Category Archives: political economy

More LRB posts

In the last year I also wrote 3 pieces for the LRB: “We Blitzed It: Inhabiting the Oil World” on the everyday entanglements of oil “In Sharm-El-Sheikh” on COP27 and one of my favourites, “In Clover: What Does McKinsey Do” … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, finance and insurance, infrastructure, logistics, media, Middle East, oil, political economy | Leave a comment

Podcasts and other media

Over the course of the last year, I have had such immense fun doing a bunch of different podcasts and other interviews and presentations. Below is a list with links: The fabulous Ottoman History Podcast with Matthew Ghazarian: Shipping and … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, imperialism & colonialism, infrastructure, labour, logistics, media, Middle East, political economy | Leave a comment

Battlefield to Boardroom

I wrote about the business managerial pretensions of former special operators for the LRB: https://lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n04/laleh-khalili/stupid-questions And then had a chat with Thomas Jones on their podcast: https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/the-special-forces-fantasy

Posted in empire, imperialism & colonialism, Middle East, militaries, political economy, war | Leave a comment

North Sea Interviews

Spoke to lovely lefties in Denmark and the Netherlands: Laleh Khalili: Sandheden om vor tids kapitalisme udstilles på verdenshaveneLangsomme samtaler med Rune Lykkeberg Professor i international politik ved Queens Mary University har undersøgt den maritime kapitalisme og de forsyningskæder, som … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, infrastructure, labour, political economy, seafaring, shipping conditions | Leave a comment

LRB Piece on Commodity Traders

I reviewed Javier Blas and Jack Farchy’s fabulous book on Commodity Traders: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n18/laleh-khalili/how-to-get-rich Extract: When​ ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, published Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism in 1965, it was already clear that the newly independent states were going to have to fight … Continue reading

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This Machine Kills Podcast

7 April 2021 Okay, so the big boat is no longer blocking the Suez Canal. But that doesn’t mean we can go back to ignoring the global networks of capitalism and colonialism that make our world run. Laleh Khalili – … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, finance and insurance, infrastructure, labour, logistics, Middle East, political economy, shipping conditions | Leave a comment

A World to Win Podcast with Grace Blakeley

30 March 2021 30. A Marine History of Capitalism: An Interview with Laleh Khalili Before the container ship crisis in the Suez Canal, Grace spoke with Laleh Khalili, Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London, and author of Sinews of War … Continue reading

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Interview with the Jacobin about the Suez Canal

I can talk about the Suez Canal forever — and here I did! 😀 The Suez Canal Is a Lifeline for Global Capitalism AN INTERVIEW WITHLALEH KHALILI The Suez Canal blockage inspired a thousand memes, but its consequences for the … Continue reading

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Talking to Democracy Now about Ever Given

It was thrilling to be prepped to talk to Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow about Ever Given. Here is the interview video and transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2021/3/29/ever_given_suez_canal_global_trade

Posted in capital accumulation, construction, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, political economy, shipping conditions, transport | Leave a comment

A short op-ed on the Ever Given blockage of the Suez Canal

So on 23 March a massive 400-metre long ship, the Ever Given, blocked the Suez Canal. I wrote a piece for the Washington Post Monkey Cage blog about the event. Big ships were created to avoid relying on the Suez … Continue reading

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