Latest Reviews

Lebanon’s Wasta Has Contributed to the Country’s Collapse

Lebanon’s Wasta Has Contributed to the Country’s Collapse

Novelist Samir El-Youssef recalls adolescent challenges and more recent experience where wasta was a necessity.

14 JUNE 2021 • By Tariq Mehmood
Vitamin W: The Power of Wasta Squared

Vitamin W: The Power of Wasta Squared

In which C.S. Layla, the American daughter of a Jordanian professor, remembers life and wasta in the old...

14 JUNE 2021 • By C.S. Layla
Lebanese Oppose Corruption with a Game of Wasta

Lebanese Oppose Corruption with a Game of Wasta

Victoria Schneider reports from Beirut on the new Wasta board game that satirizes corruption in Lebanon.

14 JUNE 2021 • By Samir El-Youssef
Syria’s Ruling Elite— A Master Class in Wasta

Syria’s Ruling Elite— A Master Class in Wasta

Lawrence Joffe on how the al-Assad and Makhlouf families have mastered the art of control and corruption in...

14 JUNE 2021 • By Lawrence Joffe
The Diplomats’ Quarter: Wasta of the Palestinian Authority

The Diplomats’ Quarter: Wasta of the Palestinian Authority

Author and attorney Raja Shehadeh recounts the legend of Ramallah's ritzy neighborhood, designed for heroes of the Palestinian...

14 JUNE 2021 • By Raja Shehadeh
Wasta on Steroids: Speculative Finance & the Housing Market

Wasta on Steroids: Speculative Finance & the Housing Market

Mischa Geracoulis discovers the film Push and explores the incredible greed and inequity of the speculative housing market.

14 JUNE 2021 • By Mischa Geracoulis
Why WALLS?

Why WALLS?

"I would like to break the walls of ignorance between East and West." Walls and barriers are what...

14 MAY 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”

The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”

Saleem Vaillancourt describes the worldwide mural campaign spearheaded by Maziar Bahari on behalf the Baha'i community to speak...

14 MAY 2021 • By Frances Zaid
Walls, Graffiti and Youth Culture in Egypt, Libya & Tunisia

Walls, Graffiti and Youth Culture in Egypt, Libya & Tunisia

Former Egypt and Turkey-based photographer Claudia Wiens documents street art of the Arab Spring.

14 MAY 2021 • By Saleem Vaillancourt
The Murals of Yemen’s Haifa Subay

The Murals of Yemen’s Haifa Subay

Yemen street artist, activist and mother Haifa Subay speaks to Farah Abdessamad about the state of the country...

14 MAY 2021 • By Danielle Haque
The Wall We Can’t Tell You About

The Wall We Can’t Tell You About

There are some walls we can't discuss freely and openly without inviting censure. This is one of them.

14 MAY 2021 • By Jean Lamore
The Bathing Partition

The Bathing Partition

In this creative exploration of identity and homelessness, Sheana Ochoa faces her own inner walls and travels to...

14 MAY 2021 • By Sheana Ochoa
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