Shadi Hamid

Washington, D.C., United States

Columnist and Editorial Board Member at The Washington Post

Columnist @WashingtonPost; Research professor of Islamic studies @FullerSeminary. Co-host @WCrowdsLive. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://t.co/cNF9XzTamr

Articles

Sohrab Ahmari on the Israel-Iran War and its Aftermath

1 week ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Damir Marusic |Shadi Hamid |Sohrab Ahmari

The Israel-Iran war is about to enter its sixth day. As of this recording — Wednesday evening, June 18 — President Trump has not announced whether the United States will join the Israeli war effort. During this unpleasant lull, and invited to discuss what we can expect from the war and its aftermath. In recent days, Sohrab has emerged as an essential commentator on the Iran Israel war.
A genocide is happening in Gaza. We should say so.

1 month ago | washingtonpost.com | Shadi Hamid

A genocide is happening in Gaza. We should say so. (washingtonpost.com) A genocide is happening in Gaza. We should say so. By Shadi Hamid 2025052810454500 Throughout history, atrocities have usually been committed under cover of darkness. The perpetrators know that what they are doing is wrong. They hide it. They deny it. They speak in euphemisms. But what happens when they no longer feel the need to hide? What happens when they say the quiet part out loud?
How to Think About Power and Morality

1 month ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Damir Marusic |Shadi Hamid

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:15:14Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. As subscribers of Wisdom of Crowds will know, the war in Gaza has preoccupied for over a year now, and has taken a central place in his political thinking. begins this episode by challenging Shadi on this point. Is he giving too much importance to one political and moral cause over all others? And is he giving too much importance to morality as such in geopolitics?
TK

1 month ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Damir Marusic |Shadi Hamid

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:15:14Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. As subscribers of Wisdom of Crowds will know, the war in Gaza has preoccupied for over a year now, and has taken a central place in his political thinking. begins this episode by challenging Shadi on this point. Is he giving too much importance to one political and moral cause over all others? And is he giving too much importance to morality as such in geopolitics?
I'm Not As Open-Minded As I Used To Be

1 month ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Shadi Hamid

I’m not as “open-minded” as I used to be. This puts me in a somewhat awkward position as someone who has long argued that basically nothing — and no one — should be beyond the pale when it comes to debating, short of actual, current members of terrorist organizations and admitted white supremacists. Wisdom of Crowdsis against consensus, so we seek out difference even when it’s uncomfortable. That’s the point.
The GOP has made an unexpected, unintended turn

1 month ago | washingtonpost.com | Shadi Hamid

The GOP has made an unexpected, unintended turn (washingtonpost.com) The GOP has made an unexpected, unintended turn By Shadi Hamid 2025051210302400 Something extraordinary has happened to the Republican Party, though it hasn't quite been named. As I watched President Donald Trump gleefully announce his "Liberation Day" tariffs in early April, markets tumbled and economic forecasts grew dire.
Make Greatness Great Again

1 month ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Damir Marusic |Shadi Hamid |David Polansky

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -47:27Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Our special guest this week, is a political theorist and commentator who lives in Canada. A frequent contributor to Wisdom of Crowds, he joins and to discuss two excellent recent essays.
Opinion | Two words at the border reveal America’s true promise

1 month ago | washingtonpost.com | Shadi Hamid

I was worried it wouldn’t happen this time. But it did. When I arrived back in the United States after a trip abroad, the immigration officer said to me, “welcome home.”It’s such a small thing, really. Two words uttered casually by a government official doing his job. In the grand scheme of political upheaval, it hardly seems worth mentioning. And yet, those two words contain multitudes. They represent something profound about American identity that persists despite our best efforts to destroy it.
"A Nation of Trumps"

1 month ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Christine Emba |Damir Marusic |Shadi Hamid

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -48:57Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Trump has been in office for one hundred days, and thinks America deserves him: “I do tend to intuitively see Trump and Trumpism as a correction on a social order that has lost its way and is somehow badly out of tune,” Damir wrote earlier this week. “Something is broken and unsustainable, and has been so for a while.” and have questions.
Trust Your Mind!

2 months ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Shadi Hamid |Samuel Kimbriel |Jenara Nerenberg

This episode is a bit “meta”: it’s about what it means to keep an open mind, how to trust your conscience, why we should all avoid groupthink, and the phenomenon of “self silencing” — keeping your views to yourself when you’re afraid it might be too costly to say them out loud. But of course, this being Wisdom of Crowds, we link these meta-topics to the politics of the day.