Category Archives: Uncategorized

An essay on Infrastructures

I just wrote a little something on Infrastructures for Noema Magazine. It starts by discussing the Rishiganga dam: Early on the morning of Feb. 7, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, a massive flash flood crashed through the Rishiganga hydroelectric … Continue reading

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Interview with 032c Magazine

An interview I did with Victoria Camblin a few months ago is now up on the site of 032c magazine. I won’t cut and paste as their graphics are pretty cool: https://032c.com/laleh-khalili-sinews-of-war-and-trade

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, environment, free ports/zones, infrastructure, labour, logistics, media, Middle East, militaries, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, Uncategorized | 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

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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

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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

Interview with Philip Wohlstetter

For a couple of years now I have really wanted to attend the Red May socialist festival in Seattle, but sadly the timing (and the physical distance) have gotten in the way. This year, because of COVID-19, I ended up … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, finance and insurance, infrastructure, labour, logistics, Melville, Middle East, militaries, oil, political economy, ports, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sinews of War and Trade website

The brilliant Rafeef Ziadah and Katy Fox-Hodess were instrumental in researching and building the project website, http://sinewswartrade.com/ The project website provides a wealth of information about maritime transportation and the surrounding infrastructures in the Arabian Peninsula. It mines both historic … Continue reading

Posted in construction, environment, free ports/zones, infrastructure, Middle East, militaries, political economy, ports, transport, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

BBC 3 Free Thinking interview with Matthew Sweet

Matthew Sweet of BBC Free Thinking was a brilliant reader of the book, having read closely and with an eye for fetching detail. We talked for about half an hour, and the interview can be heard here (my part of … Continue reading

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Recent lecture: Tankers and Tycoons

Here is a link to a talk I have given a few times, most recently at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. It is a talk I am hoping to turn into an article, but which requires a bit more … Continue reading

Posted in imperialism & colonialism, labour, logistics, Middle East, oil, political economy, shipping conditions, ships, transport, Uncategorized | Leave a comment