Once’s Substack

Once’s Substack

About the Substack

This is about ideas, power, politics and legitimacy — in today’s world and the past, written with a nod to history, a loose focus on the Middle East and a desire to understand why things are they way they are.

Free Subscription Benefits

• Occasional public posts and shorter pieces on the events of the day.

Paid Subcription Benefits

• Subscriber-only posts and full archive
• Post comments and join the community

Paid Subscription Plans

• £50 a year
• £5 a month

About Once A Diplomat

I’ve worked, listened and written from Afghan prisons to the corridors of power. This Substack is about concepts of legitimacy, political ideas and historical agency, with a focus on the Middle East and South Asia.