The Floods of Derna: Historical Parallels to Libya’s Crisis
Lama Elsharif finds that Derna’s harrowing flood proves a surprising catalyst for unity in a nation scarred by decades-long conflict and division.
Lama Elsharif
Lama Elsharif is a historian specializing in the Middle East and North Africa. Her research delves into the intricate intersections of social, political, environmental, and maritime histories of the Ottoman provinces: Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers, spanning from the early 18th to the early 20th centuries. She is currently completing her dissertation at Purdue University on the impact of environmental and economic upheavals on North African corsairing activities during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her book chapter on reconceptualizing Tunisian corsairing in the early modern Mediterranean will be published in an edited volume by the University of Amsterdam Press in 2023.