Weekend Reading: Libyan Identity, an Alawite State, and Cairo’s Ramadan Lanterns

Reading selections for the weekend of June 17, 2016.

A woman with her daughter look at a stall selling festival lights and Ramadan lanterns, or “fanoos Ramadan”, at Sayida Zienab district market during the first day of Ramadan in old Cairo, Egypt (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters).

Published: June 17, 2016 5:00 p.m.

Experts

By Steven A. Cook
Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies

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Nada Elfeituri discusses the politics of identity and tribalism in Libya as civil strife continues to unfold.

Stefan Winter examines a 1936 pro–Syrian unity petition by Sulayman al-Asad, grandfather of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who pushed against the creation of an Alawite state.

The Egyptian blogger Zeinobia explores the Sayyeda Zeinab market for Ramadan lanterns in Cairo.

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Experts