From Diriyah of 1727 to Vision 2030: History, Legitimacy, and the Reinvention of Saudi National Identity
History is never a neutral archive of bygone events but is rather a political resource. It has been used by nations to revisit and reinterpret their past not only to honour memory but to reimagine their identities and power aspirations. In this context, Saudi Arabia’s decision in 2022 to designate 22 February as “Founding Day”…
Tryst with a knife: Hassan Blasim and The Corpse Exhibition
Thomas De Quincey, the inaugurator of addiction literature in the West and an essayist of consummate variety, wrote an essay titled “On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth.” In it, he describes the moment when Macbeth becomes removed from the divine in the human (that is, love, understanding, etc.), and when the fiendish follies…
No Dilli, No Pindi: BNP’s Mandate for Change and the Future of Bangladesh
The much-awaited Bangladesh’s 13th national election, held on 12 February, was hailed as ‘historic’ for marking the first election since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in the 2024 July Uprising. The election has been unique for many reasons, including the non-participation of Awami League because of the ban on party activities, two former electoral allies,…
