Why “Wasta” When Nepotism & Corruption are Equally Rife in the West?
Our editorial outlines the fact that wasta isn't exclusively an Arab problem, but one that plagues societies east and west.
Our editorial outlines the fact that wasta isn't exclusively an Arab problem, but one that plagues societies east and west.
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.
Victoria Schneider reports from Beirut on the new Wasta board game that satirizes corruption in Lebanon.
In which C.S. Layla, the American daughter of a Jordanian professor, remembers life and wasta in the old country.
After surviving an Egyptian prison and obtaining asylum in the United States, Ahmed Naji contemplates wasta and standing in line.
Novelist Samir El-Youssef recalls adolescent challenges and more recent experience where wasta was a necessity.
Bethlehem chef Fadi Kattan recalls the disaster of wasta leading up to Christmas Eve at Fawda restaurant.
Novelist and filmmaker Tariq Mehmood weaves a tale of wasta, women and booze in Rawalpindi.
Mischa Geracoulis discovers the film Push and explores the incredible greed and inequity of the speculative housing market.
Author and attorney Raja Shehadeh recounts the legend of Ramallah's ritzy neighborhood, designed for heroes of the Palestinian Authority.
Our correspondent in Tunis, Emna Mizouni, reports on the vaccination crisis exacerbated by wasta.
Jenine Abboushi reviews the recent anthology of essays on socialism in the context of Palestinian resistance.
Myriam Gurba reviews a book that argues that some "white feminists accept the benefits conferred by white supremacy at the expense of people of color."
Rana Asfour reviews Faysal Khartash's Roundabout of Death and Zeyn Joukhadar's The Map of Salt and Stars.
Malu Halasa reviews a new anthology of Arab women writers on sex, love and lust, including "the leading lights of modern Arab fiction: Hanan al-Shaykh, Adhaf Soueif, Leila Slimani and Adania Shibli."