New York- My fieldwork among the Amazigh rebels in the Jebel Nafusa region of Libya’s Tripolitania region who were then in armed revolt against the regime of Mu’ammar al-Qadaffi in mid-2011 was cited by the University of Texas Press at…
Category: MENA
The Maghreb Bleeds the Sahel
Albuquerque- Last month I did an interview with the Associated Press about the long, complex history of Libya’s Khalifa Haftar (though the AP uses the transliteration Hifter) for article that was picked up by The New York Times, Washington Post,…
Syria After the Khilifah: Now Comes the Hard Part
Unawatuna- Today the SDF finally declared the total clearing of Baghouz and with it the last patch of formal IS territorial control anywhere in Syria and Iraq. So today signifies the conclusion of the al-Jazeera Storm campaign which was launched…
A Secure Place
Dubai- After a somewhat tense month in Iraq and Syria, I popped down the the UAE for a few days before making my next move. So here I am for the moment in a spotlessly clean, efficient, authoritarian, stable monarchy.…
Days Like These
Deir ez-Zor- I spent the weekend conducting field research in the eponymous district of Syria’s war ravaged eastern governorate to see what was going on beyond the headlines. I saw the press convoy leaving the temporary dormitory on the grounds…