Rebecca Anne Proctor is an independent journalist, editor, author, and broadcaster based in Dubai and Rome, from where she covers the Middle East and North Africa. She is the former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar Art and Harper’s Bazaar Interiors.
The Latest from Rebecca Anne Proctor
2008 Annual Conference – Award to Aitzaz Ahsan Transcript
2008 Annual Conference – Banquet Speech Transcript
2008 Annual Conference – U.S. Middle East Policy: Pathways to Renewal
Architecture and Urbanism in the Middle East
MEI´s special edition of Viewpoints on “Architecture and Urbanism in the Middle East” is an opportunity to celebrate the beauty, diversity, and vitality of the built environment of the region. It is also an opportunity to consider the challenges facing architects, designers, and developers in their efforts not only to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Middle Eastern cities but to shape these urban spaces in ways that address the physical and socioeconomic pressures occurring within them.
Islamist De-Radicalization in Algeria: Successes and Failures
Originally posted Noember 2008
How the New Arab Media Challenges the Arab Militaries: The Case of the War between Israel and Hizbullah in 2006
One, Two / the Arab army where are you?/ The Arab army where are you?/The Egyptian Arab Army/ resides in an-Nasr [victory] compound/ Wakes up in the afternoon/ to drink its tea/ The Gulf Arab army/ can do absolutely nothing/ “Strategic silence” indeed/ “cut us some slack, man!”/ The Tunisian Arab army/ is green like parsley/ But ‘Aziza loves Yunis/ the wars can wait/ The Sudanese Arab army/ I can hear its clamor in my ears/ “Damn it!
A Strong Army for a Stable Lebanon
The trials that have faced a sovereign Lebanon as it emerges from a long and bloody civil war, as well as Syrian and Israeli occupations, have been immense. In 2008, Beirut confronted an existential challenge. After years of conflict, the vast majority of Lebanese citizens clamored for positive change to buttress the state and to facilitate prosperity.
The Plucky Little King Reconsidered: King Husayn of Jordan and the First Gulf War
The late King Husayn of Jordan, charismatic, compelling, idolized, was regarded, in his mature years, as the West’s best friend in the Arab world. A perspective assessment over the length of his reign, and particularly during the first Gulf War, however, reveals a far more complex figure: courageous, often wise and far-sighted, but preoccupied with lineage, haunted by ambition, and often plagued by poor judgment. During the first Gulf crisis, Husayn’s demonization of his resource-poor country’s traditional financiers, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, cost Jordan dearly.
Social Change Amidst Terror and Discrimination: Yezidis in the New Iraq
Originally posted August 2008
On August 14, 2007, in the largest single terror attack during the war in Iraq, over 350 Yezidis were killed and two entire villages completely destroyed, leaving over 1,000 families homeless. The two villages, Qahtaniya and Jazeera are located in the Sinjar Mountains, an area in northwestern Iraq that is hotly contested by Sunni Arab insurgents, Kurdish peshmergas, US-led coalition forces, and several minority groups.
A Note from the Jewish Past — A Comparison between Iraqi Refugees in Arab States Today and Jewish Iraqi Migrants in Israel
Originally posted July 2008
Forcible Eviction in Iraq: Past Practices and Current Crisis
Originally posted July 2008
