Hello, and welcome to the first issue of Asfar’s e-journal in 2017! The start of a New Year is a great time to reflect on the past year, both on a personal level, and on a wider global level. The year 2016 has been a year of profound political change, states have continued to be … Continued
The United Arab Emirates, and the wider Gulf as a whole, is well known for its contrasting differences, both geographically and socially. On a recent visit to Ras Al Khaimah, the most northerly Emirate in the UAE, I was struck by the sheer juxtaposition of the Emirate. Before I travelled there, via Dubai, I was … Continued
Turkey is one of the most geographically strategic countries in the world—a potentially lethal bridge between continents. İstanbul is the only city in the world that connects two continents. The city, which is located in both Asia and Europe, has been the capital city for many civilizations; for thousands of years throughout its history. … Continued
The name Arthur Balfour means little to some and everything to others. To those of us who traipsed past his statue on our way to the launch of the Balfour Apology Campaign one Tuesday evening in October, he was as similarly unrecognisable as the various faces that adorn the walls of the Houses of … Continued
On all the roads leading out of Midan el-Tahrir, people marched home, jubilant, exhausted, revived. Fresh paint glinted along Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where the dead were commemorated in lively murals, and along Sixth October Bridge, cars caught in the gridlock sat under piles of teenagers waving flags. Many of those who had been in Tahrir … Continued
For those looking to study the impact and the challenges of revolution, one should perhaps begin to pay greater attention to Tunisia. The nation that spawned the Arab Awakening in 2011 has become a complex experiment about the expansion of liberty, highlighting the duality of personal autonomy and the risks associated with it. While the … Continued
Published by Asfar in London, UK - ISSN 2055-7957 (Online)