Author Archives: Mehrunisa

About Mehrunisa

Mehrunisa Qayyum is the founder of PITAPOLICY Consulting & Blog. PITAPOLICY Blog is listed on Muftah.Org. As @PITAPOLICY she tweets about politics, interests, technology and analysis in the "pita-consuming" region and contributes to the Huffington Post Blog, A Better People, and Triple Pundit. Regarding international affairs and trade issues, she worked at the United States’ Government Accountability Office for four years. Prior to that, she earned her MPP and Certificate in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a BA in both Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Her recent writing experiences include analytical pieces on civil society, transparency & governance, human rights, political economy of Syria, and social media forums' impact. She enjoys watching the Colbert Report in her free time.

Like Father, Like Son? Syria’s Political Prisoner Shares…

In addition to featuring technology in MENA pieces this month, every Sunday, PITAPOLICY tries to include updates regarding the Syrian developments. Political disappearances used to be a common tactic employed by the earlier Assad regime. Before Bashar Assad began the … Continue reading

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Beyond the Laboratory…and Into Diplomacy

PITAPOLICY continues its focus on the “T” in PITA (Technology) by breaking down the problem of Technology Use & Knowledge Sharing regarding science and diplomacy. This week, Stanford University PhD Candidate, Daniel E. Armanios, shares an in-depth piece regarding opportunities … Continue reading

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March features Technology in MENA: Oman Entrepreneurial Jam

The Arabian Business Report identified the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women for 2012.  Unfortunately, only 4 women from the Science & Technology sectors ranked in the top 100: Hayat Sindi, Science (#9 – US); Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, IT/Telecoms (#30 – … Continue reading

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How packed was Busboys and Poets for Syria-Egypt Dialogue?

By: Mehrunisa Qayyum Media focus on the heterogenous aspects of Syrian society, “Alawi minority versus the Sunni majority…BUT it’s not 10% vs. 90%, which is a silly game,” stated Dr. Bassam Haddad, an academic writer of the Syria’s contemporary politics. … Continue reading

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Libya: Lessons Learned?

For the last 4 weeks, PITAPOLICY has reflected upon North African countries, or the Maghreb region as the US honors Black History Month with respect to the African American community. In this last week, we will profile Libya by including … Continue reading

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DC Gallup Briefing on Egypt

On February 22, Wednesday, PITAPOLICY Consulting attended Gallup’s Washington, DC Briefing provided bySenior Analyst, Mohamed Younis. For the last 3 weeks, PITAPOLICY has reflected upon North African countries, or the Maghreb region as the US honors Black History Month with … Continue reading

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Afghanistan: Right to Protest?

Dear Pita-Consumers: Today’s post on Afghanistan is prompted by PITAPOLICY’s number one fan: its first subscriber. She brought to my attention Afghanistan’s protests regarding another Quran burning incident last week. One may argue that the protests are based on socio-economic … Continue reading

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Morocco: Moroccans Keep Rockin’ Your Rights

Every Wednesday in February PITAPOLICY will review a political economy issue regarding a Maghreb country. In the first week Sarah Hassaine reflected on Algeria. The second week focused on Egypt. Last week’s posting explores Tunisia’s business environment for women. This … Continue reading

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HDI, Gender Gap Index, Gender Parity Index: None incorporate Iraqi women’s conflict management efforts

The answer is ‘False’. By 1979, Iraq represented the most educated population in the ‘pita-consuming’ region. According to a study by , the illiteracy rate among Iraqi women dropped from 91 percent in 1957 to an astounding 12 percent in … Continue reading

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Before Ben Ali Coup: Opening a Small Business Outside of Tunisia

Every Wednesday in February PITAPOLICY will review a political economy issue regarding a Maghreb country. In the first week Sarah Hassaine reflected on Algeria. The second week focused on Egypt. This week’s posting explores Tunisia’s business environment for women. As … Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics)