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Blog
This blog collects articles and ideas written or developed by Dr. Alaa Al-Tamimi, which he shares online in the hope of providing insight, knowledge, and in-depth thoughts on various topics.
Topics covered include personal writings, critical analyses, and intellectual exchanges, as well as reviews of works that marked his professional and personal life.
He discusses his experiences in Iraq and abroad, his public engagements, and his thoughts on reconstruction, urban planning, and education. He also reflects on key moments from his life in different countries and shares what he learned from the cultures he encountered along the way.
From Conventional Cites to Smart Cites
Dr Alaa Al Tamimi February 2026 Rapid urbanization, climate change, and increasing pressure on energy and infrastructure systems have exposed the structural limitations of conventional urban planning and management models. With more than 70% of the global population projected to reside in cities by 2050, traditional reactive and fragmented governance approaches are no longer adequate. This paper examines the concept of the smart city as a fundamental transformation in urban g
3 min read
Kura Hulanda Museum: Reclaiming a Stolen Memory from the Margins
In the heart of Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, amid its brightly colored façades that evoke a calm Caribbean-European charm, stands the Kura Hulanda Museum. Yet this place does not welcome visitors with beauty alone, but with questions. It is not a space for spectacle, but a quiet confrontation with a long history of stolen memory. This museum does not narrate the story of an island only. It places the visitor inside a global network of historical violence: Africa, Europ
3 min read
The Dawn of a New Year
With the dawn of a new year, we stand on the threshold of time not merely to bid farewell to the past year, but to reflect on what it has taught us. Years do not pass in vain, and each departing year takes with it faces, moments, and old versions of ourselves that will never return. Last year, people we knew, loved, or who once passed through our lives, left this world. They were here, then they were no more… They left behind a silent truth: that time cannot be postponed, and
1 min read
New York Elects a Muslim Mayor: When a City Triumphs for Its Idea, Not Its Identity
The election of Zohran Mamdani, a young Muslim, as the new Mayor of New York City was far more than a passing headline. It was a turning point in the story of a metropolis that has long represented the world in miniature — diverse, restless, and alive with contradiction. He is the first Muslim ever to hold this office and the youngest in nearly a century. Yet the deeper meaning lies not in the victory itself, but in what it says about a city’s maturity: that it can still choo
2 min read
Reading… the Elevation of Mind and Soul
💭 Friday Thought Dr. Alaa Al-Tamimi Reading is not a luxury, nor a pastime for those with idle hours. It is a command from Heaven — the very first word of revelation: Read. From that divine beginning, reading became the path to light, the gateway through which humanity ascends above instinct and ignorance. Do not say, I don’t like reading. The issue is not with reading itself, but that you have not yet discovered your field of passion. Seek it, and you will find that every p
2 min read
Strategy Is Always the Source of Strength
🧭 By Dr. Alaa Al-Tamimi October 2025 In international relations, strength does not lie solely in economic or military size, but rather in the ability to craft a coherent strategy that protects national interests and ensures sustainability. This truth is clearly reflected today in the ongoing tension between Canada and the United States over tariff policies, particularly on steel, aluminum, and electric vehicles. The United States, despite its enormous economic power, has rec
2 min read
Axioms and Interests: When Truth Bows to Utility
Axioms and Interests: When Truth Bows to Utility If geometric axioms were to clash with people’s interests, they would deny them. For “the people,” when spoken of in the abstract, dissolve into the mass — their diversity swallowed by number, and reason’s balance lost in the noise of advantage. Axioms cannot be refuted by experience, nor can intuition deny them. Yet, they may still bend before the will of utility, for interest holds a subtle power to shape both acceptance and
2 min read
Peace of Mind
Peace of Heart Between a Past Gone and a Future Yet to Come Do not carry the weight of yesterday on your shoulders, and do not race ahead...
1 min read
Baghdad:The Mirage City Between Promised Architecture and Deferred Urban Planning
In the mid-20th century, Baghdad became a global laboratory for modern architecture and urban planning. Between 1952 and 1982, renowned...
3 min read
Meeting the Giants in Alaska
Meeting the Giants in Alaska... A Reception Fit for a Tsar These weren't the usual cold moments we're used to at leaders' meetings. The...
1 min read
Baghdad Dar Al-Salam – A City Once Called the Abode of Peace.
I am pleased to announce that my new book, "Baghdad Dar Al-Salam – A City Once Called the Abode of Peace," will be published soon. In...
2 min read
The Doomsday Clock A Pendulum on the Edge
Sometimes, danger doesn't come in the form of an explosion, but rather approaches slowly, like a hand moving silently toward its end....
2 min read
Hiroshima, a Shadow will not Erase
On this day, August 6, 1945, at exactly 8:15 a.m., an American plane dropped a nuclear bomb over Hiroshima, dubbed "Little Boy," writing...
2 min read
When Iraq Chose to Stab Itself
On these days in the scorching month of August 1990, the Iraqi ruler lost his mind and rushed into a shocking decision to occupy a sister...
2 min read
In the Face of Tragedy: A Jewish Voice Reflects on Gaza
In my reading journey, I often seek books that represent perspectives different from my own. Understanding begins, I believe, with...
2 min read
Gaza: An Unbearable Human
In the heart of the world, under bombardment and siege, the children and women of Gaza, and all innocent civilians, live in a merciless...
2 min read
Unforgettable cities and friends that are irreplaceable
Travel is not just a transition from one place to another but an inner passage, reconciling with memory, and rejuvenating oneself with...
2 min read
In the Heart of the Balkans: A Journey Through Memory, Landscape, and People. New Roads on the Map of the Soul
Journeys are not merely journeys through geography; they are inner revelations, encounters with others, and recordings of the pulse of...
2 min read
Atatürk’s House in Trabzon: A Nation’s Memory Between Walls and Trees
I left Batumi early in the morning, heading toward the Georgian-Turkish border—barely twenty kilometers away. On the Turkish side, a car...
3 min read
Travel, a Mirror to the Soul and a Bridge Between Nations
From distant New Zealand to the Andes Mountains, from the alleys of Marrakech to the streets of Muhammad Bourgaba , from the timeless...
1 min read
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