Archives for International Relations

Remembering a Martyr-Teacher

by Mansoor Limba | May 2, 2025 | No Comments

“A teacher is not just someone who transfers information. A real teacher builds, challenges, awakens.” (To Kindle FIRE: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1259302265415397) Today, May 2, is not just another date on the calendar. It’s Teacher’s Day in the Islamic Republic of Iran—and it’s no accident that this day is tied to the memory of a martyr (shahid). Forty-five years ago, on a quiet evening in Tehran, a bullet silenced the voice of Ustad Murtada Mutahhari—or so the killers thought. Little did they know that
Continue Reading

Siargao Speaks About the Constructed Myth of Chosenness

by Mansoor Limba | May 2, 2025 | 1 Comment

This morning, as I sipped my turmeric-blended coffee, a Facebook post barged into my feed like an urgent knock on a peaceful door. It wasn’t just another travel blog or a dreamy Siargao sunset. It was a cry for help, a roar of resistance. It came from a frustrated local, someone who had seen enough of what she called “terrorizing behavior” from a group of tourists—specifically, ‘Israeli’ nationals—treating Siargao not like a guesthouse of peace but a battlefield of entitlement.
Continue Reading

How Social Constructivism Makes Sense of Burkina Faso’ Young Lion

by Mansoor Limba | April 29, 2025 | No Comments

Just these Easter holidays, over cups of native coffee partnered with Maguindanaon delicacies with a former classmate and fellow Shari‘ah counselor in Cotabato City, we found ourselves talking about someone halfway across the world: “Have you heard about that young guy in Burkina Faso?” “The one challenging the old powers? The one saying they will stand on their own?” We laughed—not because it was funny, but because it felt familiar. Sub-Saharan Mindanao indeed. It felt like looking in a mirror.
Continue Reading

Confessing to My Sub-Saharan Roots

by Mansoor Limba | April 27, 2025 | No Comments

I have a confession to make. After much soul-searching, relentless fact-checking, and a deep dive into my ancestral archives, I must finally admit the truth: I have Sub-Saharan roots. Yes, you heard that right. I remember it clearly, as if it were just yesterday. We were deep into our two-week training on Insider Mediation and Negotiation at Clingendael in The Hague (https://www.clingendael.org/node/8944)—an experience filled with long hours, heavy discussions, and stories shared over coffee breaks and hurried lunches. Somewhere between
Continue Reading

Social Constructivism’s Unmasking of Syria’s ‘Liberator’

by Mansoor Limba | April 26, 2025 | No Comments

It happened too fast. Nobody—neither the West’s analysts nor the Arab street’s coffee shop prophets—predicted it. The fall of Bashar al-Asad in a matter of 11 days (Nov 27 – Dec 8, 2024) felt like a strange dream. Or a well-rehearsed play. Maybe both. In the end, it wasn’t the Syrian people who reclaimed Damascus. It wasn’t the widows of Aleppo or the orphans of Homs. It wasn’t the exiled poets, the broken rebels, or the dusty boys with slingshots
Continue Reading

A Muslim Tribute to a Pope Who Spoke Truth to Power

by Mansoor Limba | April 24, 2025 | No Comments

It was exactly a month ago. Or almost. On February 25, I stood before a conference hall full of bright, idealistic minds—students and young scholars gathered at the Mindanao International Studies Society Convention (MISSCON) 2025. I was there to speak about a subject close to our hearts and histories—the exclusion of Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. But before diving into legal provisions and historical grievances, I paused. I asked everyone in the room to join me in a moment
Continue Reading

Humanitarian, or Humanity Crisis?

by Mansoor Limba | October 11, 2024 | No Comments

Our respected professors and my fellow students, let me greet you all with the greetings of Abraham (Q. 19:47), David (1 Samuel 25:6), Jesus (John 20:19, 21), and Muḥammad – Shalom aleichem (שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם), Salāmun ‘alaykum, or may Peace be upon you all! At the outset, I would like to extend my gratitude to the AISSO, SALAM-TAMS, KPPS, the Ateneo Film Circle, Al Qalam Institute, and all the supporting groups for the invitation for me to share a message of
Continue Reading

Diving Into Iranian’s ‘Mehman-Navasi’

by Mansoor Limba | August 10, 2024 | No Comments

It was the first week of September 2000. Yes, you read it right – 2000. That was 24 years ago. “Tārīkh-e difā‘-e shomā bisto hamtum-e (The date of your [MA thesis] defense will be on the 27th [of Shahrīvar] (September 17),” the lady secretary of the Chairman of the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and Law of Shahid Beheshti University informed me. “Hatman khānom-e shomā hozur dashte bāshad (Your wife must be present [during the
Continue Reading

Sansinukuban Off the Press Now!

by Mansoor Limba | May 31, 2024 | No Comments

At exactly 7:09 this morning, I received this photo from the printing house… …which means… SANSINUKUBAN 1 (INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FROM MINDANAO): TRAVERSING THE SPATIAL AND IDEATIONAL FRONTIERS is now off the press! As the official book series of the Ateneo de Davao University International Studies Department, SANSINUKUBAN serves as a platform for students to publish original research articles primarily derived from their thesis and inspired by their Mindanao positionality. Aiming to foster vibrant scholarly dialogue among them and promote interdisciplinary
Continue Reading

Sansinukuban 1 – Our 1st Publication This Year!

by Mansoor Limba | May 24, 2024 | No Comments

As an aspiring translator and author myself, I know well that every author’s ultimate dream is just to focus on WRITING and WRITING alone – and not to worry about anything else. This is exactly what this new conspiracy is all about. Under the unbeatable guidance of Captain John Harvey Gamas, the student-authors have already done their part; that is, writing the book. It’s ElziStyle Bookshop’s turn to do the rest – and all the challenges along the way. SANSINUKUBAN
Continue Reading

Top Seller in April 2024

by Mansoor Limba | May 1, 2024 | No Comments

As it’s already the month of May, let me share with you ElziStyle Bookshop’s Amazon top seller in the previous month of April (Ramadan-Shawwal). It’s also the top seller last September: * Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, RADICAL DEMOCRACY IN THE TIME OF DUTERTE, US$10.64 (Discounted from the Original Price: US$17.99), https://amzn.to/4bmdcrb Order Form (FREE Shipping throughout the Philippines by using the Coupon Code RDDNewReader): Want a sneak peek of the book before buying your copy? Grab your FREE SAMPLE copy
Continue Reading

Unveiling the Truth Behind Int’l Quds Day

by Mansoor Limba | April 5, 2024 | No Comments

In the annals of history, August 1979 marked a pivotal moment: the last Friday of Ramadan was sanctified as International Quds (Jerusalem) Day. This declaration wasn’t merely a date on the calendar; it became a beacon of truth, a clarion call for justice amidst the tumult of oppression. Imagine, if you will, the words echoing from the Sage of Jamaran, resonating with the fervor of a righteous cause. “The Day of Quds,” he proclaimed, “shall be the litmus test revealing
Continue Reading

Exactly 25 Years Ago

by Mansoor Limba | February 11, 2024 | No Comments

It’s exactly 25 years back. 1998. February 11. 3:12 am. “In a few moments, we will land in Mehrabad International Airport,” an IranAir flight attendant in navy blue hijab assured with a smile the drowsy passengers to a seven-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tehran. A score of fellow students from Mindanao and I were fetched by a minibus at the airport and transported to Qazvin, a city over 100 kilometers away. After taking a sumptuous breakfast in Karaj in
Continue Reading

Top Seller in January 2024

by Mansoor Limba | February 1, 2024 | No Comments

As it’s already February 2024, let me share with you ElziStyle Bookshop’s Top Seller in the previous month of January (Jumadi’th-Thani – Rajab): * Shaykh Najmuddin Tabasi, AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAHDI’S GOVERNMENT, trans. Mansoor Limba, (ElziStyle.com, 2023) 308 pages, US$19.99, https://amzn.to/4bjhIaH eBook: https://www.elzistyle.com/product/an-overview-of-the-mahdis-government (US$8) Want a sneak peek of the book before buying? Grab your FREE SAMPLE copy here: ABOUT THE BOOK: Dive into the riveting exploration of the Imām of the Time (‘atfs) in Shaykh Najmuddin
Continue Reading

Top Seller in July 2023

by Mansoor Limba | August 1, 2023 | No Comments

As it’s already the month of August, let me share with you ElziStyle Bookshop’s top seller in the previous month of July (Dhu’l-Hijjah – Muharram): Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi, ISLAMIC POLITICAL THEORY (LEGISLATION), VOLUME 1, trans. Mansoor Limba, US$25, https://amzn.to/459WU1u Want a sneak peek of the book? Grab your FREE SAMPLE copy here: About the Book Embark on a journey into the depths of Islamic political theory with the erudite scholar Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi’s “Islamic Political Theory
Continue Reading