Learning from Mistakes in Pandemic Response

By Sydney Wise / March 20, 2020

As long as humans have interacted with one another, we have assumed the risk of communicating disease; the question is, have we learned from past experiences enough to minimize future risk?

Islam in America

By Elizabeth Shakman Hurd / Winter 2020

An eminent journalist connects American anti-Muslim rhetoric to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

The preservation of indigenous peoples’ territories in Paraguay has a vital role in maintaining spiritual, cultural, and communal wellbeing. Despite this important reality, many indigenous communities’ bonds with their land have been shattered.

Connecting to the U.S. Electorate

By Sydney Wise / March 9, 2020

Diana Carlin, leader in the field of U.S. political communication, speaks with the Cairo Review’s Assistant Editor Sydney Wise.

Mobilizing Against Trump’s “Vision”

By Sean David Hobbs /

Former Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Alkidwa explains the ways Palestinians are contesting the Trump plan for peace and how the Trump deal caters only to extremists on the Israeli and American right

Israel in the Age of Netanyahu

By Allison Hodgkins / Winter 2019

He crafted the post-Oslo consensus, overhauled the economy, and mastered the Knesset. Now the kingdom he built wants its keys back

Hosni Mubarak: Passing of an Era, or Lingering Legacy?

By Tarek Osman / February 25, 2020

What Mubarak’s legacy reveals about changes in different generations’ relationship to state and society.

Brexit Reveals a Damaged Democracy

By Russell Merryman / February 10, 2020

The drunken celebrations in Parliament Square as the UK broke from the European Union provide an apt metaphor for the whole affair.

The Middle East Reacts to Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’

By Sydney Wise / January 30, 2020

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, the reactions of key regional figures ranged from hopeful to enraged.

Amid Fuel Protests, Iran’s Hardliners See Historic Opportunity

By Sina Toossi / December 12, 2019

Citing external pressures and foreign intervention, Tehran has brutally cracked down on dissidents.

Has America’s Influence Ebbed?

By Andrew S. Natsios / Fall 2019

How Donald Trump trashed the post-Cold War international order

The Country to City Continuum

By Audrey Lodes /

Government leaders and public policy experts attended the Regional Workshop on Strengthening Migration Governance Across the Rural Urban Continuum.

The Empire He Did Not Want

By Ross Kimm /

Erdoğan wanted to build a “neo-Ottoman” empire but missed out on what is strategically most important—real influence in the Middle East

Middle East WMD-Free Zone: Thinking the Possible

By Emad Kiyaei and Paul Ingram / Fall 2019

A core group of civil society members together with international experts and diplomats is at the forefront of an initiative to create a zone free from Weapons of Mass Destruction

The Cost of Clean Water

By Zander Pellegrino / Fall 2019

How one village was hit by the demands of sustainable development.

Heat is on for Brazil’s Bolsonaro

By Patricia Barbeyron / October 15, 2019

Bolsonaro has shifted focus from an economic reforms agenda, which the country sorely needs amid recession fears, to a cultural one, which pleases his supporters.

Libya’s Dangerous Political Stalemate

By Riccardo Redaelli / October 8, 2019

Until now, most of the external actors involved in Libya relied on a Cold-War “zero sum game theory”, based on the dichotomic vision amicus/hostis (friend/enemy) of classical realpolitik. It is time this changes.

The End for Netanyahu?

By Dan Perry / September 19, 2019

After a murky election Netanyahu might be out and Gantz might be in, but it is Lieberman who is set to be kingmaker.

Reconstruction as a political-economy issue: The case of Syria

By Samir Aita / September 18, 2019

There can be no meaningful separation between state-building, peace-building, and revival at the end of a conflict, especially as post-conflict state institutions are the only apparatus which can be somewhat directly or indirectly accountable toward their populations for the management of the country.

Kushner’s New Plan for Palestine

By Robert Mason / September 18, 2019

The “Deal of the Century” is quickly shaping up to be the “Deception of the Century” and here’s why.

A Whole Government Effort

By Sean David Hobbs / Summer 2019

In reaffirming the U.S. role in the Middle East, anti-terrorism expert Gerald Feierstein explains that it is not enough to just fight violent networks; leaders must also address the root causes of extremism

A Man for All Ages

By Perry Cammack / September 8, 2019

Leading diplomat and public servant William Burns calls for a reinvention of American foreign policy.

Sister of the Rebels

By Marley Dizney Swanson / Summer 2019

Meet the sister of the rebels.

Reinventing Peace in Syria

By Achim Wennmann / Summer 2019

For Syria, and the rest of the world, the era of liberal peacebuilding has passed. But there are other ways to make peace, which call for a return to basics and a new kind of “software”

In Syria, Reconstruction Brings Little Hope for Peace

By Jasmine El-Gamal / Summer 2019

While maintaining the status quo for the time being might seem the easiest option, it is also the worst possible one

Rebuilding Iraq: Prospects and Challenges

By Abbas Kadhim / Summer 2019

Reconstruction in Iraq cannot be achieved without universal reconciliation, economic and education reform, and equitable application of the rule of law

Keeping Afghanistan in Afghanistan

By Bruce Pannier / Summer 2019

As a possible peace and removal of American troops appears imminent, how do Afghanistan’s Turkic neighbors view the regional security situation?

Cohesion through Decentralization

By Alexander Decina / Summer 2019

The rebuilding process in Libya will be complex and arduous but must be done with a focus on local actors and an acknowledgment of the realities on the ground

Rethinking Gaza’s Reconstruction

By Mohammed Samhouri / Summer 2019

With living conditions in the Palestinian enclave fast approaching breaking point, anything short of a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and reconstruction will not work

End of War, but Not of Conflict

By Amr Adly and Ibrahim Awad and Muhammad Alaraby / Summer 2019

State (re)building in war-torn countries can only happen in a conducive political process on all levels ranging from the local to the international, which is exactly what seems lacking in MENA

Forward… But Where to?

By Dario Cristiani / Summer 2019

The end of Bouteflika, the centrality of General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, and the parameters of change in Algeria

Opportunity of the Century?

By Nabil Fahmy / Summer 2019

Jared Kushner’s economic stimulus initiative to solve the Palestinian issue was introduced in the 80s and ended in failure.

An Iran Strategy Worth Fighting For

By Robert Mason / July 24, 2019

U.S. and Saudi confrontations with Iran are causing proxy-warfare in weak or failing Arab states and escalating tensions in the Gulf, but there might still be a chance for diplomatic progress with the right combination of measures targeting Gulf-specific, regional, and international issues.

Untold Futures

By Amina Fahmy and Madeleine Hall /

The American University in Cairo launched a massive research initiative that would ask Arab scholars and thinkers over the next three years to find answers to a crucial question: what does the future hold for the Middle East?

Civil Marriage in Limbo

By Sarah El-Richani / June 23, 2019

In Lebanon, the recurring debate around civil marriage highlights the sectarian-patriarchal grip on personal status affairs and the state itself.

The Juggernaut’s Achilles Heel

By Dahlia Scheindlin / June 20, 2019

The US may have recognized Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights, but the Golan Druze, like East Jerusalem Palestinians, continue to reject Israeli citizenship and civic participation. If Israel is now empowered to annex parts of the West Bank, will Palestinians there break the pattern and embrace citizenship if offered?

Politics