Qifa Nabki
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Syria’s Man in Lebanon Goes Downtown
Here’s a quick postmortem I’ve written for Al-Monitor on the very strange news of former minister Michel Samaha’s detainment yesterday by Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces. First paragraphs below, then much more after the jump. Three Reasons Why Syria’s Man in Lebanon Was Arrested (Al-Monitor) What to make of today’s arrest of former Lebanese minister Michel … Continue reading
What WikiLeaks Tells Us About Assad’s Foreign Policy Record
Al-Akhbar has published an article of mine about the Assad regime’s relations with the West and its foreign policy objectives, as revealed by the original WikiLeaks cache of US diplomatic cables. Needless to say, this article is a response of sorts to Amal Saad-Ghorayeb’s multi-part series which argues that Arab intellectuals should support Assad because … Continue reading
Nasser’s Charisma and the Mideast’s Bygone Secularism
My father often says that in mid-century Saida, it was rare to see women wearing the veil in public. Stories like this are a dime a dozen among the retiree set, and even 50-somethings can harken back to a more secular Lebanon. As`ad Abu Khalil talks about how, during his student days, he would drink … Continue reading
On Revolutions, Past and Present
Thomas Babington Macaulay, the British historian and politician, once had this to say about the French Revolution and its discontents (as Roy Mottahedeh reminds us in the preface to his The Mantle of the Prophet): “A traveller falls in with a berry which he has never before seen. He tastes it, and finds it sweet and … Continue reading
Be Sure To Check Out Beirut Design Week
If you are in Beirut at the moment, be sure not to miss the chance to check out the various talks, conferences, films, exhibitions, and workshops connected with Beirut Design Week. The quality of some of the projects is really stellar. You can find the program here. I was thinking recently that I have moments … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…