Category Archives: Middle East

An interview with Katy Fox-Hodess on Logistics, Labour and State Power

20 August 2020 I was honoured to be interviewed by my amazing colleague and comrade, Dr Katy Fox-Hodess (whose own work is also cited in my book and with whom I worked when we put together sinewswartrade.org. Below is the … Continue reading

Posted in bureacuracy, capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, finance and insurance, free ports/zones, infrastructure, labour, logistics, Middle East, militaries, seafaring, shipping conditions, transport, war | Leave a comment

Guardian piece about the explosion in Beirut

note: I wouldn’t have used the word “lawless” in the title, as the laws in maritime world are carefully devised to facilitate the accumulation of capital. The sea has always been the site of law — and the law has … Continue reading

Posted in bureacuracy, capital accumulation, environment, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, ships | Leave a comment

Conversation with Rowland Atkinson about global flows of commodities, capital and people

As part of Verso Live events, Rowland Atkinson, the author of Alpha City, and I had a conversation about the global flows of capital, commodities and people:

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, free ports/zones, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, oil, political economy | Leave a comment

Ports, ships and the human economy of global sea trade: an interview with Laleh Khalili

Little has been written about the sea trade in the Gulf. Laleh Khalili’s latest book explores the complex realities that drive this massive economy.Tugrul Mende30 June 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemic many workers in ports and on ships have either … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, empire, imperialism & colonialism, free ports/zones, imperialism & colonialism, infrastructure, labour, logistics, media, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, transport | Leave a comment

Why shipping is central to the very fabric of global capitalism

Some of the images in this Verso video may be familiar from my previous posts about my containership trips. Here is choose 5 photographs and talk about them: The photos are the following (not in the order below):

Posted in capital accumulation, labour, logistics, Middle East, transport, Travels | Leave a comment

Shay wa nana podcast

I had a wonderful conversation with Zein El-Amine on his Shay wa Nana radio show on Wednesday 20 May 2020! WPFWFM.org or 89.3 FM in DC area. Zein has lived in Bahrain (on a military base!) and in Saudi Arabia, … Continue reading

Posted in media, Middle East, war | Leave a comment

LRB podcast with Rafeef Ziadah

I was supposed to have a lovely launch in the London Review Bookshop, but alas, COVID-19 has shut everything down. So instead, we recorded a podcast which you can listen to here: https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/events/past/2020/5/sinews-of-war-and-trade-laleh-khalili-rafeef-ziadah

Posted in free ports/zones, infrastructure, media, Middle East, political economy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Interview with Jadaliyya’s New Text Out Now

  Laleh Khalili, Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso, 2020). Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book? Laleh Khalili (LK): Towards the end of 2011, I had just finished the manuscript for Time in the Shadows, research … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, construction, logistics, Middle East, militaries, political economy, seafaring, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

This Is Hell!

So incredibly incredibly excited to be speaking to Chuck Mertz of This Is Hell! We talked a lot about capital and maritime trade — and quite a bit about the effects of COVID-19 on maritime trade. You can listen to … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, finance and insurance, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, militaries, political economy, ports, transport, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Interstitial Podcast

I spoke with the brilliant David Huber of the Interstitial podcast, which you can listen to here: https://thinkbelt.org/shows/interstitial/sinews-of-war-and-trade-laleh-khalili He asked me to suggest 4 books and I had to think on my feet, so of course I suggested the following: … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, labour, literature, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, Uncategorized | Leave a comment