Sharmila Devi

Sharmila Devi is a former British correspondent in the Middle East and writes extensively on political and social issues in the region.

Author Articles

Helping hand. Libyan students receive school supplies provided by UNICEF during the summer school programme at a local school in Tripoli, Libya. (Reuters)
UNICEF sees regression for children’s welfare in Arab World
December 07, 2019
A shift from romanticism. Raja Shehadeh, a Palestinian author, lawyer and human rights campaigner. (Courtesy of Raja Shehadeh)
Why Raja Shehadeh sees hope for Palestinians despite current ‘disenchantment’
October 12, 2019
Iraqi poet Muhsin al-Ramli. (Courtesy of Muhsin al-Ramli)
An Iraqi poet’s view of the merits of literature
May 04, 2019
Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro. (Courtesy of Issa Amro)
Palestinians have ‘no alternative but non-violence’
February 09, 2019
Director of B’Tselem Hagai El-Ad. (Twitter)
Recording Israeli abuses despite ‘organised whitewash’
January 19, 2019
An eye on challenges. Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu. (Facebook)
Diana Buttu: ‘We are seeing the Trump plan right now’
January 05, 2019
A 2015 file picture shows late Israeli writer Amos Oz at his house in Tel Aviv. (AP)
Amos Oz a witness to Palestinian-Israeli ‘tale of love and darkness’
January 05, 2019
Fully engaged. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) representative in Washington. (Courtesy of Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman)
Forming Kurdish coalition government still ‘possible’
October 13, 2018
Iraqi novelist, poet, screenwriter and documentary film-maker Ahmed Saadawi. (Courtesy of Ahmed Saadawi)
Ahmed Saadawi on being an artist ‘in Iraq’s chaotic boiler room’
September 08, 2018
A nostalgia for hope. Journalist and writer Rania Abouzeid. (Courtesy of Rania Abouzeid)
Talking with Rania Abouzeid about ‘Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria’
August 11, 2018
Defeating dependency. Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bahour. (Courtesy of Sam Bahour)
In times of turbulence, Palestinians continue to put nonviolent pressure on Israel
June 16, 2018
Beyond the two-state solution. Founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem Daniel Seidemann. (Courtesy of Daniel Seidemann)
In Jerusalem, the old American-led order has ended
June 09, 2018
Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) Chris Doyle. (Courtesy of Chris Doyle)
British policy in Middle East ‘is treading water’
June 02, 2018
Jihad Azour, the International Monetary Fund Director of the Middle East and Central Asia. (AFP)
The IMF’s view on the pace of reform in the MENA region
May 12, 2018
An Egyptian vendor reads the newspaper outside his fruit and vegetable stand in Cairo. (AFP)
Can the IMF help with social discontent in the Arab world?
March 31, 2018
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial, in Berlin, last July. (AP)
What is the significance of Prince William’s announced visit to Israel?
March 17, 2018
Leading expert in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. (Courtesy of Hamish de Bretton-Gordon)
Expert warns chemical weapons use in Syria ‘could lead to regional proliferation’
February 24, 2018
Syrian men work on reconstructing a damaged building in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, on January 16. (AFP)
War of words over who rebuilds Syria, how and how much
February 10, 2018
Grand ambitions. (From L-R) Cypriot Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis, Greek Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Ambassador of Italy in Cyprus Andrea Cavallari attend a meeting for the East Med Pipeline in Nicosia, last December. (AFP)
Grand ambitions, complex realities for the energy landscape east of the Mediterranean
January 26, 2018

Simmering tension. Members of the Sudanese border security patrol the Sudan-Eritrea border near the eastern border town of Kassala in Sudan.(AFP)
Roiling waters as Egypt and Ethiopia face off over the Nile
January 26, 2018