterdc.org/event/us-polic…

Looking forward to the discussion of US policy on Somalia with this excellent line-up of scholars!

If you're interested in how Emirati lobbyists/diplomats in DC influence US policy-makers, this is a great piece by Negar Razavi. The Emirati ambassador to the US, Otaiba bcm Sheikh Zayed's advisor at 26 and has bn pushing Emirati interests in DC since: anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11…

The US-Israeli war on Iran is the latest expression of a long imperial pattern—one shaped by opportunistic intervention, Western alignment, and the enduring racialized logic of empire. africasacountry.com/2026/03/the-em…

.@realDonaldTrump is fast-tracking a global critical minerals grab - benefiting billionaires & corporations while local communities pay the price. Join the Trade Justice Power Hour for a deep dive into how this is playing out in the DRC & what it reveals about a broader global scramble for minerals around the world. @congofriends @CAtradejustice 🗓 Thursday, Feb 19 ⏰12pm PT 👉 RSVP: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… @Mittaloak @FredMousse @SamuelBaker_B @JudiRever @GNzowo @AnnGarrison

“Fear of American decline has shadowed our politics for half a century, but never before has our slow fall been so mirrored and mocked by another’s rapid rise.” Now unpaywalled: the Editors on China in the American mirror. nplusonemag.com/issue-52/the-i…

Kind reminder folks! 👋🏾 We’re welcoming draft proposals that explore Somali nationalism within grounded, critical histories of social transformation in the Somalia. See gobanimo.org/submissions for more information!

⚡️Announcing Gobanimo 📚 Amidst the turbulent backdrop of Somalia's civil war, Somali intellectuals sought alternative paths beyond Western ideologies to address our nation's challenges. (1/4)

I'm in awe from the response of Los Angeles today. Insane turnout. The crowd is electric. The people are tired of ICE terrorizing our cities. Shut it all DOWN!

🇸🇴 SOMALILAND IN THE EPSTEIN FILES!!!!! Newly released emails show Jeffrey Epstein and his network repeatedly discussing Somaliland years before its current geopolitical moment. Across multiple exchanges from 2012–2018, Somaliland is named as a strategic and commercial opportunity and tied to water extraction, oil concessions, media influence, and Gulf access. In one 2012 email, Epstein discusses launching a water company in Somaliland, citing “huge untapped and clean water reserves” near the port city of Berbera, with direct shipping access to Saudi Arabia. He frames the project as fast, profitable, and logistically simple, with water sources already mapped. Another exchange proposes building a film and media hub in Somaliland, explicitly modeled as “SOMALIWOOD STUDIOS.” A 2013 email references oil exploration concessions in Somaliland, requesting $50 million to finance three large exploration blocks totaling roughly 30,000 square kilometers. The message describes the prospects as “good” and suggests coordination with European contacts. Later communications link Somaliland to Gulf capital, including a 2018 message referencing a Dubai-based developer involved in major artificial island projects now “doing business in Somaliland,” with Epstein facilitating introductions. Taken together, these documents show Somaliland being discussed inside elite Western and Gulf networks as a strategic asset for resources, logistics, cultural influence, and regional access long before recent diplomatic recognition moves or renewed instability in Somalia. These private discussions predate today’s headlines, yet align closely with current regional shifts involving Israel, the Gulf states, Red Sea access, and the Horn of Africa.

🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Thousands of students at UCLA have walked out in solidarity with Minnesotans protesting ICE and the killing of Alex Pretti, joining a growing wave of student activism against federal immigration enforcement.

In early 2025 we asked the brilliant American legal scholar Aziz Rana to keep a diary of Trump’s first year back in power. Read it here: equator.org/articles/days-…