5/11/2016, Jimmy So

How the Next President Can Help the Middle East

How the Next President Can Help the Middle East

"It’s hardly surprising, given the mayhem and misery across the Middle East, that people who know and care about the region are scratching their heads trying to explain, never mind solve, its overarching problems," Ian Black, The Guardian's Middle East editor, wrote in his recent review of Holy Lands: Reviving Pluralism in the Middle East. There… more

4/19/2016, Nicolas Pelham

Obama Can Nudge Saudis Toward Pluralism

Obama Can Nudge Saudis Toward Pluralism

When President Obama goes to Riyadh on Thursday, he should meet not just the Al Sauds, but the Saudis the rulers deem politic to hide under a bushel. If he does so, he will discover a country which defies the western stereotype of a bland killjoy state, and away from the religious police preserves as variegated… more

3/29/2016, Tesa Arcilla

In Brussels, An Attack Predictable and Preventable

In Brussels, An Attack Predictable and Preventable

Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union, was for many years synonymous with excruciating hours of EU talks that drag on only to yield watered-down compromises wrapped in legalese...

3/22/2016, Nicolas Pelham

News From the Middle East Is Not All Bad—What Can Go Right

News From the Middle East Is Not All Bad—What Can Go Right

In Holy Lands, longtime Middle East journalist Nicolas Pelham presents a strikingly original and startlingly optimistic look at the region. Sure, there's plenty of bad news and cruelty to report on, but Pelham also tells the story of those who are embracing diversity and trying to live side by side with all types of people, in the… more