Sam Heller | سام هيلر

My latest for @foreignaffairs.com: On Syria's acute cost-of-living crisis – which I think poses a real danger to the country's political transition – and the ways the Shara' government is making it worse: www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/syrias...

From October 16 meeting between Syrian finance minister and head of Saudi Fund for Development, on margins of World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings: SFD board has approved initial six Syria projects worth $406 million in concessional loans: www.facebook.com/syrianfinanc...

thrilled thrilled thrilled that this can be about all the enduring structural obstacles to Lula's victory instead of a map to his defeat

a green new deal president and they redecorate the white house like rainforest cafe

CIP has joined the global call to end the prosecution of Mada Masr editor-in-chief Lina Attalah and protect independent journalism in Egypt. "Egyptian authorities must end this prosecution and allow Lina and her colleagues to report freely," says @nancyokail.bsky.social

The next UN Secretary-General must defend international institutions & norms from the forces of autocracy & corruption. @cipolicy.bsky.social explains why Lana Nusseibeh, the public face of the UAE's denials of arming a genocide in Sudan, is the wrong choice: internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence are out of control. The last three years saw 50,000 West Bank Palestinians forced from their homes by Israeli military operations, demolitions and settler terror attacks. Now, dozens of lawmakers led by @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social are pushing back.

Energy Wars & Trump's Price Point: Combatants from Europe to the Gulf are targeting energy in leadup to US midterms because they know fuel prices freak out Trump. New @orderfromashes.bsky.social pod with Zack Cuyler, Chris Newton, @mwhanna.crisisgroup.org @rohanadvani.bsky.social

How We Can Build a World for All: US Foreign Policy Beyond Empire IRL discussion in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Nov. 11 with @mattduss.bsky.social @rozinaali.bsky.social @polgreen.bsky.social Andrew Liu luma.com/0sxja0tx

Devastating news for “what about Sudan” posters as Israel makes it state policy that they “consider friendly” the RSF

L’Orient-Le Jour’s Stephanie Bechara talks to elderly retirees impoverished by Lebanon’s banking crisis: today.lorientlejour.com/article/1550...

@natachadanon.bsky.social for @carnegiemec.bsky.social on “reconciliation” (sulh) councils now arbitrating cases in lieu of official Syrian courts: carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/...

@apnews.com's @bmroue.bsky.social on Lebanon's historic Jewish community: apnews.com/article/leba...

@carnegiemec.bsky.social's Armenak Tokmajyan and Laith Qerbaa on the distinct trajectories of 1) arbitrage-based informal trade and 2) illicit trafficking of drugs and arms across Jordan's border with Syria: carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/...

And now he is the head of the Syrian Petroleum Company: sana.sy/presidency/2...

Samir Aita on the ways Syria's new real estate mega-projects are problematic, including in comparative regional context: www.shorouknews.com/columns/view...

Press conference by Syrian deputy economy minister includes subsidies bill for bread – still $600m annually, even after post-December 2024 price hike: sana.sy/economy/syri...

Christina Goldbaum, Samuel Granados and Adina Renner @nytimes.com on the extent to which Israel has destroyed south Lebanon occupation zone since April ceasefire: www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Israeli military says actions consistent with "the understandings reached between Israel and Lebanon."

@haidhaid22.bsky.social argues for a Syrian national strategy to review past dispossession, as people who allege their land was unjustly expropriated rally against new property developments: en.majalla.com/node/333566/...

I discuss Brazil’s vibes-based election and lessons for the US with @perrybaconjr.bsky.social for @newrepublic.com newrepublic.substack.com/p/what-lulas...

Under-noticed that this video featured Gad Saad, for some reason

جاد فياض في "النهار": "كيف تتفادى سوريا العودة إلى الوراء؟ 4 باحثين يجيبون عبر "النهار"" annah.ar/355762 مشاركتي حول السياسة الاقتصادية للسلطات الجديدة:

Three weeks ago!

@reuters.com's Feras Dalatey: Barrack pushed to involve U.S. firm with which he retains financial ties in Iraq-Syria pipeline project: www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-envoy-kept-financial-ties-firm-behind-15-billion-hormuz-bypass-oil-2026-10-09/

@financialtimes.com's @malaikatapper.bsky.social on the Syrian Sovereign Fund and its expansive role: www.ft.com/content/7dd7...

Useful background on Brazilian elections from colleagues @mpaarlberg.bsky.social @atherton.bsky.social: internationalpolicy.org/publications...

Cian Ward for @thenewarab.bsky.social: "Syria's new rulers and Hezbollah: An unlikely détente?" www.newarab.com/analysis/syr... Includes my thoughts.

Syrian MP Kinan al-Nahhas warns against shift to "predatory capitalism" in absence of strategic economic vision or oversight mechanisms; says delay of reform could endanger state. I wrote about the risk Syria's economy poses to the country's transition: www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/syrias...

@nytimes.com Natan Odenheimer and Adam Rasgon on how top aide to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has functioned as representative of Israeli interests inside U.S. government: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/w...

For anyone who has 40 minutes left on a flight and wants to watch "The Dark Knight Rises: Only the Bane Parts": *1:30 *24:20 41:10 53:55 *1:03:35 *1:11:25 1:17:55 1:20:40 1:23:15 *1:27:40 *1:36:40 1:52:35 2:07:15 2:11:25 2:14:45 2:21:40 2:22:35 (* denotes essential Bane)

@obdincer.bsky.social, Zeynep Sahin-Mencutek, @jabassini.wsocial.eu and Joseph Daher report on why refugee return to Syria does not necessarily equate to stable reintegration: bicc.de/Publications...