Essays

Rule of Terror

Fall 2015

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) proclaimed a caliphate in 2014. An in-depth report on how its militants are using severe brutality and radical interpretations of sharia law to govern a large civilian population.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Mosul, Iraq

From the Archives: A Portrait of Caliph Ibrahim

By Abdel Bari Atwan

Fall 2015

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi rarely allows himself to be seen in public, hence his nicknames the “phantom” and the “invisible sheikh.” A veteran journalist pieces together the story of the most feared jihadist leader since Osama Bin Laden.

Egyptian Ultras football fans protest in Cairo

The Problem with Radicalism

By Ömer Taşpınar

Fall 2015

It is commonplace to associate violent extremism with Islam, but terrorist organizations from recent history show that radicalism is not explained by religion. The concept of relative deprivation is key to understanding the roots of terrorism.

Al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu, Somalia

Turning Somalia Around

By Marcin Buzanski

Fall 2015

The rise of the jihadist Al-Shabab group has compounded Somalia’s problems with internal warlords and regional rivalries. Will a new constitution and elections in 2016 finally bring hope to this “failed state?”

Emir Faisal of Mecca and his entourage at Paris Peace Conference

A Century After Sykes-Picot

By Eugene Rogan

Fall 2015

With the fall of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War, Arabs found themselves divided into new states under British and French domination. Today’s crises are a legacy of political decisions made a hundred years ago.

Customers wait outside a bank in Athens, Greece

Greek Debt, German Hubris

By Stelios Kouloglou

Fall 2015

Greece’s European Union creditors showed little sympathy for the country’s financial crisis, blaming a poor national work ethic and insisting on shock therapy. But Germany had its own reasons for pressuring Athens: economic windfalls and political hegemony.

John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif negotiate Iran nuclear deal

The Iran Nuclear Deal

Fall 2015

Eight experts on what the nuclear deal means for Iran, the United States, the Middle East, and the world.

Sustaining Our Farmers

By Kanayo F. Nwanze

Summer 2015

Rising global population means the world must produce more food. Empowering smallholders is the key to fighting hunger and feeding a growing world.

How to Feed Egypt

By Perrihan Al-Riffai

Summer 2015

A country with a bulging population faces crippling food security challenges. A high-level government commitment must address the availability of and access to food.

The Obesity Crisis

By James Manyika and Richard Dobbs

Summer 2015

If trends persist, nearly half of the world’s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030. A comprehensive intervention strategy is required to fight a scourge as damaging to the global economy as war.

Dining with Darius

By Rachel Laudan

Summer 2015

The tale of the Persian empire is one of vast farms, game reserves, and fisheries, elaborate kitchens staffed by thousands, and power. Centuries later, nations are still engaging in culinary politics.

The Marvel of Bánh Mi

By Andrew Lam

Summer 2015

In the colonial era the Vietnamese appropriated French baguette and added local ingredients to concoct a sandwich that is now a hit with the patrons of restaurants and food trucks from Singapore to San Francisco.

What Goes Unsaid

By Marda Dunsky

Summer 2015

American media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict is more even-handed than critics claim, but key contextual factors go unreported or underreported. Among them: the impact of U.S. policy on the conflict.

Dark Geopolitics of the Middle East

By Hooshang Amirahmadi

Summer 2015

The region’s autocrats and foreign intruders created growing disorder. Democratic reform is needed to spare the region from a future of failed states, popular revolts, and religious extremism.

Egypt’s Leaderless Revolution

By David B. Ottaway and Marina Ottaway

Spring 2015

The January 25 Tahrir Square uprising raised high hopes for change after years of dictatorship. But the failure of revolutionaries to organize and unite doomed the prospects for democracy.

America’s Middle East Challenge

By Mehrdad Saberi and Seyed Hossein Mousavian

Spring 2015

Washington’s foreign policy rests on shaky ground due to longstanding mistrust by Arabs and Iranians alike. To ease tensions and fight terrorism, the United States should support a new order based on cooperation among regional powers.

The United States and Palestine

By Rashid Khalidi

Spring 2015

Despite direct and continuous American diplomacy for decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raged on and on. A Middle East scholar deconstructs seven decades of failed American policy.

After the Fall of Saigon

By Ngo Vinh Long

Spring 2015

The Vietnam War lasted twenty years and cost the lives of more than two million Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. In the forty years since the Communist victory and American defeat, a surprising friendship has followed.

Bram Fischer’s Legacy

By Sir Nicholas Stadlen

Spring 2015

Nelson Mandela’s leadership steered South Africa to the end of apartheid rule. But the remarkable rapprochement between the races can be traced to Mandela’s friendship with an Afrikaner Nationalist who helped save the country.

#BlackLivesMatter

By Reverend Charles Williams II

Spring 2015

Conservative backlash against Barack Obama and continuing police brutality against blacks indicates the country’s legacy of slavery has not been overcome.