Faysal ItaniVerified account

@faysalitani

Deputy Director at Center for Global Policy. Adjunct. Prof of Middle East politics at GW + Georgetown. Offroad motorcyclist. Parrot owner. faysal@cgpolicy.org

Washington, DC
cgpolicy.org/author/faysalc…
Joined October 2012
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  1. Pinned Tweet
    Jan 8

    In this piece for I argue: - Killing Soleimani should be judged by its specific goals, not one's views of 'maximum pressure'. - Iran is geopolitically strong but has few wise escalation options. -The US need not retaliate - it's made its point.

    3 replies 30 retweets 95 likes
  2. 9 hours ago

    Firstly no one can 'earn' a state since no one (certainly not one's enemy) has a right to gauge whether it's been earned. I'm not even sure there's more to getting a state than simply taking one - which would presumably disqualify Palestinians from 'earning' one. Bizarre.

    1:44
    Trump said he wanted his peace plan to be a "win/win". Where is the win for the Palestinians? Jared Kushner: "He's delivered for the Palestinians a…
    4 replies 1 retweet 11 likes
  3. Retweeted
    12 hours ago

    Here's my essay in on why Trump’s approach to “peace” was always doomed to fail The piece draws on my recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, where we met with Israeli politicians, academics, and settlers as well as Palestinian leaders:

    8 replies 32 retweets 81 likes
  4. 16 hours ago

    Some good answers in the comments below!

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  5. 20 hours ago

    Important read. I understand the reservations surrounding his candidacy and share some of then. But there's been too little serious reflection on his candidacy in chattering circles and too much contemptuous dismissal.

    5 likes
  6. Jan 27

    How do people have the confidence to make public predictions like this?

    16 replies 1 retweet 35 likes
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  7. Jan 27

    I'm confident the Arab speaking people of this world would like very much for these pointless wars to end. What you did you have in mind Bernie?

    Sanders campaign in Arabic today: “ending pointless wars.” Syrians, Arabic-speaking people subject to most brutal war over the last decade including one very active *today* are invisible to him and his advisors. If anythi…
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    3 replies 5 retweets 24 likes
  8. Retweeted
    Jan 27

    : Lebanon Parliament passes the 2020 budget with 49 yes votes, 13 against and 8 abstentions. It took about an hour.

    2 replies 27 retweets 51 likes
  9. Retweeted
    Jan 27

    Like we get it, let's not repeat the Iraq War, but that was a decade and a half ago. More interesting: what would a President Warren have done in the summer and fall of 2014 when the Islamic State was rampaging through the region?

    1 reply 3 retweets 15 likes
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  10. Jan 27

    I sympathize with some of this but most of the proposed alternatives are also impractical. That's partly why they've not been pursued. Its not just because everyone else is stupid.

    6 replies 16 retweets 69 likes
  11. Jan 27

    I usually do my lighter reading on my evening commute. Though I guess it's evening in Lebanon! This is gold.

    Thread of some interesting lines from the Parliament session currently underway. It began with Future Movement MP Samir Jisr saying that the session…
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    1 reply 5 likes
  12. Jan 27

    Superb read.

    2 retweets 3 likes
  13. Jan 26

    Fukuyama. So read.

    1 reply 1 retweet 13 likes
  14. Retweeted
    Jan 25

    Actually this is a worthwhile question for some deeper dives. Some quality writing has been done on suppressors in Syria, particularly by the specs and techs dudes like and other phenomenal arms ID accounts. It generally focuses on who produces them &

    Replying to @Arslon_Xudosi @MENA_Conflict
    Honest question, from ignorance which I freely admit. But what the fuck is the point of suppressing an AK? Does it actually do anything?
    3 replies 24 retweets 87 likes
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  15. Jan 25

    The History of the Peloponnesian Wars; The Prince; A House of Many Mansions.

    What is the greatest book in your field?
    2 replies 1 retweet 13 likes
  16. Jan 25

    In any low-legitimacy state, all crises are security crises because all complaints are existential threats.

    New administration (Govt) more “militarized” - checkpoint along highway from north Lebanon to Beirut; searching cars/buses for gas masks .. appears they are dealing w/political and economic crisis as a security crisis
    3 replies 6 retweets 25 likes
  17. Retweeted
    Jan 25

    have wanted to read something insightful on the massive reverberations of these events in 1979 and how they have played out the last 40 years. Looks like an interesting read.

    3 replies 3 retweets 20 likes
  18. Jan 25

    I always read Ambassador Feltman because he displays the sort of immersion in local realities reminiscent of the (much-missed) Arabists. What to expect from a new Lebanese government: “Anti-corruption” as witch hunt via

    1 reply 4 retweets 14 likes
  19. Jan 25

    Interesting that many of my friends here don't know who is. I didn't either until a few months ago but I thought it was just me. DC =/= America.

    2 replies 10 likes
  20. Retweeted
    Jan 25

    Unlike the urban myth, the vast majority of the 1% are stuck. From the top 24,000 accounts (the 1%), from last summer to now, only $3 billion walked out (3.5%), annoying, but not detrimental. These are basically the Super-Wasta folks, but also some smart guys who saw it coming.

    16 replies 40 retweets 150 likes
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  21. Retweeted
    Jan 25

    Marches across and even from the Dora area outside the capital are converging on parliament to mark 100 days of the and reject the new government. Checkpoints have been set up on the highway into Beirut, cars/buses being searched.

    1:03
    المسيرة يلي انطلقت من صارت بشارع أرمينيا: بدنا نشيل الذكورية بدا تفل
    1 reply 21 retweets 34 likes
  22. Jan 24

    In all seriousness: this is the most intriguing part of the story.

    In last hour, I’ve become genuinely curious about why the Secretary of State has a blank map of the world ready to produce on a moment’s notice.
    1 retweet 10 likes
  23. Jan 24

    Why not I guess 🤷‍♂️

    Space Force is apparently going to use the Starfleet insignia as its symbol because of course it is.
  24. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    Get you a rover who can do it all🤖

    107 replies 2,652 retweets 11,871 likes
  25. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    One of many discrete signs that authorities (especially after formation of new government) are preparing to step up brutal protests repression. Seems decision to try to definitively quell 🇱🇧 has been made.

    A shopkeeper just told me that members of 's security forces came to his store this morning to warn him that he is no longer allowed to import or sell gas masks. When I left the shop, there were two uniformed officers standing outside.
    2 replies 21 retweets 32 likes
  26. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    That answer hasn’t changed, it’s literally the one talking point for all Arab regimes in Western circles. Me or the Izlaamists. (And we end up getting them AND the Islamists, precisely because of that policy.)

    Replying to @hxhassan
    Mubarak does not come across well at all. "I can't hold elections because I'll lose them" - what the actual fuck?
    7 replies 18 retweets 60 likes
  27. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    calls ’s elite to order

    3 retweets 2 likes
  28. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    In countries where politicians are accountable to the local population, the worry is that foreign creditors will be forced to bear the entire cost of a debt restructuring. In Lebanon, where there is no accountability, the worry is that locals will bear the entire cost.

    2 replies 4 retweets 30 likes
  29. Jan 24

    As George Carlin taught us: never join any movement where hats are either banned or obligatory.

    Reading “Modern Things on Trial” by Leor Halevi (thanks for recommending). Nice section about people considering whether to wear Western hats instead of turbans and fezzes. Some prominent people in…
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    2 replies 9 retweets 36 likes
  30. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    “This is now the council of resistance, go play and protest elsewhere. You all now look like traitors.” Beirut Southern Suburbs protest at Council of the South. How Amal & Hezbollah handle dissent 👇🏻

    4 replies 6 retweets 12 likes
  31. Jan 24

    Im trying to tune out of this moment but I feel obliged to bear witness.

    Even in our most incompetent moments never came close to that of Trump’s peace team. Releasing a plan (untethered from anything other than politics) 6 weeks before Israel’s 3rd election within a year and without regard to Palestinians, takes diplomatic malpractice to new levels.
    1 reply
  32. Retweeted
    Jan 23

    Excellent analysis by the Team on the potential impact of the multiple protests in on stability and the U.S. presence in the country. For Iraq watchers, this is an excellent primer for what to expect today.

    1 reply 4 retweets 13 likes
  33. Retweeted
    Jan 24

    Amal Movement supporters attack protesters who were demonstrating outside the Council of the South, accused of being a vehicle for patronage and corruption. It’s basically the Council for Development and Reconstruction for south Lebanon.

    0:40
    تهمة المحتجين من "إئتلاف بناء الدولة" أنهم…
    1 reply 24 retweets 27 likes
  34. Jan 23

    "Are Modern People the Most Exhausted in History?" Spoiler: No (strangely). But this is fascinating.

    10 likes
  35. Jan 23

    This is not a reason to vote for anyone. I don't even like people like that in my personal life.

    0:50
    “I think I'll probably vote for Bernie... He’s been insanely consistent his entire life. He’s basically been saying the same thing, been for the same thing his whole life. And that in and of itself is a very powerful structure to…
    6 replies 4 retweets 50 likes
  36. Retweeted
    Jan 23

    In a reverse of the Iraq War dynamics, the U.S. can mess with Iran in many more ways than Iran can retaliate. That is a new reality to which pundits and policymakers in the U.S. still need to catch up. My new article in National Review ()

    18 replies 99 retweets 183 likes
  37. Retweeted
    Jan 20

    My message on Gebran Bassil 🇱🇧

    1,380 replies 1,062 retweets 4,639 likes
  38. Jan 23

    😏

    تعرضت لتدمير معنوي غير مسبوق خلال تولي وزارة الداخلية
    1 like
  39. Retweeted
    Jan 23

    We need to retire this jihadism discipline, or radically change it. No other choice. It has a disgraceful record, and it’s hurting more than helping people in the real world. Who cares how many times a jihadist farted in a video?

    The estimable scholars of jihadism vs. the grifting scavengers? Oh please. A little humility should be expected from a wartime discipline with an extremely poor record of forecasting, or even noticing important markers. What’s that, not within your ‘academic’ purview? Yeah, ok.
    2 replies 8 retweets 27 likes
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  40. Retweeted
    Jan 23

    Fascinating story: US seeking to establish a Sunni state in Iraq • It will be used as a buffer against Iran land bridge • The area would be eventually annexed by Kurdistan regional govt • UAE and Saudi back the plan, promised funds

    57 replies 225 retweets 329 likes
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  41. Jan 23

    I will say, hacking the Lebanese Foreign Minister's account to announce the fake death of the Syrian Foreign Minister is an interesting start to Minister Hitti's new career track.

    Fake news! We can breathe a sigh of relief.
    1 reply 11 retweets 26 likes