Ronnie Close, an academic and assistant professor at the American University in Cairo, welcomes the volume into the discourse on visual content. He contextualizes the scholarly work by providing information on related fields, and he assesses the compilation's overall cohesion.

This article centers on the influx of Western fighters joining ISIS and locates its root causes in systemic and structural forms of alienation, discrimination, and Islamophobia. In Western discourse, understanding this phenomenon is characterized by a sense of denial that limits the interpretive paradigms to one of two approaches: either a racial discourse that confines the debate to antagonistic minoritized citizens with ambiguous loyalties and an inherent vulnerability for radicalism, or the powerful “glamour” of ISIS’s propagandist spectacles that western media cannot dispel.

After September 11, 2001 Arabs and Muslims became the topic of interest for the global media, drawing attention from news outlets worldwide. Recently, the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) along with civil wars in the Arab region have forced hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens, particularly from Syria and Iraq, to flee their homelands. The resulting refugee crisis drew substantial attention and debate. Therefore, studying the framing of Arab refugees and asylum seekers in the global media is of notable significance, especially in connection to ISIS, the war on terrorism, and the upheaval in the Middle East.

A well-connected journalist, commentator, and master propagandist, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal crafted the message of former president and pan-Arab nationalist Gamal Abd al-Nasser and defended his legacy long after his death. Heikal’s books were consistent best sellers in the Arab world, and his political analysis was accorded respect. His opinion was sought in hour-long television interviews and behind closed doors in the corridors of power. His influence endured the epochs of long-reigning presidents, a revolution, and its political uncertainty. Senior Editor Abdalla Hassan examines his legacy.

March 22, 2016—Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi initiated an open dialogue today with prominent intellectual figures, according to a statement from the President’s Office. The meeting, which was attended by approximately twenty invitees, marked the inaugural installment of a series of planned national dialogues among politicians, intellectuals, and media workers.

February 17, 2016—Prominent Egyptian writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal passed away today at the age of 92, state television reported.

With the demise of the second Arab autocrat within a month, people power seemed on the verge of revolutionizing the Middle East, a region known for its monarchs and presidents for life. Abdalla Hassan's book unpacks Egypt’s media and political dynamics—tracing events leading up to the 2011 revolution, the 18 days of uprising, military rule, an Islamist president’s year in office, his ouster by the army, and the reestablishment of the military presidency. Expanded freedoms of expression, in the press and on the streets, have contracted with the skillful reinvention of repression. This is the story of an uprising.

January 26, 2016—Egyptian prosecutors are looking into a complaint filed against an actor and a correspondent for a TV comedy show over a video in which they played a prank on policemen.

Arab media has been a powerful tool in the hands of Arab states since the decolonization period. The Nasser regime used radio, television and print media to mobilize support for Egypt’s Non-Aligned and Pan-Arab foreign policy, and apply methods of mass media propaganda developed in Europe, establishing a model for …

December 29, 2015—An Egyptian appeals court announced its decision to reduce the jail sentence of controversial religious researcher and television host Islam al-Beheiry today. Convicted in absentia last May for contempt of religion, al-Beheiry had lost an earlier appeal attempt in October.