Barrack Zailaa Rima’s Beirut Resists Categorization
Rima offers readers an understanding of Beirut as both a single city and a city multiplied, a geographic point always undergoing change.
corruption
“Dear Sniper” —a short story by Ali Ramthan Hussein
Gatekeepers of Baghdad decide who lives, who dies, during 2019 protests against high unemployment, state corruption, and poor services.
The Curious Case of Middle Lebanon
Amal Ghandour, author of "This Arab Life," casts her penetrating gaze on the burdens of Lebanon, including the economic meltdown and political gridlock.
Lebanon at the Point of Drowning in Its Own…
Young Lebanese comic writer-illustrator duo Raja Abu Kasm and Rahil Mohsin convey what they think of corruption and their disintegrating country.
“Hot Maroc” Satirizes Marrakesh, Moroccan Society
El Habib Louai on the Moroccan novel that sizes up and lampoons a country coming into its own in the internet age.
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.
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 country.
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 a country decimated by a decade of war.
It’s Time for a Public Forum on Lebanon
Overcome by the staggering violence of the explosion that ravaged Beirut in August, Paris-based playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad suggests that a world public forum must condemn Lebanon's ruling class.