Mouna Hashem

Mouna Hashem, PhD, is an international development consultant with extensive experience evaluating development programs and policies at UN agencies (the United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, the International Labor Organization) and other organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the World Bank, among others. She is also a researcher on Yemen’s socioeconomic and political development. Her writings encompass a range of issues related to governance, poverty alleviation, and development. She is a contributor to the Observatory.

November 14, 2026

Editor's Choice/Geopolitics

The Taliban’s War on Women: Even Colour Is Forbidden

In Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan, wearing a colourful headscarf has become an act of defiance. Under Taliban rule, women are not merely being denied education, employment and freedom of movement; even

Defence/Geopolitics

Germany’s Army Goes Shopping: The Militarisation of Everyday Life

An armed rubber duck has become the unlikely centre of Germany’s latest debate over military expansion, recruitment and the normalisation of military culture. The miniature toy, dressed in a Bundeswehr uniform and carrying an assault rifle, sold out within hours

November 14, 2026

Foucault Is Back: Why the Future Has Become Humanity’s Greatest Fear

Education/Interviews

Michel Foucault died in 1984, but his intellectual influence continues to shape debates about power, surveillance, identity and political resistance. Four decades after his

Putin’s Real War: Breaking NATO and Reclaiming Eastern Europe

Defence/Geopolitics

Russia’s war against Ukraine has always extended beyond the question of territorial control. For Vladimir Putin, the conflict is part of a much larger

Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago: The UAE’s Occupation and Destruction of a World Heritage Site

November 29, 2023

History

Environmental destruction entails two intertwined processes: climate change and the destruction of biodiversity, which mutually reinforce each other. Both are human-caused. Climate change is not the lead driver of biodiversity loss; it is

Why the United Arab Emirates Is a Poor Choice for a Global Climate Summit

November 23, 2023

Columns

It is no joke; the man who will preside over the upcoming climate summit, COP28 (which will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30 to December 12), is the chief oil