Delta-N Summary Edition Vol 1, No 0 | Page 5

Editorial This issue also includes book reviews; Farzand Omar reviews the fictional book titled ‘Unity Pampers its Victims’ by the young writer Dara Abdullah, while Abed Al-Haj shares his views on the political book ‘Democratic Transformation ... Syria as an Example’ by Radwan Ziadeh. In our journalistic reports section, our reporters from Delta-N investigated two issues. The first report, titled ‘Ingenuity in the midst of pain’, addresses the emergent cultural and artistic projects in the shadow of Syria’s destruction. By interviewing researchers from the ‘Syrian Centre for Policy Research’, the second report discusses the role of researchoriented think-tanks in the development of Syria. the Syrian child’, in the hopes of publishing the future chapters of her study in our next issue. In our final section titled ‘Visual materials’, we have selected pieces that range from photography to caricatures. Young artists who have contributed their work to this issue are: Rami Makki, Samarah Salam, Mustafa Dabbas, Hani Abbas, Du’aa Nashar, Osama Hawijeh, Bana Makhous, and Murhaf Youcef. Talal Al-Mayhani, Farzand Omar, Husain Brro The Editorial Board This issue also encompasses six dense research papers. In his study titled ‘The intellectual, the opposition, and public affairs in Syria’, Mohammad Dibo presents an in-depth rereading of the state of social and political affairs in Syria by arguing that a number of Syrian intellectuals are ignorant of the current Syrian reality –the extended version of this study will be published in July by the Centre for Thought and Public Affairs. Firas Al-Hawat’s gripping historical study ‘Ghilan Al-Dimashqi in various contexts’ will also be published in Delta-N’s first issue. In a shift to the arts, Sulaf Alloush’s study sheds light on the effects of technology (Facebook) on poetry, while Victorious Shams's study focuses on three examples of how cinema has allowed the Palestinian cause to become a more public affair. In another study, Azzam Al-Kassir gives a focused critical reading on calls to implement Shari'a that sweep across Syria and the Middle East. Finally, we publish the first part of a study by Yasmine Ayoud titled ‘Determining factors on the formation of cultural identity in Delta-N Journal Summary Edition - June 2014 5