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.

Economic, Social, and Human Costs of Gaza Strikes

Dear Pita-consumers: For the last two weeks, we know that you have been diligently following the Gaza Crisis–which seems to re-ignite every two year with a confluence of triggers–accelerated into a series of surgical strikes resulting in 77 percent “unintentional” … Continue reading

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U.S. Announces New Sanctions Against Firms in UAE & Lebanon

Despite UAE’s great news: Dubai airport has ranked higher than Heathrow International for more air traffic, neighboring emirate of Sharjah has drawn the negative attention for supplying the Syrian regime with petroleum products.  On July 9th, Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury … Continue reading

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

Who’s Been Giving in Ramadan: #Algeria #Saudi

Photo: Diehard Sport   Source: http://www.diehardsport.com/2014/07/02/algeria-striker-announces-team-will-donate-world-cup-prize-money/ On July 1st, the United Nations applauded Saudi Arabia for committing to donate $500 million dollars in humanitarian aid to Iraq, which is dealing with the rise of mercenary moves by the Islamic State of … Continue reading

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We had to catch Gigi Ibrahim and Syrian election coverage on The Daily Show b/c El Barnamej canceled.

“Could you imagine a country that would strip civil rights under the guise of fighting terrorism… we are not so different, you and I.” ~Jon Stewart as he interviews Egyptian activist, Gigi Ibrahim on the “common ground” shared by US … Continue reading

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93 Percent Confident that Sisi Believes It’s His Job to Reckon With #EgyEconomy

Now that Egypt’s second presidential election within two years is finished, we can not help but hum the Pet Shop Boys classic tune, “I’m With Stupid”, poking fun at political leaders’ unquestioning allies.  A few weeks ago, Qayyum expressed some … Continue reading

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Why Should Citizens Stifle Their Voices By NOT Voting? #Egypt #Algeria #VoiceViaVoting

Another version of this article appeared on the Freedom House Blog on May 16th, 2011 and on Huffington Post Politics on May 21st trying to figure out answers to the following five questions: If voting is a fundamental right in … Continue reading

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U.S. Recognizes Syrian Opposition as Foreign Mission

Dear Pitaconsumers: May 15th marks Al-Nakba from 1948, which produced one of the largest refugee crises in the 20th century.  It has now been joined by the Syria crisis– also produced a record number of refugees– fueled by the Assad … Continue reading

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Freedom House Releases Report #WorldPressFreedomDay

May 3rd marked ‘World Press Freedom Day’, which honors journalists and media abilities to report without political restrictions. In preparation for this, the Freedom House organization (based in the U.S. since the 1970s) published its annual “Political Freedoms ad Civil … Continue reading

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Tunisia at the Crossroads: An Interview with Rached al-Ghannouchi #Tn

As social justice discussions increase in the global village–be it the Catholic Church, among labor unions, or citizens of “Arab Spring” countries—the language cuts across politics, religion and economics.  We welcome the overlap as much as we welcome the interview … Continue reading

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PITAPOLICY to Attend Smarter Cities Summit In Morocco June 9-10

PITAPOLICY is delighted to attend the first annual International Smart Cities Summit in North Africa, which will be held in Morocco. From June 9th – 10th, we will be live-blogging the summit and welcoming comments over Twitter.  The ISCSNA will feature … Continue reading

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