Mapping the Islamic World
Maps make the world go round, even when the mapmakers still thought the world was round. There is a wealth of literature on Islamic miniatures found in manuscripts stemming back centuries, but there is less knowledge about the many maps in these manuscripts. If you are interested in the history of mapmaking in the Islamic world, the best place to start More...
Washington, Jefferson, Trump, Bin Salman
The Saudi Crown Prince and de facto owner-in-chief of the kingdom’s vast oil wealth and investments visited President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, but he was not alone. Looking down from portraits on the More...
America, Britain and the Saudi War on Yemen
As the humanitarian crisis in Yemen drags on, the Saudi-led coalition has managed to buy off opposition in most of the media and among politicians in the West. Protest Sign on Bus about MBS Visit to England A notable More...
Arabic Dictionaries Online
In 1981, while visiting Egypt for a consulting assignment with USAID, I purchased the old Cairo edition of the massive dictionary Tāj al-‘Arūs of Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī (d. 1790). This was in about 10 large More...
UN Secretary-General Deeply Alarmed by Escalating Situation in Ghouta, Syria
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply alarmed by the escalating situation in eastern Ghouta and its devastating impact on civilians. Nearly 400,000 people in eastern Ghouta have been subjected More...
Tripoli airport clashes in Libya
In mid-January 2018, the Mitiga International Airport (MJI) in Tripoli was forced to close for six days due to military clashes inside the airport. In the days following the airport closure, a series of airstrikes, More...
Nikki Haley’s Uncomfortable Ignorance about Yemen
In Saturday’s New York Times the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, offered what she referred to as “The U.N.’s Uncomfortable Truths about Iran.” Iran is singled out for rebuke as “destabilizing More...
Saudi Arabia’s Filthy Lucre
“Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” (Titus 1:11) Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged to provide over More...
Hearts of Glass
A recent film produced by the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights documents the impact of the three-year war in Yemen on women and their families. This is a powerful short film that everyone should watch. It is More...
Yemen’s Heritage at Risk
The relentless bombing campaign and human rights violations in Yemen on all sides have led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. There is another aspect of the conflict that should not be forgotten. More...