The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2

By Abigail Flynn /

The war in Sudan is entering its second year. In 2019, Sudan witnessed a massive popular revolution that ousted its former president, Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for over two decades. Sudanese civilians were key in bringing down al-Bashir and establishing a civilian government in his place. Two armed organizations also played an important role in the revolution: the government’s military, called Sudanese Armed Forces, known as the SAF, and the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, » Read more about: The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2 »

Egypt’s Balancing Act

By Karim Haggag /

Jon Alterman: Karim Haggag, welcome to Babel.
Karim Haggag: Thank you Jon, thank you for having me. It’s great to be with you.
Jon Alterman: Egypt has had a security focus on the Israeli border since the creation of Israel in 1948. Help us understand the context. How does the current Egyptian concern over Gaza rank among the various crises that Egypt has felt on its border with Israel over the last 75 years?
Karim Haggag: This is a fundamentally different challenge than the large-scale armed conflicts that Egypt fought with Israel over the years, » Read more about: Egypt’s Balancing Act »

World Refugee Day Highlights Growing Challenges

By Abigail Flynn /

The growing rate of refugees across the globe constitutes an international crisis. Supporting these displaced people requires acknowledging the consequences of conflict and building resilient frameworks to protect refugee rights

Climate Change, Conflict, and Gender Inequality in the MENA Region

By Zeina Moneer / Spring 2024

Climate change—in the absence of legal and social protections—works as a threat multiplier that perpetuates gender inequalities and worsens socio-economic injustices in the MENA region

War on Palestine Underscores the Supremacy of Geopolitics

By Omar Auf / Spring 2024

Why do states ignore violations of international law in Gaza?

In Targeting UNRWA, Israel Aims to Destroy the Right of Return

By Daoud Kuttab / Spring 2024

Hoping to capitalize on world sympathy after October 7, Israel tried to use its allies to defund and dismantle the UN relief agency.

The Gendering of Sudan’s Brutal War

By Nafisa Bedri and Tamsin Bradley / Spring 2024

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

Bridging Local and Global Assistance for Palestinian Refugees in Egypt

By Maysa Ayoub / Spring 2024

What happens to those who are beyond UNHCR and UNRWA’s scope of operation?

Navigating the Politics of Humanitarian Aid in Gaza

By Shatha Abdulsamad / Spring 2024

Despite Israeli efforts to destroy it, UNRWA remains an embodiment of international responsibility for the question of Palestinian refugees, and a reminder of their inalienable right of return.

UNRWA After October 7: Building a Comprehensive Response Framework for Palestinian Refugees

By Lex Takkenberg / Spring 2024

UNRWA’s future cannot be considered in isolation—a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach, with displacement issues at its center, is now necessary.

UNRWA Funding is Burdened with Conditionality

By Anne Irfan / Spring 2024

The UN agency’s essential humanitarian role lies in the balance thanks to the political contingencies of its donors.

Security and Peace After the War in Gaza

By Ibrahim Awad / Winter 2024

Is the two-state solution feasible? In order to pursue such a policy, the international community must be able to overcome three main points of contention: Israeli occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, and the role of Hamas

Expelling Palestinians From Gaza Is Playing With Fire

By Karim Haggag and Omar Auf /

A mass population transfer of Palestinian refugees in Gaza to Egypt would not only entail significant security risks for Egypt, but also make Egypt complicit in Israel’s policy of bringing about a second Nakba

“We Lost Our Dignity in this War” – with Nour Swirki

By Nadeen Shaker /

Some analysts have called Gaza a “news grave” because of the killing of journalists and their families, and the destruction of media outlets and communication infrastructure. For journalists on the ground in Gaza, the barriers are insurmountable, especially when they are fighting to survive themselves. On today’s episode, we hear from Nour Swirki, one of the few last standing journalists in Gaza about her own story of displacement, and about how she is able to continue doing her job during what she calls “a war against anything Palestinian…against our existence.”

Egypt’s Catch-22 in Gaza: Threats and Opportunities

By Khaled Mansour /

What are Egypt’s top policy challenges should Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to seek safety in Egypt?

Is It Time to Bury the Two-State Solution?

By Hesham Youssef / Winter 2022

While many may be dismissive of the two-state solution, there are no viable alternatives for peace between Israel and Palestine

Framing the Partition Plan for Palestine

By Lorenzo Kamel / Winter 2022

Many different opinions abound concerning Resolution 181, but one fact cannot be denied or overlooked: it was not a solution born out of the “free and sovereign” world states of the time

Young People Are Leading Climate Activism in the Middle East

By Neeshad Shafi / Fall 2021

Across the Arab World and the Middle East, young people are mobilizing to raise climate change awareness.

Afghanistan and the New Taliban

By Spyridon Litsas / January 17, 2022

What happens if the United States and other Western powers make a fresh beginning with the Taliban?

Millions of People Continue to be Forcibly Displaced in Africa

By Maysa Ayoub / Summer 2021

Even though forced displacement is a global crisis, it is no more obvious than in Africa.

The End of Corporate Janissaries in the Gulf

By Omar Al-Ubaydli / Spring 2021

Gulf family companies and businesses must learn to wean off the Kafala system that has created short-sighted dependency on elite migrant workers, much like the flawed Janissary model of governance.

Women and Children First

By Elena Habersky / Spring 2021

Women and children migrant voices, especially after the pandemic, must be amplified in discussions around the Global Compact, which aims to bring world governments in line with good and safe migration governance.

Can the Arab Region meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030?

By Mourad Wahba / Winter 2021

There are multiple challenges which need to be confronted in both data collection and public policy so that the SDGs can be attained.

Why the Phrase “Arab Spring” Should be Retired

By Sean David Hobbs / Winter 2021

It’s time to stop using a Western-based concept ten years on from the events that began the Arab Uprisings.

Learning from a Diplomatic Trailblazer to Tackle Global Inequalities

By Sean David Hobbs /

Guest speaker at the 16th Nadia Younes Memorial Lecture, Dutch Minister Sigrid Kaag, presented ideas for geopolitical challenges in the Middle East and North Africa during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

Enhancing Mediterranean Integration

By Blanca Moreno-Dodson / Summer 2020

Trade liberalization, human capital development, and sectoral reforms can bring Mediterranean countries closer together.

Will the U.S. Evolve its Foreign Policy from Past Mistakes?

By Sean David Hobbs / Fall 2020

Former U.S. Ambassador and American University in Cairo President Francis Ricciardone evaluates how the United States has dealt with global crises in the 21st century.

Embracing Change: U.S. Foreign Policy Shifts

By Sean David Hobbs / Fall 2020

Former U.S. diplomat and American University in Cairo President Francis Ricciardone discusses whether a Biden win will see a return to a rules based international order.

Resisting the Tide of Bigotry

By Jonathan Weisman / Fall 2020

American Jews are left divided and looking for new directions as Donald Trump embraces the white supremacism of the alt-right and the Zionism of Benjamin Netanyahu

What the Beirut Blast means for Lebanon’s Refugees

By Ola G. El-Taliawi and Tamirace Fakhoury / September 11, 2020

Inclusive refugee policies and a renewed approach to humanitarian relief will be needed to protect Lebanon’s most vulnerable.

Players on the Libyan Chessboard

By Sydney Wise / Summer 2020

Lisa Anderson explains how external response to the Libyan conflict largely synchronizes with existing alliances and strategic interests.

COVID-19 Heightens Stakes for Migrants in the Mediterranean

By Omar Auf /

COVID-19 has exacerbated anti-migration trends in the Mediterranean region, leaving migrants and refugees in increasingly vulnerable positions.

Forced Returns: COVID-19 Puts International Labor Migrants at Risk

By Julia Hause /

What happens to labor migrants, predominantly in the Gulf region, when they are forced to return home?

The Viral Quotient: How Arab Media Responded to COVID-19

By Lobna Khairy and Sarah El-Shaarawi /

From social media to government narratives, the audience was bombarded with a plethora of information, some of which was confusing and contradictory.

Urban-Rural Disconnect: COVID-19 and Sustainability

By David Dumke and Thomas L. Crisman and Zachary S. Winters /

The Urban-Rural Disconnect and how COVID-19 is influencing the Nexus of water, energy and food.

Annexation Makes No Policy Sense

By Daniel C. Kurtzer / June 15, 2020

The fors and againsts of the West Bank’s annexation.

COVID-19 and Social Policies in the MENA Region

By Ghada Barsoum /

A new test to overly-stressed systems.

Challenges to Migration Governance in the Arab Region

By Amina Abdel-Halim / June 3, 2020

Since its endorsement in 2018, a wealth of challenges have delayed the full implementation of the Global Compact for Migration in the Arab region.

Suspending Immigration Will Hurt America’s Recovery

By Laura Collins /

Suspending immigration is not the key to U.S. economic woes; rather, it will be a hindrance to getting the economy back on its feet.

Deconstructing Fukuyama

By Ibrahim Awad / Spring 2020

Taking apart the arguments of division that underscore the populist movements emerging in today’s liberal democracies

How Will the Coronavirus Crisis Affect Africa’s Developmental Focus?

By Magda Shahin /

Mitigating the effects of the coronavirus in Africa and implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area go hand-in-hand.

Egypt’s Most Vulnerable and COVID-19

By Elena Habersky / Summer 2020

Are refugees and asylum seekers protected by its strong domestic laws and international commitments?

Women and Education in the Arab World

By Sean David Hobbs /

Malak Zaalouk, education expert, discusses the position of women and access to education in the Arab World with the Cairo Review’s Senior Editor Sean David Hobbs in a special podcast recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down.

Thunderbolt Hitting the Land

By Nasser Alkidwa /

An uncertain future looms as Palestine and Israel attempt to mitigate the onslaught of COVID-19.

Beginning to Resolve Displacement

By David Arnold and Grace Benton and Lorenza Rossi and Nina Stuurman / Spring 2020

Addressing the issues of displaced persons starts not by envisioning an ending point for those no longer living in their homes, but instead by understanding the mobile nature of displacement and empowering those affected.

A Future Filled With Pathogens

By Dahr Jamail /

The combination of a worsening climate crisis and ongoing human encroachment on the wilds will bring more pandemics.

A Message From The Editors

By The Editors /

Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Our Future as Climate Refugees

By Amanda Tapp / Winter 2020

Journalist Dahr Jamail discusses the impact of climate change on the Middle East and calls for immediate collaborative action

Mobilizing Against Trump’s “Vision”

By Sean David Hobbs /

Former Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Alkidwa explains the ways Palestinians are contesting the Trump plan for peace and how the Trump deal caters only to extremists on the Israeli and American right