Excerpted from Information at War: Journalism, Disinformation, and Modern Warfare To be published by Polity Books, summer 2021 The persistent conflict between Israel and Hamas only occasionally attracts much attention beyond its own region, but for the women, men, and children on the ground this is not a “small” war. …

The American network TLCs’ 90 Day Fiancé’s casting and storylines have provided its audience with years of entertainment, mostly at the foreign partner’s expense. The reality television industry has grown exponentially throughout the years, thriving on the drama between characters to gain viewership. However, reality television channels, such as Bravo …

What was it like to be a woman over there?” Hannah Allam recounts being frequently asked of her time reporting from Iraq in the first essay of Our Women on the Ground. The collection of essays by female journalists, edited by Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir, provides an account of “life …

Award-winning journalist-cum-academic Lawrence (Larry) Pintak has been on a mission for years trying to explain Islam to Americans, with his latest volume nailing it in the age of hysterical xenophobia and white supremacy.  The cover of America and Islam: Soundbites, Suicide Bombs and the Road to Donald Trump sets the …

“Us,” Jordan Peele’s newly released horror film, raises questions about American identity that will appear very different to viewers outside the United States. Peele has claimed that “Us” aims to hold up a mirror to American society, showing “us” how “we are our worst enemies.” But for international viewers, especially …

The impacts of new media have long fascinated scholars of contemporary Muslim societies. Beginning from the premise that new media configurations portend the “fragmentation” of religious authority (Eickelman and Anderson 1999; Anderson 2003), such works often display a curious mix of euphoria and anxiety about the “democratizing” potential of new …

What do school reform, presidential elections, LGBTQ rights, globalization, police brutality, and a Boston casino have in common:? They have all been the impetus behind youth participating, communicating, and practicing forms of connective journalism in the United States. This, in brief, is the main argument Lynn Clark and Regina Marchi …

Since the uprisings that spread across the Arab region took hold in Libya in 2011 and forced the removal of longtime ruler Muammar al-Gadhafi, the country’s fortunes have spiraled downwards. Despite an unsustainable system of governance, Gadhafi’s harsh rule had maintained relative stability in a country with a history of …

In September 2015, I traveled back to Benghazi. I wanted to see what had happened to the city since the launch of Operation Dignity and why the fighting had been so protracted. I came in through a northern suburb called Kuwayfia, the only route open. Filled with date palms and …

The following is an excerpt from Andrew Hammond's chapter "Producing Salafism: From Invented Tradition to State Agitprop" in the volume Salman's Legacy, edited by Madawi Al-Rasheed and published by Hurst (2018).  Saudi foreign policy did not begin to play with Islamic themes until the 1960s. Wary of any scheme of meaningful …