Sticks and Stones: The Taliban’s War Against Women

Spring 2024 / Essays

The world has bookmarked the Taliban as a problematic but mostly benign thorn in the side of global society. For women in Afghanistan, however, the threat is all-encompassing

Children’s “Right to Play” In Gaza

Spring 2024 / Essays

Like children everywhere, Gaza’s boys and girls should be playing and enjoying their childhoods, but the actions of the Israeli government and military make that impossible

The Gendering of Sudan’s Brutal War

Spring 2024 / Essays

Any analysis of the sexual violence and unfolding genocide must highlight the extent to which the media is still using an orientalist gaze to report on the war in Sudan

Death or Detention: Israel’s Attacks on Journalism Follow a Lethal Pattern

Spring 2024 / Essays

Israel’s campaign of targeting and silencing the media has hidden its crimes under a dark shadow

Parsing the Fragmentation of International Lawyers

December 9, 2021 / Midan

To make sense of the problems that plague international law, we have to understand the system that gave birth to and sustains it.

The United Nations: Tension, Progress, and Failings

Fall 2020 /

The United Nations has taken great strides toward increased global justice and equality, but more needs to be done.

The Charter of the United Nations After 75 Years: Personal Reflections

August 8, 2020 / Global Forum

On the 75th anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, President of the International Court of Justice, reflects on the Charter’s world-changing history.

In Close Proximity to Their Abusers

April 27, 2020 / Essays

Domestic violence worsens worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No Land in Paraguay

March 10, 2020 / Essays

The preservation of indigenous peoples’ territories in Paraguay has a vital role in maintaining spiritual, cultural, and communal wellbeing. Despite this important reality, many indigenous communities’ bonds with their land have been shattered.

The Qatar Blockade’s Impact on Migrants

November 6, 2018 / Tahrir Forum

The blockade against Qatar has had a disproportionate economic impact on foreign workers, though increased self-sustainability efforts may provide new employment opportunities.

Why Human Rights Is Good Business in Post-Deal Iran

October 11, 2015 / Tahrir Forum

Amid all the excitement over an Iran deal, there has been scant discussion of Iran’s dismal human rights record. The lifting of sanctions presents an opportunity not only for big profits, but gains in the country’s human rights standards.

Power of One

Summer 2013 / Q & A

In 2003, Shirin Ebadi became the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. She has championed human rights in Iran for three decades, and was a founder of Iran’s women’s movement. Since the anti-freedom crackdown in 2009, she has traveled the globe to press the case for justice in the Islamic Republic.