Current Affairs . The phrase carries weight. In the email announcing the launch of the series, GU-Q described it as a “bold public series born for these destabilizing times. As power is asserted, contested, and reconfigured before our eyes, this series slows the churn of the news and turns to the intellectual force of this community to examine what has just occurred and what it sets in motion.” It is an ambitious promise, one that asks not just for expertise, but for care in

Professor Paul and Professor Clyde in a Dialogue: International Law Has Massively Suffered Under the U.S. Raid in Venezuela It truly feels like a funeral. I am relatively early and the room is already bursting. People are squeezing, more and more are rushing in at the last minute. Instead of engaging in a costly search for a vacant seat, many accept their fate and lean against the wall. Arms crossed and back pressed to the cool enclosure of the room, they start waiting impati

Being Aware of Disabilities Does Not Necessarily Encourage Students to Ask for Accommodations Coming back from a 10-day study trip at the American University in Cairo (AUC) has made one thing crystal clear: Georgetown University in Qatar is, by far, less representative of students with disabilities than AUC and other American universities in the U.S. What is the reason for the absence of students with disabilities on our GUQ campus? Is it merely "healthy" demographics that pr

Yesterday, I sent my mom a dot on WhatsApp to see if she’s online, like always. She wasn't, but I knew that she was on her way back to Ramallah after a short weekend in her hometown, Beit Ummar – a village on the outskirts of the infamous Hebron city, known for its original “ancient” leather shoes, perhaps the best Palestinian production. Naboly, since 1945, “Best leather comfort shoes." They're so good and durable that they last for generations; a son wears his father’s Nabo

Around a month ago now, I got an email from Doha Debates inviting me (and anyone else who signed up at their booth during the Career Fair) to sign up for one of their upcoming debates. The question posed to the would-be debaters was as follows:   “Superintelligence, Is humanity ready for the intelligence explosion?” Putting aside that ‘superintelligence’ and the ‘intelligence explosion’ are both entirely meaningless and demagogue-like phrases, the debate topic (which should

After fourteen years of war and the toppling of the Assad regime on December, 8th 2024, Syria faces an unparalleled reconstruction task. One third of the country’s capital stock is damaged or destroyed, and the estimated rebuilding bill accumulated to hundreds of billions of dollars. The World Bank’s “best estimate” is about $216 billion   (roughly ten times of Syria’s 2024 GDP), while other assessments put it as high as $250–400 billion. Syria’s economy has contracted sharpl

Disclaimer: Although this review is spoiler-free, the film's unique experience is best enjoyed without any preconceptions. Consider watching before reading. I have to start with the truth: I was a theater kid before I was anything else. I grew up with paint under my nails, headset hair, and an unshakeable belief that magic could be built out of buckets of paint and panels of wood. In the wings, time feels different. Friendships feel different. You learn to trust people with y

From July 16, 2025, to September 17, 2025, the internet collectively tuned in every Wednesday to watch the latest episode of “The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP).” It was a perfect routine. Spend 45-60 minutes watching the episode, text your fellow Team Conrad friends to debrief, then spend the next week watching edits and theories on Instagram, X, and TikTok. For many of us, that was perfect. Not because the show was extraordinary—although watching Belly choose Conrad was tru

Friedrich Merz,   German Chancellor (Christian Democratic Union), has once again stirred up a public outcry following his recent speech on large-scale deportations of migrants in Germany. Recently, Merz preached about the necessity of changing the "cityscape" in Germany - a term describing the appearance of a city in order to legitimize his planned mass deportations of immigrants. His statement has caused major reputational backlash within German society and represents once

On a cold, winter’s evening in 2008, I landed in a country empty and mysterious to me, with nothing but sand dunes as far as the eye could see. I was with my mother, and we were going there to live with my father. Eighteen winters have come and gone since then and, in that time, most of my childhood memories have faded, save for a few captured in grainy, nostalgic videos and photographs. Despite this, I still remember distinctly how my father held me in his arms, having not s

Two souls, so beautiful and intricate, cross paths seemingly by pure chance.  But is it really a coincidence that brought them together? No, it can't be.  There is meaning behind every soul you meet, a purpose, whether for you or them.  A fleeting conversation with a stranger or a life long friendship, each with its own value.  A knowing look, laughter shared, an awkward moment, and smiles exchanged.  Unexpected encounters and anticipated ones.  Our lives build up to each of

When students walk into an introductory economics class at GU-Q, they expect to study economics, the science of how free individuals make choices in a world of scarcity. Instead, many of us encounter something closer to policy science: equations, fiscal multipliers, and government-centered models that assume intervention as the default. Week after week, we plot aggregate demand, analyze “market failures,” and discuss why the state should tax or spend. But where are the econom

It is not beyond Georgetown’s capabilities, as a school of foreign service, to get involved in authentic conversations about Sudan. Those conversations, untainted by Western influence and opinions, exist within this very country. They are happening a few streets away from GU-Q in Al Jazeera Mubasher. This means the most authentic conversations on Sudan are happening in Arabic, and though I do not accept the ‘language divide’ excuse, it does create a wedge between Sudanese peo

“The most important part of transitional justice work is to help those affected by human rights violations articulate how they see...

266 days ago, I sat in this exact headspace . It was day 467 of the genocide. The number felt crazy at the time. Today, it is day 733 of...

I write this on October 6, 2025, and I can only think: what if the clock were to turn back two years, to October 6, 2023? A day before...

I. the pain of the world has left scars on us all,  which grow deeper and more painful each day.  its welts have turned black and...

Massacres, sexual violence as a weapon of war, poisoning, mass graves, slave markets, settler colonialism. A genocide and a war that has...

On July 15, Georgetown’s interim president, Robert Groves, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce in a...

In 2002, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powel, in coordination with Howard University president, H. Patrick Strewart and Congressman...