Egypt
The Shifting Cultural Role of Clothes
Every society has its traditional clothing and almost every society has moved radically away from these traditions in recent times. Nevertheless, clothes play a significant cultural role in creating a sense of belonging, unity and collective identity.
Today’s Libya Won’t Be Easy For Gadhafi’s Son
In the final years of Moammar Gadhafi’s rule, tensions between the autocrat’s two most prominent sons embodied the key ideological question of how — and if — governance ought to be reformed. The ferocious rivalry contributed to the regime’s disjointed response to the 2011 uprisings — and helped bring about its end.
A Libyan Revenant
For one militia commander, a battlefield defeat was payback to the aspiring Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar. But it also illustrates in stark clarity how the Middle East’s proxy wars and ideological rivalries have spilled across borders, ensnaring both the innocent and not so innocent.
Facing Midlife Womanhood in the Middle East
In time, we will come to terms with growing older, as we must do, as the women in these series have done. But for now, we must look at ourselves with love and accept that the seasons are changing and that we, alone, are the authors of our destiny.
Cairo’s Correspondents
Among the Egyptian exiles who left the country after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power, dozens are journalists and media professionals who were dispersed around the world as Egyptian authorities tightened their control over privately owned media.
The Hidden Face of Nawal El Saadawi
The Egyptian writer was marginalized and misunderstood at home and abroad. In Egypt, she was labeled anti-religion and secular. But in the West, too, she was put in boxes: Arab, feminist, revolutionary. She was more than all those things: a universal writer who transcended boundaries and wrote of the human condition.
The Long and Troubled History of the French Republic and Islam
Ever since Napoleon disembarked at Alexandria, France has had a complicated relationship with North Africa and Islam. Over the centuries it has been marked by politics, power, betrayal and misunderstandings.