The cultural element of traveling in different countries are the people. The fun element though? Cats. Yes, you read correctly. Cats. Cats are interesting citizens. They roam in the streets. They set their territory boundaries. They are curious little beings, especially when we are near them. In Lebanon, I found a few cats hanging out…
Category: Orient
How to build a fire
This is a collaboration with Hrach Jinbashian, who provided the photographs from Lebanon. Currently in Armenia, he was present in Lebanon at the beginning of the protests. A warm thank you to him. 105 fires, a broken political and economic system, corruption x10000, a proposed tax on WhatsApp, 2 million+ refugees, 4 million citizens, and…
Yet again, the Middle East chases its shadow… by way of another genocide.
There’s another genocide beginning and the perpetrator is the same as 104 years ago. Don’t guess which one. You know which one. Here’s a clue of what happened in 1915. Now you know. As Turkey advances into Syria, its troops are blowing up its border towns. Many living in these places are either Kurdish, Christian…
The thing about Ethics…
A friend once described a social media action by a government as unethical. It had been to show mutual support in the commemoration of a shared grief. It made us think. Why would we call it “unethical” We thought harder: what is the real nature of bilateral relations? More to the point, when do they…
Color Me Blue
Last time we showcased our photo blog, we went for spirituality. No, this is still not a religious playbook for you but rather, let’s talk about blue. Yes, blue. The color blue. It is connected to confidence, serenity, wealth, intelligence, et al. And it is spiritual symbolism. How? Faith. Faith is linked with color, explaining…
Small State Studies: An Introduction to a Broad Research Agenda
Originally posted on Perspectives on Policy & Politics:
by Béatrice Chahine, Robert Fullam, and Jenny Paturyan “Small states studies” is a collective term, used to denote a relatively new trans-disciplinary research agenda in social sciences. It encompasses political, economic, international, security, demographic and other areas of research focusing on states considered to be “small.” Those states…
Crime Meets Dirty Politics. Something is Wrong With This.
Democratic process or another ruse to create more chaos in the region? Saudi Arabia was front and center in this questioning last year when two incidents occurred simultaneously: the arrests of 250+ men and the “kidnapping” of Lebanon’s prime minister. This, followed by the arrest of women’s rights activists just before the right to…
War and peace (no, not the book)
The funny thing is that a Greek and an Italian can easily become very imbued with himself. This is especially true when they are asked about their History. Or more specifically, when they are asked to comment on the architectural vestiges of ancient civilizations. But the first thing to know about history? No, it is…
Jerusalem: The Dilemma of Meddling into State and Foreign Affairs Where One is Not Welcome
The drama unfortunately continues. The current U.S administration has recently declared Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel. Although, Israel claims it as its capital in its constitution, its official capital is Tel Aviv. What are the controversies behind the US declaration? How dramatic and conflicting are the consequences going to be for the city…
War and peace according to the Saudi
The first week of November was tumultuous: the Paradise papers were unveiled by the same German journalists who unveiled the Panama papers; the Crown prince of Saudi Arabia ordered multiple arrests of Saudi royal figures and businessmen; Prime minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon announced his “resignation” hours after he arrived in Riyadh and hours before…
The Teapot and the Postbox 