English
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You’re not Crazy, it’s Rigged
It’s election season, and campaign volunteers are knocking on your door to tell you about their favorite candidate’s platform and slam their opponent in any way they can. They start rambling on and on about how their candidate will bring about the long-awaited change and prosperity you’ve been hoping for, finally making your country a…
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Are Heroes Born or Made?
This age-old question remains a subject of debate. The idea that great leaders shape history through their actions and decisions is as old as history itself. In fact, the English philosopher Thomas Carlyle theorized that history can largely be attributed to the impact of “Great Men,” brave leaders called upon in times of need. According…
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The Politics of Fear: How Sectarianism Sustains Lebanon’s Crisis
Divide and Conquer The refugee crisis that resulted from the Israeli aggressions and bombardments of Lebanon, specifically the predominantly Shia regions of Southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, and the southern suburb of Beirut, has stirred up the not-so-dormant sectarian problems that plague our country. Refugees from the affected areas flooded to “safer” regions primarily inhabited by…
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A Century of Change: Redrawing the Middle East
The Middle East is undergoing a historic change, reminiscent of the famous Sykes-Picot agreement that shaped the region for the next century at the hands of the French and the British, in the aftermath of the Great War and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire during the first two decades of the past century. Almost…
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“Why is the UN not stopping the Genocide in Gaza?”
For the past year, my entire social media feed has been mainly centered around the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the latest developments in the West Bank, and the war in Lebanon. As the days went by, we have slowly become desensitized to the atrocities that have been unfolding before our eyes. Yet, under each post,…
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On Resilience
They say we are a resilient people. How can a people survive so much carnage otherwise? We survived a civil war. We survived military invasions. We survived political deadlock, economic collapse, and an explosion smack in the middle of our capital. We survived a lot. We survived… We forgot that life is much more than…
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On Never Ending Content
When did we become so consumed by content? I remember when I was still a kid and boredom was still a thing, how I used to call my mom to complain and persuade her to take me to one of my friends to spend the day. I remember the days before the smartphone and social…
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Land over Peace
It’s no secret that Israel does not have a diplomatic solution to end its conflicts with its so-called “hostile neighborhood.” Israeli leadership has long adopted a policy based on the idea of using force to achieve peace, and if violence fails then more force is needed. As the famed political philosopher Professor Chomsky observed, Israel…
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On National Identity
The Lebanese identity has yet to mature. As a fairly recent state, the idea of a Lebanese nation has been developing unlike the first two waves of nationalism in which the various Southern American and European nations emerged. The borders that define its geographical extent were carved out before its sense of identity fully developed.…