Ideas Beyond Borders

10/09/2026

We’re honored to be a Quality Education for All finalist at the 2026 .ORG Impact Awards!

This recognition celebrates our translators and teachers making knowledge accessible in local languages and helping Afghan girls continue their education. We’re proud to share their work with you.

Congratulations to TECHO Internacional, this year’s .ORG of the Year, and SHE | Style Her Empowered (SHE), our category’s winner.

Thank you to Public Interest Registry and our IBB community for supporting this work.

10/05/2026

You can tell how independently you think by what happens when one of your beliefs is challenged.

Do you examine it? Or defend it before you have even considered the question?

Independent thinking starts there. It means knowing why you believe what you believe and being willing to look again. What does that look like in your life?

10/02/2026

The Islamic Republic does not get to decide which Iranian lives deserve to be mourned.

The families of protesters killed by its security forces are still demanding justice. Their loved ones belong in any account of Iran’s suffering, including the one Pezeshkian brought to the UN.

Husain Maschinetchian writes about the Iranians missing from that speech in Middle East Uncovered, a publication of Ideas Beyond Borders.

Read the full piece at the link in bio. Follow for reporting and perspectives from across the region.

09/29/2026

You can tell a lot about a place by what happens when someone asks an uncomfortable question.

Do they get an answer? Or a warning not to ask again?

Free speech starts there. It gives people the confidence to speak and everyone else the chance to answer. What does it look like in your life?

09/23/2026

Bad arguments have a way of dressing themselves up. Give a claim a confident speaker and a line about what “experts agree” on, and it can travel a long way before anyone stops to inspect it.

Things usually get interesting when someone does. Suddenly the subject changes, or the standard of proof moves just out of reach. Sometimes the person asking for evidence becomes the problem.

Once you know the moves, they become much easier to spot.

Which one do you come across most often?

09/21/2026

International Day of Peace comes with plenty of big statements. We wanted to look at the work happening closer to the ground.

Across the Middle East and Afghanistan, teachers are keeping classrooms open and translators are making knowledge accessible. Local journalists are challenging easy narratives, while entrepreneurs create opportunities in communities others have written off.

These efforts rarely receive much attention, but they give people more power over what comes next.

Our latest article looks at the people doing this work and how IBB helps them carry it forward.

Read "The Work That Gives Peace a Chance":

See how access to knowledge, local journalism, education, and economic opportunity help people across the Middle East and Afghanistan build a more peaceful future.

09/14/2026

More than 46,000 people went to Abu Dhabi's Comic Con last year. This year's event sold out before it even opened.

A generation ago, some of the people now at the center of that scene were the “weird” kids for liking anime and gaming.

How that happened is a much bigger story than cosplay. 👇

Thousands of fans are gathering in Abu Dhabi this weekend for the Middle East’s biggest pop culture convention, as the region turns fandom into a growing cultural and creative industry.

09/09/2026

A post makes you furious. Everyone in the comments agrees. The headline confirms exactly what you already suspected. Convenient.

Propaganda has adapted rather well to the internet. Often, it only needs to make you angry enough that you stop asking questions.

The real test is whether your radar still works when you agree with the message.

How’s yours doing?

09/03/2026

If the world is getting better in important ways, would we even know it?

At a Thinkable Events in New York City, IBB President and Founder Faisal Saeed Al Mutar asked Dr. Steven Pinker about the state of the world.

Steven Pinker gets at something we often miss. Wars, disasters, and crises become breaking news. Improvements in people’s lives tend to happen gradually, day after day, and rarely get the same attention.

The example he gives in this clip puts that into perspective: 187,000 escape extreme poverty every day.

Bad news may dominate the headlines, but it shouldn’t define how we understand the world.