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AUCToday •

Jasmine Moussa: From AUC to the ICJ

By Celeste Abourjeili


“I remember walking into that court in the morning feeling overwhelmed, and it almost seemed like the peak of my career aspirations. I’m in the court representing Egypt in a case addressing the situation in Palestine,” says Jasmine Moussa ’02, ’05.


Moussa is a legal adviser in Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she recently presented Egypt’s oral arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the advisory opinion on the legality of the Israeli occupati...
The American University in Cairo •

Syria's Al-Assad Regime Falls

On December 8, the 53-year reign of the al-Assad family came to an end as rebel groups took over Syria. The Syrian civil war has been raging for almost 14 years, starting in 2011, and many experts viewed the regime collapse as a sudden shift in the conflict’s power dynamics. We spoke to AUC Professor Bahgat Korany to better understand the causes, impact and future of Syria following the fall of the al-Assad regime.  Korany believes the speedy fall of al-Assad is significant in itself, demonstrat...
The American University in Cairo •

U.S. Elections: What to Watch

The candidates are current Vice President Kamala Harris representing the Democratic Party and former President Donald Trump, running on behalf of the Republican Party.  Middle East Policy On the most basic level, our faculty experts predict that Middle East policy would remain constant between the two candidates. However, they agree that Trump may be more supportive of Israel and less sympathetic to the humanitarian crises in Palestine and Lebanon. Mark Deets, assistant professor of history, exp...
The American University in Cairo •

10 Takeaways from Rashid Khalidi’s Talk on Palestine

Rashid Khalidi is a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. This week, he spoke at an AUC webinar on the Palestinian struggle historically and today. Among other insights, Khalidi shared ideas about the inevitability of resistance, the recent birth of a Western narrative for the Palestinian cause and the need for Arab states to take more action. Here's what history tells us about Palestine today, acco...
The American University in Cairo •

Reporting in Conflict Zones

“Shattered Lives, Unbroken Stories: Journalists’ Perspectives from the Frontlines of War” was co-authored by Shahira Fahmy ’91, ’00, professor in AUC’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and two of her former students, Mohamed Salama (MA ’22) and Mona Alsaba (MA ’23). Their research won a Top Faculty Paper Award (first place) at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Pennsylvania in August. The paper underscored the significance of safety, e...
The American University in Cairo •

Lebanon in Crisis: Faculty Insights

In the past two weeks, more than 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon and 6,300 injured by Israeli strikes. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was also killed on September 27. While the looming implications of this conflict remain unclear, we asked AUC faculty members who study the region to share their thoughts.Bahgat Korany, professor of international relations and political economy, broke down Israel’s objectives into three points:In a nutshell, “It is the...
Columbia Political Review •

The China Rivalry: An All-American Myth

Over the last decade, the US-China relationship has become increasingly precarious as the language of a “new cold war” is becoming more prevalent. “The China Threat” has emerged as a central target of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) counterintelligence operations in recent years, and surveys as recent as 2023 demonstrate that over a third of Americans perceive China as an “enemy.”US policy reflects a growing distance from China across parties, too. Former President Donald Trump imposed sev...
Columbia Political Review •

Saudi Arabia’s Economic Transformation: Defeating the Resource Curse?

Flying taxis and ski resorts are both part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to modernize. Since 2016, Saudi Arabia has been undergoing an economic transformation that could reshape its fortunes and serve as a guide for other resource-rich nations struggling against the resource curse.For decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s economy has been synonymous with oil in a classic example of a rentier state, where the economy is heavily based on revenue from external sources, primarily oil exports. The resource...
Columbia Political Review •

The U.S.-Israel Alliance: Should Foreign Aid be Demilitarized?

With an election season on the horizon and all eyes on global conflicts, the U.S. government is increasingly coming under fire for its foreign policy toward Israel. The latest aid package passed by the House sent politicians into a frenzy. Meanwhile, as the majority of Americans support a ceasefire, the Biden administration has found shortcuts to increase military support for Israel, even bypassing Congress to approve the sale of weapons. The devastating impact on civilians in Gaza, along with s...
The Menton Times •

Pandora Papers: Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Biggest Ever’ Leak of Off-Shore Data | The Menton Times

Making headlines earlier this fall, the Pandora Papers are a leak of nearly 12 million documents which implicate world leaders in legal and illegal tax evasion, hidden wealth, and even cases of money laundering. Despite the massive breadth of the leak, which exposed 330 politicians and indicated over 10 trillion USD in offshore investments and accounts, the Pandora Papers have received little coverage. This article will cover the most important details of the leak, and feature an interview with...