See below for a list of some of my recent publications in the mainstream press. Further writings can be found at my blog, Qifa Nabki.

• “Reinventing Islam,” London Review of Books (February 25, 2021)
• “Karl Sharro’s Acid-Tinged Satire of the Middle East,” The New Yorker (February 11, 2019)
• “Piano Lessons in the Panopticon,” The New York Times (September 5, 2018)
• “A New History of Arabia, Written in Stone,” The New Yorker (May 23, 2018)
• “Mashrou` Leila and the Night Club’s Political Power,” New Yorker (July 31, 2017)
• “Is Lebanon’s New Electoral System a Path Out of Sectarianism?” New Yorker (June 29, 2017)
• “What Gertrude Bell’s Letters Remind Us About the Founding of Iraq,” NewYorker.com (June 14, 2017)
• “The Contradictions of Reza Aslan’s ‘Believer’,” NewYorker.com (April 9, 2017)
• “A Lesson in Emotional Geography,” The New York Times (Nov. 19, 2016)
• “Contradiction and Diversity,” The Nation (January 6-11, 2016)
• “The Fate of a Joke in Lebanon,” NewYorker.com (Sept. 26, 2015)
• “Hacking the Humanities,” NewYorker.com (July 7, 2015)
• “Iraq and Syria’s Poetic Borders,”NewYorker.com (Aug 13, 2014)
• “Translating ‘Frozen’ into Arabic,” NewYorker.com (May 30, 2014)
• “Stasis Shift,” Guernica Magazine (April 1, 2014): An interview with Bassam Haddad, co-founder of Jadaliyya.
• “Lebanon’s War in Syria,” NewYorker.com (Feb. 21, 2014): On the tortuous formation of governments in Lebanon.
• “Letter from Lebanon: A Bookshop Burns,”NewYorker.com (Jan. 16, 2014): On the burning of an antiquarian bookshop in northern Lebanon.
• “The Many Faces of Wissam al-Hassan,” NY Times (Oct 22, 2012): On the complicated life and legacy of one of Lebanon’s top spymasters.
• “Syria’s Man in Lebanon Arrested: Three Reasons to Pay Attention,” Al-Monitor (August 9, 2012).
• “Syria’s Foreign Policy: A Juggling Act,” Al-Akhbar (July 17, 2012)
• “Lebanon, By the Numbers,” NY Times (January 17, 2012): On electoral reform in Lebanon.
• “Syria’s Defecting Bloggers,” NY Times (December 28, 2011): On the sea change in public opinion about Bashar al-Assad.
• “Nasrallah’s Fighting Words,” NY Times (December 14, 2011): Ashura as passion and parable.
• “Just Another Day in Lebanon,” NY Times (November 23, 2011): On the Special Tribunal’s impending trial in absentia.
• “No Victors in Lebanon,” Foreign Policy (Jan. 13, 2011): As the Lebanese government unravels, it’s hard to see how anyone comes out on top.
• “An Interview with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” Foreign Policy (August 13, 2010): An interview with Dr. Fatima el Issawi.
• “The Words on the Street,” The National (August 13, 2010): A discussion of the sociolinguistic situation of Arabic and its alleged demise.
• “The Best Defense,” Foreign Policy (August 9, 2010): An analysis of Hizbullah’s accusations against Israel in the matter of the Hariri assassination.
• “Lebanon’s Confused Secularism,” The Guardian (April 23, 2010): Exploring the confused language of secularism.
• “Final Confession?” The National (March 5, 2010): Following appeals to end Lebanon’s sectarian system of political representation, the question remains if bolder strategies are needed to secure the nation’s unity.
• “Twelve Months,” The National (December 31, 2009): A review of 2009, a year of realignments in Middle East politics.
• “All for None,” The National (October 2, 2009): Urging an end to the cult of consensus.
• “Two Houses, Many Mansions,” The National (August 14, 2009): How to fix Lebanon’s Parliament? Double it.
• “Deconstructing the Popular Vote in Lebanon’s Election,” Mideast Monitor, vol. 4, no. 1 (July-August 2009).
• “Coalition of the unwilling,” Foreign Policy (June 22, 2009): Post-election wrangling has already begun in Lebanon.
• “US-backed majority holds on to power in Lebanon,” World Politics Review (June 9, 2009)
• “Bring it Aoun,” The National (June 5, 2009): Cover story on the overlooked core of Lebanon’s opposition.
• “What if Hezbollah Wins?” Foreign Policy (May 5, 2009): Hezbollah games out the Lebanese electoral system.
• “Stumbling Blocs,” The National (May 1, 2009).
• “Our Lady of Hizbullah,” Bidoun (Winter 2008): On Julia Boutros’s revolutionary hit single, Ahibaa’i, and her muse: Hassan Nasrallah.
• “Folk the Kasbah,” Transition, no. 94 (2003), pp. 132-49. On the great folk poets of Moroccan contemporary song, Nass el-Ghiwane.