Near a quiet park in Sulaimaniya, the second largest city in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Ali and his fellow taxi drivers are engaged in deep conversation. The topic touches upon the struggles that he and his friends are now facing. “There are few customers these days. People don’t have the money to get in cabs anymore,”… Continue reading Kurdistan’s Economy Is On Its Knees

Climate change has shifted the ecology of land and sea. It has affected both fauna and flora, and has harmed hundreds, if not thousands, of living species, including the main insect responsible for our planet’s food security: The bee. But is it really just climate change that is killing our planet and its delicate organisms?… Continue reading Lebanon: Bee Epidemic

I remember all too clearly the day I met Bassem Sabry. We’d been in touch over social media for quite a while; we had many friends in common, but our paths had never crossed in person. Social media in Egypt, in 2012, was already a window into another world—an exceptionally narrow universe—but one that allowed… Continue reading Egypt: A Faltering Revolution

Baloo the Syrian brown bear, does not know if it had any relatives living in the Lebanese wilderness. In fact, Baloo, 18, and his wife Teddy, 13, have been living alone for over a decade now, in a small house fenced with iron bars. But, despite living together for over 10 years, Baloo and Teddy have… Continue reading Baloo the Syrian brown bear

Human advancement throughout history can largely be credited to our ability to invent machines that increase our productivity and efficiency. Those tools allowed us to overcome the physical limitations of the human body and that of the animals we used, and as a result, territories were conquered, societies reshaped, and the dream of economic prosperity… Continue reading Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: Mankind’s Latest Evolution

For the people of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), climate change isn’t some abstract concept. It’s happening now. Drought, rising temperature, and dwindling water supplies have already begun to affect the region and, as global temperatures continue to rise, things are expected to get worse. It’s against that backdrop that world leaders met… Continue reading Business Outlook: Sustainable Energy Finance

On a remote, barren hill overlooking Jordan Valley in the south of Palestine, Fadel Hamamdeh had set up a home in a cave. Hamamdeh, his wife and five children had been living in the cave since the Israeli military authorities told them that their two-room metal shed (for them, their house) —built not far from… Continue reading The Cave People of Palestine

Years ago, much to the dismay of their strongest Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. administration led by Barack Obama decided to pursue a diplomatic channel to negotiate with Tehran. More than Iran’s regional escapades, the West was concerned about the Persian state’s advanced nuclear program. To curb Iran’s ambition of becoming capable of producing… Continue reading Old Rivals, New Rules: Riyadh and Tehran Eye Washington’s Shifting Policies

For most people in the Middle East, the prospect that Lebanon might finally install a president after more than a year and a half of political deadlock probably passed with little notice. After all, there are much bigger problems to worry about: The region is on fire, with multiple expanding insurgencies, an accelerating socio-economic breakdown… Continue reading A Headless State