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Ora Szekely

@oraszekely

Political science professor | political violence and civil war in the Middle East | very pro-Rhode Island.

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06.09.2023
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Latest posts by Ora Szekely @oraszekely

The real reason I'm leaving The Great British Baking
Show
Trump is threatening bombing the likes of which Tehran has never seen
Prue Leith

The real reason I'm leaving The Great British Baking Show Trump is threatening bombing the likes of which Tehran has never seen Prue Leith

the Spectator accidentally recycled a subhed from a previous day’s article about Tehran

06.02.2026 18:07 πŸ‘ 7043 πŸ” 1554 πŸ’¬ 102 πŸ“Œ 111

Apparently "Democracy Dies in Darkness" was just Bezos's mission statement.

04.02.2026 20:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The Stories from the Field podcast is now back with a second season!

29.01.2026 15:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Rhode Island deserves better judges than Michael McCaffrey - The Boston Globe We should insist that our governor and legislators choose judicial nominees who believe in protecting civil rights, writes one former state senator and former leader at the US Department of Labor’s Wo...

Rhode Island, write to your state senators about this ASAP:

27.01.2026 15:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hopeful thread.

22.01.2026 14:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Ok, I couldn't stop thinking about this. Apologies to the literally dozens of people I've lifted from... I want to do a fully credited version, but I'm sitting here sobbing and, well, maybe you'll feel some release, too.

09.01.2026 03:23 πŸ‘ 1664 πŸ” 650 πŸ’¬ 84 πŸ“Œ 103

Abolish and prosecute ICE. They did a murder in broad daylight today. Imagine what they're doing in the closed facilities we're somehow not even allowed to see.

07.01.2026 18:20 πŸ‘ 23753 πŸ” 6787 πŸ’¬ 276 πŸ“Œ 139

Some top-notch Rhode Island reporters to follow:

@tednesi.bsky.social
@iandonnis.bsky.social
@amandamilkovits.bsky.social
@fitzprov.bsky.social
@waveelection.bsky.social
@antoniafarzan.bsky.social
@steveahlquist.bsky.social

13.12.2025 22:39 πŸ‘ 39 πŸ” 24 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Brown University

Please follow official updates and only share confirmed updates. This keeps us all safer.

www.brown.edu

13.12.2025 23:08 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

On this Trans Day of Remembrance, we remember the bright and courageous trans people whose lives were stolen by hatred. Their absence is felt across our city.

We will honor them by building a New York where every trans person can live safely, fully and freely.

20.11.2025 16:57 πŸ‘ 16319 πŸ” 3958 πŸ’¬ 137 πŸ“Œ 135
Insurgent Women

1/x For no particular reason, a thread of books to remind you that gender matters to international security. #polisky

@oraszekely.bsky.social, Jessica, and I wrote Insurgent Women to highlight the involvement of women in multiple conflicts.

press.georgetown.edu/Book/Insurge...

30.09.2025 14:55 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.

This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.

All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

17.09.2025 23:22 πŸ‘ 60993 πŸ” 17646 πŸ’¬ 1754 πŸ“Œ 712
Preview
Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

wrote on charlie kirk for the newsletter this weekend

13.09.2025 15:35 πŸ‘ 14417 πŸ” 3185 πŸ’¬ 379 πŸ“Œ 375
Preview
ICE’s Training Manual for Determining Who to Terrorize β€œThe Supreme Court on Monday lifted a federal judge’s order prohibiting government agents from making indiscriminate immigration-related stops in t...

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ice...

10.09.2025 02:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
ICE agents in the Park Ave neighborhood spark large-scale protest The group shouted β€œshame” and "Gestapo,” and applauded as agents in the ICE-led action drove a Border Patrol SUV away on four flat tires, which had been slashed.

A protest against ICE in the Park Avenue neighborhood appeared to provoke the federal agents to leave a roofing job site.

www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2...

09.09.2025 19:38 πŸ‘ 156 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 5

6 days after Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, a Prague paper published these β€œ10 Commandments”:
β€˜When a Soviet soldier comes to you, YOU:
1. Don’t know
2. Don’t care
3. Don’t tell
4. Don’t have
5. Don’t know how to
6. Don’t give
7. Can’t do
8. Don’t sell
9. Don’t show
10. Do nothing’

12.08.2025 01:11 πŸ‘ 4614 πŸ” 1772 πŸ’¬ 58 πŸ“Œ 99

Are there any civ-mil scholars who are not alarmed by this?

Anyone?

11.08.2025 15:40 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation

Faculty who wrote to defend their president and object to a DOJ investigation of their university...are now being investigated by the DOJ.
The most banal defense of free speech and academic freedom will trigger the full wrath of the US government now.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

29.07.2025 00:23 πŸ‘ 3843 πŸ” 1670 πŸ’¬ 98 πŸ“Œ 181
Preview
Opinion | The World Is Letting Gaza Starve

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/o...

28.07.2025 01:47 πŸ‘ 212 πŸ” 64 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 4
Preview
University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration

During McCarthyism, they went after individuals to force their agenda, now they're going after entire institutions.

The Trump administration is doing everything they can to reverse all progress toward creating a higher education system assessable to all.

We must fight back.

#DefendHigherEd

27.06.2025 20:51 πŸ‘ 95 πŸ” 37 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 3

it is genuinely insane that we have just kind of acclimated to the fact that we have masked secret police now

17.06.2025 16:41 πŸ‘ 1944 πŸ” 510 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 21
Post image

Faceless government goon arrests public official for refusing to hand over a vulnerable person without a warrant.

Guess the country.

17.06.2025 17:43 πŸ‘ 1837 πŸ” 506 πŸ’¬ 45 πŸ“Œ 25

Why, it contains no king.

14.06.2025 14:09 πŸ‘ 1956 πŸ” 423 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 11
'Never seen anything like it in my life': New Jersey congressman reacts to Newark mayor arrest
'Never seen anything like it in my life': New Jersey congressman reacts to Newark mayor arrest YouTube video by MSNBC

This phone interview contains a detailed description of the wildest fucking shit I've ever heard on television news, hands down

09.05.2025 22:54 πŸ‘ 297 πŸ” 109 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 22

I don't generally give out life advice but one suggestion I have is to not take or remain in a job that requires you to hide your face from your fellow citizens in shame while you do your fucking nazi cosplay on behalf of a paste-brained tyrant

09.05.2025 20:13 πŸ‘ 2287 πŸ” 528 πŸ’¬ 29 πŸ“Œ 15
Preview
Opinion | No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...

08.05.2025 13:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

congratulations to Donald Trump on losing the Canadian election

29.04.2025 02:14 πŸ‘ 1885 πŸ” 244 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 3

Political Science and IR people are going to be extremely annoying about star wars for a few weeks. You cannot stop it, so I recommend you shelter in place.

23.04.2025 13:05 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Good.

14.04.2025 19:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0