Banning the Indian rupee notes really was dumb
The cash ban was floated in a Tamil action film, of all places, yet somehow became real policy
Car bombs and gangsters in Malta
I found that the Maltese talk openly about the criminals in their midst
Lijiang, China as it used to be
One of the world’s most exquisite towns, now lost, captured on video the very year I first saw it
On the attacks in Paris
Le Ca Rillon and Le Petit Cambodge, both hit by Islamic State, were two of my favorites in Paris
The future of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Gaudi’s eternally unfinished church may actually be nearing completion
The cultural destruction of war in the Middle East
My beloved Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo may not be a total loss but much is elsewhere
When I stumbled into John Galliano’s greatest show
On John Galliano’s return, a memory of seeing one of his greatest moments
The Jeff Koons show at the Whitney is a failure
This exhibit will not change any minds about Koons so what was the point of mounting it?
An unworldly article on the world’s game
The Brazilian game of futevolei is just the Asian sport of sepak takraw and not as impressive
Why Narendra Modi is a bad choice for India
India is too internally diverse to privilege any single group within society, but Modi will try
On the Mario Testino exhibit in Buenos Aires
In Mario Testino’s work everyone always looks like they’re having fun
How I got to Libya one month after the embargo was lifted
Ten years ago the US lifted its embargo on Libya. I landed a month later. It was complicated
My favorite museum in Cairo damaged by a car bomb
Terror attack on Egyptian police HQ badly damages the Museum of Islamic Art, an overlooked marvel
Dead, but right, in Beirut
Hezbollah can’t kill everyone in Lebanon who believes it should give up its weapons
Lou Reed, RIP: the luckiest man in rock
He was irascible to the end despite having a legendary career that far surpassed his talents
Shooting an elephant at MoMA
Douglas Gordon’s “Play Dead; Real Time” is terrific, even the way MoMA has installed it
Why James Turrell is perfect for the Guggenheim
Turrell turns Wright’s building — already a work of art — into a new and different work of art
Was the coup in Egypt even necessary?
Morsi might have been forced from power anyway, but the military short circuited that
Where you can ignore the US ambassador
What presidential donors have to give to get a vacation spot ambassadorship
The Yugoslav war reappears in Syria
War never ends: it breeds skills that just get applied to perpetrating bad deeds later on
My twenty years in Egypt
My first trip to Cairo was in 1992. Here are some thoughts on how it has changed
Car bomb in Beirut, invisible map revealed
Even in peacetime, every Beiruti knows which sect ‘owns’ each district
The amazing mural on Mohamed Mahmoud that was just painted over
What a loss for Cairo, artistically as much as politically