(video) (scope & program) This conference will explore three key dimensions of the migration crisis, uncovering lessons from past crises, elucidating the immediate and most critical challenges emanating from the MENA region, and examining the positive potential of the migration flows. […]
Speech Bubble: A Comic Festival in Algiers
12 Nov 2015 Le Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Alger is held on hallowed ground. Between the massive Martyrs Monument and the Army Museum, the white tent city of booksellers, exhibitions, plenaries and workshops sits above the hills, upon a multi-floor shopping center of the Esplanade de Riadh El Feth. The Martyrs Monument’s distinctive […]
Karabakh’s Soccer Refugees Take on Europe
Politico- In Thomas Goltz’s latest article, he writes about the small soccer team called Qarabağ-Ağdam, the “Horsemen” from Azerbaijan and the struggles they have overcome during and after the 1988-94 Karabakh War, consisting of “a bitter war, exile and the long climb to international football heights.” Goltz goes in depth about how far they have had to come in order to […]
Book review: Historian Paul Rahe Recounts Epic Spartan Tales and the Defeat of the Mighty Persian Empire
The National- Past Fellow Paul Rahe’s has recently released a new book, The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta. In his review of The Grand Strategy, Steve Donoghue writes that the book “is intensely well-researched and well-balanced” and that it “tells the old stories in a new light.” The book is the first in what will be a trilogy […]
Putin’s Game of Chicken And How the West Can Win
Foreign Affairs- In his newest article, Gregory Feifer writes about the aftermath of the downing of the Russian aircraft on November 24,2015 and about Vladimir Putin’s next move. Feifer writes, “His moves toward rapprochement, no less than his hostility, are aimed not at building a genuine anti-terror coalition but at challenging the West to a high-stakes game […]
France Is Fighting Its Own Taboos
Huffington Post – ICWA Trustee Julie Barlow and past Fellow Jean-Benoît Nadeau have co-authored an article about the political challenges that France now faces in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks. Barlow and Nadeau have written extensively about French language and conversation and they posit that the issues that the attacks have brought into the spotlight, […]
Muscat to Mji Mkongwe
Unguja ni njema atakaye aje — Zanzibar is good to those who will come, Swahili proverb I approached the passenger side door with my bag slung over my shoulder, dripping with sweat as I waited for the taxi driver to unlock the car. As I stood there, wondering what might be taking so long, I […]
When It Comes to Vladimir Putin and Islamic State, Trust but Verify
Reuters – In his latest article, Gregory Feifer discusses the possibility of persuading Vladimir Putin to cooperate in Syria, motivated by the common goal of combating Islamic State. Feifer writes, “Although Western governments are right to pursue any avenue that encourages genuine cooperation, they should be very, very wary of compounding the current crisis in Syria […]
Arab Cartoonists Respond to the Tragedy in Paris
PRI – Jonathan Guyer spoke with Marco Werman of PRI’s The World about the response of Arab cartoonists and satirists in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and Beirut. In the interview, Jonathan describes the unifying messages coming from Arabic cartoons in response to the tragedies. He also discusses the global impact of terror and the […]
Coffee, Tea, and the Cultural Sieve
One of the first things I found myself needing after arriving in Muscat was a strong cup of coffee. Fortunately, coffee is somewhat of an Omani national pastime. Drinking coffee together is an integral part of local culture, so much so that the traditional coffee pot, or dallah, has become an unofficial symbol of the […]