The extreme act of protest by US Air Force member Aaron Bushnell prompts Dee and Kate to explore the history of self-immolation as the ultimate act of defiance and a drastic form of suicide as well as look into the veracity of other forms of combustion that are more spontaneous. Driver calls in with a story about a special chair and a caller learns that the Shangri-Las invented barking in a recent Overkill episode. Sign up for the Sick and Wrong Patreon to hear Second Show, SW archives, and the bonus minisode Serial Killer Star Signs.

S&W Episode 936: Burning Inside

This event, co-organised with LSE IDEAS, was the launch of the special issue ‘Arab Constitutional Responses to the Revolutions and Transformations in the Region’ published in the Journal of Constitutional Law in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The special issue is the result of a two year collaboration between the Carnegie Corporation, the Arab Association of Constitutional Law, and LSE.

In the issue, 22 Arab scholars and experts have worked together to investigate the constitutional responses to the Arab Spring in ten different Arab countries including Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and many more. The case studies examined in this special issue explore both the opportunities that were raised by the prospect of a constitutional change in the wake of the Arab Spring, as well as the many challenges they faced.

Meet the Speakers

Rim Turkmani is a Senior Policy Fellow at the LSE, based at the LSE Middle East Centre and LSE IDEAS. She is the Principal Investigator of the 'Legitimacy and Civicness in the Arab World' research project. Her research focuses on legitimate governance in the Middle East with an emphasis on constitutional legitimacy and local conflict and peace drivers.

Nathan J. Brown is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Among his works are The Rule of Law in the Arab World and Constitutions in a Non Constitutional World. 

Tamara El Khoury is the Executive Director of the Arab Association of Constitutional Law, Editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law in the Middle East and North Africa, and a constitutional expert at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law. She has been involved in constitutional and institutional reform processes in Libya, Jordan, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan, working extensively with both institutional actors and civil society organizations. Tamara teaches Constitutional Law at IE University in Madrid.

Azza Kamel Maghur is a Libyan lawyer, human rights activist, and constitutional law expert. Azza is known for defending political prisoners, advocating for human rights , including women’s rights, NGOs, and openly calling for a constitution in Libya. She spearheaded a legal committee to draft the law concerning NGOs and worked on further legislations, including the election law of 2012. Azza has published numerous legal articles in both Arabic and English.

13 Years After the Arab Spring: What are the Chances for Legitimate Constitutions in the Arab World?

This event was a launch of Professor Christopher Phillips' latest book 'Battleground: 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East' published by Yale University Press.

The Middle East is in crisis. The shocking events of the war in Gaza have rocked the entire region. More than a decade ago, the Arab Spring had raised hopes of a new beginning but instead ushered in a series of civil wars, coups, and even harsher autocracies. Tensions were exacerbated by the meddling of outsiders, as regional and global powers sought to further their interests. The United States, for so long the dominant actor, had stepped back, leaving a vacuum behind it to be fought over.

Christopher Phillips explores geopolitical rivalries in the region, and the major external powers vying for influence: Russia, China, the EU, and the US. Moving through ten key flashpoints, from Syria to Palestine, Phillips argues that the United States’ overextension after the Cold War, and retreat in the 2010s, has imbalanced the region. Today, the Middle East remains blighted by conflicts of unprecedented violence and a post-American scramble for power – leaving its fate in the balance.

Meet the speakers

Christopher Phillips is Professor in International Relations at Queen Mary University of London. Phillips joined the School in January 2012, having previously worked as deputy editor for Syria and Jordan at the Economist Intelligence Unit. He is currently an associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, working primarily on the Syria conflict and its impact on neighbouring states and the wider Middle East. He is co-curator of ‘Syria: story of a conflict’ a public exhibition at the Imperial War Museum and the Imperial War Museum North. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University in 2014 & 2015. Chris lived in Syria for two years, in Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia, and much of his research focuses on that country. Phillips is also author of The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East published by Yale University Press in 2016.

Faisal Al Yafai is International Editor at New Lines Magazine. He is a journalist, playwright, and partner at Hildebrand Nord. He was previously an investigative journalist for The Guardian in London and a documentary journalist for the BBC, and has reported from across the Middle East, from Eastern Europe, Russia and Indonesia.

This event was moderated by Rim Turkmani.

Rim Turkmani is a Senior Research Fellow in LSE IDEAS and the Research Director for Conflict Research Programme work in Syria. Rim is also the Principal Investigator of the Legitimacy and Civicness in the Arab World research project at the LSE Middle East Centre. Rim's research focuses on legitimate governance in the Middle East with an emphasis on constitutional legitimacy and local conflict and peace drivers.

Battleground: 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East

Artista: @agustinmesa
Sello: @moomsound

Estrenamos nuevo track de Agustin Mesa, Arab Spring.

Gotas de acid mañanero en lo nuevo del dj y productor de Medellín, Colombia. Una perfecta fusión entre house lounge y un groove lineal perfecto para ayudarte en tu concentración. Arab Spring es el primero de los tres originales que conforman su nuevo EP en Moom Sound, el cual saldrá a la venta el 21 de Junio.

Arab Spring

PREMIERE: Agustin Mesa - Arab Spring [Moom Sound]

Across Syria and the Middle East scenes of jubilation are beaming across the world as people celebrate the fall of the long-term dictator Bashar al-Assad. What couldn’t be achieved in 13 years, has now happened in just two weeks. Bashar al-Assad took a flight and fled as rebel forces reached Damascus. The end of the tyrannical rule of the al-Assad dynasty now opens a new chapter in the strategic country.

Has Syria Won the Arab Spring?

To the Martyrs

BORDERLINES #12

Wellsgoodness - Tacto
Abdul Al Qusri and group - Huh. Ababda tribe
O Morto - Lila
Kaali Dunya - Street Dub
Julmud - Falnukmel فلنكمل
TGWOG x Colette - 20 billion follower special
NothingButNoise - Autom@ta
Zuli - Kollu I-Joloud (ft. MSYLMA)
Saint Abdullah - Heirlooms
Emsallam X Smokable - 7afifi (feat. Rawan Roshni)
POOLIDOR - Habib Galbi A WA Remix
Nuri - Mos'r (SNKLS remix)
Zuli - Nari (ft.Abysusif, Mado $am, Abanob, R-Rhyme)
Muqata'a - Bilharf Alwahad بالحَرف الواحَد
Popek - Fight For Freedom
Maya Youssef – Walk With Me

BORDERLINES EP#12

 في هذه الحلقة، نعود إلى اللحظة المحورية التي شهدت ثورة 2011 التونسية، حيث يتجسد الأمل في وجه شاب واقف وسط الجماهير، ممسكًا بقفص عصفور مرفوع في السماء، مغطى بالعلم التونسي. هذا المشهد يرمز إلى الحرية التي كانت حلمًا مشتركًا للجميع. الصورة التي نعرضها لا تقتصر على كونها ذكرى، بل هي نافذة لنسترجع الآمال التي كانت تطير في سماء الوعود.

كل سنة، نشارك هذه اللحظة المليئة بالأمل، التي تشهد على حلمٍ طالما كان مشتركًا بين الجميع. ومع مرور الوقت، تحوّلت الفرحات إلى خيبة أمل، وتبدّدت الآمال التي كانت تملأ الشوارع بشعارات الحرية والكرامة والعدالة. اليوم، نتأمل في الفجوة بين الحلم والواقع، وبين وعود الثورة وتحدياتنا اليومية.

معًا نناقش ما تبقى من ذلك الحلم، كيف تغيرنا؟ وهل يمكننا استعادة ما فقدناه؟ ماذا نحتاج اليوم لنحرك الشرارة من جديد؟ هذه الحلقة هي دعوة للتفكير والتأمل في مسار الثورة والآمال التي لم تموت بعد.








تأملات في ذكرى الثورة: حلم مؤجل

https://thecommunists.org/2025/01/01/news/sad-downfall-syrian-government-bashar-al-assad/

This is indeed a devastating setback for the long-suffering peoples of Syria and the wider region, but it is by no means the end of their liberation struggle. Despite having been essentially defeated some years ago, jihadi mercenaries backed by the USA and Turkey were left to regroup and rearm in the northwestern province of Idlib. This failure to complete their ejection from Syrian soil has had devastating consequences for the Syrian people, who have already endured so much since the onset of the west’s regime-change war in 2011.

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The sad downfall of the Syrian government

https://thecommunists.org/2025/02/05/news/usa-unstoppable-superweapon-regime-change-ned/

It is not only their physical independence that countries must protect from imperialist domination but also their civil and information sovereignty. As imperialism’s military strength fades in relation to that of its adversaries, its remaining critical strength lies in the sphere of information warfare and ‘civil society’ penetration operations as a precursor to regime change.


Subscribe! Donate! Join us in building a bright future for humanity!
www.thecommunists.org
www.lalkar.org
www.redyouth.org
Telegram: t.me/thecommunists
Twitter: twitter.com/cpgbml
Soundcloud: @proletarianradio
Rumble: rumble.com/c/theCommunists
Odysee: odysee.com/@proletariantv:2
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cpgbml
Online Shop: https://shop.thecommunists.org/
Education Program: Each one teach one!
www.londonworker.org/education-programme/
Join the struggle
www.thecommunists.org/join/
Donate:
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Washington's unstoppable superweapon

Enjoy Our Exclusive Premieres and Radio shows on https://ibizasonica.com

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Marxist analysis of current events and scientific socialist theoretical insights from the CPGB-ML. Get educated and get organised!

Welcome to the LSE Middle East Centre's podcast feed.

The MEC builds on LSE's long engagement with the Middle East and North Africa and provides a central hub for the wide range of research on the region carried out at LSE.

Follow us and keep up to date with our latest event podcasts and interviews!

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New tracks tagged #Arab Spring