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Libya

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

Reading selections for the weekend of June 17, 2016.

<p>A woman with her daughter look at a stall selling festival lights and Ramadan lanterns, or &#8220;fanoos Ramadan&#8221;, at Sayida Zienab district market during the first day of Ramadan in old Cairo, Egypt (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters).</p>
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).

By experts and staff

Published
  • Steven A. CookCFR Expert
    Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies

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.