Recent world events — take your pick — might have you wondering about where human history is headed, and by what route. You would not be alone. The fracturing of global alliances and the rise of hard-right movements like those in Hungary, Brazil and the United States have caused many of us to question the inevitability of what we generally call progress. Ecological disasters like the California wildfires, plausibly connected to climate change and suburban development, raise the specter of a human history moving inexorably toward self-destruction.

Former Culture Minister Farouk Hosni is used to responding to the accusations made against him. Since his first day at the ministry, everyone put him in the dock. He has been accused of destroying Egyptian culture, insulting intellectuals and exploiting his position to market his own paintings, which his critics see as just “children’s scrawls.” But these accusations do not bother the minister, who still considers the criticism as a proof of success; he loves the controversy surrounding his projects and works, because it increases its fame and success. So I was not surprised when I found he was holding a seminar in the salon of writer Ahsan Abdel Qoddous, which he titled “Farouk Hosni under attack”, where he called on the audience to bring accusations against him so that he could respond.

Egypt has embarked on the long-awaited mission of regaining its identity, which is a great relief to many. But relief is not enough, and embarking on a journey does not necessarily guarantee its accomplishment. Regaining a stolen identity requires a clear vision, strong will and the courage to confess, face and rebuild. Rebuilding an individual s identity can be a tough job, let alone rebuilding a whole country s distinctiveness and personality. Borrowing ideas, strategies and advice from human development experts is always a good starting point.

It was the last day of the business I had to attend to in the US during the past two months before flying back home to Cairo. I was in Rock Corner, Maine, where a retreat had been organised for post-doctorate students from Brandeis University s Crown Centre for Middle East Studies who were preparing their theses for publication as books for the general public.

He sat in the front row, next to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, at the World Youth Forum (WYF) that opened in Sharm El-Sheikh on 3 November. The next day his picture was on the front pages of all Egyptian newspapers that were covering the event. He is Oliver Roy, a Canadian from Montreal who is currently completing his studies in Russia, in public policy.

We have a deal! Well, sort of. A mere 872 days since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the text of the "withdrawal agreement" has been agreed on between the two sides negotiating teams. British Prime Minister Theresa May now has to persuade her Cabinet members to give her their blessing. Unfortunately for May, that s only where her headaches start. Selling the deal to the Cabinet It s long been acknowledged that the biggest problem May faces is the political reality in London. There is very little love on any side of the Brexit debate for her plan -- and that starts at Cabinet level. Draft Brexit deal reached more than two years since divisive vote

After last week s midterms, President Donald Trump faces a stark new political reality. Now that the House of Representatives has flipped to Democratic control, Trump -- for the first time -- must contend with a Congress that can and will seek to use its investigative authority to hold the administration accountable. House Democrats have formidable power and plenty of crucial oversight work to do. Most importantly, the new Congress must protect the Department of Justice from political interference -- particularly given Trump s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general. In doing so, however, House Democrats must proceed carefully to avoid (perhaps inadvertently) impeding the ongoing criminal probes being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller and the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). In short, House Democrats have a vital role to play in reining in abuses by the Trump administration, but they need to leave the prosecuting to the real prosecutors.

The world is about to celebrate the centenary of the conclusion of World War I, which came to an end 11 November 1918, by the armistice signed in Paris. On this occasion, French President Emmanuel Macron invited the heads of 60 countries from all over the world to Paris to celebrate this significant occasion, not only for Europe, but for the whole of mankind.

World Wars I and II and the Cold War did not erupt out of the blue. The rise of the US as the world s sole superpower was not just an accident or merely the consequence of the collapse of Soviet Union alone. Nor were the events of 11 September 2001, which marked the end of the American epoch in world history, just a kind of nightmare. All these historically pivotal events were preceded by precursors, indicators and portents that all observers and politicians chose to ignore, whether due to interests vested in the status quo or because no one can dictate the course of fate.

The pyramids still excite the imagination of people all over the world, and generate fans who obsess over them day after day! Many, especially in the USA, believe there are space creatures who came from Mars and built the Pyramids. This is not scientific at all. The theories even feature in a show broadcast and produced by America s History channel, titled “Ancient Aliens.” Many citizens from the US and other countries send me emails (as anyone is able to through my website). They accuse me of blurring all the facts I discover which, in their point of view, show that the Egyptians are not the builders of the pyramids! They mistakenly believe that under the Sphinx are evidences of Atlantis! All these lies raise many false ideas about the pyramids, and the associated real facts and tales.

Some of us are still dealing with the issue of “terrorism targeting Egypt” as if it were in a battle with the targeting of the Copts. The reality tells that the Copts have been targeted more with extremist incitement speech than others, and they have been subjected more to terrorist attacks than other civilian groups in the society. The situation of targeting Copts does not change due to the terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Rawda village (North Sinai) and killed 310 martyrs, the highest number of martyrs in the history of terrorist operations in Egypt. As the Islamic State did not declare responsibility for this incident as it does for attacks against Copts, it is more likely that those who carried out this operation are stray terrorist elements who came from outside the border.

In these times of so much civil strife, internecine wars, and racial and political intolerance, it is good to remember an episode involving Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand. It shows the power of words to console the grieving, and to bring closure to a painful history. Usually, in April, Turks, as well as people from Australia and New Zealand gather in north western Turkey to render homage to their ancestors, brave young soldiers, who lost their lives on the fields of Çanakkale, in what is known as the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I.

When a language dies, its death is final. The rapid extinction of languages has serious repercussions for human history. It results in the impoverishment of our cultural heritage and the loss of a large amount of information that represents an essential part of humanity s unwritten archives. Any language in its gramma

When the world came to its closest point of nuclear annihilation in October 1962, the leaders of the two superpowers, the US and the former Soviet Union, realised that steps had to be taken to eradicate the threat of igniting a nuclear Armageddon by either of them. Despite averting the threat in 1962 after the 13 days of the Cuban Missiles Crisis which had seen the Russians placing nuclear missiles in Cuba only 40km from American shores, the nuclear arms race did not stop there but continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s until US president Ronald Reagan and his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987 that banned the deployment of intermediate-range ballistic missiles from the European theatre by the US and the former Soviet Union.

The “Trump era” has posed special challenges for Arab Americans not only in foreign and domestic policy, but also in confronting the hostile political culture the president has nurtured. As a result, we ve been busy, especially in this election season; forced to work on many fronts, all at the same time. Not since the 1980s have we seen so many Republican campaigns using anti-Arab or anti-Muslim bigotry against Democratic opponents, with most instances tied to charges that the Democrat has received financial support from questionable sources (from the Arab sounding names on their donors lists); is supported by individuals who are opponents of Israel or supporters of the BDS movement; are themselves linked by family ties to Palestinian terrorism; or are just not sufficiently supportive of Israel or Trump s moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Saudi Arabia is facing an unprecedented crisis where both its international image and reputation are greatly tested. It has found itself in the centre of an international storm with serious implications in terms of the Middle East and a possible regional realignment that would benefit its main competitor Turkey and its archenemy Iran.

The horrific killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Turkey has sparked an unprecedented wave of condemnation of Saudi Arabia and its security apparatus. The latter has caused a major upheaval in Saudi Arabia s international relations and one that it will take years to rectify. Even with Saudi King Salman announcing measures to investigate the incident on 20 October when Khashoggi was killed, the damage has already been done.

The October 1973 War went down in history as the first Egyptian military victory over the Israeli entity. Its documented events were the product of an Egyptian military undertaking that enthralled the world. The excellence of Egyptian commanders was evidenced at every phase, from preparation for the war to its unconventional and, indeed, unparallelled execution. It is little wonder that it is studied in most international military academies, particularly in light of the element of surprise that caught the enemy off guard and stunned the governments that supported it at the time and continue to do so today.

The Seven Pillars of Egyptian Identity, a book by the late Coptic intellectual Milad Hanna, will be a main reference at the World Youth Forum held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 3 to 6 November. The organisers want to study the main characteristics of Egyptian identity, because of its effective role in many civilisations. The book by Hanna stresses the importance of the unity of society and its “seven pillars”.