Iraq

By Sara Al-Hashimi ~ In the sweltering sun of Najaf, 28-year-old attorney Huda Al-Mutlaq stands at a podium within a courthouse, ready to make her argument. Ten years before, she perhaps would have been...

By Hana Al-Rubaye ~ In each Iraqi kitchen, there's a tin holding the secret to Iraqi cuisine as a whole. It's an old-fashioned-looking thing to see—just brown dusty grime stuck to its container—but when...

By Yasir Al-Dulaimi ~ In a basement workshop in Erbil, copper is hammered and soldered and the ring comes off like a pulse. Coffee sets and cauldrons are hammered into beautiful replicas—of yesteryear, bound for Dubai shopfronts and Berlin sidewalks....

By Omar Al-Janabi ~ Where the Tigris River hugs the capital city, Baghdad, pillars of smoke ascend into the air above riverbank cafes and charcoal grills. Under tattered umbrellas and beside belching fire, ancient culinary tradition has been sustaining Iraqis for millennia: Masgouf, the slow-grilled fish dish that's not merely national—it's living Iraqi identity. The "national dish of Iraq," masgouf is a gastronomic as well as sensory experience. The fish, often...

By Layla Al-Salim ~ It's a night of spring, a Thursday evening in Basra, and the pounding of the drum circle resounds over the malarial city rooftops. The circle of laughter, bobbing teenagers, parents...