Since our inaugural edition in December 2012, the editorial team at Asfar have been fortunate to work with a fantastic number of young writers and photographers. This edition of Asfar would not have been possible without their hard work and dedication and we are keen that the growing interest and engagement in the journal can be a platform for its contributors to develop their ideas and experience as we move into 2014.
In this edition, Ali Sattar highlightsed the efforts made in the United Arab Emirates to move beyond rentier state economics; Asfar’s chair Sheniz Tan provided a wonderfully evocative travel log of her journey to meet semi-nomadic Yörük tribes in the Balkar Mountains. A report by Elise Karam on the Faili Kurdish population who have suffered persecution since the 1970s is an excellent example of an ignored story we encourage contributors to uncover and highlight. An in depth analysis of the political arc experienced by the Muslim Brotherhood since the 2005 revolution in Egypt is provided by Katie Welsford, researched while she was based in Cairo and Hannah Volmar unravels the competing tensions and motivations surrounding Iran’s enrichment program. Rosanna J Rafel details the exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf States and Teresa Salvadoretti provides evidence of the social media’s critical role in the Syrian civil war and its use by all sides to both misinform and inform. The broader consequences of the Syrian conflict are assessed by Zach Huffman in his article warning of the dangers posed to Lebanon and the wider region and a photographic series by Meghan Koushik captures the quixotic Cappadocia region in central Anatolia, Turkey.
Thanks as always go to all our contributors and the fantastic editorial team at Asfar with special mention going to Chloë Gotterson whose enthusiasm and hard work continue to be invaluable.
Sam Whannel
Senior Editor, December 2013