Qifa Nabki
Reform
Our Oily Future
Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has launched a new campaign promoting the benefits of off-shore oil exploration for the average citizen. The ads contain shots of smiling people aside captions like: “My children and I are staying in Lebanon“… or “My future is in Lebanon“… or… “I’m going back to work in Lebanon!” Another … Continue reading
A Small Step Towards Addressing Energy Waste in Lebanon
A few years ago, Maya Zankoul and I came up with a snarky parody of the ubiquitous iPhone advertisement, tailored specifically for Lebanon’s problems. At the time, the idea of a single iPhone app designed for life in Lebanon was hysterically funny, mainly because internet speeds were only a notch beyond the dial-up era. Since … Continue reading
Exploring the Implications of a Single National District
Last week, Hizbullah chief Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah announced his party’s support for an electoral law based on a single national district. In the past, the main champion of this idea has been Speaker Nabih Berri, but there has never been an occasion to take the possibility seriously since Lebanon’s electoral laws have generally not departed … Continue reading
Will Civil Marriage End Confessionalism in Lebanon?
I’ve written an essay for Jadaliyya that explores the long-term political implications of implementing civil marriage in Lebanon. As it currently stands, the wedding between Nidal Darwish and Khulud Sukkariyyeh has been rejected by the Lebanese government, even though the civil society organization that orchestrated the marriage had allegedly received assurances in the past from … Continue reading
Lebanon: Federal or Unitary Republic?
One of my readers, EJ, made a great intervention in the comment section of the last post, in response to a remark I made about Lebanon being a unitary republic, not a federal one. As the semester is looming over my head along with several writing deadlines, I thought I’d crowd-source today’s post to the … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…