MER Article Barbara Harlow I first met Professor Barbara Harlow (1948-2017) in the autumn of 1992, while conducting field research in Egypt, when she gave her talk at the American University in Cairo on her new book, Barred: Women, Writing and Political Detention (Wesleyan University Press, 1992). This book examined the struggle of female Kamran Asdar Ali • 4 min read
MER Article Mao in a Muslim Land In the coming years, China is expected to invest some $18 billion in an “economic corridor” crossing Pakistan to the Arabian Sea at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The latest installment is the development of the Pakistani port of Gwadar. The port scheme is a strategic move linked to the restoration Kamran Asdar Ali • 4 min read
MER Article Media Matters in Pakistan Imran Aslam, a senior Pakistani journalist, is president of Geo TV Network, where he oversees content for Geo News, Geo Entertainment, Aag (a youth channel) and Geo Super (sports). In 1983, he became the editor of The Star, an evening newspaper that blazed a trail in investigative journalism during the Kamran Asdar Ali • 11 min read
MER Article A Letter Misaddressed Benazir Bhutto, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West (New York: Harper Collins, 2008). Kamran Asdar Ali • 6 min read
MER Article Pakistani Islamists Gamble on the General In January 2002, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized control of the Pakistani government in a 1999 military coup, delivered a major address to the nation—and to the world at large. Mindful of Pakistan’s designation by the global media as a crucial front in the US “war on terrorism,” Musharraf promised Kamran Asdar Ali • 14 min read
MER Article Modernization and Family Planning in Egypt In the last decade, the Egyptian state in collaboration with international donor agencies has embarked on an ambitious population control program. According to this program, Egypt’s rapid population growth is the prime obstacle to the development goals set by Egyptian authorities. Between 1980 and 1 Kamran Asdar Ali • 11 min read
