Author Archives: Laleh Khalili

In 1925, Walter Benjamin travelled on a freighter from Hamburg to ports in the Mediterranean. In their Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life, Howard Eiland and Michael Jennings recount the trip (pp. 240-241): “On August 19 the ship [a freighter] sailed … Continue reading →

It was a great pleasure to have an occasion to think through how my previous work on counterinsurgencies connects to my current work on logistics.  The occasion was an invitation to lecture at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. … Continue reading →

I was invited to give a lecture on my current research at the wonderful Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut.  The abstract for the talk: In this talk, I will be thinking through the overlapping … Continue reading →

I had the good fortune of having an amazing conversation with a couple of extraordinary scholars and friends about logistics and having the conversation recorded in a podcast. Charmaine Chua (University of Minnesota) is an extraordinary young scholar working on logistical … Continue reading →

The Financial Times has been doing some fascinating investigative reporting on ISIS finances a great deal of which of course is of interest to me because of the ways in which it ties into the movement of commodities and products across … Continue reading →

Ships fly a flag of convenience in order to avoid the regulatory arms of the state or transnational institutions.  But here is a fascinating colonial precedent to the flag of convenience – from 1674: Thus, when the [East India Company] committees … Continue reading →

This wonderful piece by Keith David Watenpaugh reflects on why fishermen rescue migrants at costs to their livelihood: This last July, as the Mediterranean refugees were still being largely ignored by the EU,PBS Newshour’s Lisa Desai interviewed Captain Slaheddin of … Continue reading →