Okay, that's a little over-dramatic. But it's true: Abu Aardvark as you've known it for the last six years is about to close down. On January 5, I will be joining the launch of the new online Foreign Policy magazine, along with a small, outstanding group of foreign affairs reporters, bloggers, and academics (including Dan Drezner -- the rest of the lineup will be announced quite soon).
Nothing much will change about my blog, other than the location, the name and the look. I will still be writing about Middle East politics, the Arab media, Islamist movements, public diplomacy, Iraq, and all that. The sidebar tags from (mostly) the Arab media will continue. I've been promised complete editorial independence. I'll be doing all the writing and posting myself, directly and without a filter. If anything, I'll probably blog more often and on a wider variety of topics -- but that doesn't mean I'll be ignoring my long-standing interests.
I'm really excited about doing something different. It feels very weird to be joining up with a group project after all these years as a solo act, but it seems like a good time for a change. Six and a half years is a long time to do the same thing, and for a while now it's felt like time to try something new. When I heard the ideas of the team behind Foreign Policy's new site and the identities of the outstanding team they've put together, it seemed like the perfect move at the perfect time.
I will be off-line for the next few days. I'll update with the new URL as soon as it goes live, and then "www.abuaardvark.com" will (hopefully) redirect you automatically to the new site, and (hopefully) current Feedburner email subscribers will be automatically switched over without needing to resubscribe (I'll let you know if that tech doesn't work out). I'm not sure about RSS feeds. I'll also be learning a new blogging interface, so there are potential glitches galore.. but they'll all be worked out quickly I trust. (Note-- this site will remain as it is, the archives won't go anywhere.)
Thanks to all of Abu Aardvark's readers, commenters, and fans who have helped make this such a rewarding experience for more than six years. See you all over at the new place on Monday!
UPDATE: this site will remain available for the forseeable future at http://abuaardvark.typepad.com while www.abuaardvark.com will forward to the new site. All archives will remain at their existing URLs. More soon...
UPDATE 2: the new URL: http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com
Happy to hear that dead Aardvarks reincarnate. Congratulations on the move. See you there on Monday.
Posted by: politicalpromise | January 01, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Marc,
Please leave your archives available.
Eric
Posted by: ebw | January 01, 2009 at 02:06 PM
I agree about the archives - there are a couple of posts I was considering using in teaching next semester.
Posted by: Brian Ulrich | January 01, 2009 at 03:46 PM
Marc,
I read Geneive Abdo's "Why Not to Engage Iran (Yet):
Barack Obama is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s only hope" and I'm wicked underwhelmed. Longer note at wampum.
Eric
Posted by: ebw | January 01, 2009 at 07:02 PM
Best wishes. The Aardvark has been a useful connection to a confusing part of the world.
I think I got some notion of the value of knowledgeable faculty long ago, as an undergrad at Penn State (Arthur Goldschmidt's popular introduction to the Middle East, among other offerings). I continue to respect academic researchers in my own area of expertise, which evolved into being something of a conservation biologist at a Federal agency. Good ecologists, time and again, come up with new understandings and surprises.
Posted by: Dave Martin | January 02, 2009 at 06:47 AM
glad u are and will remain a well informed phoenix rising from the ashes...good luck to u and us....will follow u wherever u write
Posted by: Diala Al Jabri | January 03, 2009 at 06:32 AM
Congrats, Marc!
I'm looking forward to seeing what the new enterprise looks like.
Posted by: Cheryl Rofer | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Congratulations, thanks and best wishes.
I haven't commented before and rather wish I had shared my plaudits sooner. I'll be visiting the new spot just as regularly and thanks for the great work.
Posted by: Fysh | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Always enjoyed your blog but the foreign policy team sounds great so I'll be happy to move with you.
Posted by: dutchmarbel | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Congratulations! Though, I am going to miss this place. I learned a lot here, but I suppose I still will at your new digs. Just won't be the same though.
Posted by: Jerry | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
These sorts of changes remind me of the old quote, "Le roi est mort. Vive le roi!"
Congratulations!
Posted by: mroberts | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Marc,
Hope the move proves to be fruitful. I've enjoyed AA. I also never thanked you for being one of the very first sites to provide a link to my blog. I really appreciated that.
Posted by: motown67 | January 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM
Glad to hear that abu aardvark will continue on, especially at the excellent FP blogs.
Posted by: nygdan | January 05, 2009 at 01:08 PM
Congrats Prof. See you at your new abode.
Posted by: Eric Martin | January 05, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Thanks for all of your hard work. You are one of the pioneers of intellectual blogging. Your gift of putting complicated information out there has been important. Good luck on your new adventure.
Posted by: Cynthia Berger | January 07, 2009 at 06:24 AM